2016-bitd-pahrump-250-rusty-utvunderground-com001

2016 BITD Pahrump 250 – The Season Finale
Championships, Glory, Trials & Tribulations

The 2016 season at Best In The Desert seemed to blast on by in record time. It feels like just yesterday that we were kicking the year off in Parker and then posting results from the UTV World Championship and the Mint 400.

UTV racing has continued to grow despite some thinking last year and the year before and the year before that would be the biggest years. Record car counts were set at each race it seemed and the UTV class continued to dominate the headlines all over the off-road world. Polaris and Can-Am continued their OEM battle while Yamaha and now Arctic Cat start to make their way, ever slowly into the field. It was an interesting year, one of competition and of course controversy. While not too much really changed some things that have stood out to me was the emergence of the Can-Am X3 and Can-Am’s serious approach to their race program, BITD allowing 8 year old Max Gordon to compete at Bluewater, divisive debate once again over how tech is performed, and of course the changing and adding of events. One thing did remain the same and that was racing at the highest of levels.

BITD hasn’t held an event in Pahrump since 2008, we believe the only guys still racing today in the UTV class that raced that last Pahrump race were Brandon Schueler of Jagged X and maybe Cory Sappington, the self appointed Godfather of UTV racing. We look at the machines they were in back then and look at the machines today and shake our heads in amazement to just how far the UTV desert race machine has progressed. I hadn’t put much thought into the Pahrump race from the standpoint of it being a venue this year. On the way to Pahrump I had my reservations as to why were actually going back but then I reminded myself that the Henderson 250 wasn’t exactly a barn burner for UTV racing. Once I arrived in Pahrump I was actually pleasantly surprised. Its a small town, better known as the town you travel too when wanting to visit some of Nevada’s finest brothels, but when you dive into Pahrump you find that the small town has a fun character too it. The local people I spoke with all seemed excited to have the race in their town, businesses seemed to really appreciate the extra financial impact and while the weather was cold and windy it was still a refreshing feeling to be somewhere different in a series that has seemed to become stagnant at times when talking about events every year. With that said, BITD has done a fantastic job in 2017 with diversifying its events and adding Laughlin in to replace Silver State and now Pahrump to replace Henderson.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-rusty-utvunderground-com003

As it pertained to racing, Pahrump held multiple teams dreams in its grasp. While majority of the field of 40+ UTVs had come to Pahrump purely to race for glory, a few were there to complete their run for a season championship. No one had more anxiety heading into Pahrump then Justin Lambert who entered this race on a 6 race win streak with high hopes of being the first UTV racer to ever sweep a season. Lambert who also had overalled three of the six races this season was performing at an all-time high and was poised to etch his name into UTV racings record books with a win in Pahrump.

While the championship in the Pro UTV class was all but won for Lambert prior to this race, the championship battle in the Pro Turbo UTV class was still up for grabs. Branden Sims sat atop the leader board heading into this final round but behind him was the ever persistent team of Jason & Derek Murray. Marc Burnett sat third in points heading into Pahrump and would need a lot of help to overtake Sims & Murray, but we have seen weirder things happen and he knew that as well. Sims himself was coming off a huge Baja 1000 race win just a couple weeks prior to Pahrump but it seemed as if he really wasn’t enjoying that win as much as some others would. The pressure of completing the BITD season championship weighed heavy on the racer from Flagstaff, AZ. A lot of hype has been build up around Branden and his team over the years, and while he has enjoyed his share of success a racer knows he will always be judged on his championship record as well as being a winner at off-road racings biggest events. Sims has the UTV World Championship, Mint 400 and now Baja 1000 under his belt, but to be called a champion you must complete the season on top, he had every intention to do that despite the challenge he was feeling right behind him in the form of a new Can-Am Maverick X3.

