Best In The Desert’s Parker “425” was the season opener for KC Dirt Tribe off-road racers. This year’s race featured record breaking entries in many classes and KC Dirt Tribe racers came into Parker fully prepared to take on not only the competition but also the challenging Arizona desert at this legendary event.

KC Dirt Tribe driver Rob MacCachren got the race weekend started off in the right direction when he recorded the fastest lap among the 67 qualifiers at the time trials to capture the “Team Ford” Pole award in his number 6 Ford Trick Truck. Unfortunately, on race day Rob suffered an engine failure on the first of three laps while he was battling Robby Gordon for the lead. That left Dirt Tribe driver Jason Voss to take up the charge for the top spot. Jason chased Robby Gordon all day and stayed within striking distance, only 30 seconds behind. At the finish line, Gordon was issued a time penalty for a rules infraction. As a result, Jason Voss was officially declared first overall and Trick Truck class victor.

One of the newer classes in Best In The Desert is Class 6100 for Trick Trucks running spec engines. This class is rapidly gaining in popularity as many teams showed up at Parker with new trucks. But they all had to follow Jerry Whelchel’s dust as he drove the Camburg Engineering truck to the class win and another victory for the KC Dirt Tribe.

KC Dirt Tribe racers Bryan Folks and Ali Banning scored a one-two finish in their Banning Motorsports cars as they dominated the large Class 1100 field. Bryan is the defending class champion and this is Ali’s first year campaigning the full season.

Another one-two podium finish went to Dirt Tribe athletes in Class 7200 for unlimited mid-size trucks. These trucks are commonly referred to as mini Trick Trucks and Parker’s favorite son, Randy Merritt drove his bright yellow KC HiLiTES Ford Ranger to the class win. Shawn Giordano closely followed him across the finish line to take second, about eight minutes back, in his Fabtech Motorsports Ranger.

Randy Merritt scored the Class 7200 win as the hometown crowd cheered him on
Edmund Chantler scored the win in Class 6000 in his KC Dirt Tribe backed TrophyLite. Dirt Tribe driver Tim Casey chalked up another victory in Class 8100 for stock full-size trucks. Brian Day took second in Class 8100 in his KC sponsored Ford truck. The final KC Dirt Tribe win of the day was captured by defending class champion Steve Alexander in his KC yellow Class 5000 unlimited Baja Bug.

In Class 8000, Macrae Glass drove to a second place finish in his KC HiLiTES Ford F-150. At the finish line, Macrae said he drove a steady and conservative pace as he campaigns to defend his 2012 class championship.

All in all, it was a great start to the season for KC Dirt Tribe athletes. And with the success they experienced, it’s easy to see why winners choose KC.

Next up for many of the KC Dirt Tribe athletes will be the San Felipe 250, March 8-10. Then the Dirt Tribe will make a full assault on the Mint 400, March 20-24.

KC Dirt Tribe Parker “425” Class Winners:
Trick Truck – Jason Voss
Class 6100 – Jerry Whelchel
Class 1100 – Bryan Folks, 1st
Ali Banning, 2nd
Class 7200 – Randy Merritt, 1st
Shawn Giordano, 2nd
Class 6000 – Edmund Chantler
Class 8100 – Tim Casey, 1st
Brian Day, 2nd
Class 5000 – Steve Alexander
Class 8000 – Macrae Glass, 2nd