2014 Vegas to Reno race stories

Desert Toyz Cory S

DeSeRt ToYz RhInO - UTVUnderground Approved
So I'll start. As most of you know I raced my new Maverick Max. We built the car in, I think 2 weeks, it's all kinda blury. I headed off to Tech at 2:15am on wednesday and arrived in vegas at 7:30. My MaverickMax arrived some time during the drivers meeting, Thanks to the Murrays for teching it. When the Maverick Max arrived it still needed decals and some electrical work. At around 11:30pm we discovered a problem with the clutch so we had to completely rebuild the clutch.we left for the start line at 1:30. The only test time our Maverick Max had was driving around the parking lot at the Alente casino. My brother Scott started the race with Tyler navigating. They left the line 5th. Only 23 miles into the race they got a left rear flat not sure it it was the tire or the wheel that failed but they drove on the flat for almost 7 miles before the stub axle broke and the wheel flew off. It took 45 min to find the wheel. We needed the hub and axel nut so they could just leave it. not to mention the time penalty. They installed the spare axel we carry and continued to pit 1. We discovered that the caliper and disc was bent. so we zip tied the caliper to the frame and decided to race with just 3 brakes. W were now more the 1.5 hours behind and last on course. Scott put the hammer down, caught the pack and started making his way through the pack. At Pit 10 mile 335, I got in with Donovan navigating. I had never drivin the Maverick Max before so I was pretty slow at first. It took a little while to get use to the long wheel base. We only had 1 problem and that was bending a tie rod just as we entered pit 14. We straightined it ad sleaved it. The Maverick Max ran great the whole way. The longer wheel base with the Elka Shocks and Lonestar suspension is fantastic. Our CST Lobo tires worked great through the silt and gave us great traction. We finished in the day light but our Rigid lights sure looked good on the new Maverick Max. Like always we used Shorai batterys, they are so light weight it's incredible. Our Triple X seats were super comfortable. The Monster seal work perfect. Thanks to Foddrill Motorsports for supplying all my off road parts i needed. The PCI radios, intercom, and fresh air system were flawless as usual. We finished 7th in our class and had a lot of fun racing. I can't wait to drive My new Can Am Maverick Max in thr next race. Thank you Can Am for all your support and building such a great, durable machine.
 
Cory that is some great stuff.. That cool through all your hard work and a few fails that you guys came back to finish 7th. Good luck at the next race.
 
Great review. Seems like you have a habit of taking new cars to a race, and still finishing. If i remember right your last car ran with cardboard panels its first race. I dont know how you pull it off, but well done and respectable finish.
 
SIMS MOTORSPORTS LSR RACING
FALLS SHORT AT V2R



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Head first into the sun.
Prescott Arizona


I came into this race feeling very confident with my Polaris RZR Xp1000 and with my ability to pilot it through the longest desert race in the United States. I was hoping to never have to sit and write a race recap on a race that I DNF'd on, but desert racing is all about conquering the elements and this time the elements got the best of me at this years Vegas 2 Reno. As I sit here and write this post race report I am both saddened by my first DNF of the season, but I am also struck with an extreme amount of determination to repair the part that failed, make it stronger, and come into the next race more prepared and on a mission to make up where I have failed this time around.

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Nevada was blanked in rain just days before the race.

Friday morning (race day) came quick and we as a team were ready! I didn't have the best draw for starting positions I drew near the middle of the pack 19th
to be exact. I knew that this was a long race which gives me a lot of time to work my way to the front, but the amount dust that you have to contend with starting that far back is beyond imaginable. I had a game plan and I was going to stick with it. A steady push to the front without making any critical mistakes was the plan.

