July 9-12 in Southern Nevada
New Course for SCORE HENDERSON'S TERRIBLE 250 desert race
Features 7 types of terrain to reduce 'home-desert' advantage
SCORE's 30th anniversary continues with World's Richest Desert Race
to be run on both sides of McCullough Mountains

LOS ANGELES (June 30, 2003) -- Hoping to develop a challenging and unique desert race course for next month's 2nd Annual SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 that minimizes the tremendous home-desert advantage enjoyed by some of the sports' top drivers, race officials have finalized preparations for a course to meet not only that criteria, but one that they expect may even become memorable, infamous and possibly event legendary.

The 2nd Annual SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250, the world's richest desert race with nearly $500,000 in cash purse and contingency postings, will be held July 9-12, in Southern Nevada. Featuring the world's best desert racers, nearly 150 entries, competing in 17 Pro and 2 Sportsman classes for cars and trucks, are expected to take the green flag in Boulder City, Nev., on Saturday, July 12.

The 79.4-mile loop course (to be run as three laps), will start and finish on the northwest edge of the Eldorado Dry Lake bed, just off of the west side of Nevada State Highway 95, six miles south of the junction with Nevada State Highway 93 at Railroad Pass. The classes will be split into two groups, the first starting at 6 a.m. followed by the truck classes along with the unlimited Class 1 at 8 a.m. Vehicles are scheduled to start one every 30 seconds with an 8-hour time limit to become an official finisher in the elapsed-time race.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year as the World's Foremost Desert Racing Series, the SCORE Desert Series returns to the U.S. for the second of three races in Southern Nevada.

Following last July's dynamic explosion onto the crowded Southern Nevada special events calendar, this year's World's Richest Desert Race will include a variety of pre-race charity events, fireworks show, concert, and the IGT Pit Crew Challenge all before the green flag drops for Round 4 of the six-race 2003 SCORE Desert Series.

"Our race courses in the U.S. are tougher overall than the ones we race on in Mexico, but the history and the mystery of Baja makes those courses legendary, but we think we have put together something that will make some history in Nevada," said Sal Fish, SCORE CEO/President.

"Baja has it's own lure, but the course for next month's SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 will start a new legend. It's a great, great race course with almost everything to offer a desert racer. It has supersonic high-speed powerline roads, technical tight-twisty mining trails, dusty silt beds, whooped-out washes, dramatic hill climbs with mountain on one side and cliffs on the other, and no route in Southern Nevada would be complete without a 'Boulder highway' and this course has two of them."

With free admission for all activities and the race, the start/finish line area along with Pit B on the Jean Dry Lake bed off of the old Los Angeles highway at Hall's Road near Jean are the two designated spectator areas for the race.

This new SCORE course combines parts of three existing routes into one memorable monster of the desert. While the fastest finishers average over 60 miles per hour in Mexico, Fish will be surprised if anyone averages much over 50 mph on his latest creation.

Fish believes this race route, approved by the Bureau of Land Management and Boulder City, will become the most storied course in all of desert racing north of the border. "This course is so tough, we even have one brutally-tough section we are pleased to call 'BLM's Revenge', which should more than speak for itself," added Fish.

"Before this race is finished, I'm sure racers and their weary teams will have a nickname for every rugged mile of it. As challenging a test it is for man and machine, it's almost unthinkable to consider that most of these desert warriors will race over it three times before they see the checkered flag.

The finish line will never look so good. There will be a lot of survivors because SCORE racers are the toughest in all of motorsports, but they will all know they were part of a great race and will have lots of stories to tell."

The live drawing for starting positions, by class, will be held from 6-10 p.m. on Thursday, July 10 during the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 bar-b-que, featuring live music and a fireworks show, at Terrible's Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas.

Through a special marketing and sponsorship agreement, SCORE International of Los Angeles is producing the event and Las Vegas-based Herbst Gaming along with the Southern Nevada cities of Henderson and Boulder City are once again sponsoring the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 Pre-race festivities on Friday, July 11, for the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250, including tech and contingency, the SCORE Manufacturer's Midway, the $7,000 IGT Pit Crew Challenge, the SCORE concert starring Tommy Rocker, and driver registration, will all be held on Water Street in downtown Henderson adjacent to the Henderson Convention Center. Driver registration will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., tech and contingency 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., the Pit Crew Challenge 6 to 7 p.m. and the Tommy Rocker concert 7 to 9 p.m.

