Colorful 3-day Dirt Live Off-Road Expo kicks off Wednesday in downtown Reno during Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 race week

UTV Weekly | July 4, 2013

Vendors, Manufacturers, live entertainment, ‘taste of Reno’; more info at www.dirtliveexpo.com

     RENO, Nev.—Something new in one of Nevada’s oldest cities debuts Wednesday through Friday in the heart of Reno as the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo launches the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 desert race week in Northern Nevada’s gaming capital. Running from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, the inaugural Dirt Live Off-Road Expo will be the epicenter of Reno’s resort corridor.
The Dirt Live Off-Road Expo will be a dazzling festival of desert racing with manufacturers, aftermarket companies, exotic race vehicles on display and food vendors mixing it up with racers, crews and fans amid the backdrop of the famed Virginia Street showcase of the “Biggest Little City in the World”.
The surreal scene will be enhanced even more with the sounds of several styles of live music emanating from the Monster Energy Stage along with the sounds and sights of the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle Mx and Ninja stunt teams performances on Thursday and Friday.
Downtown Reno will come alive as HDRA Racetown USA when the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo brings together desert racers, off-road enthusiasts, and exhibitors for three exciting action-packed days.
ALL ABOUT THE ARCH
     Under the famous Virginia Street arch, the Dirt Live Off-Road 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 Livfast Freestyle Motocross and two-wheel asphalt motorcycle stunt teams, and nationally known musical artists on the Monster Energy Stage, with award winning Eldorado Hotel Casino cuisine, famous Reno hospitality, contests, exhibits, and seminars for racers, fans, and enthusiasts. There will also be celebrity/racer autograph sessions throughout the three days of the expo. Based in the Reno/Sparks area, the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle Motorcycle stunt team will have four performances on both Thursday and Friday.
FUN, FUN, FUN, ’TIL…
     Event officials have announced that the hours on Wednesday at the expo on Virginia Street will be 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. while the extended hours on both Thursday and Friday will be 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Live coverage of the expo will also air on all three days on the Dirt LiveHD internet coverage broadcast at www.dirtliveexpo.com.
Industry suppliers and manufacturers will be part 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, motorcycle, rock crawling and other enthusiasts, from throughout northern California, Nevada, Arizona and the West. Helping the increase the enjoyment factor of the festivities for the three days will be a veritable truckload of photogenic Monster Energy Girls.
HAPPY TGIF…
     Additionally on Friday, the street will fill up with over 100 race trucks, race cars and race motorcycles as officials perform technical inspections for competition in the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 desert race and the Reno Extreme AMA National Hare and Hound Series races 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.
A colorful addition to Friday’s contingency activities will be the Monster Energy HDRA Pit Crew Challenge to be held at 10:30 a.m. adjacent to the Monster Energy Stage at the intersection of 4th Street and Virginia Street.
Thursday and Friday, 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.
HDRA PIT STOPS
    On the three days of the Expo both the Eldorado and Silver Legacy Hotels will have designated HDRA Pit Stop bars with beer and Monster Energy drink specials along with continuous video replay of the 2012 HDRA races.
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
     The Dirt Live Expo will be groovin’ on Thursday and Friday at the Monster Energy Stage at the 4th street Plaza on Virginia Street with continuous high-energy musical entertainment. There will be Monster Energy DJs both days and four different bands will rock the house.
On Thursday, Weird Science will play from Noon to 3:30 p.m. followed by Steel Breeze from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday’s lineup will have Audio Box blaring from Noon to 3:30 p.m. followed by the intriguing sounds of the Unauthorized Rolling Stones from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
HDRA RACETOWN USA PARTY
    On Thursday the official HDRA Racetown USA pre-race party will be held at Rum Bullions inside the Silver Legacy from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. The party will include a live DJ, Monster Energy drink specials, the Monster Energy Girls and Monster Energy swag giveaways for a variety of prizes including a Wide Open Excursions-Reno two-person, half day off-road excursion.
AND THEN…THE RACE
     On Saturday it’s down to serious business as a twinbill is slated for the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, located 20 minutes east of downtown Reno at exit 32 (USA Parkway exit) on Interstate-80 as Round 3 of the 2013 HDRA Desert Series and Round eight of the AMA National Hare and Hound motorcycle series will run simultaneously.
Over 60 entries from a dozen U.S. States as well as Columbia, Mexico and New Zealand entered in 15 classes for race cars and race trucks will be competing in the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 which will start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The course will be open for 18 hours in the elapsed-time race, but the fastest vehicles are expected to finish in about seven hours. Also at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex Saturday, starting at Noon will be motorcycles battling in the Reno Extreme, a six-hour endurance race.
While the race courses will be different, the spectator area on a elevated plateau overlooking start/finish with sight lines of more than 12 miles of the race course will make viewing safe and among the best in all of desert racing. The area will also have food and beverage vendors, a beer garden with Monster Energy drink specials, Monster Energy Girls and three performances by the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle motorcycle stunt team. One-price admission to enjoy both races is $10 per person.
RV and camping facilities are also available at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex. Fee is $20 per night, per camp site with designated viewing areas.
The featured Trophy Truck racing division for high-tech, 850 horsepower unlimited production trucks along with the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars and Class 10 for limited-engine open-wheelers will hold a special qualifying session over a short-section of the course at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday to determine their respective starting positions, by class. The starting grid for the other classes was determined by Tuesday night’s live drawing at the Eldorado Hotel and Casino.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
     This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 (held June 1-2) and this weekend’s Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 are part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher will receive a 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.
ALL ABOUT SPONSORS
    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.
Budweiser is an associate sponsor of the event as well.
Another major supporter of this multi-day motorsports extravaganza is the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
The Silver Legacy Resort Casino and Budweiser are associate sponsors of the event as well. Supporting hotels include not only the Eldorado and Silver Legacy, but Circus Circus and Harrah’s who are all part of the downtownReno.com promotional group.
For more information on the Expo, visit the official event website at dirtliveexpo.com.
IT’s DIRT, LIVEHD!
   Roger Norman’s Dirt Live one-hour weekly show is broadcast live in High Definition on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Pacific Time on the SCORE, HDRA websites. The show content is centered around Norman’s 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 in Reno.
DIRT LIVEHD GUESTS…
     With the show on the air for 25 weeks, special racer guests have included Jim Anderson, R.J. Anderson, Ryan Arciero, B.J. Baldwin, Robby Bell, Johnny Campbell, Kurt Caselli, Martin Christensen, Justin Davis, Pat Dean, Steven Eugenio, T.J. Flores, Robby Gordon, Rod Hall, Shelby Hall, Steve Hengeveld, Jerry Herbst, Tim Herbst, Troy Herbst, Mike Julson, Harley Letner, Brad Lovell, Rob McCachren, Daniel McMillin, Luke McMillin, Mark McMillin, Andrew Myers, Steve Olliges, Adam Pfankuch, Ivan Ramirez, Jay Reichert, Brett Robinson, Larry Roeseler, Armin Schwarz, Fred Sobke, Cameron Steele, Ivan Stewart, Colton Udall, Gus Vildosola Sr, Gus Vildosola Jr, Kellon Walch and Tim Weigand.
DIRT LIVEHD CREW
     Desert racing public address announcer George Antill is the host of Norman’s Dirt LiveHD program. 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 point’s 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 three 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.
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 owns SCORE as well.
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.
     For more information, visit the official website of the events at www.hdrarace.com and www.dirtliveexpo.com.