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Jesse James, Paul Page set for
SCORE Baja 1000
‘40 Years to Glory’ Tribute Gala on Sept. 27

Famed Television personalities bring love of SCORE Baja racing To Sept. 27 once-in-a-lifetime celebration in Long Beach, Calif. LOS ANGELES–Confirming the first of what is expected to be a star-studded list of celebrities and legendary race honorees adding their names to SCORE International’s forthcoming ‘40 Years to Glory’ gala, event organizers today announced that Jesse James and Paul Page are providing their talents to the evening’ s festivities.

The official celebration of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000’s 40th anniversary, ‘ 40 Years to Glory’ will be held Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007 at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. James and Page share a mutual passion for the legendary desert race and its long, colorful history, and both will help bring the evening ’s multi-media stage presentation come to life.

A local resident whose world-famous West Coast Choppers motorcycle shop is just a long stone’s throw from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center’s Terrace Theater, television personality and current SCORE Trophy-Trophy racer Jesse James is scheduled to introduce a very special tribute to late Baja 1000 racer and Hollywood icon Steve McQueen. The former star of the international television hit Monster Garage, master fabricator James led a large and talented build team when he built his first SCORE Trophy-Truck in just one week for one of the final episodes of the show.

SCORE International President/CEO Sal Fish and ‘40 Years to Glory’ Executive Producer Marty Fiolka have also secured the talents of long-time ABC and ESPN Sport’s personality Paul Page as one of two co-hosts for the evening. Page, long known for his work at the legendary Indianapolis 500, fell in love with the SCORE Baja 1000 in 1980 when he came the peninsula as part of that year’s ABC “Wide World of Sports” broadcast team. The veteran television host and event emcee also raced in the 2003 Baja Challenge class at the legendary SCORE Baja 1000, enjoying a cameo role in the theatrical film Dust to Glory.

‘40 Years to Glory’ will be comprised of a giant “Baja Tailgate Party” staged in the Performing Arts Center’s plaza and fountain complex, and including the world’s largest display of vintage and historic off-road race vehicles and motorcycles, live music, cocktails and a huge buffet-style dinner. That will be followed by the ‘40 Year to Glory’ presentation in the huge Terrace Theater, ” a multi-media trip through four decades of racing featuring live music, video presentation and a whose-who list of honorees receiving specially-made awards. The night will be capped off with the “Baja After Party” back on the plaza, a time for desert, more cocktails and plenty of bench racing amongst the stars and cars that gave off-road history such a vibrant legacy.
The special gala is being made possible by the generous support of presenting partners Volkswagen of America, BFGoodrich Tires and Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, in association with Dirt Sports Magazine, Hot Rod Magazine, Kartek Off-Road and the Bandito Brothers.

Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated event are now on sale from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center box office or via Ticketmaster at (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000 tickets will include admission, dinner, and a commemorative event program. Like a concert or play, guests will also be provided with a reserved seat inside the Terrace Theater and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

This year’s 40th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the season finale of the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, will be held Nov. 10-16 as a journey down Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula. With pre-race activities in Tijuana, the race will start in Ensenada and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With nearly 350 entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic race will be taped by NBC Sports to air on Dec. 30 on NBC TV, followed by numerous worldwide telecasts on ESPN International.