RENO, Nev. — With entries continuing to arrive daily from around the world, the live drawing for starting positions will be held Tuesday for the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 desert race. Round 2 of the five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held April 24-27 just west of El Centro, Calif and approximately 100 miles east of San Diego.

With over 150 entries competing in 35 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles, UTVs and ATVs expected at the start line on Saturday, April 26, entries to date have come from 16 U.S. States along with Austria, Denmark, Germany and Mexico.

ON CBS SPORTS SPECTACULAR
The race will be televised on a delayed basis in the USA and Canada as a one-hour special on the CBS Sports Network with the telecast presented by BFGoodrich Tires. The show, being produced by SoCal’s acclaimed BCII TV, will air twice on the CBS Sports Spectacular show with the initial airing at 9 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 15, 2014. Following the CBS Sports Network telecasts, the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 show will air worldwide in over 100 countries through international distribution.

SPECIAL SCORE DIRT LIVEHD
Tuesday’s start draw will be held at the SCORE Tech Shop in El Cajon, Calif. and webcast live via the weekly SCORE Dirt LiveHD Internet show with host George Antill. SCORE’s corporate headquarters are located in Reno, Nev.

During the 14th episode of the 2014 SCORE Dirt LiveHD season, one video segment to air will be the trailer for the CBS Sports Network April 20 (6 p.m. PT) telecast of the season-opening Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. The other will be a special promotional video for the SCORE Imperial Valley 250 produced by Spectrum Advertising of El Centro, Calif.

DILIGENCE
Following nearly two years of extensive planning with assistance from numerous individuals, multiple businesses and several government agencies from across the entire Imperial Valley and presented by the City of El Centro, SCORE’s first race in this portion of Southern California and first SCORE race in California since a 1998 race in Barstow will be held near Plaster City primarily on 41,000 dedicated acres in an off-highway vehicle use area under the jurisdiction of the El Centro field office of the Bureau of Land Management.

The area for the race is also located immediately west of the Naval Air Facility El Centro and is approximately 17 miles west of El Centro off of Interstate 8 (I-8).

COMP FORMAT
The SCORE World Desert Championship series features 35 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs with the best desert racers in the world competing in elapsed-times races with staggered starts. Nearly 150 entries from 20 U.S. States and five countries are expected for this race. The classes will be split into two groups for the SCORE Imperial Valley 250.

The Motorcycle, ATV and a few of the slower car/truck classes will start at 5:45 a.m. on Saturday, April 26 with the featured SCORE Trophy Truck, unlimited Class 1 and other remaining car and truck classes starting at approximately 1 p.m.

While the fastest vehicles are expected to complete the course in just under four hours, the time limit for each vehicle to become an official will be seven hours in the morning portion of the race and eight hours in the afternoon portion. Many of the limited classes will be required to run two laps while the fastest classes will all be required to cover three laps.

IMPERIAL INFIELD
Run as a three-lap race over a rugged desert race course of approximately 82 miles in length, the colorful course will include a purpose-built eight-mile section off Wheeler Road with specially-built jumps, turns and a table top area in a one square mile area of private land in the center of the race course. This infield area will include the start/finish line, the main pits, the SCORE Operations compound, the primary spectator area with SCOREvision as well as the Monster Energy VIP winner’s circle. There will also be a number of food, beverage and merchandise vendors located in this main spectator area.

SPEC AREA2
While the race course will be closed to spectators because of safety requirements for this massive desert race, a second designated spectator area will be located parallel to a five-mile section of the race course along the south side Evan Hewes Highway (County Hwy S-80). The BLM has advised SCORE that this section on the south side of Evan Hewes Highway will be open for camping as well during the race.

This second spectator area will also be adjacent to the secondary pits for the race. Along with the start/finish line area off of Wheeler Road, these are the only two designated spectator areas and both will be overseen as will the rest of the race course by the BLM and local and county police agencies to help insure the safety of everyone involved.

SAFETY FIRST
At the very top of the priority list for this event has been safety for the racers as well as the spectators and the nearly 200 course workers.  Starting Tuesday (April 22) the entire area of the race course will be closed to the public by enforcement of the BLM permit for the event.

Race officials have developed the two primary spectator areas both with tremendous site lines of the race course and with ultimate safety in mind. With the added assistance from the area police agencies, race officials are creating a family-friendly spectator environment as well.

To assist the crowd of several thousand expected to attend the race, the SCORE Race Committee has launched its own website at www.IVSCORE250.com with race fans in mind.

The event website also has a reminder list for spectators of the do’s and don’ts for watching the race.

START DRAW, RECON LAP, QUALIFYING
As a prelude to the inaugural event, a live drawing will be held for starting positions, by class, on Tuesday for SCORE Trophy Truck and Class 1, the two classes that will have qualifying to determine starting positions, the drawing will identify the qualifying order for each entry.

Not open to the public, activities for what is expected to be one of the largest spectator events in Imperial Valley history will begin with two, one-lap, controlled-speed reconnaissance runs for official entries in the event, one on Wednesday afternoon, April 23 and the other Thursday morning, April 24.

On Thursday afternoon, April 24, starting at 1:30 p.m. PT qualifying will be held for the two top competition classes in the race, SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks, and SCORE Class 1 for unlimited, open-wheel desert race cars.

FAN FARE
Starting Thursday, pre and post-race activities for the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 will be held in and around the Imperial Valley Mall at 3451 South Dogwood Avenue in El Centro.

Public activities will start with a special SCORE parade of race vehicles on Thursday evening, April 24 starting at 6 p.m. at the Imperial Valley Mall.

