An excited Casey Folks, director of Best in the Desert, announced that more than 275 of the world’s fastest off-road racers have signed up to date for the Longest Off Road Race in the United States, The General Tire “Vegas to Reno”. Of particular note, this is the largest number of entries this early in history for this spectacular race.
Set up to be a landmark race, the 2013 running of the General Tire “Vegas to Reno” race has the leading off-road race teams gathering in Las Vegas to challenge the treacherous terrain of the Nevada desert, that only Casey can create.
Racers from the U.S. and around the world are set to compete – with entries coming now from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay and 25 U.S. states.
The General Tire Vegas to Reno race festivities begin in North Las Vegas, Nevada on Thursday, August 15, at the Aliante Casino & Hotel. There you will see the most unbelievable display of state-of-the-art, high-tech cars, trucks, motorcycles, quads and UTV’s that are built for racing today, not to mention the BEST off-road desert racers competing today. The race will end close to Reno, Nevada, where competitors will celebrate their accomplishments at the Grand Sierra Resort Saturday evening. The race gets underway Friday morning, August 16. Due to the 543-mile long race course, a 24-hour time limit has been set, so racers will still be coming into the finish line Saturday morning.
General Tire “Vegas to Reno” schedule:
Wednesday August 14th – Time Trials
Thursday, August 15th – Driver Registration, Contingency and Tech Inspection, Aliante Casino & Hotel in North Las Vegas.
Friday, August 16th – Race for all classes starts near Beatty, finishes at the Dayton Event Center.
Saturday, August 17th – Awards presentation in Reno at the Grand Sierra Resort.
The weekend gets started Wednesday, August 14th, for the Trick Trucks and Class 1500 Unlimited Cars as they qualify in the Time Trails to determine their starting positions and compete for the $1000 “Team Ford Pole Award”. Not relying simply on “the luck of the draw” for the starting order, Best In The Desert allows the two fastest classes to compete head-to-head for their chance to be first off the line and the best opportunity for the overall finishing spot.
Who Won Last Year?
Car and Truck Class Winners by Overall Time
Class 1500 Garrick Freitas/Danny Freitas – Jimco 9:01:20
Class 1400 Mark Weyhrich/ Gary Weyhrich – Ford Geiser 9:05:57
Class 1200 Troy Vest/Geno Licitra – Chevrolet 10:01:08
Class 1000 Tony Smiley/ Richard Ronco – Tatum 10:29:40
Class 6100 Jerry Zaiden/ Jerry Whelchel – Chevrolet 10:37:51
Class 8000 Don German/Chris German – Chevrolet 10:57:26
Class 7200 Randy Merritt/ Tracy Rubio – Ford 11:02:25
Class 4400 Nick Nelson/ Brett Vogel – Custom 11:19:16
Class 1100 Bryan Folks/Rick Graf – Ford 11:30:04
Class 6000 Troy Messer/ Gary Messer – TrophyLite 12:02:33
Class 8100 Tim Casey/ Bill Rante – Ford 12:43:05
Class 2000 Hank Winter/ Jeff Huebner – Bunderson 12:51:41
Class 1700 Michael Vernak/ Michael Fox – Jeep 14:20:22
Class 3000 Wes Bevly/ Chad Bunch – Custom 14:29:56
Class 1800 Chasen Gaunt/ Mavrick Gaunt – Ford 15:54:48
Class 3700 Dan Simonson/ Mikki Simonson – Jeep 16:36:28
Class 4500 Larry McRae/ Shad Kennedy – Custom 19:15:33
Class 7100 James Burman/ Chris Sayre – Ford 20:35:00
Motorcycle, Quad & UTV Class Winners by Overall Time
Open Pro Robby Bell/ David Pearson – Kawasaki 8:59:16
Open Exp Josh Wilson/ Irving Powers – Yamaha 9:44:45
Quad Pro Danny Prather/ David Scott – Honda 10:30:44
O-40 Pro Steven Fuller/ Todd Abratowski – Kawasaki 10:35:05
O-30 Pro Michael Johnson – Honda 10:46:52
O-30 Exp Jay Camberlango/ Chris Mast – Honda 10:53:22
IM Exp Tony Gera – Honda 10:57:54
250 Pro Jeremy Purvines/Ryan Smith – Kawasaki 11:01:24
O-50 Exp Doug Smith/ Dave Potts – Honda 11:06:07
QIM Exp Cody Mitchell – Honda 11:16:56
Open Am Jason Jacobson/ Chad Cernery – Kawasaki 11:19:26
O-40 Exp Curt Caruso / Steve Gabbert – Beta 11:21:39
Quad Exp Juan Dominguez Alonzo Dominguez – Honda 11:29:55
UTV Pro Scott Kiger/ Mark Holz – Polaris 11:41:04
250 Exp Steven Kirk/ Jeff Harper – Honda 11:52:13
IM Am Greg Gilbert – Honda 12:56:55
UTV Sprtsmn Bill Schueler/ Craig Scanlon – Polaris 13:04:02
UTV SR1 Pro Richard J Ratto/ Tom Ratto – Yamaha 19:44:14
Participating racers have also been sharing the wealth in 2013 Trick Truck Challenge bonus earnings. To date, seven different drivers have staked their claim on an extra $66,000. Here are the recipients of the bonus payout for the first three races:
Parker “425”
1st – Jason Voss $10,000
2nd – Gary Weyhrich $6,000
3rd – Robby Gordon $4,000
4th – Steve Strobel $2,000
Mint “400”
1st – Mark Weyhrich $10,000
2nd – Rob MacCachren $6,000
3rd – Jason Voss $4,000
4th – Gary Weyhrich $2,000
Silver State “300”
1st – TJ Flores $10,000
2nd – Gary Weyhrich $6,000
3rd – Steve Strobel $4,000
4th – Jason Voss $2,000
Best in the Desert holds 6 races annually for their car and truck classes, attracting the leading off-road teams from around the world, including entries from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, and more than 35 U.S. states.
Red Bull will be supporting contingency at the Aliante Station Resort & Casino in North Las Vegas, and also at the finish line at the Dayton, Nevada Event Center. For more information, visit www.bitd.com.