Best In The Desert, the world’s largest off-road desert racing organization, announced that over 160 entries have already signed up for the 2013 Blue Water Resort & Casino Parker “425”. Casey Folks, director of Best In The Desert said, “We’re well on our way to having a record-breaking entry for this year’s race. The interest has been overwhelming in this legendary event and I feel 2013 is going to be an awesome year for not only us, but also for all of our great and loyal racers.” “The Legend Lives On” as the annual Parker “425” in Parker, AZ, February 1-3 kicks off the Best In The Desert’s 2013 six-race schedule for the car & truck classes.

The race weekend actually gets underway on Thursday, January 31st, with the Time Trials where the Trick Trucks and Class 1500 cars go head-to-head on a specially designed course to determine the first overall starting position and claim the coveted $1,000 Team Ford “Pole Award”. Directly following the Time Trials, participants will parade their vehicles to the center of town for the “Downtown Parker Experience”. The “Downtown Parker Experience” features all the Time Trials vehicles on display for race fans and local residents to check out up close along with live entertainment all afternoon long.

A new event this year will be the Parker Pit Crew Challenge presented by the MINT 400 & the Down & Dirty Radio Show. It will be held in conjunction with the “Downtown Parker Experience” and take place at 5:30 PM on Thursday. The competition will feature a maximum of 16 Trick Truck teams competing two at a time in an elimination bracket with a minimum of $2,000 paid out in prize money. The Parker Pit Crew Challenge will also be streamed live on Race-Dezert.com. For more information and to reserve your spot to compete, contact Jim Beaver at jbeaver@parkermotor.com.

The race weekend continues on Friday, February 1st, as contingency and technical inspection take place in the parking lot of the Blue Water Resort & Casino with the beautiful Colorado River as a backdrop. Race fans will have the chance to get up close to hundreds of race vehicles as they weave their way through contingency row as well as check out the latest off-road and racing accessories from the industry’s top manufacturers.

The 2013 edition of the Blue Water Resort & Casino Parker “425” officially gets underway on Saturday, February 2nd, as the green flag drops just past 7:00 AM for the first car or truck on California Ave. in downtown Parker. The huge entry field will be off to challenge the first 425 miles of desert, battling the fierce competition and chasing their dreams of a 2013 class championship. The Parker “425” is also a very spectator friendly race. The famous “Parker Python” infield section adjacent to the main pit area is extremely popular with race fans. Another excellent viewing area is located along Shea Rd., just outside of town.

Casey Folks was also excited to announce that Robby Gordon had called him and committed to run the entire Best In The Desert series in his #77 Trick Truck. After driving the RPM Off-Road Class 1500 truggy to the 2012 class and overall championship, Gordon will be back in 2013 in his own truck, this time for a shot at the Trick Truck Championship. He has also signed up for the 2013 Trick Truck Challenge.

Twenty of the world’s top off-road truck racers have signed up for the $120,000 Best In The Desert 2013 Trick Truck Challenge. This is the third year of the Best In The Desert Trick Truck Challenge where each participating team kicks in a $6,000 fee towards bonus prize money to be paid out to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place Trick Truck finishers in each of the six Best In The Desert races, plus a year-end bonus. Steve Sourapas was the big winner in 2012, taking home $54,500 in bonus money over the course of the year. After having been the top Trick Truck Challenge recipient as well as the 2012 Trick Truck champion, Sourapas will be handing over the driver of record duties to Rob MacCachren for 2013 in the #6 Corona Ford F-150.

Participating drivers for the $120,000 Best In The Desert 2013 Trick Truck Challenge:
BJ Baldwin, #97
Kyle Conlon, #88
Shawn Croll, #32
TJ Flores, #80
Robby Gordon, #77
Tracy Graf, #58
Ryan Hancock, #29
Adam Householder, #24
Jesse Jones, #76
Juan Carlos Lopez, #18
Ken Losch, #34
Rob MacCachren, #6
Jimmy Nuckles, #48
Greg Nunley, #10
Steve Olliges, #27
Steve Strobel, #94
Mike Walser, #67
Gary Weyhrich, #98
Mark Weyhrich, #9
Jason Voss, #35

Best In The Desert 2013 Trick Truck Challenge Year-End Bonus Money Sponsors:
Bunderson Racing – $2000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins in a Bunderson Trick Truck
Fox Shox – $1000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins racing with Fox Shocks
Geiser Bros. – $5,000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins in a Geiser Truck
Jimco Racing – $2,000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins in a Jimco Truck
KC HiLiTES – $500 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins using KC HiLiTES
King Shocks – $1000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins racing with King Shocks
MasterCraft Safety – $2,000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins using MasterCraft Seats
Racer Engineering – $5,000 to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if wins in a Racer Eng. Truck
Rockwell Time – $1000 custom watch to 1st Overall Trick Truck champion if truck runs Rockwell Time decals in all 6 races