While the State of Nevada is said to be the home of more wild horses than all of the other states combined, Best in the Desert (BITD) brought lots of wild and plenty of horsepower to Nevada for its inaugural 2016 Method Race Wheels Laughlin Desert Classic May 7-8. This race marked the third leg of the BITD’s Trick Truck Challenge with a “side bet” purse of $174,000. The rich off-road desert racing history of Laughlin meant that expectations were high for an event where BITD brought all their classes to race for the first time.

Under the shadows of the Laughlin Casinos Cockstar Racing took fourth in Class 1500 in their Bostick Racing Engines-powered “truggy”

Within close proximity of Laughlin and the race course, fans and teams had plenty of entertainment and amenities to choose from on Mother’s Day weekend … with your mom, of course. If you wanted to try your luck at gambling catch a movie, go boating on the river, or see a Miranda Lambert concert, nothing was more than five minutes away from the starting line.

BITD added new obstacles and technical driving sections to the Laughlin desert course while also maintaining the aerial jumps that Laughlin is known for, including the famous “Laughlin Leap,” in keeping with the traditions that have made, or broken, many an off-road racer in Laughlin. With this change of scenery for the BITD faithful, it is no wonder this event attracted interest from more than 200 race teams.

Harley Letner, who debuted with his new team Youtheory Racing, gave his impression of course conditions,  “The course was really good and Casey and Best In The Desert did an amazing job with the layout and adding the extra miles, I was impressed as always!”

Thursday Time Trials

The race event kicked off on Thursday with time trials. Letner shined in this break-out with his new team claimed the top starting spot in his custom Class 1500 buggy by killing the short 2.5-mile qualifying course in a time of  2:21.

Josh Daniel’s qualifying run was just one second shy of Letner, but good enough to put him up front for the Trick Truck start on Saturday.

Letner’s top time earned a $1,000 Team Ford Pole Award presented by Trick Truck driver Steve Olliges and his Team Ford Lincoln dealership. “Qualifying went really well for us. I was pushing pretty hard for the top spot as I’ve never got overall before,” Letner said. “I blew two corners pretty bad, but other than that I had a very solid run.”

Josh Daniel was the top Trick Truck racer, finishing the qualifying run just one second behind Letner. Since the Trick Trucks and 1500’s started in separate heats for the main event, Daniel’s second-place qualifying run put him in the front row starting position for the main event, giving him a prime shot at an overall win in this all-out sprint race.

TrophyLite Champion Todd Jackson holding off the Cobbs in the first lap on Saturday.

Five Separate Races Over Two Days

Racing just four 17-mile laps each day is unforgiving no matter what class of vehicle you are racing in the desert.  The margin for error is razor thin, and any setback can mean the difference between a podium finish and a consolation pat on the back. Many drivers that could have had a chance to win in a longer race simply watched their chances at glory fade away in the dust due to routine mechanical failures, fires, or flats.

The first races started at 6:00 a.m. both days with the Trophylites, and the 3000, 2000, 3700, 1700, 1200, 4700, Vintage, and 8100 classes taking off three-at-a-time. For Trophylites, mechanical issues held off a challenge by Jeff Mortis, allowing Todd Jackson (2:45:58) to take a two-minute win over second-place finisher, Edmundo Chantler (2:47:41).

Joshua, Jason and Gretchen Cobb out of Phoenix showing their colors in the TrophyLite competition at Laughlin

The Vintage Class was won by Mint 400 Champ Todd Richards in his Team MacPherson 1990 Chevy S10 ZR2 (3:27:41). Richards told us he started conservatively on Saturday and opened it up for the last three laps, only to suffer a few burnt plugs and a broken leaf spring.  He survived at Saturday’s heat without catastrophe but he had good reason for concern heading into Sunday.

Jerry McDonald from Team MacPherson patched up his leaf spring and replaced the plugs to prepare for Sunday.  After gaining some confidence in their engine and leaf spring performance, Richards’ team pushed it on Sunday, only to hit a rock on the deteriorated course at race mile 12 that bent the rim and shredded the tire.  After a very quick change they avoided further doom and took the victory — but only because they didn’t suffer any more issues on the course.

Other Race One Winners

• Class 2000 – Mason Cullen
• Class 3700 – Billy Bunch
• Class 1700 – Rick Randall
• Class 5000 – Jacob Meurer
• Class 1200 – Greg Foutz
• Class 8100 – Tim Krauss

Despite adversity on the course, Todd Richards was proud of how his little Chevy S10 held on to win the Vintage Class.

The second race featured UTVs, including 1800, 1900, 900, and 2900 Classes. Young guns Mitch Guthrie, Jr. and co-dawg Kurtis Elliot (both 19 years old) were leading on Sunday before their turbo Polaris caught fire, opening the door for Marc Burnett in his Polaris UTV Pro Turbo to edge out Jacob Carver’s custom Lone Star Racing Pro Turbo UTV by one minute and 25 seconds. Brandon Sims took third Place in the 900 Class.

In the 1900 Pro UTV Class, Justin Lambert finished first in a time of 2:39:39, followed by Matt Burroughs (2:44:55). Lacrecia Beurrier, in her Dragonfire Polaris, celebrated her Mother’s Day with a third Place podium finish in (2:51:41).

Other Race Two Winners

• Class 1800 – Corbin Wells
• Class 2900 – Justin Brisbon

Lacrecia Beurrier celebrated her Mother’s Day on the podium.

The third race started at 10:00 a.m. and featured 1000, 2400, and 7200 Classes. Troy Messer (2:22:18) bested Devin Rumsey by about 38 seconds to win the 7200 Class. Jared Teague took advantage of Jason Coleman’s early exit due to a blown engine to win the 1000 Class with a time of 2:25:12. DNF’s by Michael Lapaglia, Vince Viola, and Keith Waibel also thinned the field for Teague, likely due in part to the worsening course conditions and mechanical issues. Nick Carolan outran Ryan Curtis by less than a minute to claim first place in the 2400 Class.

The fourth race featured the big 1500 Class buggies and the 6100 and 8000 Class trucks. Chris German in his Kitty II was the only racer in the 8000s, which handed him the Class win. Tony Smiley won the Class 6100 in his Geiser truck over Matt Laughlin.

Suffering a setback on day two, Letner could not take advantage of his top starting position. “The car was working better than good. Shocks were dialed and the new engine ran like a top!” he said. “I made a big mistake Saturday passing a lapped car and stalled in the dust and a bad battery wouldn’t allow the car to start. Sunday I was bummed out at the start after my mistake on Saturday. I had to start 13th overall behind 6100 trucks.”

Ultimately, it was Cody Parkhouse (2:12:28) and Sam Berri (2:16:01) finishing in the top two spots ahead of a third place finish for Letner.

The fifth race uniquely spotlighted the Trick Trucks running the course all by themselves. Not only was the pride of winning the race at stake, but the Laughlin Desert Classic offered plenty of cash prizes for the winners.

In the end, Daniel capitalized on the top starting position and kept Jason Voss and Lalo Laguna in his dust for two days. After gaining a full minute and a half lead after Saturday, Daniel knew he just needed to keep Voss at bay for four fast laps on Sunday, which was easier said than done. After the race, seventh-place finisher Tracy Graf commented that race conditions were “rough, very rough.”

The BITD series continues August 17-20, 2016 with “The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States” in its General Tire Vegas to Reno presented by Fox. This race promises to be a grueling adventure that will bring out every challenge that draws us to desert racing.

If you survive it, BITD will host the BlueWater Desert Challenge presented by Polaris on October 6-9, 2016 in Parker, Arizona, and Off-Road Xtreme will be there to bring you all the action!