Nearly 200 racers to compete in Laughlin Desert Challenge

Friday, Jan. 14, 2000 | 9:21 a.m.

Thousands of desert racing fans will join nearly 200 racers at the first major race of the 21st century, the sixth annual SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge, January 20-23, along the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin.

Interest from racers appears to be at an all-time high with early entries from 12 states, including 20 from the Southern Nevada area.

A total of 14 of the 16 class champions of the 1999 Laughlin SCORE Desert Series already have entered this year along with 10 of the 16 class winners from last year's SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge. Entries will be accepted through Friday, Jan. 21.

The Laughlin Desert Challenge will be the opening round of the five-race 2000 SCORE Desert Series. Unique in format in all of desert racing, the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge kicks off Thursday with the $25,000 Laughlin Leap and Pit Crew Showdown.

The race itself is split into two days of action (Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 22-23) with the 16 classes for desert race cars and trucks divided into six groups for six separate races each day. From sunrise to sunset, SCORE desert racers will tackle the abbreviated 13-mile loop desert course in multiple-lap races with time limits of 85 minutes each.

The event finishing order, by class, will be based on the combined two-day elapsed time of each racer.

Race weekend festivities will once again start with the Laughlin Leap and Pit Crew showdown on Thursday.

Starting with the Pit Crew battle at 5 p.m. at the Laughlin Special Events Stadium and followed by the Laughlin Leap, drivers and crews will test their own skills and the quality of their race vehicles.

Participants will attempt to beat the existing records, both set last year. The fastest pit stop was recorded by the crew of Dale Ebberts of Canyon Lake, Calif., at 49 seconds. The longest Laughlin Leap was recorded by Larry Roeseler of Hesperia, Calif., whose Chevrolet S-10 4X4 Trophy-Truck went airborne for a distance of 140 feet, 4 inches.

On Friday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., fans can meet their favorite racers and check out their high-tech racing machines throughout the day at the manufacturer's midway and technical inspection held in the start/finish line area.

Leading the stars of desert racing set to compete in the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge will be the Terrible Herbst Motorsports team of Las Vegas brothers Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst. Ed and Tim Herbst's victory in a Ford F-150 in last year's race began what proved to be a championship run in the featured Trophy-Truck division for the 1999 Laughlin SCORE Desert Series. Troy Herbst, who drives a Ford-powered Smithbuilt open-wheel desert race car, won the unlimited Class 1 in Laughlin last year to start his march to an unprecedented third consecutive SCORE Class 1 season championship.