RENO, Nev.—Not letting a seriously broken index finger on his left hand slow him down, Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin topped the field during Thursday’s qualifying for Saturday’s 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500.  Round 3 of the four-race 2013 HDRA Desert Series will start at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, 19 miles east of downtown Reno, Nev. at exit 32 (USA Parkway exit) of Interstate-80.

Using the 4.3-mile infield section of the brutally rugged 81.0-mile loop desert race course for qualifying, Baldwin, who is the reigning SCORE Trophy Truck season point champion in the SCORE Desert Series, blasted through the serpentine qualifying loop with a fast time of four minutes, 29.60 seconds at an average speed of 57.55 miles per hour in his No. 97 Monster Energy Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado Trophy Truck.

FRIDAY’S DIRT LIVE OFF-ROAD EXPO
Race-week festivities continue on Friday on Virginia Street in the heart of Reno with all the race vehicles on display and their drivers available for photos and autographs amid the other displays and activities at the final day of the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo.

On Saturday it’s down to serious business as a twinbill is slated for the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, located 20 minutes east of downtown Reno at exit 32 (USA Parkway exit) on Interstate-80 as Round 3 of the HDRA Series and Round eight of the AMA National Hare and Hound motorcycle series will run simultaneously.

Over 60 entries from a dozen U.S. States as well as Columbia, Mexico and New Zealand are entered in 15 classes for race cars and race trucks will be competing in the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 which will start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The course will be open for 18 hours in the elapsed-time race, but the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in about 10 hours.  Also at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex Saturday, starting at Noon will be motorcycles battling in the Reno Extreme, a six-hour endurance race.

While the race courses will be different, the spectator area on a elevated plateau overlooking start/finish with sight lines of more than 12 miles of the race course will make viewing safe and among the best in all of desert racing. The area will also have food and beverage vendors, a beer garden with Monster Energy drink specials, Monster Energy Girls and three performances by the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle motorcycle stunt team. One-price admission to enjoy both races is $10 per person. Children, under 12 years of age will be $5 each.

RV and camping facilities are also available at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex. Fee is $20 per night, per camp site with designated viewing areas.

MORE QUALIFYING
Part of Thursday’s qualifying sessions were the featured Trophy Truck racing division for high-tech, 850 horsepower unlimited production trucks along with the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars and Class 10 for limited-engine open-wheelers to determine their respective starting positions, by class. The starting grid for the other classes was determined by Tuesday night’s live drawing at the Eldorado Hotel and Casino.

Second fastest overall to Baldwin and the fastest in Class 1 was Sam Berri, Murphys, Calif., in a Chevy-powered Jimco race car in a time of 4:34.58 (56.50mph). Leading the Class 10 racers in qualifying was John Hsu, San Marino, Calif., with a time of 5:05.12 (50.75mph) in the No. 1048 GET Performance-Honda.

Second fastest qualifier in Trophy Truck and third overall by just seven seconds to Baldwin was the team of Tim Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., in the No. 19 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150. In all, seven of the 11 Trophy Trucks were within 15 seconds or less.

Because of the injury in his left hand, Baldwin will drive just the first 18 miles of the first of five laps on Saturday where he will turn over the driving to fellow Las Vegas driver T.J. Flores to finish the race.

HAPPY TGIF
The Dirt Live Off-Road Expo is a dazzling festival of desert racing with manufacturers, aftermarket companies, exotic race vehicles on display and food vendors mixing it up with racers, crews and fans amid the backdrop of the famed Virginia Street showcase of the “Biggest Little City in the World”.

The surreal scene has been enhanced with the sounds of several styles of live music emanating from the Monster Energy Stage along with the sounds and sights of the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle Mx and Ninja stunt teams performances that will continue on Friday.

The hours at the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo on Virginia Street on Friday will be 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Live coverage of the expo is also airing on on the Dirt LiveHD internet coverage broadcast at www.hdrarace.com.

Additionally on Friday, Virginia Street in downtown Reno will fill up with over 100 race trucks, race cars and race motorcycles as officials perform technical inspections for competition in the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 desert race and the Reno Extreme AMA National Hare and Hound Series races the following day at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex.  The general public and race enthusiasts will mingle with racing officials, drivers, and teams to enjoy autograph sessions, photo opportunities, and more in the wide-open Virginia Street pit area.

A colorful addition to Friday’s contingency activities will be the Monster Energy HDRA Pit Crew Challenge to be held at 10:30 a.m. adjacent to the Monster Energy Stage at the intersection of 4th Street and Virginia Street.

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
The Dirt Live Expo will be groovin’ again on Friday at the Monster Energy Stage at the 4th street Plaza on Virginia Street with continuous high-energy musical entertainment. There will be Monster Energy DJ and two different bands will rock the house.

Friday’s lineup will have Audio Box blaring from Noon to 3:30 p.m. followed by the intriguing sounds of the Unauthorized Rolling Stones from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 (held June 1-2) and this weekend’s Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 are part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher will receive a special entry packages into the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Regulations and other information on Dakar Challenge 2013 are available at http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/dakar-challenge.html.

ALL ABOUT SPONSORS
The Dirt Live Off-Road Expo is a production of the Eldorado Hotel Casino, presenting sponsor of the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500, in conjunction with Dirt Live, HDRA, SCORE International desert racing, Wide Open Excursions, BFGoodrich Tires and Monster Energy.

Budweiser is an associate sponsor of the event as well.

