With the new year barely days old, Best in the Desert has announced a massive number of entries are already in-house for the GMZ UTV WINTER NATIONALS Parker “250” Presented By Polaris, being held January 11-13, 2019.
Donald Jackson, Race Operations Manager, commented, “First, let me personally say, what a way to start 2019 – “The American Off-Road Racing Series” by racing the GMZ Winter Nationals Parker “250” presented by Polaris RZR. Best In The Desert has always held the Parker “250” near and dear to our hearts, but most especially since 2017, where our Founder, Casey Folks, waved his final green flag before returning home. Best In The Desert is also very excited to announce the return of Title Sponsor GMZ Race Products, a company that makes wheels and tires for UTVs. I think it is very important that all of you racers realize just how important it is to our sport to have industry support like GMZ and Polaris. For the 2019 GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” presented by Polaris we expect the entire event to be bigger than it has ever been with the return of the short course race using the “long version”, the always exciting youth race and most importantly, the 80 mile loop race for motorcycles, quads and UTVs.”
The GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” presented by Polaris RZR features an approximately 80-mile loop that includes some of the best spectating areas in off-road racing. The PARKER PYTHON is back with its famous rough section of jumps in front of hundreds of cheering spectators. This will definitely be a “Showdown In The Desert!”
Here are a few things to think about! How many long distance team races are there in the United States? Answer: Four! Next question, what organization puts them on? Easy Answer: Best In The Desert! Next question, why does Best In The Desert promote LONG DISTANCE TEAM DESERT RACES? Answer: Because Best In The Desert has a passion for the sport, and we feel you, the racer, should have theopportunity to participate in the sport you love too! Don’t miss your opportunity to bea part of long distance off-road races!
Registration and Technical Inspection for the GMZ UTV Winter NationalsParker “250” presented by Polaris will be held at the beautiful Blue Water Resort & Casino in Parker, Arizona, on Friday, January 11, 2019. The Race will be held on Saturday, January 12th, and the Awards Presentation will be held on Saturday Evening, at the BlueWater Resort & Casino Cantina! Don’t miss this great day ofracing! See you at the races in Parker, AZ!
NEW UTV RACE START PROCEDURES
To refresh everyone’s memory, Best in the Desert also just announced new UTV race starting procedures, outlined here:To be eligible for a class championship, Pro UTV racers must compete in every race open to UTV points. To better accommodate the racers that step up to make the extra commitment to do so, Best In The Desert is making a change to their starting format for the Pro UTV Turbo, Pro UTV Production, Pro UTV Unlimited and Pro RS1 classes.
Best In The Desert Race Operations Manager Donald Jackson said, “Beginning with our first race of 2019, we are making a change in our starting format so that racers competing in all of our UTV events for potential pro class championships will be rewarded. This change in the start order will help ensure that racers who are running the full season will receive priority over those racers who choose just to enter a few events here and there.”
Following are the highlights of the new Pro UTV Classes starting order format for 2019 UTV designate races:
First for the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” only, 2018 Class Champions in Pro UTV Turbo, Pro UTV Production and Pro UTV Unlimited will start by themselves in their class. After they start, all other UTV entries will start two at a time based on the random draw to be held on December 27, 2018.
Next up for The Mint 400, the Top 10 finishers in each class from the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” will start in that order. Then everyone else that raced the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” will start in order from the random draw for The Mint 400 held on February 20, 2019.
Those racers who did not race the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250” will be in a separate random draw held for The Mint 400 and start within class behind all the racers that did race GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker “250”.
The same starting order formula will apply to the UTV World Championships.
The Top 10 finishers from The Mint 400 will start, followed by those that raced both the Parker “250” and The Mint 400 will start in order from the random draw. Next to start will be from the draw of the racers that did not enter both the Parker “250” event and The Mint 400.
Best In The Desert will use the same starting order procedure for the Silver State “300”, Vegas to Reno and the Laughlin Desert Classic. The Top 10 finishers from the prior event will start, followed by draw results of racers that entered all previous events. Then the separate draw results for racers that did not compete in all of the races.
To clarify: If you race the first UTV race of the year, then continue to enter each event, you will receive priority over those racers who have not raced in all events.
For More Information, Please contact:
Follow the action of the Lucas Oil Production Studios broadcasts of Best In The Desert events on the NBC Sports Network and MAVTV.
2019 Best In The Desert official sponsors: Ford Motor Company – Official Truck, General Tire – Official Tire, Lucas Oil Products – Official Oil, VP Racing Fuels – Official Fuel, Rugged Radios – Official Communications, Fabtech – Official Suspension, Polaris RZR – Official UTV, KC HiLiTES – Official Light, Beta Motorcycles – Official Motorcycle, Method Race Wheels, Tactical Recovery Equipment, Trophy Tractor, R-N-R Steel, Dicks Racing Suspension, American Fastbacks, Slime, McKenzies, DirtNation.com, Sportsman Cycle Sales, Fall Advertising and TrueTravel Dynamics.
