I would have to disagree that a short course guy could adapt to desert quicker & better then desert racers could to short course.
Taking away all the logistics in a desert race, which we know is way more involved & intense vs. a short course race. A strictly short course racer has one or two races a day that are approx 10 to 15 minutes long. Their focus and adrenalin is concentrated in that short amount of time. Once again besides some ruts the track is groomed and much more predictable vs a desert course.
If you look at the history of short course or stadium circuits, most of those races were and are desert racers. 75% of the racers in the Mickey Thompson series were also racing Score/HDRA.
Today, look at how many desert racers are racing short course vs short course guys racing desert. Here is a list of good desert racers who are good short course racers that I though of real quickly;
Rob MacCachren
Jerry Whelchel
Carl Renezeder
Jeff Geiser
Justin Davis
Marty Hart (Former desert champion)
The Leduc family
The Coyne family
Justin (Bean) Smith
Cameron Steel
Doug Fortin
Jason McNeil
Greg Adler
Larry Jobs
Pat Dean
Show me a true short course driver who has come out to the desert and won races? I'm sure there have been some, but not as many that have transitioned or double dip from desert to short course.
My vote is still Dakar Rally for the most skilled driver. Way to many things you need to be proficient in to be even able to finish a Dakar Rally.
You seem to have forgot one important name, Bryce Menzies...
Started in short course and won his first ever desert championship his rookie year. And hasnt lost a race yet in 2013...
In my opinion I think every form of racing has its own skill set, some people have it and some people dont
For example
Herbst boys: good in desert, not good at short course
Steve Sourapas & BJ Baldwin: Desert champions, struggled at shortcourse
Shannon Cambell: Rock crawling badass, struggled at shortcourse
Mitch Guthrie Sr: King of the hammers champ, too scared to race worcs so he puts his kid in the car
Robby Gordon: Good in the desert, good at short course, sucks at rock crawling
I cant speak for a lot of these forms because I dont have much experience at some of them, but it does seem to me like the longer the race, the more the "luck factor" comes in to play.
Well thats my .02cents, now everyone go buy a polaris xp900 and come race with us