Another major supporter of this multi-day motorsports extravaganza is the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.

The Silver Legacy Resort Casino and Budweiser are associate sponsors of the event as well. Supporting hotels include not only the Eldorado and Silver Legacy, but Circus Circus and Harrah’s who are all part of the downtownReno.com promotional group.

For more information on the Expo, visit the official event website at dirtliveexpo.com.

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF DESERT RACING
The 2013 SCORE Desert Series will also be part of the quickly-evolving World Championship of Desert Racing, which will combine points accumulated in the three SCORE Baja races along with points earned from three of the four-race 2013 HDRA Series, all held in the United States. Both the SCORE and HDRA series will crown their own individual class and overall point champions as well with a bonus purse for those racers who qualify for the World Championship of Desert Racing point’s bonus purse program to earn a desert racing World Champion title.

With a growing total, for the inaugural World Championship of Desert Racing bonus purse, an official total of $45,000 has been posted to date from new SCORE sponsors Amber Racing Services ($25,000), King Shocks ($10,000) and Rigid Industries ($10,000).

For car and truck classes with at least three starters in each qualifying race in 2013, the World Champion titles will be decided on combined points from the three SCORE races and three HDRA races with the bonus purse paid using the same formula based on total purse and number of starters in each class as is used currently for each SCORE race.

For the pro motorcycle and ATV classes, the World Championship of Desert Racing will include points earned in the three SCORE Baja races as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound race to be held during the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500.

2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500
Round 3 of four-race 2013 HDRA Desert Series
July 12-14, 2013—Tahoe Reno Motorplex, Reno, Nevada

OFFICIAL ENTRIES – 60 (as of 7/11/13)
(U.S. States–Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada
Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
& additional countries–Columbia, Mexico, New Zealand)

THURSDAY’S QUALIFYING RESULTS
Position, Vehicle Number, Driver of Record/Co-driver, Hometown, Vehicle, time, average speed for 1 lap of special 4.3-mile course
NOTE: TROPHY TRUCK and CLASS 1 will be merged for the start of the elapsed-time race based on the qualifying results.

TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)—
CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)–

TOP QUALIFIER: 97 B.J. Baldwin/T.J. Flores, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 4 minutes, 29.60 seconds (57.55mph) (Trophy Truck)
2. 149 Sam Berri, Murphys, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:34.58 (56.50) (CLASS 1)
3. 19 Tim Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:36.62 (56.09) (Trophy Truck)
4. 127 Cody Parkhouse, Garden Grove, Calif./Brian Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 4:37.94 (55.88) (CLASS 1)
5. 85 Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:39.22 (55.48) (Trophy Truck)
6. 32 Shawn Croll/Ray Croll, Ontario, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:43.30 (54.70) (Trophy Truck)
7. 91 Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:43.75 (54.70) (Trophy Truck)
8. 18 Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, Chevy Silverado, 4:43.93 (54.70) (Trophy Truck)
9. 44 Todd Jergensen/Kyle Jergensen, Oak Hills, Calif., Ford F-150, 4:44.30 (54.51) (Trophy Truck)
10. 88 Sergio Salgado, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor, 4:54:50 (52.65) (Trophy Truck)
11. 105 Chad Dohrman, Murrieta, Calif., 4:57.07 (52.12) (CLASS 1)
12. 50 Zak Langley, Santa Monica, Calif./Ricky Johnson, Encinitas, Calif., Ford F-150, 5:01.93 (51.43) (Trophy Truck)
13. 156 Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif., 5:03.41 (51.09) (CLASS 1)
14. 151 Dustin Miller, Salt Lake City, Utah, DesertDynamics-Chevy, 5:04.74 (50.92) (CLASS 1)
15. 199 Clayton Scudder, Sparks, Nev., Custom-Chevy, 5:08.93 (50.26) (CLASS 1)
16. 26 Jay Reichert, Cottonwood Shores, Texas/Charles Dorrance, Austin, Texas, Ford Raptor, 5:09.72 (50.10) (Trophy Truck)
17. 16 Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., GMC Sierra, Did Not Finish (Trophy Truck)
CLASS 10 (Single or two-seaters to 1650cc)–
1. 1048 John Hsu, San Marino, Calif./Harley Letner, Orange, Calif., GET-Honda, 5:05.12 (50.75)
2. 1080 Peter Hajas, Wayzata, Minn./Kevin Selchow, Lester Praire, Minn., Kreger-Chevy, 5:25.91 (47.63)
3. 1011 John Langley/Morgan Langley, Santa Monica, Calif., Racer-Honda, 5:29.13 (47.05)
4. 1001 Andrew Myers, San Marcos, Calif./Ross Savage, Costa Mesa, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy, 5:32.67 (46.63)
5. 1099 Norris Brown, Jackson, Wyo./Dave Ackles, Central Point, Ore., Jimco-Ford, 5:45.75 (44.87)
6. 1057 Christian Hall, Bakersfield, Calif., 12:05.75 (21.35)
(Remaining start order for non-qualifiers)
7. 1006 Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif./Joel Liska, Banning, Calif., Chenowth-Chevy
8. 1008 Mark Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif./Steve Lawler, Banning, Calif., Lothringer-Chevy
9. 1039 Matt Cullen, Long Beach, Calif./Chuck Sacks, Canyon Lake, Calif., Alumi Craft-Ford
10. 1066 Mike Shaffer, Alameda, Calif./ Eric Strom, Canby, Ore., FullPotential-Chevy