Jason & Derek Murray have been the flagship program for Can-Am for the past few years. Up until this season, they were the most recognized team on the Can-Am roster. S3 Powersports made their way into the sport last season and seemed to gain a lot of momentum and some would say stole some of the attention that the Murray’s had seemed to work so hard to earn for so many years. Dustin Jones and his S3 team certainly earned the hype they were generating, they too had won a Mint 400 race and their video series “Visions Of Victory” gave you an exclusive look into their program that humanized them and made you want to pay attention and root for them. While S3 was garnering the lions share of attention this year, especially with the launch of the X3, the Murray’s continued to do what they do best and thats remain consistent in their quest for a season championship. Championships have often slipped through the fingers of the Murray’s, they have many times played the role of the bridesmaid, but they got that monkey off their back at the 2016 SCORE-International series earning themselves and Can-Am their first UTV desert racing championship after a solid season of competing south of the border. A few people love to point out that in SCORE its all about winning the Baja 1000 and Baja 500 and less about the season championship, and while I will agree to a degree, winning a championship is still something you have to earn and you only get it by committing to racing every race and doing that at a high level, especially in a class as competitive as the UTV class. Many things stand out to me about the Murray’s. They epitomize what it means to be a desert racer. Few remember when they showed up to BITD years ago with their red Yamaha Rhino, as inexperienced as it came, yet they ran that Rhino and proved early on that it wasn’t just about the equipment with this program, it was about character and commitment and consistency and competition. The Murray’s proved long before their factory Can-Am deal that they had what it took to be considered one of the best in the sport and they fought for every podium they got. I can’t tell you how many times I have chased a race and watched the Murray’s struggle mile by mile thinking “well, their day is done” and then reach the finish line and realize, “holy shit, they are going to finish, and they might actually win!!??” These guys never quit, and while I know they will enjoy their championship at SCORE, and they should, they want that BITD championship and they want it bad. They came to Pahrump with a tuned and prepped Maverick X3 and even finer tuned program ready to get that X3 to the finish line first. They would need a little help in the form of Sims having a bad day, something as a racer you never want to hope for, but this is racing.

It would only be fair for us to also elaborate a little on the S3 Powersports team heading into Pahrump. Dustin Jones was returning to Pahrump in his first race since crashing out of the Vegas To Reno back in August. Jones had entered the Vegas To Reno with all eyes on him, and I mean all eyes! The days leading into the V2R were filled with videos and social media attention surrounding the release of the new 2017 Can-Am Maverick X3 Turbo. Jones was the poster boy of the launch and a ton of buzz and hype had engulfed this team from Louisiana. Jones along with the Murray’s had rolled into Las Vegas that weekend with the first Maverick X3 race cars ever built. Both Jones and Murray’s were in the middle of the points chase for the season, but Jones unlike the Murray’s decided that they were going to enter this new machine into the Unlimited class (since it wasn’t able to race in the Pro Turbo class due to availability to public) and go for glory. The Murray’s however were not as excited about that idea and instead of tossing their season championship run away decided to enter their current Maverick Turbo into the Pro Turbo class and compete with their new Maverick X3 in the Unlimited class. The decision by the Murray’s paid off. They finished first in the Pro Turbo class keeping their season championship hopes intact and even finished on top in the Unlimited class in their new X3 despite a rough and challenging day both racing wise and mechanically. Jones on the other hand had left the start line full of confidence but less than 20 miles into the longest race in the United States watched his only basket of eggs get smashed as he barreled into the back of a downed race car in the middle of a blinding silt bed. In the days following I could sense the sorrow and despair that Jones was feeling. The team had come out of the gate in 2015 performing like veterans but it took almost a year and a half before realizing that they were still very inexperienced as it pertained to not just racing but in planning out and executing season goals. Whether they have spoken about it or not publicly, I know Jones and his team, along with Can-Am have gone to bed many times since that day wondering if they had made the right decision to give up on the points chase. Their Maverick Turbo that they had raced up until that point was fast and reliable, the X3 on the other hand while fast, was still not proven and therefor could not be labeled reliable. The crash set the team back, forcing them to make the decision to take the Bluewater Desert Challenge off and many of us wondered if we would even see the S3 team at all the rest of this year. But off-road racing is a drug, and these S3 boys are full blown addicts and while they have gone back into obscurity these past few months they still remained steadfast in rebuilding their totaled X3 with sites set on 2017. They surprised a few but not me when they made the announcement that they were headed to Pahrump to compete with Jones back behind the wheel of the X3 and “Mr. Mal” as they call him behind the wheel of their proven Maverick Turbo.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-utvunderground-com023

With just over 40 UTVs on the entry list for the 2016 Pahrump 250 the stage was set. Like all BITD events, a day of tech and contingency was held prior to race day. News spread around the UTV teams that for 2017 they no longer will have to pay an additional tech fee to the UTVRA. While Cory Sappington will remain as tech director of the UTV classes, he no longer will operate under the UTVRA. Casey Folks explained to me personally a couple weeks prior that this change he hoped would alleviate some of the racers frustrations with Sappington and the process of which UTV racers have to go through in regards to technical inspection. While I along with many others still see Cory Sappington’s role a major conflict of interest (he is also a factory backed Can-Am competitor in the class) I do still understand and respect Folk’s decision. With that said, I also respect Sappington as a major player in the development of the class and think of him personally as an honest guy. While he and I have a split relationship right now, I am able to put that aside and still respect him and his accomplishments within our class. Sappington also entered this race coming off of a win at the Bluewater Desert Challenge but his day at Pahrump ended early when his Maverick Turbo suffered a mechanical. We were told his machine was involved in a vehicle fire at race mile 107 but that has yet to be confirmed.

