Herbst Looking for Overall Repeat Victory At 27th Annual SCORE Fireworks 250

Fresh from his first win in the 1998 Laughlin SCORE Desert Series, Las Vegas' Troy Herbst will be gunning for a repeat when he leads a field of nearly 150 racers into the 27th SCORE Fireworks 250 Saturday in the desert south of Barstow, Calif.

Herbst, youngest of the three racing Herbst brothers, will clearly be among the favorites when he brings his hybrid Smithbuilt desert race car, powered by a Ford V8 engine, to the starting line at 6 a.m. on Saturday. Sixteen classes of vehicles will attempt to overpower the rugged 248.5-mile course and the blistering 100-degree-plus temperatures of the Mojave desert.

By winning the unlimited Class 1 race in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 desert race on June 6, Herbst, 32, moved to the top of driver point standings for his class after four rounds of the six-race SCORE Desert Series. Herbst is the defending unlimited Class 1 driver champion in his exotic vehicle that is a cross between a traditional open-wheel desert race car and a Ford truck.

"People are deceived by the Fireworks 250," Herbst said. "Because it is a shorter distance, people assume it's easier, but it is anything but easier. The course gets chewed up with all the traffic, it is full of boulders ready to bite you and throw in the intense heat, and the attrition rate mounts in a real big hurry. I've seen people lead for over three laps, get careless for a minute and not even finish the race."

Herbst, who normally drives solo, finished third to open the season in the Laughlin Desert Challenge and then second in the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 before his Tecate SCORE Baja 500 victory.

This year's SCORE Fireworks 250 will be run over the exact 62.12-mile loop used last year when Herbst covered the distance in 4 hours, 53 minutes, 39 seconds, averaging 40.75 miles per hour. The course will be run in a clockwise direction of four laps; one vehicle will start every 30 seconds with a 10-hour finishing time limit.

Ed & Tim Herbst of Las Vegas in a Ford F-150 and Jeff Lewis of San Clemente, Calif., in a Chevrolet are also expected to be front runners in the Trophy-Truck race. Also among the 13 Southern Nevada area racers entered in the race are Henderson's Bekki Freeman and her older brother, Kenny Freeman. The Freeman's both race in Class 1-2/1600 where Bekki is currently third in driver points and Kenny is 10th.

Brian Collins of Las Vegas will be a favorite in Class 8 after winning his class at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500 in a Chevrolet C1500 for the White Lightning team.

The SCORE Fireworks 250 will be televised on Speedvision, with the first airing scheduled for Friday, August 14 at 7 p.m.

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