The green flag dropped and we were off into the sunrise that made for one of the most difficult/dangerous mixtures you could encounter. The amount of dust and the sun shining right in my face made the first part of the race very interesting. I took my time, made smart choices, but pushed hard throughout the first 100 miles where we came into our first scheduled pit stop. We came into the first scheduled pit in the top 5 physically and on corrected time we were fighting for the top position. We came in for fuel only and left the pit with no problems. Shortly after our first scheduled pit at Rm100 we were racing for a position in the top 3 physically. We raced with the Monster Mav and the Polaris RZR of Scanlon for many race miles until we were hauling down a straight away and the car didn't feel right. At that point I realized we had a flat. We pulled off the track and proceeded to change our tire as quick as possible. We got the tire changed and climbed back into the car. We headed back onto the track to try and make up the time we lost, but not before we lost a couple positions to Cognito and Holz. We raced hard into the next scheduled pit that was close to Rm195. We pulled in hoping to take fuel only, but realized we had lost all radio/intercom communication. We proceeded to spend a few minutes repairing the radios and with no luck we headed back onto the coarse in 4th place physically with no communication between the car and the pit crew nor my co driver and I. Shortly after leaving that pit we started to catch the dust of the next UTV in front of us.

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V2R is a very dusty race.
We picked up the pace a little and right as we did that something let loose on the passenger side rear of the car. We found a safe place to pull off the track and climbed out thinking we had a flat tire issue. Once out of the car I ran to the back of the car and realized we had worse problems than a flat tire. The entire right rear of the car was laying almost horizontal and I found where the upper rear radius link had actually ripped a section of the frame apart. At this point I realized our day was finished. We were in a very remote area of the track at Rm207 where there was no way to repair the car and get it going again. We fixed it enough to limp it to the chase truck that was waiting for us about a mile away and we loaded it up on the trailer. We made the decision to head back to Vegas and head home a day early to begin the process of repairing the broken machine.




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This was not the way I had planned the race to go and I appoligize to everyone that has been supporting me throughout this year. I can say I learned a lot from this experience and you better believe that I will repair the part that failed, make it stronger, and come into the next race feeling more confident than ever!!!!! I really look forward to Parker, Henderson, and the entire BITD 2015 year!

Again I want to thank everyone that makes this possible for me to live out my childhood dream: Polaris Rzr, Lonestar Racing, Fox, Itp tires and wheels, Northern Arizona Auto & Off Road, Queen Racing, Rugged Radios, the boys at UTVUNDERGROUND, Mad Media, Sims Motorsports, and as always my DAD and Friends/Pit Crew. Without each and everyone one of you this would not be possible. For that I thank you.
 
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Here's our race recap in video form...

[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ucyrhfdoe04[/ame]
 
LSR 1910
TACKLES LONGEST OFF ROAD RACE IN NORTH AMERICA









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The 1910 leaving the start at Vegas 2 Reno.
Mesa Arizona

Starting the race into blinding sun is never fun. The dust was heavy early in the race but we battled through and started making up ground on Corey Sapington. We closed in on Corey and were about to pass when out of the dust a wheel came flying right at us. It landed right in front of our RZR and we just ran it over. Corey had a mechanical failure causing the wheel to come off.

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ITP Ultra Cross tires chucking rocks.

Battling through heavy dust and slower traffic we found ourselves in a battle with Johnny Angel. I was able to real Johnny back in and as I was going for the pass a huge rock was in my line. The impact shot us off course and we broke a wheel. Sheldon Stowell jumped out and made quick work of the tire change. After running hard for a few miles we heard something else let go. A quick inspection reveled our connecting rod for the sway bar broke. We did not have any extra parts with us so we pushed on to pit 3. My crew pulled the broken parts off the RZR. They were going to fix them and reinstall at pit 4. The drive between pit 3 and 4 sucked without the sway bar.

My crew installed the repaired parts and we were back at it. We pushed hard and just before pit 7 I picked a bad line and dropped into a huge rut. Brian Bush of the 1911 RZR stopped to offer us a hand but we were able to back out without any help. At Pit 7 I handed the 1910 Polaris RZR off to Kevin and co-driver Mike.

