September 26, 2014
Televised on CBS Sports Network
Round 4 of five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship split into three days of racing starting tonight;
Classes to run in groups in16-lap race over 7.85-mile course in two segments at Coyne Powersports Motorplex;
Imperial Street Fair and SCORE Contingency-today
IMPERIAL, CA—Hometown hero Jeff Dickerson set a record Thursday night by flying his Chevy-powered Alumi Craft open-wheel desert race car 173 feet to win the Imperial Big Air Shootout in front of a standing-room-only record crowd at the California Midwinter Fairgrounds in Imperial, CA.
The Imperial Big Air Shootout, presented by the City of Imperial and sponsored by Rogers & Rogers Automotive group, helped launch the festivities of this week’s three-day 19th annual Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge.
With a purse of nearly $9,000 sponsored by Rogers & Rogers automotive group, the Imperial Big Air Shootout, presented by the City of Imperial, was patterned after its popular predecessor the Laughlin Leap, this jump competition had the various classes divided into different groups with the long jump having cash payouts in all five groups. In Group 1 (SCORE Trophy Truck, Trophy Truck Spec) had a prize of $2,000 for the longest jump and a top prize of $1,500 for Group 2 (Class 1, Class 10).
NEW RECORD
Dickerson, 39 of nearby Brawley, CA, will race in the unlimited Class 1 this weekend. On Thursday night his successful jump to win Group 2 broke the overall leap record of 161 feet, six inches. The previous mark was set by legendary SCORE desert racer Larry Roeseler in 2009 driving a Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy Truck owned by SCORE CEO/President Roger Norman. For his efforts, Dickerson won a prize of $1,500.
SCORE TROPHY TRUCK WINNER
Steven Eugenio of El Centro, CA, won the Group 1 with a jump of 153 feet in his No. 7 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy Truck.
RACE STARTS TODAY
With racing starting Friday night and continuing through Sunday afternoon, pre-race festivities will be held near or on Imperial Ave. in downtown Imperial, approximately 115 miles east of San Diego.
Round 4 of the 2014 five-race SCORE World Desert Championship will have the event split into multiple days with classes divided into groups as is typical with a SCORE Desert Challenge. Each class will run two, eight-lap segments over a 7.85-mile course at the Coyne Powersports Motorplex near Plaster City, CA in Imperial Valley. The race festivities will be held starting Thursday with racing on Friday night, all day and into Saturday evening and Sunday morning and afternoon. The race venue is located approximately 100 miles east of San Diego just north of Plaster City, CA
IMPERIAL STREET FAIR TODAY
Pre-race festivities will be held in downtown Imperial, CA. started Thursday, and continue today wih the Imperial Off-Road Showcase and Street Fair. The Imperial Street Fair includes live music, food and beverage vendors, merchandise vendors, interactive games, vehicle displays and autograph sessions with many of the world’s top desert racers.
SCORE CONTINGENCY ROW TODAY
The colorful SCORE Contingency Row and Manufacturer’s Midway is also being held today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., joining the Imperial Off-Road Showcase and Street Fair on Imperial Avenue in downtown Imperial. All race entries are pushed through contingency row and tech inspection offering fans up close views of the exotic desert racing machines along with their drivers and riders.
VERY FAN-FRIENDLY
SCORE has developed plans with the staff of Coyne Powersports Motorplex to create fan-friendly spectator areas around the entire perimeter of the racecourse as well as the start/finish line area off of Wheeler Road north of Plaster City.
Surrounding the entire Coyne Powersports Motorplex is Southern California’s massive Superstition Mountain/Plaster City OHV use area. This OHV recreational area will provide event spectators the opportunity to enjoy the entire race weekend with overnight camping and off-road vehicle use (allowed under normal BLM restrictions in the OHV recreation use area.)
