Troy Herbst wins Class 1
Las Vegas' Rob MacCachren wins two classes, second in another
In record-setting performance at SCORE LAUGHLIN DESERT CHALLENGE
Gary Dircks wins SCORE Trophy-Truck & Overall
as 2004 SCORE Desert Series opens with 180 starters

LAUGHLIN, NV (January 18, 2003) -- In what will be remembered as one of the top motorsports performances of all-time, All-American racer Rob MacCachren of Las Vegas won two classes and finished second in another, helping conclude a memorable 10th Annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. A total 180 desert race cars and trucks launched the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series, America's foremost desert racing series. The popular event, with and estimated 30,000 spectators on hand for the four-day event, was held adjacent to the Colorado River in the Southern Nevada resort destination of Laughlin.

While MacCachren, 38, was earning his third and fourth class wins in Laughlin, Gary Dircks of Anthem, AZ, and Las Vegas' Troy Herbst each won their classes and finished first and second overall out of the 100 finishers in the two-day event. MacCachren also finished third overall as he and driver of record Gus Vildosola ended up second in SCORE Trophy-Truck.

MacCachren won both the Class 1-2/1600 and SCORE Lite classes and narrowly missed winning the SCORE Trophy-Truck division as driver of record Gus Vildosola was unable to hold the lead that MacCachren secured during Saturday's first half of the race in the Vildosola Racing Ford F-150.

Dircks drove both days in his Ford F-150 to capture the overall and featured SCORE Trophy-Truck victory. For Dircks, the win was his first in just his fourth race in the marquee SCORE racing division. He covered the 94.4 miles of 8 laps over the abbreviated 11.8-mile course in a total time of one hour, 37 minutes, 43 seconds, averaging 57.96 miles per hour.

"We weren't sure we had a shot at winning, even though we were in the hunt after Saturday," said Dircks, who was fourth on Saturday, 2 minutes, 54 seconds off of MacCachren's blistering pace. "The course was about twice as beat up today as it was Saturday, so I actually drove a little more cautious and it paid off. Our truck never even sputtered once and we wanted a strong finish and the victory is a huge bonus.

"The format of the Laughlin race is a great way to ease into a new season and keep everybody excited about the next race. I couldn't look at the entry list in SCORE Trophy-Truck because it was too intimidating for me to handle."

Dircks ran Sunday's four laps, in 48:41, while his opening four circuits were covered a bit slower in 49:02.

The battle up front was incredibly tight and close with only 55 seconds separating the top five overall finishers.

Herbst finished in 1:38:05, 22 seconds behind Dircks in his Terrible Herbst Motorsports Smithbuilt-Ford, and the Vildosola/MacCachren team was 25 seconds behind Herbst.

Last year's SCORE Trophy-Truck winners in Laughlin, Mark Post, San Juan Capistrano, CA, and Jerry Whelchel, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, finished third in SCORE Trophy-Truck and fourth overall in their Riviera Racing Ford F-150, just seven seconds behind Vildsola/MacCachren.

Just one second behind Post/Whelchel in fifth overall and fourth in SCORE Trophy-Truck was Jason Baldwin, Irvine, CA, in a Ford F-150.

MacCachren, a seven-time SCORE class point champion and 2001 All-America motorsports team member, drove Saturday for Mexico's Vildosola in the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division and is driving solo in both Class 1-2/1600 and SCORE Lite. After four, 11.8-mile laps, MacCachren turned over the No. 4 Ford F-150 to Vildosola for Sunday's final half with a 22-second margin over the Ford F-150 of defending race champions Mark Post and Jerry Whelchel. MacCachren's total time was 46 minutes, 8 seconds at an impressive average speed of 61.39 miles per hour.

Driving the same Fraley desert racecar with different size VW motors, MacCachren won by nearly four minutes in Class 1-2/1600 and nearly seven minutes in SCORE Lite.

"This was a career event for me," said MacCachren, who earlier in the week won his division in the $16,000 Laughlin Leap competition and then set a new record in winning the $10,000 SCORE Pit Crew Showdown. "The course was really rough today (Sunday) I ran our Fraley car this morning with the smaller motor and it beats you to death. But the bigger motor gets you on top and able to jump stuff. The car handled good in the SCORE Lite race. The BFG Tires and the motor done by Kenny Major were awesome. Kenny worked hard over Christmas and bent over backwards. I'm not tired now because of all the adrenaline, but I will be tomorrow. What a wonderful start to a new year and a new racing season. After this race, I almost feel like a rookie again, it's so exciting.

Among the other class winners crowned Sunday were:
Harley Letner/Kory Halopoff, Orange, CA, Chenowth-Honda (Class 10)
Jason Jernigan, Imperial, CA, Ford Ranger (Class 7)
Dave Raimonde/Jeff Geiser, Phoenix, Chevy C1500 (Class 8)
Gerardo Iribe, Rosarito, Mexico, VW Baja Bug (Class 5/1600)
Robert Graham, Yorba Linda, CA, Toyota Tacoma (Class7S)

The 180 starters was the third highest in the event's history. The largest classes are Class 1 (32), Class 1-2/1600 (28), Class 10 (25), SCORE Trophy-Truck (23) and SCORE Lite (20) A total of 100 of them finished with the race time limit.

Round 2 of the 2004 SCORE Desert Series will be the 18th Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, Feb. 27-28 in Baja California, Mexico.

The 10th annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge was sponsored by the Laughlin Tourism Committee, the Laughlin Visitors Bureau and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority in association with Las Vegas Events.

The race is sanctioned and produced annually by Los Angeles-based SCORE International.

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