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The mud was a nice break from the crazy dust.

Kevin quickly got into a rhythm and started to catch a few car and bikes on course. When we hit pit 10 we had already passed 3 care and two bikes which definitely made they miles go by fast. We knew we would be getting caught by the unlimited vehicles sooner than later and at pit 10 we were informed that we had the TT of Voss about 20 minutes behind us. So we decided to push the car a little to try and keep them behind us as long as possible. During this time we got into the mountain area of the race where I believe our smaller car was able to push through the tight turns faster than the bigger heavier cars trying to catch us. We were able to stay in front of Voss till pit 11.

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1910 just outside of pit 12.

The section between pit 11 and 12 is all sand whoops was a high speed elevated wash road that we could put the hammer down and hit over 80MPH. Pit 12 where we stopped for fuel and car check. Coming out of pit 12 was the worst loose rock terrain I have ever driven in. It was a good 4 miles of loose shale sharp rocks that our ITP tires went through without a single puncture. By far the sharpest and worst rocks I have ever raced through. Just about 2 miles outside of pit 13 on a 6 mile long silt straight we were unfortunately caught by the 3rd place trophy truck on course and where given a siren warning and as we went to move off the side of the course contact was made with us pushing us off the cause and to the side cause the car to violently roll several times coming to rest on its wheels. The LSR built chassis held up well and kept us safe. We limped the RZR into pit 13. The damage was too bad for us to continue.


LSR would like to thank all their great sponsors.
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COGNITO MOTORSPORTS
HELLRAISER BATTLES GRUELING NEVEDA DESERT


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Bakersfield CA

Cognito Motorsports is known for their top quality suspension kits for trucks and UTV's. Cognito suspension kits can be found on trucks all over the nation. Cognito went to work designing a production UTV suspension kit that was ready for battle. With that in mind, Cognito bolted their suspension up to its production HellraiserXP1K chassis and pushed its limits through the desert's in the southwest. From a customer stand point, whats better than a race proven suspension kit that you can bolt onto your play car? Win on Saturday, Sell on Monday.

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Driver Justin Sheakley and Co-driver Casey Filipi leaving the line 13th at Vegas 2 Reno 2014.
6:40am Friday the 15th the sun would greet HellraiserXP1K with a blinding glare. The green flag dropped and Justin jumped on the throttle, the ITP tires hooked up and planted all that Sparks Racing HP. HellraiserXP1K was on rails Justin and Casey managed to work their way up to 7th place physically by PIT 2.

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Passing a slower motorcycle.
Battling with vehicles that are not in your class can cost you the race. Picking the right spot to pass your fellow racer safely is key. A slight mistake by either driver and your out of the race or even worse.... someone is hurt.

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ITP Ultra Cross tires kicking up dust coming into pit 4.
3 hours and 30 minutes into the race and sitting in 7th place the team started to turn the Hellraiser loose. By pit 6th Justin and Casey had managed to pass 3 more vehicles and were sitting in 3rd place. Pit 6 was a scheduled drivers change. Jim Neasbitt (Cognito Pit Captain) and his crew were set up waiting for the car. Pulling into the pits Filippi was on the radio with Jim explaining how the car was sputtering around corners. A very soft, sandy silty race course had really affected their fuel consumption. They were running out of fuel and barley made it in to the pit.

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Driver Change at Pit 6, Justin Lambert and Jeremiah Staggs taking over the driving duties.
Justin Lambert would fly out of PIT 6 with his eyes set on the leader. Within miles he was in a battle second place. The battle lasted for several miles but Hellraiser was able to put the pass on Mark Burnett. Around RM320 dust was building on the horizon. Jagged X was cruising along slow. Justin flew by and was running first on the course. Soon after the braking system would start acting up. Justin and Jeremiah slowed the pace up a little and tried to safely get Hellraiser into the pits and let the team work their magic.