Weather at Pahrump was cold, especially on the day of tech and the morning of the race. Wind was expected on race-day but it never seemed to arrive in the fashion many were either fearing or hoping for. A little wind in the desert is never a bad thing especially since it helps move the dust, I can tell you now, there are many who wished that wind would have arrived as the course was very dusty all day long. Racers staged on race-day at the Nugget Hotel & Casino at 6:15am. BITD led an escorted vehicle parade approx. 16 miles to the start line. I was told by many that the parade was the most brutal part of the race as the seemingly endless highway made for a very cold ride. BITD began to send trucks and buggies off the line at 8am, it would be another hour or so before UTVs would reach the starting line where Cory Sappington would lead the stacked field off into the final race of the 2016 desert racing season. Behind him was Justin Lambert and he was anxious to get around Sappington and find some semblance of clean air and try to create some level of separation between him and the rest of the field.

Every thirty seconds another UTV shot off the line, a long graded road guided racers into the 250+ mile course which featured rocks, boulders, silt and of course bumps and dust. I spoke with a lot of racers who anticipated this race taking a very long time to complete but I couldn’t help but think that this would be one of the fastest races of the year. It didn’t take long for Lambert to find his way around Sappington. The #1918 Cognito Motorsports Polaris RZR XP 1000 of Lambert had performed flawlessly all year. This machine was as dialed as any other truck, buggy or machine in the series and having overalled the UTV field three times already this season, Lambert continued to remind everyone that its not all about horsepower in UTV racing. Prep, design and a seasoned driver, co-driver and team is the name of the game. As Lambert began to separate, behind him in the #936 Polaris RZR XP Turbo was Jacob Carver. Carver was coming off of a win as part of the Sims Motorsports team at the Baja 1000. Carver blasted into the headlines after an amazing performance at Vegas To Reno this summer where he was awarded by Polaris with a factory racing sponsorship. While Carver’s stock has increased, so has his driving. Carver was dead set on winning the final race of the season and early on he was doing a great job of leading the Pro Turbo class through the Pahrump course. We caught up with the leaders at Pit 3, approximately 80 miles into the race, Carver was only minutes behind Lambert at that point holding a lead in the Pro Turbo class and second UTV physical position. Only seconds behind him however was Sims in the #913 Polaris RZR XP Turbo. While Lambert and Carver rolled through Pit 3 without stopping, Sims had a different game plan. He pulled in and was topped off with fuel, he had plans to go much further before needing to stop again. His team which consists of family and friends fueled him up, handed him a snack and sent him off and back into the desert all within a minute or so.

Behind Sims by a couple of minutes at that point was a combination of racers who either stopped as scheduled or because it was needed. One of the racers who rolled through in the top five was Matt Burroughs. Burroughs has been a racer that was never really included in the conversation when speaking about the top racers in the class. 2015 was his first year of competition in the class and he spent most of that year working out the bugs of a new race vehicle, learning the UTV racing ropes and just trying to get noticed. Things changed in 2016 as Burroughs found his groove. He began competing for wins and podiums and not just finishes. He also began to get noticed and recognized as a top competitor in the class. Burroughs entered this race for the final time behind the wheel of his Polaris RZR XP 1000. It was recently announced that he was signed for his first factory sponsorship and would compete next year in a new Can-Am Maverick X3. It turns out, he isn’t the only UTV racer in the class wearing a green Monster claw that will also be retiring his RZR at BITD. Its expected that Marc Burnett will also announce this week a change to his program. Burnett also came through Pit 3 in a decent position. He was coming off of a terrible performance at the Baja 1000, a race he is always expected to do well at. Burnett has had a rough season, not entirely filled with woes, but seemed to be plagued with bad luck and failure. Like Burroughs, he looked to Pahrump to help him get an early jump on 2017, not in the form of vehicle testing or proving, but in the form of momentum.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-ernesto-utvunderground-com001