SCORE DirtLive HD ON-SITE
The Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by the city of Imperial, CA. will include live internet coverage for three days on SCORE DirtLive HD platform from the Imperial Big Air Shootout as well as internet coverage from the start/finish line area at the Coyne Powersports Motorplex. Coverage can be viewed on the SCORE website.
COYNE POWERSPORTS MOTORPLEX
The Motorplex is owned by El Centro, CA, businessman Marty Coyne, a former SCORE Trophy Truck racer who won the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup. The one-square mile land area is inside of the massive 41,000-acre Superstition Mountain/Plaster City OHV area.
Coyne’s private land has an eight-mile course already developed that was part of the 82-mile loop used by SCORE on April 26, for which racers were required to cover three laps, for the Inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 desert race.
SCORE DESERT CHALLENGE
Held from 1995 through 2012 in Laughlin, Nev., the Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by the City of Imperial, CA will be held for the first time in the Imperial Valley with the same format as the original SCORE Desert Challenge events from past years. The SCORE World Desert Championship, the world’s foremost desert racing organization, features competition in 25 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and ATVs.
CBS SPORTS NETWORK COVERAGE
All races in the 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series, along with the special SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience and qualifying for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway, are televised on a delayed basis in the USA and Canada as a one-hour special on the CBS Sports Network. The shows, produced by SoCal’s acclaimed BCII TV, air a minimum of two times on the CBS Sports Spectacular show.
All shows are scheduled to premier in the next month following the event. The success of the productions has enabled CBS Sports Network to air multiple airings of the first three 2014 races. The SCORE San Felipe 250 had 17 extra airings, the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 had five extra airings, and the SCORE Baja 500 garnered seven hours of extra airings in CBS Sports Network.
Following the CBS Sports Network telecasts in the US, the SCORE races air worldwide in over 100 countries through international distribution.
Following are the air dates for the debut of the remaining 2014 SCORE shows on the CBS Sports Network…
• Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge, presented by the city of Imperial (Sunday, Nov. 2, 9 p.m. ET)
• Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 qualifying from Las Vegas Motor Speedway/SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience (Sunday, Dec. 21, 9 p.m. ET)
• Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 (Sunday, Dec. 28, 9 p.m. ET)
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official Sponsors: Tecate Beer-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Rigid Industries LED Lighting-Official Lights/Official Race Sponsor, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Polaris-Official UTV, Volaris Airlines-Official Airline, CBS Sports Network-Official Television Partner, Wide Open Excursions- Official Arrive and Drive Company, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino, Hotel Coral and Marina-Official Hotel.
Associate Sponsors: SatellitePhoneStore.com and Symons Ambulance Company.
Additional SCORE Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Visit Baja California Sur, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Baja California Sur State Government, Mexicali Ayuntamineto, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, Corporate Helicopters, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, GoPro, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.
For more information, visit www.score-international.com.
19th Rigid Industries SCORE Desert Challenge
Presented by the city of Imperial, CA
Round 4 of five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship Sept. 26-28, 2014
Coyne Powersports Motorplex, Plaster City, CA
Top Finishers from…
Imperial Big Air Shootout
Presented by the city of Imperial, CA, Sponsored by Rogers & Rogers Automotive Group
Sept. 25, 2014
Midwinter Fairgrounds, Imperial, CA
GROUP 1
1. 7 Steven Eugenio, Carlsbad, CA, Chevy Silverado, 153 feet, ($2000)
2. 56 Brandon Arthur, Ramona, CA, Chevy Silverado, 145 feet, ($1000)
GROUP 2
1. 132 Jeff Dickerson, Brawley, CA, AlumiCraft, 173 feet, ($1500)
2. 100 Cody Parkhouse, Long Beach, CA, Jimco-Chevy, 171 feet, ($750)
GROUP 4
1. 848 Billy Wilson, Corpus Christi, Texas, Chevy Silverado, 143 feet, ($750)
2. 722 Pete Sohren, Phoenix, Ford Ranger, 135 feet, ($350)
SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, dominiccnv@aol.com