Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: SCORE Terrible 250 race to keep July date

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 10:40 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Despite being plagued by scorching heat each of the past two years, it appears as if the third annual SCORE Henderson's Terrible 250 off-road race will retain its mid-July date in 2004.

Although the 2004 SCORE Desert Series schedule still lists the race date as "TBA," it is believed that Herbst Gaming, which co-sponsors the event with the cities of Henderson and Boulder City, has elected not to move the race to a cooler part of the year.

Temperatures near 120 degrees were reported at each of the first two races and local racer Ed Herbst, whose family owns Herbst Gaming and the Terrible Herbst Oil Company, said after this year's race that a date change might be in order for next year's race.

Herbst and his brother Tim won both the overall and Trophy Truck titles at this year's race but Ed Herbst was overcome by heat after they crossed the finish line.

"I think we're going to work on a new date, maybe," Herbst said at the time. "We're happy with it right now, but we'll think about it."

There have been rumors circulating that the race would be moved to April, but the Herbst family reportedly rejected that idea when they realized such a move would conflict with a Best in the Desert Racing Association event in April that they also sponsor.

Fish, 64, briefly was hospitalized the weekend before the Baja 1000 and treated for a severe infection and then had an enlarged thyroid gland surgically removed from his neck last week.

Fish is recovering at his Malibu, Calif., home but said through a spokesman that he plans to attend the Dec. 13 SCORE awards banquet at the Gold Coast hotel-casino.

Fish took over SCORE after series founder Mickey Thompson and his wife were murdered in the driveway of their Southern California home on March 16, 1988.

Other winners of the award were Ron Brant of Torrance, Calif. (Class 1); Dale Ebberts of Canyon lake, Calif. (Class 1); Eric Allen of San Marcos, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600); James Golden of Claremont, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600); Brian Jeffrey of Acton, Calif. (Class 1-2/1600); George Seeley of Glendale, Calif. (Class 5); Brian Ickler of Poway, Calif. (SCORE Lite); and Alan Pflueger of Honolulu (Protruck).

Herbst had his six-year string of Class 1 championships snapped this year by Ebberts and co-driver Ernie Castro Jr.