One by one racers rolled into Pit 3, many coming through with mechanical failures. The first 80 miles of the race were rough on a lot of teams. Jacob Shaw was already out of the race at that point. Mitch Guthrie Jr. had already been forced to pull off and change multiple belts by the time he reached Pit 3. Others came in with flat tires, broken wheels, shocks and axles. One racer we were following closely was Craig Scanlon in the #2931 Polaris RZR XP Turbo. Scanlon entered this final race as the last test for his new Holz Racing Products built Polaris RZR XP Turbo. He made the jump from the “B-Team” at Jagged X to the “A-Team” of his own program and used Bluewater and Pahrump as a live testing session for his team and vehicle. When Scanlon isn’t in Arizona testing with his team, he is in Minnesota acting as Chief Marketing Officer for Polaris. Craig is also responsible for the creation of the Factory Polaris RZR racing program, a program that he treats like one of his children. Scanlon, despite knowing this race was purely a live test still rolled into Pahrump with aspirations of domination. He entered his new RZR into the Unlimited UTV class for only the second time and would leave the line as the 37th UTV. By race mile 60, Scanlon had moved his RZR XP Turbo through over half the field proving that the new Holz technology was once again going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2017. But Scanlon’s confidence was soon challenged as he pushed his machine through a silt bed and broke a rear axle which then took out a rear tire. They changed the tire but rolled into Pit 3 forcing the team to change the axle and for safety change the other rear axle as well. The team did the full change in less than 10 minutes and sent Scanlon back into the desert where by Pit 5 he had moved once again back up through the field and into the top 12 physical. With his sites now set on not just winning the Unlimited class but finishing in a top overall position he moved through Pit 5 but would soon after succumb to a mechanical. Craig at that point had seen all he needed to know that his RZR was and is a high performing machine. With the reality of not finishing in one of the top overall positions, he made the call to put the RZR away and prepare it for the 2017 season opener which is only weeks away. His words to me were there was no reason to beat up on the RZR as this was only a test session, but deep down I know this monster of a competitor was not thrilled with making that call as he never quits. But sometimes you have to approach these races with a clear mind and understand your goals, finishing Pahrump mid-pack was not his goal.

With leaders charging through the course and fighting through packs of much slower trucks and buggies, the race began to really take shape. Lambert continued to stretch his lead and by race mile 147 had put a gap of over 10 minutes on the next closest UTV which now happened to be Branden Sims. Sims told us prior to the race that he was not here to try to set any speed records. His goal was to finish well and to earn that season championship. He knew he needed to finish, and he needed to finish within the top 8 should the Murray’s find a way around him and win the race. But at RM 146 you would have thought that he was not trying to just finish but rather take down Lambert for the overall. Sim’s came through hot and just behind him was friend and RZR teammate Jacob Carver. Carver and Sims would continue to run nose to tail but not far behind them was Burroughs in his #1948 Polaris RZR XP 1000. Burroughs was making a hard push, a push that would result in a mechanical and later result in a DNF. The Murray’s however were just starting to open their Maverick X3 up and were only a handful of minutes behind Sims and were closing quickly.

After the Murray’s, only a couple more machines would roll through our location there at RM146, the lead pack had separated from the rest of the field and heading through race mile 200 it was now Lambert’s and Sims’ race to lose. Carver would soon be slowed by some issues, the Murray’s took advantage and moved past Carver into the second position in class. Sims and Lambert remained at a high pace with no issues. The race behind the lead 4 UTVs began to get interesting a couple of names not usually heard when talking desert UTV racing were starting to turn some heads. Tomas Sallvin and James York in the #988 Polaris RZR XP Turbo was moving into striking distance of the podium while long time UTV short course racer Robert VanBeekum in his #1864 Polaris RZR XP 1000 was now into the second position in the Pro UTV class and within the top 6 overall. Both of these teams are still relatively new as it pertains to UTV desert racing at BITD despite VanBeekum’s long history in UTV racing. Bobby as he is known, was the first UTV racer to ever sport a UTVUnderground.com logo on his race machine way back in early 2009. To see him do well is always exciting for us, especially in the desert where he has struggled to find success at BITD. Sallvin & York are brand new UTV racers. They spent the past year building a brand new RZR XP Turbo with Cognito Motorsports. The RZR is built on one of Cognito’s flagship “Hell Raiser” chassis / platforms and the team has worked hard at dialing it in. They entered Vegas To Reno where they were plagued with new car blues and then traveled to the Bluewater Desert Challenge where they found more gremlins. At Pahrump however, they pushed through the field and seemed to have finally worked to get their new machine sorted out.

