LOS ANGELES—Adding another dimension to the world of desert racing, SCORE International announced today that is has adopted a new rule package that will allow Turbo-Diesel-powered vehicles to race in three classes in the SCORE Desert Series, the world’s foremost desert racing series.

     Starting with the 2008 season, which begins January 24-27 at the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge in Nevada, Turbo-Diesel vehicles will be allowed to run in the marquee SCORE Trophy-Truck division along with Class 8 and Stock Full.

     “SCORE has always been the leader in our sport and SCORE has always been the innovator so it is a very natural progression for SCORE to develop and implement a rule package allowing and governing the use of Turbo-Diesel race vehicles in our six-race SCORE Desert Series,” said Sal Fish, President/CEO of Los Angeles-based SCORE International. “We fully realize that environmental concerns are changing the way motorsports is done and anything SCORE can do to help achieve the goals of cleaner air and more fuel-efficient vehicles is something that SOCRE is honored to initiate in our sport.”

     All three classes SCORE has selected to pioneer this new rule package have significant crossover value in the general marketplace.

     SCORE Trophy-Truck is the premier class in all of desert racing, featuring 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks. Class 8 is the workhorse in the history of the sport for full-sized two-wheel drive trucks while Stock Full is for stock, full-sized trucks.

     The annual six-race SCORE Desert Series features 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. Three events are held in Southern Nevada and three are held in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula.

     The detailed rule package will be posted on the SCORE International website (www.score-international.com) in the near future.

     Currently SCORE is preparing to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert races.

     For the season-finale of the 2007 SCORE Desert Series over 425 vehicles from 41 U.S. States and 15 countries have entered the 1,296.39-mile race. To be held Nov. 11-16, it will start in Ensenada in Baja California and finish in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur.

     SCORE Trophy-Truck has 31 official entries while Class 8 has 14 and Stock Full has 12.

     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.

     The race will also include the special $40,000 cash contingency purse provided by Volkswagen of America.

     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, 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 Communications, 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 regarding the series, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com