RACE RECAP | 2024 Parker 400 Goes Unlimited

The Parker 400 Goes Unlimited

Essential to the Growth of Off-Road Racing, This Arizona Town Is the Real Challenge to Racers in 2024

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

Parker, Arizona is one of those iconic cities known for off-road racing. The terrain there is both beautiful and challenging. It has a history that’s almost as old as the racing itself, with the first sanctioned events in Parker beginning in 1971. Over the years, the race went from one promoter to another. Originally the NORRA Parker Dam 500, it became the SCORE Parker 400 in 1974. They ran the race in two segments – one loop in California and one loop in Arizona. HDRA merged with SCORE adding another promoter to the mix. Then came Whiplash and eventually BITD.

Nowadays, the Parker 400 is part of the three-race Unlimited Off-Road Racing series. The 400 is kicking off the series in 2024, and it’s their first time in Parker. Arizona completes the trifecta with the next two Unlimited races spread to other states, like the Mint 400, set in Primm, Nevada and the California 300 out in Barstow, California. Luckily for Unlimited, there is an influential family in Parker that was willing to get the wheels turning for them. This family is also heavily steeped in off-road racing; they are the Beavers.

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

“I’ve been a member of the City Council and sat on just about every board even though I’m no politician,” Jim Beaver said. “My Dad (Dan) was mayor about two years ago. Out of the entire 50 races that have been held in Parker, I think he’s raced 35 or 40 of them. My earliest memory was the year it snowed during the race. There are photos of me at races when I was two years old. I helped with a few introductions when I heard Unlimited was coming to Parker; I’d do the same for anyone. It’s good for the city, and it’s good for the sport.”

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

Parker is definitely good for the sport. There are all types of challenging terrain from deep sand and rocky washes to silt and whoops. There is also a strong contingent of dedicated fans – 20,000 spectators were at the race this year. And there was undoubtedly a good turnout for the desert clean-up with Tread Lightly on Saturday, January 6th. After qualifying on Thursday the 11th, Chase Mankin (PO999) was the fastest in the UTV Pro Open. Bruce Binnquist (P850) took the top spot in UTV Pro. Doug Maclachlan (1969) was number one in UTV Pro NA, and Riley Binnquist (PS950) was the first qualifier in UTV Pro Stock.

They would lead their class on the first of three laps on the 143-mile course. The track design has many options, but this time it was very fast with long sections where you could open it up. That’s just what Larry Heidler and Ethan Groom (PO986) did in the UTV Pro Open. Larry ran the first two laps, and Ethan hopped in the car to bring home the win on lap three. Their winning margin was 7 minutes, and they had the fastest lap out of those who finished with a 147:30.525.

They took the overall and first in class and did it without pre-running. “It could not have gone better,” said Larry. “Racing the full loop was fun. We don’t usually get to run the full course. I turned the car over to Ethan on the last lap. He did a great job. My co-driver Carsen Sandberg rode the whole way. There were lots of rocks in the washes, but my GBC tires didn’t even receive a slice. We had no flats!”

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

Second overall and second in class would ultimately be Sierra Romo (PO929) in the UTV Pro Open category.

“From the start, I knew I had a lot of positions to make up,” said Sierra. “I had nothing to lose starting in the back. We had a part failure during Qualifying. My strategy was to push hard from the start and try to find my way out of the dust early on. After the first lap, I believe I went from the 35th physical to the 7th physical. Every car I passed was a physical position motivating me to push even harder. This course had a lot of washes, which helped me reel in cars with little dust! When I would come through the main pit, my crew would give me split times behind the leaders and tell me to push hard. So, I gave it my all from start to finish!”

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

Attrition was high as the pace was intense. In UTV Pro, the largest UTV class entered, it became a battle of the survivors. “It was eventful,” said category winner Christian Sourapas (P909). “On the first lap, we just stayed in line. We passed a lot of cars which were on the side of the course. We had a clutch problem during Qualifying, so we started 11th. I didn’t mind because I knew the course would be brutal. On our second lap, the clutch problem was back. Then we blew a belt. The crew gave me new parts in case we had to stop. I finally just went all out. Michael Mcfayden was in front of us, but he had started ahead. I knew we just had to stay close to him to nab the win.” Christian Sourpass had a remarkable leading margin of just over a minute.

“We had a big issue on lap one,” said Michael Mcfayden (P938). “We lost the front drive at mile 20. I’m used to the front tires pulling through the corners. With no front drive, the car is all over the place, and it puts twice the load on the rear axles. We broke a rear axle on lap three. My Dad, who is my co-driver, got the axle fixed, and we pulled out just as Sourapas went by. We caught and passed him and tried to make some time. I figured we would win or break. We got close. We pushed as hard as we could. Second place was a good finish with all the problems we had. My crew did a great job. We all work together at Pro-Craft Construction, the family business. They are more than just the crew, they are friends. We took on gas every lap, and they did it super quick. With this second-place finish, we plan to do the whole Unlimited series and try for the points championship this season.”

UTV Sports Photo by Logan Gallagher

In UTV Pro NA, Doug Maclachlan had a perfect race. He was the number one qualifier and class winner. The same could be said for Riley Binnquist, who also qualified first, won his class and set the fastest lap time in class. From the results of this race, it looks like we have another fast Binnquist. The youngest racers also had a chance to mix it up at the 400. On Friday, they competed in the Youth 1000 race. Then the Youth 170 and 250 classes ran on Saturday morning. Neil Weaver won the Youth 1000 class. In second place was Ryder Barnaby and Jackson Mandle was third. In the youth 170 and 250 race, Code St Peter took the overall win in his 250 and had the fastest lap time of 2:43.825. Nixon Nagle was second in a 170 and Jameson Mandle was third – also captaining a 170.

“We had some unexpected results, but the racing was spectacular,” said Unlimited Off-Road Racing’s Matt Martelli. “We had a couple of crashes but not a ton of other drama. The fans were great, the city was stoked, and there were a lot of happy people. When Parker went away, it was a big concern for us. We can’t lose these big races. Now, it’s our turn to drive the Parker 400.” At the end of the event, we asked Matt if the organization has considered running the race on both sides of the river, and the good news is that it’s in the cards! An already exciting competition has room to grow, and clearly Unlimited intends to put in the work to cultivate it – bringing back favorite routes from the long-time aficionados of off-road racing out here. And drivers will have the chance, once again, to be the conqueror of it all!