The race course would travel in reverse back through where the racers started before crossing back over the highway and around the backside of the town of Pahrump. The finish line was staged in the parking lot of the Nugget Hotel & Casino, here we waited alongside the only two crew members Cognito brought along to chase the race. While we talked as if Justin had already won, in the back of my mind I knew that anything could still happen and we have all played witness to races that were all but won but within miles of the finish a mechanical spoiled the victory. We think back to the Baja 1000 a couple of weeks ago and Wayne Matlock who had led the entire 1000 mile + long race lost a spindle pin with less than 15 miles to go. Anything can happen, luckily for Lambert his RZR XP 1000 did just as it has done every race this season and that was finish in front of everyone else!

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-utvunderground-com007

Justin Lambert took the Pro UTV 1000 class win and his Cognito Motorsports team became the first UTV team to finish on top in every race in a single season at BITD. Its the first season sweep that I can ever even remember hearing about in any class at BITD, but in a field as deep and as stacked as the UTV field is, its truly an amazing season long performance. Lambert’s finish time of 5 hours, 25 minutes, and 31 seconds was enough to also claim the overall UTV win, making this the fourth time year. Lambert celebrated on top of his Polaris RZR, blowing off champagne, a site that has become all to familiar for this veteran off-road racing program. With the celebration came a special award from Polaris as well. Jason Difuccia of Polaris traveled to Pahrump to chase the race and ultimately award Lambert with a custom trophy which came in the forum of an 8lb sword. Inscribed were the words SWEEP, the Cognito logo and the names of each race won this year. RZR continues to embrace its program in ways that create cause for their own praise. It was a solid gesture for a driver and his team who has worked so hard and committed for so many years to achieve the goal of not just a championship or win, but to do both every single time in one single season. I tilt my hat to the entire Cognito Motorsports team along with Polaris in congrats of this historic championship and race winning season.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-utvunderground-com011

Finishing first in class and second overall, 11 minutes behind Lambert, was the #913 Polaris RZR XP Turbo of Branden Sims. Sims’ Pro Turbo win at Pahrump was backed up with him being awarded the 2016 Pro Turbo UTV class championship. It has been a fairy tale story for Branden Sims. A privateer racer who grabbed the attention of Polaris midway through the 2014 season and was awarded a factory sponsorship has taken his program to the top of the sport in a way that inspires racers all over the sport. Sims season has been filled with ups and downs, at one point would be filled with doubt if he could even complete the year as a horrific boating accident left him burned and left his father Dale Sims to fill in for him at Vegas To Reno. Dale’s performance kept Branden’s season championship hopes alive and after strong performances at Bluewater and now Pahrump the young off-road racer now will forever be known as a champion. Sims has won the Baja 1000 twice as a driver with this year being his first win in his own vehicle, he has wins at the Mint 400 and UTV World Championship also on his resume and now can add Pro Turbo UTV Champion. I also congratulate Branden and his entire team and family on this accomplishment. We have been along for the ride, watching Sims chase this dream, to see him reach this goal is something I won’t soon forget.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-joey-utvunderground-com005

Finishing 20 minutes behind Lambert in the third overall position and 10 minutes behind Sims for the second place finish in the Pro Turbo class was Jason & Derek Murray in their #917 Can-Am Maverick X3. Its another podium for the team that enjoyed many, but it was bitter sweet as the Murray Motorsports team once again played bridesmaid in the hunt for the elusive BITD season championship race. Their X3 showed that it has what it takes to become a formidable racing platform in the desert. Despite a few issues they were still able to run right back into the top pack with ease and push the machine into its first BITD podium finish. The team will rest well knowing they are the 2016 SCORE season champions, but I am sure they will use this race as momentum and motivation to take that X3 to the top in 2017. It seems that the Murray’s are writing a riveting novel, one filled with success, challenge, hopes and dreams. It is inevitable that their story will not end until the goal of a BITD championship is realized, we look forward to the day when the champagne is spilling on top of the Murray’s.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-joey-utvunderground-com001

