The third race on the 2011 Best In The Desert Racing Association Car and Truck schedule is the TSCO “Vegas to Reno”, also titled as the “The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States,” was held Friday August 19, 2011. The start of the race was in Beatty, NV, North West of Las Vegas NV, and finished in Dayton, NV, a small city South East of Reno NV. The Course crisscrossed the Nevada Desert, covering 549 miles of the some of the harshest and scenic areas in the western United States.

Randy Merritt and Tracy Rubio teamed up to drive this adventurous race in the General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150, while Chris Golding rode the entire race in the navigator’s seat. Tracy Rubio started the race in the driver’s seat and within a few short miles drove with in 30 – 40 seconds of the lead truck in the class. On corrected time the General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150 was first in class. At mile marker 47, Tracy and Chris assumed the lead, not only on corrected time but the physical lead and didn’t look back.

Randy Merritt took over the driving duties of the General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150 in Goldfield NV with a 100 plus mile lead on the other trucks in the class. Randy made a quick 1 minute stop at the pit in Klondike NV to change fuel pumps as the fuel pressure was beginning to fluctuate at higher RPMs under acceleration. Chris radioed into the crew after the pit stop and said the issue was fixed.

Tracy Rubio got back behind wheel of the General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150 at Millers NV with a 200 mile lead. Tracy maintained the steady pace until Mina NV.

Randy Merritt returned to the Driver seat of the General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150 for the final 190 miles. Driving into the darkness of the Nevada Desert was made easy with the assistance of the 10 forward facing 8 inch 70W HID POD lights by KC Hilites. Randy was able to keep up his pace to Dayton NV where he crossed the finish line in 1st place after 14 hours 5 minutes in the Nevada desert.

At the finish line Randy said, “It’s been awhile, but winning the Longest Off-Road Race in the United States feels great. The General Tire, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy 2011 Ford F-150 ran great all day and the Eco Boost 3.5L V-6 Direct Injection Twin Turbo engine again proved to be enough to conquer the harsh Nevada desert, but we need to go back and try to determine what caused both of the fuel pumps in the truck to falter.”

Chris Golding added, “The crew did a great job all day and I didn’t have to get out of the truck.”

Randy added, “I drove over boulders and rocks at speeds that would make most cringe out there in the Nevada desert and that stuff would have destroyed most other tires, but again we finished on the same General Grabber tires we started on, saving us loads of time and energy.”

The Mongo Racing Ford F-150 is sponsored by General Grabber Tires, KC Hilites, Knock Out Energy, Sway-A-Way, Trail Ready Bead Lock Wheels, Yukon, EBC Brakes, Optima Batteries, Master Craft Safety Innovations, Lucas Oil, UMP, Camburg Engineering Products, MSD Ignition and Mongo Made Graphics.

For additional information visit www.mongoracing.com