GOING GREEN PARTY
Start at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday evening, April 24, the Monster Energy SCORE ‘Imperial Valley Goes Green’ part featuring the SCORE Pit Crew Challenge, racer autograph session, vehicle display and first night of pre-race contingency. Open to the public at no charge, the party will include the humongous SCOREvision super-size LED screen debuting the exclusive first showing of the Cactus Films Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 video and the CBS Sports Network replay of the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 that will air nationally at 6 p.m. PST on Sunday, April 20.

MANUFACTURER’S MIDWAY
The colorful SCORE manufacturer’s midway, contingency and safety inspection of all vehicles in the race will be held in the parking area of the Imperial Valley Mall from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Racer and media registration will be held inside the IV Mall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, April 25.

FREESTYLEMX
Throughout the day on Friday, April 25 at the SCORE Manufacturer’s Midway will be performances of the Monster Energy FreestyleMX motorcycle team.

AWARDS CELEBRATION
The post-race awards celebration, also open to the public, will be held on Sunday, April 27 at 10 in the Imperial Valley Mall.

SCORE DIRT LIVEHD GLOBAL
With viewers in over 100 countries, SCORE Dirt LiveHD will present live internet streaming from the event from pre-green to post-checker. Coverage will include live start and finish line interviews as well as live coverage from the many ancillary events tied to the race.  On race day, live satellite tracking of all vehicles in the race will also be broadcast through the SCORE International website.

‘FRIENDS OF SCORE’
The ever-growing group that has become ‘friends of SCORE’ from the area of the race include the BLM-El Centro Field Office, the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department, El Centro Police Department, Naval Air Facility El Centro, Emergency Medical Services, De Anza Rescue Unit, Imperial Valley Mall, El Centro Chamber of Commerce, Imperial Irrigation District, the city of El Centro and Imperial County departments of Planning and Public Works, board of supervisors and the county executive officer.

The event is expected to generate an economic impact for the Imperial Valley of nearly $10 million.

‘FRIENDS OF SCORE 2’
Primary local sponsors for the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 are: the City of El Centro, Imperial County, IID, REACH-Air Medical Services, Alford Distributing, Burgers & Beer, PMC and the Imperial Valley Cycle Center.

Supporting local sponsors include: Imperial Valley Mall, Spectrum Advertising, McMillin Homes, Los Cuates Fruteria, Sun Community, Rabobank, First Foundation Bank, AT&T, Rogers & Rogers, El Centro Motors Supercenter, Desert Auto Plaza, Duggins Construction, IFS, Gold Cross Ambulance Service, LiUNA, Alkaline Water Company and Hutchinson-Bloodgood.

SCORE RACE DIRECTORS
Former SCORE champion open-wheel racer Ryan Thomas will be the race-director for this event and will be assisted by Robert Gross and Greg Garber.

‘THE IV CREW’
Inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley Race Committee Members: Jeff Sturdevant –Co-Chair, El Centro Chamber of Commerce/JCS Construction; Marty Coyne – Co-Chair, Imperial Valley Cycle Center; Jeff Alford – Marketing, Alford’s Distributing; Jaime Honald – El Centro Chamber of Commerce/Burgers & Beer, Marketing/Awards Ceremony; Brandon Adams – Marketing, Alford’s Distributing; Darletta Willis – El Centro Chamber Of Commerce, Sponsors; Travis Coyne – Hotels and Equipment, Imperial Valley Cycle Center; Gary Wyatt – County of Imperial – Permits; Charla Teeters – United Desert Gateway, Imperial Valley Film Commission, permits; Steven Gutierrez – Imperial County Sherriff Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Gordon Johnson – Imperial County Sherriff Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Jim McGenley – Chief of El Centro Police Department, Law enforcement/Safety; Bob Ham – Checkers off Road Racing Team; Kirk Hester – District 38/Torrence’s Farm Implements, course design; Tony Rouhotus – Chief of Imperial County Fire, Safety; Art Eugenio – Get Some Photography; Randy Taylor – Rabo-Bank; Carlos Coral – SCORE International.

ON THE SCOREscope
In its 41st year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2014, the five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series, with three special events held in Baja California, Mexico, and two in the United States, started with the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 on March 1. Starting and finishing in Ensenada, the 46th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be held June 5-8 and the third SCORE Baja race, starting in Ensenada and finishing in La Paz, the 47th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be held Nov. 12-16.

The two U.S. races on 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship calendar are the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250 in Plaster City, Calif. (April 25-27) and the two-day, single-race Inaugural SCORE Desert Challenge, location TBA (Sept. 25-28).

CBS SPORTS NETWORK
CBS Sports Network is available across the country through local cable, video and telco providers and via satellite on DirecTV Channel 221 and Dish Network Channel 158. For more information, including a full programming schedule and how to get CBS Sports Network, go to www.cbssportsnetwork.com. CBS Sports Network will run a one-hour special on all five 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship races as well as a sixth show on the special qualifying for select classes for the 2014 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 that will be held Nov. 1-4 in Las Vegas during the annual SEMA automotive industry trade show. All shows are scheduled to air in the next month following the event.

WEEKLY SCORE DIRT LIVEHD
SCORE Dirt LiveHD, SCORE’s weekly Tuesday night internet studio show from El Cajon, Calif., also goes on-site live with expanded event coverage during SCORE events. Live event coverage in 2014 will include week-long live coverage of the entire five-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series of two races in the United States and three in Baja California, Mexico.  The first USA event of the inaugural SCORE World Desert Championship series will be the inaugural SCORE Imperial Valley 250.

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