SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/972318
SCORE Mourns The Passing Of Danny Letner The SCORE family celebrates the life of racing pioneer Danny Letner, who died at age 90. Born on January 3, 1928, Letner was one of the original SCORE Trophy Truck racers and the family patriarch for three generations of SCORE champion racers, including his son Marty Letner, and grandsons Harley Letner and Kory Halopoff. Letner founded Letner Roofing Company in Orange Country, California, and also had a racing career in NASCAR, and turned to SCORE racing later in life. Letner’s NASCAR Cup career covered 27 races over an eight-year span in the 1950s and he earned two career NASCAR Cup victories. He also ran 37 races in the NASCAR West Series with eight career victories. Letner mentored his son and grandchildren and was an active part of their racing endeavors. He helped lead Harley and Kory to the SCORE Class 1 season point championship in 2010. Letner’s wife Precious, passed away in 2007 after the couple had enjoyed 58 years of marriage. Sam Wilshire, Long Time SCORE racer Passes The SCORE racing family, and BFGoodrich Tires in particular, lost a good friend with the passing of Sam Wilshire after a short battle with a cancerous brain tumor. A four-year member of the United States Marine Corps (1956-59), Sam was a free-lance journalist for many years covering racing in Europe including Formula One and World Rally racing before becoming passionate about desert racing. Wilshire spent over 20 years working SCORE Baja races as an important member of the BFGoodrich Tires radio relay team that was so vitally important to SCORE and the racers. While he spent much of his professional career working for the U.S. government in Europe while living in London, Wilshire for nearly a decade had a column entitled ‘Sam Saiz’ in the old Off-Road Advertiser Magazine. He returned in San Diego for good in 1991. Jimco Racing Acquired By Motorsports Industry Entrepreneur Robbie Pierce Coming less than a year after his sale of iconic brands Impact Racing and MasterCraft Safety, motorsports entrepreneur and veteran off-road racer Robbie Pierce announced the acquisition of world renowned Jimco Racing Inc. Located in San Diego, California, Jimco is one of the most successful manufacturers of off-road racing vehicles in the world. Jimco was born out of passion and enthusiasm; eventually seeing its talented craftsmen build and develop more than 500 race cars, trucks and UTVs and earn hundreds of victories and championships around the world. Pierce purchased the legendary MasterCraft brand in 1999 to continue the company’s mission of keeping the off-road community safe via high quality seats, belts and window nets. It was a legacy he eventual carried into the military field via MasterCraft Defense. In December of 2010, the native San Diegan leveraged the success of MasterCraft to purchase Impact Racing from Bill Simpson, a struggling enterprise that provided helmets and driving suits to a wide variety of professional motorsports. Bolstered by Pierce’s business acumen, all of the brands under the Impact Racing corporate umbrella capitalized on constant product development, enhanced technology and immersive marketing to grow sales and industry influence to record levels.