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Justin Lambert owner of Cognito Motorsports and Jim Neasbitt discussing the braking system.
While pitting Jagged X would pass them for the lead. Justin laid on the skinny pedal and started making ground on Jagged. Again around RM348 they would over take Jagged for the lead. 2 miles later a mechanical issue would end their day. Things like this can be devastating to a team. But Cognito Motorsports is no average team. They collected their machine and started planning for the next race.


Vegas to RENO 2014 - Race Recap w/ Justin Lambert

http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=0012ZY0...PGicV6qlTd8xc2GUJLJ_yEKGFChTRElTDkmNc=&c=&ch=


Cognito Motorsports would like to thank the sponsors above for their support in 2014.

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Copyright 2013. All Rights Reserved.
 
CAN-AM ITP MURRAY RACING
ON THE BOX AT VEGAS 2 RENO



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1917 Can-Am Maverick Max ready to tackle the longest off road race in America.
Orange County, CA

The Murray Brothers treat every race individually. But with 28 consecutive finishes in BITD series, defending their 2013 WIN and being a double points race.... V2R is the most important race of the season. They drew the 18th starting position. Starting deep in a stacked field of top notch racers, driving into the sun, white out dust for the first hour of the race is not easy task. It takes a great driver and co-driver to pull this off.

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Pushing hard through the dust into pit 3.

Pulling into PIT 3 they were a little off the pace. They jumped on changing a couple tires. The long wheelbase Maverick Max on this tight/narrow course and Derek's aggressive driving style sliced up a few side walls. Tire changes take time, most teams think they are out of it when stuff this happens. Murray brothers being veteran UTV racers they never give up. Anything can happen, its not over till the checkered flag. Other then the tire issues the Can-Am Maverick Max ran perfect all day.


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Nevada had a serious amount of rain fall just days before the race.
Around rm218 Derek Murray would turn over the driving duties to his brother Jason Murray. After Derek climbed out of the car I asked him how their day was going? "With our Can Am Maverick Max and the ITP Ultracross tires we know that with this combination we can push the race car hard and we have the most reliable set up possible even at the longest off-road race in the USA"

In early February Jason had a bad accident at KOH in Johnson Valley CA. His hand was sucked into the winch line and had to be helicoptered to the hospital. This was Jason's first time back in BITD since then. After a few miles he would settle into to a solid pace. The pit crew was in perfect position all day. The speed and accuracy of the team adds up to minutes at the end of the day. Jason was given a solid car and started reeling in the competition. Jason held a great pace in his section. The Murray brothers split the driving duties 3 ways. At RM 458 Jason turned the Maverick back to Derek to finish the last 80 miles with a fresh driver. This strategy paid off. Derek drove the car from 5th to a solid 3rd place finish.

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Derek Murray finishing Vegas 2 Reno with plenty of day light to spare.

Pushing the Maverick hard the last 30 miles they bent the rear wheel in the rock section. Instead of replacing the wheel they pushed onto the finish. This podium also represented their 29th consecutive BITD finish. For many reasons this race meant a lot to them. Early in the week a close friend and fellow racers Matt Parks son was injured. The Murray Brothers dedicated this race to him. Get well soon Teddy Parks. The next event for Can-Am ITP Murray Racing is the SCORE Desert Challenge September 25th and 26th. The Can-Am is currently 2nd in points for the season. http://score-international.com/2014-inaugural-score-desert-challenge/

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Jason Murray saying some words about Teddy and reflecting on his accident at KOH.


