The 2013 General Tire Mint 400, presented by Polaris – will premiere on SPEED Channel, Saturday June 8th at 9pm EST / 6pm PST. This special two-hour primetime television show captures the most dynamic and thrilling off-road racing on the planet – at the most prestigious and challenging off-road race in America. This year, over 250 race teams battled the brutal four-hundred mile Mint 400 desert racecourse. The competition was fierce and full of drama, suspense, and back and forth clashes in all twenty classes of vehicles – from the fast growing Pro UTV Class, all the way up to the million dollar Unlimited Trophy Trucks. The overall lead changed seven times, and less than half of the competitors finished the destructive and punishing race.

2013 marks the sixth consecutive year that General Tire has returned as the title sponsor of the Mint 400, since helping resurrect the race in 2008. They are the official tire of the Best in the Desert Championship, and remain dedicated to supporting off-road racing. “We can’t thank General Tire enough for their support this year,” said Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli. “This race is THE marquee event in American off-road racing. We are reaching millions and millions of race fans during The Mint race week – and our new 2-hour television format is going into 78 million homes on SPEED. With help from General Tire, we’ve built the most dynamic and entertaining off-road television show on the planet.”

Alamo, NV – After the pounding everyone took at the brutally tough Mint 400, Jeepspeed racers headed north for the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. The Silver State race uses a point to point course through the hills and valleys of Northern Nevada. Held mostly on fast fire roads, there is hardly a whoop the entire way. It gave competitors a chance to open up their Jeepspeeds for some high speed running. When the course is rough and technical truck set-up and a driver’s ability to push the limits without breaking determine the winner. When the course is fast, everyone is fast. With higher speeds, any mistake is amplified. An excursion off course put you in rocks and trees or off a cliff on a majority of the 300 miles run. Thick dust caused by trucks running nose to tail at full speed hung over the course making it difficult to overtake. Jeeps that made it through the mountains, the river crossings and the long flat valleys still had to navigate miles of deep powdered silt that can swallow a truck in seconds.

14 Jeeps lined up for the General Tire Jeepspeed Challenge presented by ATX Series Wheels, (6 cylinder Jeep SUVs with limited modifications). In the General Tire Jeepspeed Cup presented by ATX Series Wheels, (open class for Jeep, Dodge, & Mopar SUVs/Trucks) it was a dogfight between Brandon Berge and Bob Mamer. Bob was off the line first followed by Brandon 30 seconds later. Bob Mamer has had a lock on the competition in the Jeepspeed Cup winning the first two races of the season. Brandon was 4th at the season opener then 3rd at the Mint; he was looking forward to his duel with the points leader Mr. Mamer.

Alamo, NV – Northern Nevada must be a favorite location for Garrick Freitas and the Freitas Motorsports crew. They always do well on the high-speed point-to-point courses there. The team won back-to-back Vegas to Reno races on some of these same roads that were run at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. Point to point races typically favor the unlimited open wheel cars like Garrick’s General Tire FOX Jimco. Multi-lap races are better suited to the big Trick Trucks. First, the heavy trucks tear up the course and then use their huge tires and long travel to overpower the lighter class 1500 cars. Not this time; the top five finishers at the Silver State had three 1500 cars and only two Trick Trucks. Garrick qualified 15th but called upon his Kroyer horsepower to charge all the way up to third in class 1500, fifth overall at the drop of the checkered flag.

“We were trapped behind Damen Jeffries for most of the race,” said Garrick, “He was running a good pace but we wanted more. We had plenty more speed on tap with our Kroyer Racing engine but it was too risky trying to pass in the dust. We made a charge a couple of times but one attempt resulted in us almost plowing over a tree. We got going again with no damage but it was a close call.”

Ben Abatti III had a great race at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300. He drove the first half of the race and then turned his Trophylite over to his father Ben Abatti II to complete the race. They built an insurmountable lead on the rest of the field, taking the victory by over 11 minutes. If the story ended there, most would be happy but that is not the case. The team was penalized 15 minutes for a race incident. It’s safe to assume that Casey Folks does not like to hand out penalties to his racers but the problem with most rules, they don’t weigh intent and in order to be consistent they have to be held to the letter, which is not always fair. The Abatti’s drove a great race and took the news hard when they learned of the penalty at the awards ceremony.

“This race was important to us,” said Ben Abatti III, “My Dad has been racing for a long time. There is no way he would break the rules on purpose. We had a big lead; we didn’t need that fraction of a second off our time. We were unable to talk with Casey before the penalty was applied, we had no idea we did anything wrong. If we broke the rules then give us a penalty but why not ten minutes instead of fifteen so we can keep the win that we earned?” The 15 minute penalty dropped the Abatti’s back to third.

Ontario, California, May 8, 2013 - Team ITP racers earned four class victories and seven total podiums at round five of the AMSOIL Grand National Cross Country course in a rain-soaked Park City, Ky. ITP racers won one afternoon age class, two age classes in the morning and a youth class overall. At the Best In The Desert Silver State 300 in Nevada, Team Murray Motorsports / Del Amo Motorsports piloted its ITP-clad side-by-side to third overall on the 1900 class podium.

“GNCC courses are tough enough without mud, but when you factor in heavy rain, slippery, power-robbing mud and everything that comes with it, the 2013 Mammoth GNCC was a very challenging event. Considering the conditions and the fact that 15 percent of racers DNF’d, I’m very pleased that we won four classes, had two racers finish in the overall top 10 in the morning and grabbed a total of seven podiums,” said Pat McGuire, Public Relations / Race Support. “The Murray brothers had a another good showing in the Nevada desert, earning third using the new ITP UltraCross R-Spec 30-inch tires in the BITD SxS Pro ranks.”

