Downtown Reno hosting Dirt Live Off-Road Expo July 10-12

UTV Weekly | April 25, 2013

Dirt Live Off-Road Expo to bring desert racing to downtown Reno July 10-12 during Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 race week

RENO, Nev.—Downtown Reno, Nev., will come alive July 10-12 when the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo brings together desert racers, off-road enthusiasts, and exhibitors for three exciting action-packed days.
Under the famous Virginia Street arch, the Expo in the Northern Nevada gaming city will gather the competitors of the High Desert Racing Association, aficionados of desert racing, and enthusiasts of all kinds, in a summertime festival atmosphere around the Monster Energy Stage and in the BFGoodrich Tires Hospitality area.
The Dirt Live Off-Road Expo will combine the action and excitement of the Monster Energy Freestyle Stunt Team, and nationally known musical artists, with award winning Eldorado Hotel Casino cuisine, famous Reno hospitality, contests, exhibits, and seminars for racers, fans, and enthusiasts.
Industry suppliers and manufacturers can take advantage of the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo’s unique brand engagement environment as the “Biggest Little City in the World” rolls out the red carpet for hardcore desert racers, ATV, motorcycle, rock crawling and other enthusiasts, from throughout northern California, Nevada, Arizona and the West.
Friday, July 12, the street will fill up with hundreds of trucks, race cars and motorcycles as officials perform technical inspections for competition in the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 the following day at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex. The general public and race enthusiasts will mingle with racing officials, drivers, and teams to enjoy autograph sessions, photo opportunities, and more in the wide-open Virginia Street pit area.
Thursday and Friday (July 11-12), two short courses at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex will host enthusiasts, manufacturers, and suppliers, in continuous product and vehicle demonstrations, ride and drives and product reviews. Complimentary shuttle service between downtown Reno and the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, will give the public and enthusiasts access as never before to the desert racing experience.
The Dirt Live Off-Road Expo is a production of the Eldorado Hotel Casino, presenting sponsor of the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500, in conjunction with Dirt Live, HDRA, SCORE International desert racing, Wide Open Excursions, BFGoodrich Tires and Monster Energy.
For more information on the Expo and exhibit opportunities, call or email: Stewart Doty 715-536-1067 or stewart@dirtliveexpo.com.
IT’s DIRT, LIVE!
    Roger Norman’s Dirt Live one-hour weekly show is broadcast live on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on the SCORE and HDRA websites. The show content is centered around his two desert racing series, the SCORE Desert Series and the High Desert Racing Association as well as the new bonus points program he has developed called the World Championship of Desert Racing. Broadcast studios are located at the SCORE tech shop in El Cajon, Calif., a suburb of San Diego. Dirt Live also goes live on-site during HDRA and SCORE race weeks and will be broadcasting live daily at the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo.
DIRT LIVE GUESTS…
     With the show on the air for 14 weeks, special racer guests have included R.J. Anderson, Ryan Arciero, B.J. Baldwin, Robby Bell, Johnny Campbell, Kurt Caselli, Justin Davis, Steven Eugenio, T.J. Flores, Robby Gordon, Mike Julson, Harley Letner, Brad Lovell, Rob McCachren, Daniel McMillin, Luke McMillin, Andrew Myers, Steve Olliges, Adam Pfankuch, Larry Roeseler, Cameron Steele, Ivan Stewart, Colton Udall, Gus Vildosola Sr, Gus Vildosola Jr and Tim Weigand.
DIRT LIVE CREW
     Desert racing public address announcer George Antill is the host of Norman’s Dirt Live program. While being refined weekly, one of the regular elements of the show will be a SCORE social media interchange, allowing fans and racers to comment and ask questions through the SCORE Facebook and SCORE Twitter platforms. Another special segment each week is Tech Tips with SCORE Tech co-director Jake Velasco.
Andrew Grimshaw, SCORE Media Production Manager, is the coordinating producer of the show. The program is hosted on ustream.com, the world’s largest streaming internet site.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF DESERT RACING
     The 2013 SCORE Desert Series will also be part of the quickly-evolving World Championship of Desert Racing, which will combine points accumulated in the three SCORE Baja races along with points earned from three of the four-race 2013 HDRA Series, all held in the United States. Both the SCORE and HDRA series will crown their own individual class and overall point champions as well with a bonus purse for those racers who qualify for the World Championship of Desert Racing points bonus purse program to earn a desert racing World Champion title.
With a growing total, for the inaugural World Championship of Desert Racing bonus purse, an official total of $45,000 has been posted to date from new SCORE sponsors Amber Racing Services ($25,000), King Shocks ($10,000) and Rigid Industries ($10,000).
For car and truck classes with at least five starters in each qualifying race in 2013, the World Champion titles will be decided on combined points from the three SCORE races and three HDRA races with the bonus purse paid using the same formula based on total purse and number of starters in each class as is used currently for each SCORE race.
For the pro motorcycle and ATV classes, the World Championship of Desert Racing will include points earned in the three SCORE Baja races as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound race to be held during the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
     This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 and Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 (July 12-14) are part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher and combined best qualified motorcycle finisher will each receive special entry packages into the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Regulations and other information on Dakar Challenge 2013 are available at http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/dakar-challenge.html.
NORMAN NOTES…
     Norman acquired ownership of the world-renown SCORE International on Dec. 20, 2012 from Sal Fish, 73, the iconic godfather of desert racing who ran SCORE for 39 years.
As a hotel/casino owner in northern Nevada, business developer and a champion racer, Norman re-started the High Desert Racing Association, (HDRA) in 2011. HDRA was highly regarded when it was active originally in the 1980s and early 1990s. HDRA was actually bought out by Sal Fish in the early 90’s, thus making SCORE the dominant racing organization. Things have come full circle as HDRA owner, Norman, now buys SCORE.
In addition to business interests in both San Diego and Reno, Nev., Norman owns the Crystal Bay Casino in North Lake Tahoe, Nev. as well as Wide Open Excursions desert ride-n-drive tour company with branches in Ensenada, Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and Reno, Nev.
Norman is a regular with his ‘Pit Stop with Roger’ segment on his new weekly webcast internet show on www.dirtlive.com.
     For more information, visit the official website of the new SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.