2020 Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno
The Longest, And Now The Toughest Race In America
Story By: Mike Ingalsbee
Photos By: Brandon Bunch, Art Eugenio, and Jason Zindroski
Best in the Desert’s Vegas to Reno race is the longest off road race in the United States at 514 miles. It’s an endurance race, but if you want to win, you’re going to have to push harder than everyone else. If the race only travelled over graded roads, it would be tough, so the course they ran this year would probably be called brutal, or maybe unforgiving. Right off the start, it was silt and blinding dust. Then the terrain changed to a maze of twisty sand washes that formed a labyrinth of possible lines. Get a turn wrong, and there was no telling if you could make your way back to the actual race course without turning around. The mental and physical strain was only a warm up for the 480 or so miles that still lay ahead. Countless rocks, deep silt, exposed bedrock, sand, you name it; there was everything you could imagine. Some even got to race through the mud after a late afternoon Monsoon rolled through that battered competitors with driving rain, and gusty winds. At least the temperature swung in the right direction. During much of the day it fluctuated between hot, and very hot depending on the altitude.
After the race, S3 Powersports driver Dustin Jones summed it up when talking about his car. He said “it was super strong all day, and our Fox Shocks were dialed in, but the car is of course completely clapped out. We’ll have to change out the motor, transmission, drivelines.” You get the point. He started second but fell back after a flat tire in the dust. He battled all the way through the pack to cross the line second; 3rd place overall on corrected time. You can’t leave anything on the table if you want to get on the podium, and Jones is a regular on the podium at Vegas to Reno.
First off the line was Phil Blurton who is nearly impossible to catch when he’s out front; especially at Vegas to Reno. Despite Blurton’s speed, Mitch Guthrie Jr. came from the 5th starting position to take the physical lead, and on corrected time, for much of the day. Once it got down to the last 100 miles or so to the finish, Blurton, Guthrie, and Jones were locked into a fierce battle with Matt Burroughs sitting in 4th licking his lips in case someone broke. That’s when Blurton put the hammer down, passed Guthrie for the lead on the road, and from what we gather, put enough time on him to take the win. Guthrie had an electrical problem which killed his lights; forcing him to follow other cars in order to see which slowed his pace. It was Blurton’s 4th V2R win. He was hoping that came with a bonus, especially when there was a misprint on the “Big Check” he got at the finish line. The prize money was 2500.00, but the check had 25,000.00 printed on it.
In the Naturally Aspirated class Seth Quintero made it look easy with a wire to wire win, but looks can be deceiving. He had pressure from Kaden Wells, Kolton Hustead, and Kristen Matlock all day. He had one mechanical issue that slowed him but credits his co-driver Colby Wemple with getting him going. At that point they were 2 minutes down to Hustead, but ended up winning by several minutes. He said it was one of the roughest courses he’d ever seen. He didn’t get wet from the monsoon, but watched it in the distance. He said he ran 40 miles in blinding dust where he had to trust Wemple to call out the course.
In the Naturally Aspirated class Seth Quintero made it look easy with a wire to wire win, but looks can be deceiving. He had pressure from Kaden Wells, Kolton Hustead, and Kristen Matlock all day. He had one mechanical issue that slowed him but credits his co-driver Colby Wemple with getting him going. At that point they were 2 minutes down to Hustead, but ended up winning by several minutes. He said it was one of the roughest courses he’d ever seen. He didn’t get wet from the monsoon, but watched it in the distance. He said he ran 40 miles in blinding dust where he had to trust Wemple to call out the course.
Hustead had an amazing race. He started 13th, had to stop for a flat, and then got stuck in the dust for 100 miles until he got free from the pack. He finished 2nd overall. He gave credit to Quintero for the win, but his race was equally impressive when it came to the performance he put in.
As this is written results are hard to come by, but one thing is for certain, anyone who crossed the finish line before the cut off time earned it, and was put through hell on the way. It has gotten so competitive in the last couple of years that many drivers went the whole way without relief. It’s quite an accomplishment for everyone involved, the drivers, co-drivers, crew, logistics, and those who did the preparation. Congratulations also need to go out to the many people at Best in the Desert who moved mountains in order to pull this race off in such uncertain times. There was a lot of pent up anticipation for this race. Even those who might be spending a chilly night out in the desert tonight are glad to have the opportunity to race.
Check out the full 2020 BITD Vegas-To-Reno results (unofficial) HERE!
