.

How do you spell excitement?
L-A-U-G-H-L-I-N!

Correction - We mistakenly posted the winner of the Class 10 "Laughlin Leap" as Andy Wehe. The actual winner was Johnny Phillips @ 44 feet. We apologize for the error. Congrats Johnny!

The Laughlin Challenge, now in it's third year, has always stood apart in the SCORE Desert Series. The 2 day / combined time event is a drastic departure from conventional desert races, using a "one day-one race" approach. In 1997, the gap widened even further as SCORE adopted a more "spectator friendly", short course format. Would it work? Would the fans like it? Would the racers like it? These questions, and a few more were on the mind of SCORE CEO Sal Fish before the event began. It was a big gamble, even in a casino town like Laughlin.

For all involved, that gamble has paid off in spades. From the drop of the green flag at 6am on Saturday, until the checkered fell for Class 1 on Sunday, fans and racers alike experienced some of the most exciting desert racing in recent memory. Buggies and trucks alike came through the grandstand area two and three abreast. The sharp corners, long straightaways and the famous "Laughlin Leap" made for some spectacular action. As soon as one vehicle left the "infeild" another was on it's way in.

And so it went for two days. Fans filled the grandstands and surrounding ridges, racers and their crews filled the pits, and the sweet smell of race fuel filled the air. When all was said and done, the "short course" format left many happy people in it's wake. Perhaps the happiest person of all however, was not one of the events winners, or any of the fans. Perhaps the happiest person was Sal Fish himself, knowing that in less than four short months SCORE will kick off the 98 season with the Crown Jewel of American desert racing....

The 1998 Laughlin Desert Challenge