Monday, November 30, 2009
by Dominic Clark

LOS ANGELES -- SCORE International officially announced today that the 2009 SCORE Awards Night, honoring the world’s foremost desert racing series, will be held Saturday, Dec. 5 for the first time at the popular Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

With special assistance from Robby Gordon Motorsports in securing the high-profile Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, over 400 SCORE racers, family, friends, crews, sponsors and media will bask in the spotlight of Las Vegas as the SCORE Awards Night will honor the 36-year history and fame of the name which is the standard for desert racing around the world.

Started in 1973 with a short-course race in Riverside, Calif., the SCORE desert legacy officially began in July of 1974 in Ensenada, Mexico. Founded by the late Mickey Thompson, himself a motorsport legend, SCORE International continues to this day under the gifted guidance and dedicated leadership of Sal Fish, who has been with SCORE since shortly after Thompson started it.

“I quickly embraced the vision and the passion Mickey Thompson had when he started SCORE International, but it has amazed me over these memorable three-plus decades to see the indelible mark SCORE has left on people throughout the world,” said Fish, the SCORE CEO/President. “I have been both humbled and awed to work with so many absolutely incredible people from virtually all walks of life and from all over the world. I look forward to toasting the memory and legacy of SCORE International in Las Vegas while honoring the accomplishments of our current SCORE racers. We are also appreciative of the significant assistance we have received from Robby Gordon Motorsports in helping us secure the most visible venue we have ever had for our SCORE Awards Night.”

In addition to the special SCORE Achievement Awards and the 28 Pro, 6 Sportsman class champions and three overall point champions who will be honored in Las Vegas, another highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman Awards.

Individuals as well as manufacturers and organizations are honored through 11 distinct awards, whose winners are decided by vote of the entire SCORE membership of more than 2,000. Among the awards to be presented are Contingency Company of the year, Pit Support Team of the year, Sponsor of the year, Rookie of the year, Mechanic of the year and Person of the year.

Another aspect of the festivities will be the presentation of the SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards. As it has for 24 years, the Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to those drivers in four-wheel vehicle classes who finish every required mile of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series. This year 14 drivers will receive this honor.

The evening will include a video/photographic tribute to the 2009 SCORE desert racing season.

This year will mark the first time that the annual SCORE Awards Night has been held at the iconic Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the first time the historic evening has been held in Las Vegas since 2003.

A pre-awards reception will start the festivities at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner, a special tribute to the 2009 SCORE season and presentations at 7 p.m.

Individual ticket reservations as well as reservations for tables of 10 are being accepted through the SCORE offices at 818.225.8402

For the weekend, a special SCORE room rate is available at the exclusive Hard Rock Hotel, for $199 per night. These rooms, secured through Robby Gordon Motorsports may be reserved by going online at http://tinyurl.com/y8dugtr. The SCORE room block is guaranteed to be available until midnight, Tuesday, Dec. 1.

SCORE International, based in Los Angeles, continues today producing its five-race SCORE Desert Series which is anchored by the legendary granddaddy of all desert races—the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. SCORE presents two races in Southern Nevada—the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge and the SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300. In Mexico, SCORE also annually produces the SCORE San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Baja 500.

SCORE official sponsors for 2009 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Advertising, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the Tecate SCORE are the Baja California State Secretary of Tourism and ProTurismo de Ensenada.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

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