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I posted this already on it's own, but I want to be with all of you! :D So here it is again.
Vegas To Reno Race Report

August 19, 2014
Tough Ending To Longest Race In North America

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Race promoter Casey Folks from Best In The Desert takes a perverse sense of pride in making the longest race in North America the toughest one, too! Throw in some monsoon-type storms and the 535-mile Vegas to Reno race became even tougher! Despite the long odds, the DragonFire/Can-Am/RideNow team won the lottery, drawing the #1 starting position in the Pro UTV class. Betting that this good starting position would pay off, Driver of Record Lacrecia Beurrier was looking for the big pay-off at the end of the rainbow… or at least the finish line just outside of Reno.
For the first time in her racing career Lacrecia took the line in the #1 starting position. Since she had only attempted this race once before and the tough track conditions were compounded by the storms, the plan was simple, just finish! From the start it was clear that the faster cars were able to distance themselves from the pack and take a commanding lead over the field. Lacrecia was instructed by co-driver Chris to run her own race and just keep moving. Running in the top 10 group of fast drivers, Team DragonFire/Can-Am/RideNow found themselves playing hopscotch with the biggest names in the sport!
With all sorts of hidden wash-outs and deep holes, it was a battle just to save the car and stay on course. After 7 hours and 300 miles into the brutal course, fatigue started to set in. Chris was forced to make the difficult decision to make a driver & co-driver change to keep Lacrecia fresh for the notorious silt beds towards the end of the race. Rolling into Pit 9 Lacrecia’s husband and car builder Eric Beurrier was standing ready to make the switch with his long time co-driver Preston Alexus. In a matter of minutes Eric and Preston were in the car and off while Lacrecia and Chris joined the chase crew to rendezvous at the next pit. The plan was to rest for about 100 miles of racetrack and get back in for the last 250 miles. Pit 10 came in a flash as the fresh drivers were able to take advantage of a smoother section of racecourse. Eric and Preston did a simple roll-by as they continued charging on.
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Lacrecia and Chris began to rehydrate in preparation of getting back into the car when a phone call came in from co-driver Preston. He informed the team that they had experienced a brutal roll over at high speeds. Luckily for the team Eric was able to stitch the car back together and limp it through the next 35 miles to Pit 11 where the team was waiting. Huge thanks go out to Brian Bush for putting his race on hold in order to assist the two by pulling the vehicle back over after it turtled!
Much to the surprise of the crew it looked as if nothing had happened to the car came when it came back into the pits — other than the fact the all four wheels where so badly bent that they couldn't go much faster then 20mph. The team jumped into action and got the car patched up quickly with the the generosity of Michael Lanskey giving us a-arm bushings! Crew chief and back-up driver Eric made the call to hold off putting Lacrecia back in the car until he could guarantee it was race worthy. Given Eric's expertise, Lacrecia reluctantly agreed to making the driver switch at the following pit.
Eric and Preston took back off into the dust. Despite the crash and the downtime, the DragonFire car was still running top five! On the way to the next pit, the chase crew began having difficulties with radio communication to the car. Nervous but excited about a possible podium finish, the chase crew made their way to the next pit and prepared for a driver switch. Unfortunately that is where they stayed. Unable to reach the car on the radio, the team was forced to ask BITD officials where the car was. Then came the bad news: The car was last reported at race mile 365 awaiting a rescue after suffering a complete transmission failure.
Despite the frustration and disappointment, the team's focus instantly shifted to rescuing the stranded duo. Many hours later the team was able to meet up with the duo after being towed out by a very helpful volunteer known only as “Wing Nut†— thanks again to the kindness of strangers. The team loaded the broken car on the trailer and set-off to find a place to sleep around midnight. So how tough was America's longest off-road race? Out of 300+ vehicles that started the race (40 Trophy Trucks, 33 1500 buggies, 44 UTVs and 28 Ironmen), only 125 managed to finish this race, proving once and for all that beating the odds in the Vegas to Reno race is no simple task.
The upside to the story was nobody was hurt and the team passed many checkpoints earning a fair amount of points for the championship. Sunday morning provided proof that this team cannot be beaten as Lacrecia and Eric started tearing into the damaged car to prepare it for the Best In The Desert BlueWater Challenge in October. Thanks to all the sponsors who made this effort possible and thanks again to Brian Bush and Wing Nut! See you in Parker, Arizona for the BlueWater Challenge!
 

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