SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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Christine Wait and Lawton ShanK 2024 Lifetime Achievement Awards By Dominic Clark, SCORE Historian V eterans from the corporate world, lifelong friends Christine Wait, 77, and Lawton Shank, 88, are both being awarded with SCORE Lifetime Achievement Awards for their incredible 12 years of service to SCORE International. Working together out of their office in Las Vegas, it’s kind of hard to describe all that they have done and continue to do assisting the SCORE operations in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and in Reno, Nev. The four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, which has completed 51 years, has been held exclusively in Baja California for the last nine years. The new era of SCORE International began in 2013 and Wait and Shank were brought in as part of the original key management team with Roger and Elise Norman after having worked with the Normans on the administrative team during the two-year history of re-introduced High Desert Racing Association (HDRA) in 2012 and 2013. “Christine and Lawton do so many, many things for SCORE, it’s impossible to narrow it down, so it’s better to say that they do almost all of the above on the administrative side of our operation,” praised Jose Abelardo Grijalva, SCORE President and Race Director. “Their commitment is unparalleled, their passion is unequalled, and their service is unreachable. Individually, they have both done so much to support the operation and administrative side of SCORE that we are forever grateful.” “And even better news is that they will continue to fill those mighty big shoes they wear into the foreseeable future. Saying thank you, thank you, thank you just does not seem to be enough. We are humbled and honored to be able to present these SCORE Lifetime Achievement Awards to Christine and Lawton.” The list of their SCORE operations support and involvement goes much longer than anyone can imagine. Suffice it to say that the active engagement from Christine and Lawton has contributed significantly to first the transition between ownerships of SCORE at the end of 2012 and the accelerated development of SCORE during these ever-changing times in motorsports and Mexico. Always a collaboration with the two of them, among the many areas that they so successfully contribute to include insurance waiver forms for racers, staff, sponsors, VIPs, and media, details and negotiations surrounding SCORE racer insurance coverage, multi-page racer briefs for each event, racer email bulletins, maintaining and amending the SCORE Rule Book, Racing Timing oversight, organizing and overseeing regular staff telephone meetings, updating SCORE racing point standings, assisting with racer registration, Contingency program payouts, operational on-site security band elements, racer relations, vehicle number assignments, etc., etc., etc. Before joining SCORE, Christine, and Lawton both assisted the local SNORE racing organization in Las Vegas in various capacities for four years prior to working with HDRA and then SCORE. Born in Waverly, Iowa, Christine has lived in Las Vegas since 2001. Her lengthy professional career revolved extensively around hospital and healthcare information management and technology. Born in Southern California, raised around the country, Lawton worked his entire professional career in marketing and communications related positions with national trade show booth producers, as a sales and exhibit manager for Robertshaw Controls and retired from marketing and exhibits groups at General Electric. Lawton, who moved from Orange County, Calif. to Las Vegas in 2008, started race outboard boats when he was 12 years old, eventually moving up to inboard Hydroplanes while in college at the University of Cincinnati. Since those early days, he has been involved in many forms of motorsports in various levels, including Sprint cars, Indy Cars, Sports Cars, including the prestigious Can Am Series, along with various desert and motorcycle racing affiliations. In summation, it is very clear to see why Christine and Lawton are such a significant and very important part of SCORE Operations, helping lead the behind-the-scenes people who continue to make amazing contributions to the continuing growth and success of SCORE International. Christine Wait and Lawton Shank. Two extraordinary individuals who extremely worthy recipients of SCORE Lifetime Achievement Awards. SJ