lenhart@off-road.com

On the night of December 7'th, The Stars and Stars to be, of the Off Road Racing world, converged on the beautiful "Town and Country Resort"in downtown San Deigofor the 1996 SCORE International Off-Road Racing Awards Night. This "black tie and tux afair" is likely the one time of the year that you won't see SCORE's finest dressed in thier more familliar Nomex© driving suits.

Master of Cerimonies, Bob BowerDid a fine job of entertaining the crowd with his irreverant humor, tales of races gone by, and even a few good natured jabsat some of the racers. The Trophy Truck Team of Simon and Simonmade for good sport, as Bob reminded the crowd of "Ford Flambe'", as thier truck came to be known, after its wont to catch fire mid race.

Not to be lef out of the more humorous action, SCORE C.E.O. Sal Fishpresented Robby Gordonwith the checkered flag from his championship year. During the presentation, Sal turned to Robby and said, "Im not quite sure if I want to beat you over the head with this, or just give it to you !"Fortunately no blood was shed, and Robby's mother added the flag to her already large but growing collection of Checkered Flags, that her son has amassed during his illustrious career.

This night, the Desert racing community came together to celebrate thier own, and look back on the year that was. And WHAT a year it was ! SCOREsuffered some heavy losses with the deaths of key staff and racers alike. Sal Fishunderwent, and recovered from open heart surgery. Trophy Truck driver and long time desert racer, Robby Gordon, bid a fond farewell to the sport, as he moved on to the fast paced world of NASCAR Racing. Events like "The Laughlin Challenge"drew record numbers of fans and racers alike. Hard fought Championships were won and lost at the final, and greatest race of the year, "The Baja 1000".

The Big awardsof the evening went to 3 well deservingmen. The Overall Championshipswere won by Motorcycle Racer Paul Krause, Class 10 Driver Andrew Wehe, and last but certanly not least, Trophy Truck driver Robby Gordon. These men exemplify the best that off-road racing has to offer the world of motorsports, and in these Embassadors of the sport, we are well represented.

Good cheer, good beer, and congratulations were in abundance at the ceremony, with many of the assembled racers looking forward to the coming 97' season. Companys like Fat Performance, B.F. Goodrich, Jimco,will be entering the next season on a high note, after bringing home several coveted awards. SCOREitself has big plans as well and will surely make 1997 THE year to rememberfor the fans and racers alike, and you can be sure that Off-Road.com will be there to cover it all !

SCORE wishes to thank the following sponsors for thier support of the 1996 Desert Championship Series.