NASCAR Daily News Headlines * November 28, 2009

Wallace Still Needs Sponsor

"We're 100 percent done with [son] Stephen's car, with Five-Hour Energy, but we've only got about 40 percent of the budget we need for Brendan's [Gaughan]," Wallace said of his Nos. 66 and 62 entries. "I'm getting a little nervous about it. I got all the employees together and told them we were 50-50 on a lot of [sponsorship opportunities] so if you've got to go to Phoenix and Homestead and look for a job, go for it, because I don't have [the budget] at the moment.

"I'm not a quitter, I'm going to stay digging and make it happen. I plan on having [the money] but I don't have it at the moment. I didn't want to get to the last race and give them all a big surprise."

Gaughan's family is heavily involved in the Las Vegas hotel and casino industry, but Wallace said it's not a solution to his budget woes; nor was running a partial season for Gaughan.

"The deal with Brendan is he's all-in and he's not going to do anything partial," Wallace said. "He wants to do everything. The casino business is funding part of it and the stipulation is they'll fund it, but they want to run [all the races]. Michael Gaughan [Brendan's father] is a great friend, he's done so much for us and he wants to go racing. He can put so much money into it out of the casinos but the problem is we've got to get more to be able to pull the trigger and say we're going to go for it.

"It's my intention to have Brendan in that car. I like the way he drives and we've all learned so much and I know we'll continue to get better."

Prior to Homestead, Wallace announced he would run Toyota Camrys in 2010. At Homestead he said the Toyota alliance was more a technical windfall than financial, with no effect on the budget shortage for Gaughan's team.

"We've been doing all of this on our own, we have no [technical] deals with any Cup teams," Wallace said. "With what Toyota and TRD [Toyota Racing Development] bring with technical and engineering support, all their teams work together and this was something we had to do."

Steve Wallace and Gaughan ended the season seventh and ninth in the Nationwide standings, but it's close to decision time for Wallace; though his older son Greg, a team vice president, said Tuesday no layoffs were imminent.

"I hate it, but we've come right down to the wire," Rusty Wallace said at Homestead. "The best case, if we have to lay some of the guys off, is that we would be able to hire them back if we get the sponsorship we need. But I know I'm not going to go into [wife] Patti and my life savings to run a race car."(nascar.com)

SCORE Sets Banquet Date

With special assistance from Robby Gordon Motorsports in securing the high-profile Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, over 400 SCORE racers, family, friends, crews, sponsors and media will bask in the spotlight of Las Vegas as the SCORE Awards Night will honor the 36-year history and fame of the name which is the standard for desert racing around the world.

Started in 1973 with a short-course race in Riverside, Calif., the SCORE desert legacy officially began in July of 1974 in Ensenada, Mexico. Founded by the late Mickey Thompson, himself a motorsport legend, SCORE International continues to this day under the gifted guidance and dedicated leadership of Sal Fish, who has been with SCORE since shortly after Thompson started it.

“I quickly embraced the vision and the passion Mickey Thompson had when he started SCORE International, but it has amazed me over these memorable three-plus decades to see the indelible mark SCORE has left on people throughout the world,” said Fish, the SCORE CEO/President. “I have been both humbled and awed to work with so many absolutely incredible people from virtually all walks of life and from all over the world. I look forward to toasting the memory and legacy of SCORE International in Las Vegas while honoring the accomplishments of our current SCORE racers. We are also appreciative of the significant assistance we have received from Robby Gordon Motorsports in helping us secure the most visible venue we have ever had for our SCORE Awards Night.”

In addition to the special SCORE Achievement Awards and the 28 Pro, 6 Sportsman class champions and three overall point champions who will be honored in Las Vegas, another highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the annual SCORE Off-Roadsman Awards.

Individuals as well as manufacturers and organizations are honored through 11 distinct awards, whose winners are decided by vote of the entire SCORE membership of more than 2,000. Among the awards to be presented are Contingency Company of the year, Pit Support Team of the year, Sponsor of the year, Rookie of the year, Mechanic of the year and Person of the year.

Another aspect of the festivities will be the presentation of the SCORE Toyota Milestone Awards. As it has for 24 years, the Toyota Milestone Awards are presented to those drivers in four-wheel vehicle classes who finish every required mile of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series. This year 14 drivers will receive this honor.

The evening will include a video/photographic tribute to the 2009 SCORE desert racing season.

This year will mark the first time that the annual SCORE Awards Night has been held at the iconic Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and the first time the historic evening has been held in Las Vegas since 2003.

A pre-awards reception will start the festivities at 6 p.m., followed by the dinner, a special tribute to the 2009 SCORE season and presentations at 7 p.m.

Individual ticket reservations as well as reservations for tables of 10 are being accepted through the SCORE offices at 818.225.8402

For the weekend, a special SCORE room rate is available at the exclusive Hard Rock Hotel, for $199 per night. These rooms, secured through Robby Gordon Motorsports may be reserved by going online at http://tinyurl.com/y8dugtr. The SCORE room block is guaranteed to be available until midnight, Tuesday, Dec. 1.

SCORE International, based in Los Angeles, continues today producing its five-race SCORE Desert Series which is anchored by the legendary granddaddy of all desert races—the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. SCORE presents two races in Southern Nevada—the SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge and the SCORE Terrible’s Primm 300. In Mexico, SCORE also annually produces the SCORE San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Baja 500.

SCORE official sponsors for 2009 are: BFGoodrich Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are: Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc., Blue C Advertising, SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie’s Performance Products and Advanced Color Graphics.

Associate sponsors for the Tecate SCORE are the Baja California State Secretary of Tourism and ProTurismo de Ensenada.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818.225.8402 or visit the official website of the 2009 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.