The 2013 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris – will premiere on SPEED Channel, Saturday June 8th at 9pm EST / 6pm PST. This special two-hour primetime television show captures the most dynamic and thrilling off-road racing on the planet – at the most prestigious and challenging off-road race in America. This year, over 250 race teams battled the brutal four-hundred mile Mint 400 desert racecourse. The competition was fierce and full of drama, suspense, and back and forth clashes in all twenty classes of vehicles – from the fast growing Pro UTV Class, all the way up to the million dollar Unlimited Trophy Trucks. The overall lead changed seven times, and less than half of the competitors finished the destructive and punishing race.

2013 marks the sixth consecutive year that General Tire has returned as the title sponsor of the Mint 400, since helping resurrect the race in 2008. They are the official tire of the Best in the Desert Championship, and remain dedicated to supporting off-road racing. “We can’t thank General Tire enough for their support this year,” said Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli. “This race is THE marquee event in American off-road racing. We are reaching millions and millions of race fans during The Mint race week – and our new 2-hour television format is going into 78 million homes on SPEED. With help from General Tire, we’ve built the most dynamic and entertaining off-road television show on the planet.”

SAN DIEGO — With pre-running opening Wednesday, the official 501-mile course map for the upcoming 45th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 was unveiled Tuesday night during Roger Norman’s Dirt Live HD Internet show at www.score-international.com. Entries from around the world continue to arrive for Round 2 of the 2013 SCORE Desert Series, to be held May 30-June 2 in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing in Ensenada, the seaside port on the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of San Diego.

SCORE is celebrating its 40th year as the world’s foremost desert racing organization in 2013 and this race is traditionally one of the most popular events on the SCORE schedule. Most the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s 45th anniversary of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500, the original desert race produced by SCORE on July 26, 1974.

It is an elapsed-time race with staggered starts with the green flag on Saturday (June 1) dropping first for the motorcycles and ATVs at 6 a.m. with cars and trucks leaving the start line three and one-half hours after the last Sportsman ATV at approximately 10:30 a.m.

McMurrough Racing crew anxiously waited at the finish line of the 2013 Best In The Desert Silver State 300, as TJ and Stephanie were just mere seconds from making their last left hand turn of the race and coming into the checkered flag. Even though the finish is where winners are announced, it is not where the race is won. “They say the race is won at the shop and I believe it” said TJ, driver and owner of Champion Race Works. After the Mint 400 riddled the truck with a broken transmission, the crew had 6 weeks the turn the truck around and get it prepped and ready for the 298 mile race in Caliente, NV.

After qualifying 16th, TJ and Stephanie knew that they would need to drive smart and not over drive the truck. As the truck staged for the start of the race, the crew was setting up for their fuel pit at RM 148 and other visual pits throughout the course. Another key to winning a race like this is having a flawless fuel stop and no mistakes during the race.

The Class 1 car of Justin Lofton lined up at the start and at 9:30am sharp the race started. Lofton would quickly set the pace of the race and by the time the #80 McMurrough truck left the starting line, they would have 7 minutes and 30 seconds to make up on the leader.  Hairpin turns and cliffs are apparent in this point to point style course and you also have to factor in the silt, dust and 135mph roads. It takes a talented and experienced driver to navigate this race.With half of the course behind them and no mistakes in driving, TJ and Stephanie pulled into pit-4 where the crew was ready. Two new BFG tires and fuel topped off, the #80 truck was on the gas and back on the course in no time. With a 45 second pit stop and no one passing them during their pit, they were now on the hunt for the win. Clear dust didn’t last for long as the top trucks started catching one another; Stephanie kept her eyes on the GPS and navigated TJ through the thick, heavy Nevada dust. “We have learned to work really well together inside the truck” Stephanie stated, “I really trust TJ to get us to the finish safely but also get us a win.”

SAN DIEGO—With pre-running on the official race course beginning Wednesday, SCORE officials will unveil the course map for the upcoming 45th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 during Tuesday’s airing of Roger Norman’s Dirt LiveHD weekly Internet broadcast Tuesday at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Airing in High Definition on www.score-international.com, the show will air from its broadcast home at the SCORE International tech shop in San Diego.

Presenting a detailed description presentation of the rugged race course of just over 500 miles will be SCORE Race Director Jose Grijalva who has just returned from a course-marking expedition with SCORE President Roger Norman.

Also featured on the show will be youthful SCORE Trophy Truck racer Justin Davis along with award-winning Mexican journalist Gabriel Garcia, the motorsports editor of the El Vigia newspaper in Ensenada, Mexico.

Davis, just 19 of Chino Hills, Calif., is a rookie in SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee racing division in the entire sport for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks where he drives the No. 85 Green Army Motorsports Ford F-150. Davis, who rapidly ascended to the featured racing class after winning SCORE season point championships in SCORE Lites (2010) and the unlimited Class 1 (2011), is fresh from winning the overall title at the recent King Shocks HDRA 250 in Ridgecrest, Calif.

Alamo, NV – After the pounding everyone took at the brutally tough Mint 400, Jeepspeed racers headed north for the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. The Silver State race uses a point to point course through the hills and valleys of Northern Nevada. Held mostly on fast fire roads, there is hardly a whoop the entire way. It gave competitors a chance to open up their Jeepspeeds for some high speed running. When the course is rough and technical truck set-up and a driver’s ability to push the limits without breaking determine the winner. When the course is fast, everyone is fast. With higher speeds, any mistake is amplified. An excursion off course put you in rocks and trees or off a cliff on a majority of the 300 miles run. Thick dust caused by trucks running nose to tail at full speed hung over the course making it difficult to overtake. Jeeps that made it through the mountains, the river crossings and the long flat valleys still had to navigate miles of deep powdered silt that can swallow a truck in seconds.