Alamo, NV – Chip Prescott and Ben Himel won the second race in a row driving their Alumi Craft Class 10 car to victory at the Best in the Desert Silver State 300 in Northern Nevada. The two won the brutally tough Mint 400 just over one month ago, one of the roughest races in memory. The race took a huge toll on all the competitors including Chip and Ben. They hit a boulder while blinded by the thick dust that blanketed the course. The impact peeled back the bottom skidplate and damaged the brake master cylinder. Even with the damage, the two remained competitive and went on to take the Class 10 victory.

At the Silver State 300, they would start seventh. Their plan was to get out early and avoid the dust that imperiled them so greatly at the Mint 400. At the drop of the green flag, their plan went out the window. “We wanted to get out in clean air as soon as we could,” said Chip, “The dust was really thick on the fast graded roads so it was difficult to close on the car ahead. We had to wait for sandy washes or hard-packed sections to close and pass other cars. Fortunately for us, we can maintain a fast race pace in our Alumi Craft and still have more to give when we need it. The minute the dust would clear, we would put the hammer down.”

Minneapolis, May 6, 2013–After a win at the last Best in the Desert Race, The Mint 400, Holz Coastal Racing’s Scott Kiger and Mark Holz in their No. 1934 RZR XP 900 would line up for the Canidae Tap It Silver State 300 with hopes to make it two in a row and their second Silver State 300 win. When the dust settled, they would not disappoint.

With Cognito Powersports and their RZR XP 4 900 getting the nod to start first, the teams would have to work hard through the typical high-speed, dusty conditions to overtake the leader. Coastal Racing would start right after Brandon Schueler’s Jagged X No. 1919 RZR XP 4 900 setting up a speed dual to take over the lead. With Kiger driving the morning half, he would pass Schueler and all but one of the remaining cars that started in front of him, Cognito. Holz would take over for the second half of the race and suffer a couple flats moving him back to third, and putting the No. 1919 in second behind Cognito. With Cognito sitting with a 7-minute lead and Jagged X and Coastal running neck-and-neck, Cognito would suffer a clutch failure ending their reign and setting up an exciting finish between Jagged X and Coastal Racing. In the last miles of the race, Holz in the Coastal car would make his move finish first with Schueler in the No. 1919 finishing second.

Canidae Natural Pet Food Company and California microbrewery Tap It Brewing will share the spotlight again this year as title sponsors of the Best in the Desert Silver State 300 race taking place May 3rd through 5th, in Alamo, Nevada, just north of Las Vegas.

The Canidae Pet Foods/Tap It Brewing Silver State 300 will feature racers from across the Western United States competing against each other in multiple classes including the prestigious Trick Truck class where CANIDAE has its own entry, the #95 truck co-driven by Scott Whipple and Scott Gailey.

Registration, tech and contingency will take place on Friday at the Aliante Station Hotel in North Las Vegas. Tap It Brewing has arranged to make special samples of their award-winning, handcrafted ales available to all race teams of legal drinking age while CANIDAE Pet Foods will be on hand with samples and coupons for its natural, holistic pet foods for all racers and fans in attendance.

The Canidae Tap It Silver State “300” scheduled for May 3-5, 2013, is a race rich in Eastern Nevada’s most scenic high desert beauty and history.  The 300-mile single loop race course starts 15 miles north of Alamo and features a mixture of high-desert mountains, sand-washes, and awesome panoramic views. It crosses through the vast cattle ranching pastures, past towns where railroading was the primary way of life in the late 1800s, and through the mountains where some of the wildest gold and silver mining camps in the West were located in the 1870s.  The Canidae Tap It Silver State “300” gives racers an opportunity to go back in time and experience what it might have been like to live as a cattle rancher, a miner or a railroad man.  However, there won’t be much time for taking in the spectacular sights of the surrounding landscape, as the course is a fast one that demands 100% of the racers’ attention.  The 2012 event turned into a 300-mile long drag race where the top three finishers were separated by a mere 34-seconds. This is not only a great race to experience, but also a great event to bring the entire family to. Best In The Desert racing is about creating memories and the Canidae Tap It Silver State “300” will definitely live up to your wildest expectations.  The Canidae Tap It Silver State “300” is a grand event, not just another great desert race!

Valcourt, Québec – Can-Am Maverick 1000R side-by-side vehicle driver James Hill finished second in the SxS Pro Production class at round three of the World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) in Arizona. Brothers Derek and Jason Murray also earned a podium finish with their Maverick 1000R X® rs, racing to a third-place finish in the Best In The Desert (BITD) Mint 400 outside of Las Vegas. At the 2013 Mtn. Dew AMA ATV Motocross Nationals opening round in Georgia, BCS Performance / Can-Am pro Josh Creamer finished second in the Pro class aboard his DS 450™.

“I was thrilled that Can-Am racers earned hard-fought podium finishes in three different series, and in very difficult conditions,” said Jimmie O’Dell, Race Manager, Can-Am. “James Hill overcame a challenging WORCS course to earn his second podium behind the wheel of the Maverick. The Murray Motorsports team had a spectacular podium finish at the Mint 400 and narrowly missing second-place by only two seconds. Josh Creamer — despite a first-turn crash in the first moto and very wet, muddy conditions — won a Pro class moto and notched an impressive second-place finish overall at round one of the AMA ATV MX series.”