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September
24, 2007
Thursday in Long Beach, Calif.
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SCORE
Baja silent auction for Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame
To begin Thursday’s ‘40 Years to Glory’ SCORE Baja 1000 Gala
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Tickets are
on sale from the Long Beach Performing Arts Center box office or via
Ticketmaster at 213.480.3232 or 714.740.2000 or online at
www.40yearstoglory.com
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LONG BEACH, Calif.—Thursday’s once-in-a-lifetime ’40 Years to Glory’
gala at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center will start at 5:30 p.m.
with a very unique silent auction to benefit the Off-Road Motorsports
Hall of Fame. The event is a tribute to the 40th Anniversary of the
legendary Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race and the ORMHOF Silent
Auction will see winning bidders take away one-of-a-kind treasures
that come from the very fabric of the sport.
To be held in the Terrace Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts
Center, the evening’s centerpiece will be a specially produced,
Oscar’s-style stage presentation honoring a long and distinguished
list of past SCORE Baja 1000 champions, influential media, industry
innovators and desert racing pioneers. The evening’s festivities will
start at 5:30 p.m. with the ORMHOF Silent Auction and a buffet dinner
with the tribute show at 7:30 p.m. and special after-party at 9:30
p.m.
Guest tickets include admission, dinner, and a commemorative event
program. Like a concert or play, guests will also be provided with a
reserved seat inside the Terrace Theater and sold on a first-come,
first-served basis.
Co-hosted by motorsports television personalities Dave Despain and
Paul Page, the evening’s ‘40 Years to Glory’ tribute will combine
music, video, select on-stage introductions and a special tribute by
famed motorcycle builder turned SCORE Trophy-Truck racer Jesse James
to the late Hollywood actor and Baja 1000 veteran Steve McQueen.
Unlike Hollywood’s Oscars, tickets to this special evening available
are available to the public. However, both events will share a red
carpet entrance for the evening’s long list of honorees and the
presentation of uniquely-created awards recognizing individual
contributions to the SCORE Baja 1000’s world-renowned status as a
motorsports icon and the legendary granddaddy of all desert races.
True collector items like the autographed helmet of 39-time Baja 1000
motorcycle racer Ron Bishop wore in the 1969 Baja 1000, or the driver
suits worn by Enduro Racing’s Dave Ashley and Dan Smith during their
historic four wheel overall victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 2000.
A wide variety of unique or rare items are on the list of choices for
bidders to consider. Among that variety will be found matched sets of
the three Ford Rough Rider Posters framed and ready for display,
autographed bottles of the special label wine made for the ORMHOF
Induction ceremonies in 2005, and 2007. Each of the 2007 bottles are
signed by six of the eight 2007 inductees. Award-winning Trackside
Photo has been hard at work on selecting amazing photography as part
of the auction as well.
Among the larger items will be the rear quarter panel from Robby
Gordon’s SCORE Trophy-Truck from the Tecate SCORE Baja 2000 is
autographed by Gordon and ready for a new home.
Also available will be the 1X number plate from the Honda XR650R that
Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld rode to the overall victory in the
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 as well the jersey and pants Hengeveld wore
when he rode that bike
Some of the auction items are outside the memorabilia category. Up for
bid is a one week stay at the McMillin Companies condo in Lake Tahoe.
A gracious donation from Wide Open Baja is a four day off-road driving
tour to the highest bidder.
There will be driver suits from significant SCORE Baja 1000 winners.
The 1985 SCORE Baja 1000 four-wheel overall victory was captured by
Steve Sourapas; driving his Coors-sponsored Class 10 Raceco-VW. That
marked the first and only time in the history of the SCORE Baja 1000
that a Class 10 car won the overall.
In both 2004 and 2005 the four wheel overall wins went to Terrible
Herbst Motorsports team drivers Troy Herbst, and Larry Roeseler. The
2005 win marked the 20th consecutive overall four wheel title for
BFGoodrich Tires and up for auction is the driver suit worn by
Roeseler while he made those historic runs, a real piece of SCORE Baja
1000 history. There are more drivers suits from noteworthy drivers and
all will be framed and on display at the ORMHOF Silent Auction tent.
The evening’s presentation will honor race celebrities in separate
groups, with Baja icons like Sal Fish, Parnelli Jones, Ivan Stewart,
Walker Evans, Frank Vessels, Bob Gordon, Frank Arciero Jr. the
McMillin family and Rod Hall all sharing a portion of the 90-minute
program. Those valiant riders on two wheels will also share the
spotlight, thanks to scheduled appearances by Malcolm Smith, Larry
Roeseler, Eddie Mulder, Bruce Ogilvie, Ron Bishop, Johnny Campbell and
Mitch Mayes. Additional star power will come in the form of many
cross-over drivers that fill Baja’s record books; including schedule
appearances by sport car legends Bob Bondurant and Peter Brock, rising
NASCAR star Boris Said, along with Indianapolis 500 veterans Danny
Sullivan, Roberto Guerrero and brothers Mike and Robbie Groff.
Making ‘40 Years to Glory’ even more memorable will be an
unprecedented gathering of Baja pioneers, including Dave Ekins, Spence
Murray, Bruce Meyers, Andy DeVercelly, Dave Deal, Johnny Johnson, Pete
Condos and Bobby Ferro.
And sprinkled into these tributes will be celebrations of various
other groups and personalities that have made the SCORE Baja 1000 such
a lasting institution.
‘40 Years to Glory’ will include the world’s largest display of
vintage and historic desert race vehicles and motorcycles, live music,
cocktails and a huge buffet-style dinner. The night will be capped off
with the “SCORE Baja After Party” back on the plaza.
The special gala is being made possible by the generous support of
presenting partners Volkswagen of America, BFGoodrich Tires, Micron
Technology and Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, in association with Dirt
Sports Magazine, Hot Rod Magazine, Kartek Off-Road and Bandito
Brothers Productions.
This year’s 40th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the season finale of
the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series for cars, trucks, motorcycles
and ATVs, will be held Nov. 10-16 as a journey down Mexico’s majestic
Baja California peninsula. With pre-race activities in Tijuana, there
will be more pre-race activities and the race will start in Ensenada
and finish some 1,300 miles later in Cabo San Lucas. With over 400
entries expected from 40 U.S. States and 15 countries, the historic
race will be taped by NBC Sports.
The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame was established in 1978 to
recognize and honor those individuals and organizations whose lifelong
contributions to off-road motorsports have set a standard for others
to follow. Housed in Gallery Four of the National Automobile Museum,
(The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nev. Since 2003, ORMHOF is visited by
over 175,000 ticket buying automotive enthusiasts each year. ORMHOF is
funded by donations from individuals, families, companies, and fund
raising activities such as this Silent Auction. It is an IRS Code
Section 501(c) 3 Non-Profit/Tax Exempt organization. There are 46
individuals who have been selected as ORMHOF Inductees. For more
information on the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame, please visit the
official web site at www.ormhof.org.
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