14 Jeeps lined up for the General Tire Jeepspeed Challenge presented by ATX Series Wheels, (6 cylinder Jeep SUVs with limited modifications). In the General Tire Jeepspeed Cup presented by ATX Series Wheels, (open class for Jeep, Dodge, & Mopar SUVs/Trucks) it was a dogfight between Brandon Berge and Bob Mamer. Bob was off the line first followed by Brandon 30 seconds later. Bob Mamer has had a lock on the competition in the Jeepspeed Cup winning the first two races of the season. Brandon was 4th at the season opener then 3rd at the Mint; he was looking forward to his duel with the points leader Mr. Mamer.

Alamo, NV – Northern Nevada must be a favorite location for Garrick Freitas and the Freitas Motorsports crew. They always do well on the high-speed point-to-point courses there. The team won back-to-back Vegas to Reno races on some of these same roads that were run at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. Point to point races typically favor the unlimited open wheel cars like Garrick’s General Tire FOX Jimco. Multi-lap races are better suited to the big Trick Trucks. First, the heavy trucks tear up the course and then use their huge tires and long travel to overpower the lighter class 1500 cars. Not this time; the top five finishers at the Silver State had three 1500 cars and only two Trick Trucks. Garrick qualified 15th but called upon his Kroyer horsepower to charge all the way up to third in class 1500, fifth overall at the drop of the checkered flag.

“We were trapped behind Damen Jeffries for most of the race,” said Garrick, “He was running a good pace but we wanted more. We had plenty more speed on tap with our Kroyer Racing engine but it was too risky trying to pass in the dust. We made a charge a couple of times but one attempt resulted in us almost plowing over a tree. We got going again with no damage but it was a close call.”

Ben Abatti III had a great race at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. He drove the first half of the race and then turned his Trophylite over to his father Ben Abatti II to complete the race. They built an insurmountable lead on the rest of the field, taking the victory by over 11 minutes. If the story ended there, most would be happy but that is not the case. The team was penalized 15 minutes for a race incident. It’s safe to assume that Casey Folks does not like to hand out penalties to his racers but the problem with most rules, they don’t weigh intent and in order to be consistent they have to be held to the letter, which is not always fair. The Abatti’s drove a great race and took the news hard when they learned of the penalty at the awards ceremony.

“This race was important to us,” said Ben Abatti III, “My Dad has been racing for a long time. There is no way he would break the rules on purpose. We had a big lead; we didn’t need that fraction of a second off our time. We were unable to talk with Casey before the penalty was applied, we had no idea we did anything wrong. If we broke the rules then give us a penalty but why not ten minutes instead of fifteen so we can keep the win that we earned?” The 15 minute penalty dropped the Abatti’s back to third.

A warm breeze blew through the tree branches on Disc Drive in Santa Cruz County as guests navigated its gentle curves. Hundreds of people gathered in the sun, sipping on wine and beer on the patio outside FOX’s worldwide headquarters.

Trophy trucks, rock crawlers and side-by-sides littered the front and side entrances, welcoming folks from all parts of the globe, drawn here by their love of outdoor sports and appreciation for excellent suspension.

That suspension was about to be put on display in a brand new way for FOX; this wasn’t the announcement of a new product line. For a company that’s known for pushing things forward, FOX was taking a rare moment to pause and look back as it opened its doors to the new FOX museum on the bottom floor of its Scotts Valley offices.

GILBERT, AZ: Thunder on the Beach Shootout Desert Race in Rocky Point Mexico was an excellent 140-mile course for spectators and racers alike. “We really appreciate everyone that came over the border to enjoy one of my favorite areas in Mexico,” said Tim Jones, President of the Arizona Desert Racing Association. “We had some excellent racing on a fun track, so we are calling it another successful weekend for ADRA. I’m not saying there were a ton of racers, we would really like to see the car counts increase, but we also understand that it takes time to show everyone that we are here to provide an affordable loop style of desert racing in Arizona and of course Rocky Point.”

The Arizona Desert Racing Association weekend started out on Friday with a 20 mile poker run where racers got to pre-run the course in a fun atmosphere and locals got to participate in the action as well. With 48 vehicles on the course, the winner of the Poker Run was Ryan McCoskey who took home $240 or 2820 Pesos!

Alamo, NV – Chip Prescott and Ben Himel won the second race in a row driving their Alumi Craft Class 10 car to victory at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300 in Northern Nevada. The two won the brutally tough Mint 400 just over one month ago, one of the roughest races in memory. The race took a huge toll on all the competitors including Chip and Ben. They hit a boulder while blinded by the thick dust that blanketed the course. The impact peeled back the bottom skidplate and damaged the brake master cylinder. Even with the damage, the two remained competitive and went on to take the Class 10 victory.

At the Silver State 300, they would start seventh. Their plan was to get out early and avoid the dust that imperiled them so greatly at the Mint 400. At the drop of the green flag, their plan went out the window. “We wanted to get out in clean air as soon as we could,” said Chip, “The dust was really thick on the fast graded roads so it was difficult to close on the car ahead. We had to wait for sandy washes or hard-packed sections to close and pass other cars. Fortunately for us, we can maintain a fast race pace in our Alumi Craft and still have more to give when we need it. The minute the dust would clear, we would put the hammer down.”