SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1531575
SCORE Person of the Year Andy Kirker SCORE Motorcycle Liaison By Dominic Clark, SCORE Historian Andy Kirker has demonstrated extreme passion, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and expertise, truly earning the honor to be the 2024 SCORE Person of the Year. V eteran of nearly 50 years as a SCORE motorcycle competitor, SCORE racing champion, and motorcycle advocate, Southern California businessman Andy Kirker has evolved his long-time advisory involvement with SCORE to the place where he has been the SCORE Motorcycle liaison since 2020. Through his significant contributions in that special area of SCORE racing, SCORE has named Andy Kirker as the 2024 SCORE Person of the Year. A native of Whittier, Calif., Kirker, 68, joins the honorable list of past recipients of the SCORE Person of the Year Award like Walt Lott, Ivan Stewart, Malcolm Smith, Walker Evans, Frank DeAngelo, Michael Gaughan, Cameron Steele, Rob MacCachren, and Nico Saad.“Andy has been a strong voice for the motorcycle competitors as well as the overall organization and safety of our events, so we are very pleased to be able to name him as the 2024 SCORE Person of the Year for everything has done, is doing, and will continue to do to help SCORE advance even further into the world motorsports arena,” commented Abelardo Grijalva, SCORE President and Race Director. “Andy adds strong insight into our entire SCORE Racing operation, not only from the perspective of a racer, but also a SCORE administrator who communicates constantly with our Motorcycle community from racers, to teams, sponsors, and media. While he may have been on the SCORE staff officially for five years, his experience as a competitor and seriously invested friend of the sport has added immeasurably to exponential growth of motorcycle racing in SCORE events.” Before Kirker officially joined the SCORE administrative team in 2020, he helped several years starting in 2009 as a SCORE post-race official reviewing the tracking devices, anonymously, of finishing vehicles. Many of those races, he raced first, then came to SCORE Ops to assist with the reviewing process. As the SCORE Motorcycle Liaison, Kirker continues to work tirelessly with SCORE to specifically bring focus and growth back to SCORE Motorcycle classes including safety programs, exposure programs, a SCORE Pro Moto Baja social media channel, as well as special race purse payout programs. Under his supervision, SCORE has pre-race safety sweeps prior to the motorcycle starts, a Helicopter motorcycle chase program during each race that also serves as a first-response vehicle with an EMT on board as need arises. He has also developed educational video programs for both 4-Wheel and Motorcycle/Quad teams. Kirker also works diligently on exposure programs targeting motorcycle competitors exclusively with live stream and video features for SCORE media assists as well as increased SCORE motorcycle news coverage in motorcycle-specific news outlets around the world. In last year’s SCORE Baja 1000, his efforts resulted in the largest number of motorcycle and quad entries in over a decade as 101 total vehicles left the start line in Ensenada. He continues to work on the SCORE management team to specifically target and implement safety measures that specifically impact the motorcycle and quad classes. He works with the SCORE race regulations to add safety aspects for motorcycle and quad classes. Kirker has added a fleet of UTV teams with EMT personnel around the race courses and helps identify course sections, where possible, only for the moto/quad classes. Residing currently in Lake Forest, Calif. where he is a partner in the Inter-Sky, Inc. company, Kirker has long been a voice for two-wheel competitors since he first started competing in SCORE races in 1974 when he was the rider of record for the Class 20 motorcycle class championship team. During his racing career, he was a co-rider on eight Pro Moto 50 and Pro Moto 60 age group season point championship teams for Riders of Record Jim O’Neal and Mark Winkelman. Among his class race wins were five in the SCORE Baja 1000, three in the SCORE Baja 500, and three in the SCORE San Felipe 250. Andy Kirker has demonstrated extreme passion, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and expertise, truly earning the honor to be the 2024 SCORE Person of the Year. And we know his much-appreciated work will continue to help SCORE be the World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization. SJ