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Over 300 entries expected
Lake Elsinore Hotel/Casino Hosting
RACEfest Sept. 21-22; ‘Live’ draw for
40th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Start Positions

Two-day festival to feature Start Draw for legendary granddaddy of all desert races And schedule includes: Silent Auction, Freestyle Motocross Exhibition, Pit Crew Challenge, Poker Tourney, Pool Party, live music, Vehicle Challenge

LOS ANGELES—In preparation for November’s 40th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race, a ‘live’ drawing for starting positions for the nearly 300 expected entries will be held Saturday, Sept. 22, during a special two-day RACEfest at the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino in Lake Elsinore, Calif.

In addition to the ‘live’ drawing for the granddaddy of all desert races, other activities scheduled for the two-day RACEfest include a Freestyle Motocross Demonstration, the Yokohama Pit Crew Challenge, a Lake Elsinore Casino Poker Tournament, Pool Party, the Blue C Trophy Lite vehicle Challenge, a Silent Auction, and live music. Proceeds from the two-day RACEfest will go to the Chris Ackerman Foundation. This will mark the third consecutive year that the Lake Elsinore Casino and Hotel has hosted this event for the flagship event of the six-race SCORE Desert Series.

In addition to appearances by several of SCORE’s top drivers and riders and their incredible desert-racing machines, the festivities will start on Friday night with the Freestyle show, silent auction, and live music, scheduled for appearances at the Freestyle show are X Games stars Kyle Loza, OX (Jeff Kargola) and Brian Deegan along with his entire Metal Mulisha team and the Riders for Christ.

The entire event is being produced by the colorful Desert Assassins race team, led by owner Cameron Steele, the colorful Action Sports and Motorsports Television commentator who is a second-generation SCORE desert racer, competing in both the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck and SCORE Lite classes in the U.S. along with Class 22 for open motorcycles in the SCORE Baja races in Mexico.

“SCORE sincerely appreciates the efforts of Cameron Steele and his entire race team as well as the involvement by Ted Kingston and his Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino, and the other sponsors being lined up for RACEfest,” said Sal Fish, CEO and President of SCORE, which is celebrating its 34th year as the world’ s foremost desert racing organization. “We expect to have entries in this year’ s classic from as many as 40 U.S. states and 15 countries all eager to challenge Mexico’s Baja peninsula and help us celebrate the 40th anniversary of this truly extraordinary event. The drawing at the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino will be a great opportunity for fans to get to meet and greet some of the world ’s finest desert racers up close and personal.”

In addition to the Freestyle demo on Friday (Sept. 21), other fesitivities will include a vendor’s village, the Lake Elsinore Casino poker tournament, a special five-item live auction and a silent auction. Everything will get underway at 5:30 p.m. according to event organizers.

Over the course of the two-day event a total of five sponsored entries into this year’s 40th anniversary race will be given away to racers already entered in the event. Providing these comp race entries (to vehicles already entered in the event) will be Lake Elsinore Casino, Blue C, Yokohama Tires, Lucas Oil.

The drawing for the 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs will be held at various times throughout the day with the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck and unlimited Class 1 drawing scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 22). Over 300 vehicles are expected to leave the starting line in Ensenada on Nov. 13.

Saturday’s activities (Sept. 22) are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with a Pool Party and Bloody Mary brunch hosted by Ketel One and will include the Blue C Trophy Lite Challenge, food from Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, the Yokahama Tires Pit Crew Challenge. Entries will be accepted starting Sept. 1 for the Pit Crew Challenge and all entries must be already entered in the race itself. SCORE Radio, the new internet radio show hosted by SCORE CEO/President Sal Fish and Cameron Steele, will also be record live Saturday (Sept. 22) during the event with audience participation and numerous SCORE racers as guests on the special program.

Besides the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino, SCORE International and the Desert Assassins, the current associate sponsors of the event Lucas Oil, Yokohama Tires, Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Baja.net, Trophy Lite, Ketel One Vodka, Bosch Power Tools, Wahoo’s Fish Tacos, Metal Mulisha and Riders for Christ. Other sponsors and specific activities will be added as the historic event draws closer.

This year’s legendary desert classic itself, will be held Nov. 10-16 in Mexico. Pre-race festivities will begin in Tijuana on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 10-11, continue in Ensenada on Sunday Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, will start in Ensenada, Baja California on Tuesday, Nov. 13 and the rugged course will run on both sides of the majestic peninsula all the way down to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur.

It’s the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since 1967, the mother of all desert races has been run over the mysterious Baja California peninsula.

This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the fourth consecutive year, airing on Dec. 30 on the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside of the U.S. on ESPN International.

The 2007 SCORE Desert Series also includes the chase for the $75,000 Kartek Off-Road contingency bonus to be awarded to several 2007 SCORE Class point champions along with the run for the $12,000 Toyota True Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards.

Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Sunoco Race Fuels/Bryant Petroleum-official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Volkswagen-official vehicle, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, American Racing ATX Series-official wheel, Slime-official tire sealant, Airstar America-official space lighting provider, Red Bull--official energy drink and Bosch Power Tools-official power tool.

Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Kartek Off-Road, Fram, Autolite, Prestone, Bendix, American Suzuki, NAPA Chassis, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

For more information on entry the ancillary events, please contact Cameron Steele at c-steele@cox.net. To reserve rooms in the SCORE Baja 1000 Drawing room block, contact the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino at 951.674.3101.