SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1508148
SCORE 50th ANNIVERSARY HISTORICAL Milestones Races And Events That Shaped SCORE International Throughout The Decades By Dominic Clark and Dan Sanchez 1973 Mickey Thompson forms SCORE International with help from his long-time accountant and business partner Ted Johnson. SCORE begins its iconic history with the inaugural Delco RV Spectacular short course event at the Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. With an average of over 60,000 spectators over the multi-day competition, the event became the SCORE Off-Road World Championship in 1974. The event ended in 1990 at the Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona. Late in the year, with significant assistance from Ensenada Hotelier and tourism advocate Nico Saad, Mickey Thompson and Sal Fish meet with the Baja California Governor and the result is SCORE is named the official and exclusive U.S. Promoter of desert-races in Baja California. Included in that agreement were two major events, the SCORE Baja 1000 (started in 1967 as the Mexican 1000) and the SCORE Baja 500 (started in 1969 as the Baja 500). These races would become SCORE events the following year. 1974 Sal Fish became President and CEO of SCORE International, after accepting the position and partnership with Mickey Thompson at the end of 1973. Mickey Thompson also acquired the Arizona based Parker Dam 400 race. With this, SCORE held its first desert race in January, where it included one lap in California and two in Arizona. The final SCORE Parker 400 was held in 1997. In July of 1974, SCORE produced its first Baja race, the SCORE Baja Internacional. (SCORE didn’t obtain legal use of the Baja 500 name until 1991). The SCORE Baja 1000 was not held in 1974 due to the international fuel crisis 1975 SCORE has four races, the SCORE Parker 400, SCORE Baja Internacional, SCORE Off-Road World Championship in Riverside, and the SCORE Baja 1000. To expand the brand SCORE sanctions other races including the Baja de Saddleback Short-Course in Orange County, California, ZOAR races in New York, and another event in Montreal, Canada. 1977 The SCORE Mexicali 300 race was established after difficulty getting permits for the SCORE Parker 400 that year. It was held for three consecutive years with the last two being the SCORE Mexicali 250. Led by hot-rod pioneer Alex Xydias, the SCORE Show was created as a public trade show for the off-road industry. After being approached by Silverbird Casino owner Major Riddle, SCORE puts on the one-off Silverbird-SCORE Race of Champions short-course event in Las Vegas, Nevada. 1982 Sal Fish moves the Mexicali 300/250 to the city of San Felipe and creates the SCORE San Felipe 250 race. The SCORE San Felipe 250 was held for the 36th time in 2023. 1983 SCORE produced the SCORE Barstow Classic in December of 1983 and 1984. The race was for 4-wheel vehicles only. 1985 With industry legend Frank DeAngelo as the liaison, SCORE’s Sal Fish and HDRA’s Walt Lott agree to have a combined SCORE/HDRA Desert Series. The relationship lasted seven years, ending after the 1991 season. During the combined series, the two organizations had as many as eight races each year, four from each group. SCORE/HDRA produced the Mint 400/Nissan 400 through 1991. SCORE also produced the event in 1993 and 1994. SCORE produced the SCORE Great Mojave 250 in Lucerne Valley, California through 1989 for all classes. SCORE produced the SCORE Fireworks 250 for four-wheel vehicle classes only, (except 1992), through its final year in 1999. 1987 The SCORE Gold Coast 300 in Jean, Nevada was started for four-wheel vehicle classes only. The final race was in 1994. 1993 Sal Fish and SCORE purchased HDRA from then-owner Danny Cau (Walt Lott passed away at the 1987 HDRA/SCORE Fireworks 250), and Cau became SCORE President through the 1997 season. 1994 SCORE debuted the SCORE Trophy Truck class for manufacturers to compete in an unlimited truck class. This class ran from 1994 through 1997 as its own race series and continues today as part of the regular lineup of classes. 1995 SCORE debuts the SCORE Desert Challenge race as a unique two-day competition and format that was held 19 times in Laughlin, Nevada. The format and name of the event returned in 2014 in Plaster City, California, and was then moved to Rosarito Beach, Mexico in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, the race was held for its final two times in Tijuana, Mexico. SCORE produces the SCORE Las Vegas 250 for four-wheel vehicles in Jean, Nevada. 1996 SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Primm 300 began and ran until 2010. Held in Primm, Nevada, the race was for four-wheel vehicles only. 2000 SCORE celebrates the new millennium with the once-in-a-lifetime SCORE Baja 2000 race that crisscrossed the Baja Peninsula from Ensenada to Cabo San Lucas for nearly 2,000 miles. 2002 SCORE Henderson’s Terrible 250 began for all classes in Eldorado Valley, adjacent to Henderson, Nevada. The first race was for all classes, but in 2003 it was only four-wheel vehicles. 2004 SCORE International provides extensive logistical and media relations support to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). SCORE also hosts the inaugural DARPA Grand Challenge for autonomous, robotic, ground vehicles. 2005 The SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Cup short-course event was introduced at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. With just a few classes participating, the event attracted 10,000 spectators each night of the two-day event. The race ended in 2007. 2011 SCORE added a one-time race in San Felipe, Mexico, the 2011 SCORE Challenge of Champions. This succeeded the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Primm 300 that ended in 2010. 2012 SCORE entered a new era when Roger and Elise Norman purchased SCORE from Sal Fish on December 20, 2012. 2014 SCORE held the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 near El Centro, California, for two years and included all classes. 2015 As SCORE continued to push towards having all its races in Baja California, Mexico, SCORE produced a one-time event when it held the SCORE Baja Sur 500 that ran from Cabo San Lucas to Loreto, Mexico. 2016 For the first time in its history, SCORE has all its races of the SCORE World Desert Championship in Baja California, Mexico. 2017 SCORE Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Baja 1000 race 2018 SCORE Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Baja 500 race 2019 SCORE introduces a new race, the SCORE Baja 400 in Ensenada, Mexico. It was not held in 2020 because of the international health pandemic and returned to the annual schedule in 2021. 2023 SCORE celebrates its 50th year as the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization. Capping off the 50th celebration will be the SCORE Baja 1000 which, first time, will start in La Paz, Baja California Sur and finish in Ensenada, Baja California.