Photos by HighRev Photography

Chuck Hovey battled against the largest field of Unlimited Buggies we have ever seen to take the class win and third overall.

The slogan “The Legend Lives On” was slathered across every poster, program and promotional piece associated with the Best in the Desert’s Blue Water Resort and Casino’s Parker 425 and it was there for a reason. First run in 1971 by NORRA, the Parker race has a rich history that almost came to an end when the race was dropped from SCORE International’s 1998 season. Picked up by Whiplash Motorsports, the Parker 425 managed to continue on until Casey Folk and his BITD racing organization took over the race in 2003.

Folk’s plan was not just to keep the legend alive but return it to its former glory - and walking down the massive starting line of the 2008 Parker 425 just before dawn, it was easy to see he had done just that. Over 300 vehicles had shown up to take on the Arizona desert including a jaw-dropping 68 Class 1500 Unlimited Buggies. The Trick Truck category was also healthy with 27 of the overly exotic and uberly expensive machines set to race. Between the two classes, we estimated there was roughly 47,000 horsepower ready to launch off the starting line. Now that, my friends, is tasty.

The rough conditions at Parker beat race vehicle senseless and hard blow-outs like this were a common sight.

The big jump in entrants seemed almost overwhelming to our smaller brains but Best in the Desert’s head honcho, Folks, explained it perfectly to us. “I think it is three things. Number one is this race is a legend. It is 32 years old, a huge event and very popular. Everyone you talk to will tell you Parker is their favorite race. It has to do with the town, the atmosphere, the Blue Water Resort and the Colorado River. Also, there is no big secret there are major problems south of the border and a lot of people are saying they are not going down there anymore. It is not just problems with the people, drugs or police but it is also very expensive (to race there). You take a deep sigh of relief now when you cross back over the border and know you are back and relatively safe.  Best in the Desert also had a record year last year. Each event we are getting stronger and stronger. That is coming from our reputation. People are saying to us that they like what we do, they like the safety and they like the organization. We put all of those factors in a pot, stir it up and you have an organization that is moving up.”

Jerry Whelchel and Chet Huffman teamed up and battled Todd Wyllie all day before finally taking the Trick Truck and overall wins.

Along with the spectacular turnout was some great racing. Conditions were absolutely perfect as heavy rains from the previous days made for little dust, allowing racers to go flat out. Todd Wyllie, in his BITD debut in a Trick Truck, had already shown his potential for speed by setting the fastest qualifying time on Thursday allowing him to be first off the line. He took advantage of the starting position and charged hard with Jerry Welchel (driving Chet Huffman’s truck) putting the pressure on from behind. The pair battled the whole race and quickly checked out from the rest of the field with their nearest competitor almost 20 minutes behind.

Heading out on the last lap, Huffman was now behind the wheel and passed Wyllie in the pits. The close battle continued until bad luck struck Wyllie and a mechanical problem took him out of the race. Huffman was able to back off and took the Trick Truck and overall wins by just over 10 minutes.

Dale Dondel and Joe Heger ran up front all day long in Trick Truck just outside of the Wyllie/Welchel brawl. When Wyllie broke, Heger was able to over second place in class and second overall.

“It went really well for us. We just got this brand new Geiser truck and put some miles on it last weekend at Laughlin and blew up the transmission. The guys worked on it for 24 hours a day for three days straight and got it back together in perfect condition. We had a really good clean day, no flats, all our pits went well and the truck just performed unbelievably well and I think we got our first win today,” said Whelchel at the finish line while waiting for the win to be official.

With over 60 Unlimited Buggies it was hard to keep track of who was where as they went around the three laps of the Parker 425 course. However, a familiar face did a phenomenal job of keeping ahead of them all as last year’s Class 1500 champion, Chuck Hovey, started 2008 with another win.

Buggies were everywhere on the Parker course as there were easily over 120 of them amongst the different classes.

“There is so much talent here. This was the race of the year, so to win this is huge. I ran pretty hard the first two laps to stay up front and then had some fuel injection problems on the end of the second lap. The motor started running bad and I had to run like that for 10 miles. I changed the ECU and fixed it but then the car shut off like three times. We are lucky to be first as it wasn’t without some issues. The racing was spectacular with the rain we had and I was having fun dicing it out with some guys. It’s my third win at Parker so I am super stoked,” noted a happy Hovey. Taking the win over the largest Class 1500 field ever (with downtime) shows just how fast and talented Hovey is.

Even those that didn’t win their class were still excited about being at Parker. After a long absence from Best in the Desert, Josh Baldwin returned with a brand new Trick Truck and took fifth in Trick Truck and sixth overall. For the first two laps the truck struggled to find horsepower until the crew removed the extensive air filter shielding that was put in place at a rain-soaked Laughlin to keep mud and water out of the engine.

Jason and Richard Voss kept their Protruck out front to take the class win.

At the finish line Josh echoed the sentiments of many of the racers we talked to at Parker. “It was great to be back. As far as the race course goes, it was one of the most fun courses I have been on in a long time. Casey does an unbelievable job of marking the course. Our GPS was failing a lot today and the markings he does are just the best. The level of professionalism out here I have seen and just how organized BITD is great. I would like to run the rest of the season for the championship and then maybe a couple of the Baja races. We really had a good time.”

The Parker 425 was obviously a home run for Best in the Desert and marked the rebirth of the legend as it returned to its former glory. It also marked a new chapter for Best in the Desert as they can no longer be thought of as a secondary series.

“I live my life by Lee Iacocca’s words where he says lead, follow or get out of the way. That is where we are at. Get out of our way because we are moving forward,” commented an insightful Folks the morning after the race. It is more than just promoter fluff as BITD heads into 2008 with lots of momentum.

Sadly though, the race also saw the passing of a legend as long-time racer and Parker resident Manny Esquerra suffered a heart attack and died while racing a Trick Truck. Every one of us has fond memories of Manny and his epic battles with Roger Mears in Class 7. He was a racer’s racer, a genuine guy, a warm person and truly will be missed by all of us. Vaya con Dios Manny.

Curt and Todd LeDuc teamed up to once again win in Class 8.