2020 Best In The Desert VT Construction Silver State 300

A Race for the Record Books… In More Ways Than One

2020 is shaping up to be one bat-shit-crazy year, but thankfully we have been able to experience a bit of normality as desert racing resumed with the Best In The Desert VT Construction Silver State 300. I say a bit of normality rather than complete normality due to the restrictions and rules in place thanks to this global pandemic we’ve been faced with. But, nobody could have expected to have the race cut short by nearly a hundred miles while the race was taking place, thanks to high winds and a raging wildfire. Best In The Desert officials rolled with the punches as they received calls to cut the race shorter and shorter, having to pack up and move the timing trailer twice throughout the day.

While it would be easy to say the troubles of the weekend stole the show, there are definitely positive happenings that blew through the dust and the smoke. Proving that UTVs are well suited to the twisty mountain trails outside of Caliente, Phil Blurton finished 1st in UTV Turbo while also ahead of all Class 1000 cars in the overall results, behind the wheel of his NoLimitRD Can-Am Maverick X3. Take that buggy dorks, you just got smoked by a golf cart. Robert Vanbeekum received a hard-earned win in UTV Unlimited, and Seth Quintero shook off the bad vibes from his rough tumble at the Mint 400 with a first place in UTV Production. With both good days and bad, it was vast numbers of bright smiles from racers at the finish line. It felt so good to be back in the desert with colleagues and friends, covered in silt, sharing stories from the day’s wild events. Enjoy the photos, as I will myself until racing resumes again.

Check out the full race recap here: https://www.utvsportsmag.com/racing/2020-bitd-silver-state-300-race-recap/

Check out the Official Results here: https://bitd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2020_SS300_Official_By_Class_condensed.pdf