SCORE race week festivities will begin on Wednesday, July 9 with the SCORE Charity Showdown. The SCORE Charity Bowling Tournament will be held from 4-5:30 p.m. at Terrible's Casino and Bowl on Boulder Highway in Henderson, followed from 5:30 to 9 p.m. by the SCORE Charity Video-Poker Tournament and SCORE Charity Silent Auction at Casino Montelago at the new Ritz-Carlton Resort at Lake Las Vegas. All proceeds will benefit multiple charity organizations in both Henderson and Boulder City.

Starting with a $10,000 bonus to the first overall finisher, the World's Richest Desert Race will include nearly $35,000 in added purse, a 50 percent payback of entry fees and significant contingency postings. SCORE officials report that the final cash and contingency prizes could even pass the $500,000 mark.

For all Pro classes with a minimum 'Lucky Seven' starters, the winner will receive an added $1,000 and the runner-up will receive an added $500 from the bonus purse.

First a novelty, San Diego County youngsters Eric Allen and Adam Pfankuch have used three season-opening class wins to quickly become the force to be reckoned with in the 2003 SCORE Desert Series. With victories in Class 1-2/1600 at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge in Nevada and a pair of wins in Mexico at the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in San Felipe, and most recently at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada, the Allen/Pfankuch duo lead not only their very competitive class, but the overall SCORE International point standings in their K.I.T. Racing VW-powered Jimco 1600cc open-wheel desert race car.

Allen, a 20-year old SCORE rookie from San Marcos and Pfankuch, a 21 year old proven competitor from Carlsbad, are amazingly undefeated, unblemished and unfazed after winning the first three SCORE races to conclude the first half of the SCORE season. In just their first season as teammates, the pair has easily lived up to the definition of their team's name-Keep It Together (K.I.T.) Racing.

SCORE points are determined both on final finishing position and number of vehicles which started the race within the individual class.

After finishing second in the season-opening SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge in January, winning in San Felipe and finishing third in Ensenada in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division, the team of Gus Vildosola, of Mexicali, Mexico and Rob MacCachren, of Las Vegas, are in front of the division for 750 horsepower, high-tech, unlimited production trucks.

Splitting the driving time in their Vildosola Racing Ford F-150, the San Felipe victory was the first for Vildosola and the fourth for MacCachren in SCORE Trophy-Truck. A six-time SCORE class point champion, MacCachren, the 2001 SCORE overall point champion, won the SCORE Trophy-Truck point title in 1994, the year the special class was introduced by SCORE.

Midway through the 2003 SCORE Desert Series, Allen/Pfankuch have 249 points to lead Class 1-2/1600 and the SCORE Overall point standings.

Second overall with 233 points is Class 1 point leader Dale Ebberts, Canyon Lake, Calif., who masterfully won the first two races of the SCORE season and finished third in Ensenada in his unlimited Toyota-powered Jimco. He drove solo in Laughlin and starting with San Felipe, is splitting wheel time with Ernie Castro Jr., Newport Beach, Calif. Castro finished second to Allen/Pfankuch in Class 1-2/1600 in Laughlin before the team merger with Ebberts' Inland Truss Racing.

Behind Vildosola/MacCachren (who are 10th in overall points with 200) in SCORE Trophy-Truck points are Las Vegas brothers and defending season champs Tim and Ed Herbst (Ford F-150) with 182 and Laughlin winners Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. (Ford F-150) with 149 points.

Post/Whelchel, who have three career SCORE Trophy-Truck wins, are the defending class champions in this race and back to defend his overall title and Class 1 victory in the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 is Chuck Hovey, Escondido, Calif., in a Jimco-Chevy. Not only did he pick up the $10,000 bonus last year, it was also Hovey's first SCORE race win.

SCORE official sponsors for 2003 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Southern California Ford Dealers-official vehicle, 76 Racing Fuel-official fuel and Rental Service Corporation-official equipment supplier. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca Cola of Mexico, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Bilstein, Signpros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's, Off Road Innovations and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 are Miller Beer and Red Bull energy drink.

For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official Optima SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com