SAN DIEGO — Merging the two desert racing organizations that he owns, Roger Norman has announced the groundbreaking SCORE World Desert Championship, commencing in 2014 with a six-race series that will include all of the car, truck, motorcycle and ATV classes in Mexico and the United States. Citing a desire to simplify the two series and make the overall championship series more appealing to national and international television and traditional media, merged into SCORE International will be Norman’s two-year old High Desert Racing Association (HDRA).

Preparing to celebrate its 41st year as the world’s foremost desert racing sanctioning body, SCORE International today officially announced its 2014 schedule, which will consist of the three major desert races held on Mexico’s majestic Baja Peninsula along with three additional races being held in the USA. All classes will race in all races and five of the six best finishes will count towards SCORE World Desert Championship point titles.

“This merger is the best of both worlds for us as we are able to combine SCORE and HDRA into the new SCORE World Desert Championship series of six races for all of our classes with spectacular racing on both sides of the border,” said Roger Norman, CEO and President of SCORE International. “Mexican races are the cornerstone of SCORE and it will be a tremendous benefit to our sport to introduce one super series that will help bring the sport and SCORE to an entire new level.”

Norman continued, “We currently have one race (Sept. 25-28) listed with the location in Southern California to-be-announced shortly as we are finalizing the details for that race weekend. For the racers, their best five finishes will count in the final season point standings.”

Launching the new SCORE World Desert Championship schedule will be the first of the three original SCORE Baja races—the 28th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, Feb. 27-March 2 in San Felipe.

Round 2 will be back in the USA with the 2nd SCORE Imperial Valley 250 in Plaster City, Calif. April 25-27. This event will also conclude the 2013 HDRA season after next week’s race in Moapa, Nevada was cancelled.

Returning to Mexico, Round 3 will be the 46th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in Ensenada on June 5-8.

Northern Nevada will host Round 4 of the series with the 3rd SCORE Reno 500 at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex to be held July 24-27.

Round 5 will be the Inaugural SCORE Desert Challenge to be finalized and the location in Southern California to be announced in the next few weeks. It will be a two-day short course-style event, patterned after the popular Laughlin race that SCORE produced for 18 years that ended in 2012.

The season will conclude November 12-16 with the 47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert races, which will be a peninsula run, starting in Ensenada, Baja California and finishing in La Paz, Baja California Sur.

SCORE A CHAMPIONSHIP
The inaugural SCORE World Desert Championship will feature 40 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, buggies, motorcycles and ATVs. All classes will run in the three SCORE Baja races like always as well as all three USA races.

In order to qualify for a 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship, the top five finishes of a driver/rider will be counted in the final points and racing in the legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will also be required to be one of the three minimum races.  For those racers who run all six of the 2014 SCORE WDC races, the worst finish will not be counted in the final season point tabulations for the year-end class and overall point championships.

2013 RACE REMAINS
The drawing for starting positions for this year’s season-ending Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 5 at the SCOREville exhibit in Building 5 the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo at the Pomona Fairplex in Pomona, California. (www.offroadexpo.com).

Online entry registration for the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 can be accessed at score-international.com. The official course map for this year’s race will also be released just prior to the start of the drawing at SCOREville.

SCORE MOVING FORWARD
A former SCORE Trophy Truck champion racer, Norman purchased SCORE International from Sal Fish on Dec. 20, 2012 and for the 2013 season is producing the three SCORE Baja races.

As a racer, Norman had three consecutive podium finishes in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, winning the overall in 2008 in SCORE Trophy Truck, finishing second in 2009 and third overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck in 2010. In 2008 and 2009 Norman split the driving with legendary SCORE Baja racer Larry Roeseler and Norman drove solo down the length of the peninsula from Ensenada to La Paz to finish third in 2010.

SCORE SPONSORS
Official Sponsors: Tecate Beer-Official Beer/Official Race Sponsor, Monster Energy-Official Energy Drink, BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire, Amber Racing Services-Official Race Fuels, Rigid Industries-Official Lights, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber, Volaris Airlines-Official Airline, Wide Open Excursions- Official Arrive and Drive Company, Coca-Cola-Official Soft Drink, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino, Hotel Coral and Marina-Official Hotel.

Associate Sponsors: Graham Watchmakers, SatellitePhoneStore.com, Symons Ambulance Company.

Additional SCORE Partners: Proturismo Ensenada, Visit Baja California Sur, Baja California Secretary of Tourism, Baja California Sur State Government, Mexicali Ayuntamineto, COTUCO Mexicali/San Felipe, Cruz Roja Mexicana, PCI Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

For more information, visit the official website of the new SCORE World Desert Championship at www.score-international.com.

2014 SCORE World Desert Championship
Schedule of Events
Date   Event/Location
Feb. 27-Mar. 2  28th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250
San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico
(one loop, Approx. 250 miles)

April 25-27  2nd SCORE Imperial Valley 250
Plaster City, California
(three laps, Approx. 249 total miles)

June 5-8  46th Tecate SCORE Baja 500
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
(one loop, Approx. 500 miles)

July 24-27  3rd SCORE Reno 500
Tahoe Reno Motorplex-Reno, Nevada
(multi-lap, Approx. 419 total miles)

Sept. 25-28  Inaugural SCORE Desert Challenge
Location in Southern California TBA
(two-day short-course race, Approx. 125 total miles)

Nov. 12-16  47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Ensenada, Baja California to La Paz, Baja California Sur
(point-to-point, Approx. 1,130 miles)