Behind the Murray’s in the fourth overall position and rounding out the Pro Turbo UTV podium was Jacob Carver in his #936 Polaris RZR XP Turbo. Carver continues to remind everyone that the new guy on the Polaris RZR team is for real. He also has reassured Polaris that their new investment was a wise one, I expect a lot of Jacob Carver next year. His RZR XP Turbo has proven to be dialed and fast, I think we could see him come out of the gate with a win next year. Lets see what happens in a couple of weeks in Parker.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-joey-utvunderground-com002

The #988 Polaris RZR XP Turbo of Tomas Sallvin made a push and finished only 3 minutes behind Carver narrowly missing his first podium while completing his first full race. We have been following the growth of this team since prior to Vegas To Reno, they are for real. They have the prep, commitment, sponsors and talent to turn their program into one of the best in the sport. Time will tell if they can keep this machine now running like it did at Pahrump.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-joey-utvunderground-com004

Our boy Robert VanBeekum finally shook the desert monkey off of his back finishing sixth overall and second in the Pro UTV 1000 class. The podium finish was almost as glorious as a win for the R-N-R Steel Polaris RZR XP 1000. Bobby is fast, sometimes faster than his machine can handle but on this day in Pahrump it held up to the pace and landed the #1864 a podium. Nice work to the entire team.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-joey-utvunderground-com003

The 6-Time BITD Pro UTV championship team of Brandon Schueler and Blake VanDeLoo ran strong all day finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Pro Turbo Class. Schueler and the Jagged X racing team know what it takes to win and their committed to bringing more championships back to the program in 2017. Their new RZR XP Turbo is looking dialed and no other team in UTV racing knows how to win more than Jagged X!

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-utvunderground-com014

Behind Schueler in the eighth overall position and finishing first in the Pro Unlimited class was the brand new team of Sven Ellstrom. The newcomers from Washington brought a brand spanking new Holz Racing Products built Polaris RZR XP Turbo to Pahrump with the idea of testing the vehicle in a live race. What started as a test resulted in a class win and a top 10 overall finish. These new Holz Racing built race machines are some of the most advanced race vehicles out there. Ellstrom and Scanlon will represent for Holz heading into 2017 being the only two teams in the series so far competing on these new chassis. We look forward to seeing the Ellstrom team compete in 2017 and expect them to do well as they continue to dial in their RZR and their program.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-ernesto-utvunderground-com009

Rounding out the podium in the Pro UTV 1000 class in third place and finishing ninth overall was Noah Warren in his Polaris RZR XP 1000. The Warren’s are a family, privateer program which also fields a Class 10 race car. Their RZR has not competed consistently in the 2016 season only racing certain races so its unclear how much we will see of Noah in 2017 but we hope to see the young up and comer more next year at BITD.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-ernesto-utvunderground-com007

Finishing only one minute behind Warren and rounding out the top 10 overall would be Mitch Guthrie Jr. in his Lone Star Racing built Polaris RZR XP Turbo. Despite blowing 6 belts amongst other things, Guthrie Jr. continued to show why he is one of the best when it comes to racing. To be able to blow six belts and still finish in the top 10 overall is proof that on a clean day he can run with anyone in the sport. Like Holz, Cognito, and Jagged X, Lone Star Racing knows how to build championship caliber race vehicles. With a few weeks to test before the 2017 season, we hope Guthrie can get his clutching issues behind him so we can see him at his peak right out of the gate.

2016-bitd-pahrump-250-utvunderground-com008

On behalf of UTVUnderground.com, I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who continues to represent the #utvugraceteam both on and off the track. We work hard so that your results are forever documented so that one day you can come back and see your photos, your stories and remember your seasons past. UTVUnderground.com remains committed in 2017 to providing the best UTV industry news and coverage that you expect. I want to personally thank Polaris for believing in our goal of quality coverage and supporting it through resources.  I want to also thank the entire Best In The Desert racing association for all of their hard work in putting on these fantastic events. We have a lot to be excited about in 2017. A bigger and better UTV World Championship is on deck in Laughlin and you know our friends at Mad Media also have a lot in store for us at The Mint 400. The Pahrump 250 has become one of our favorite events after chasing the race this past weekend and we look forward to that. Lastly, the Parker 250 Presented by Polaris RZR kicks off in just a few weeks marking the start of the 2017 desert season and so you know we will see you there. Thank you again to everyone who has supported our coverage, attended our events and continues to help us grow the UTV racing class into the best in the sport. See you all in 2017!

Until next time…..

Joey D.

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL 2016 BITD PAHRUMP 250 RACE RESULTS