John Herder Crossing The Line to Capture The Overall Championship
In a land where cowboys still roam aimlessly throughout the desert and broken neon signs distinguish whether brothels are open or not, a desert race exploded among the nation’s top off road racers.
Best in the Desert’s Terrible’s Town 250 off road race has long been regarded as a so-called sprint through Nevada’s deepest silt beds and boulder fields. This year was no different as the winners battled big rocks, deep sand and the desert’s top speed demons before hosting their trophies high into the air.
Held in the growing metropolis of Pahrump, Nevada; a town where you can shop for groceries, play your favorite one-arm bandit slot machine and fill your truck with diesel fuel, all in the same store. This growing valley has quickly become one of Las Vegas’ community retreats, where those that work in Vegas, live and play in Pahrump.
Situated a short 65-miles from the Las Vegas Strip, Pahrump is now home to a mixture of business and residential communities that are expanding up and down Hwy 160. However, settled in that growing community is still The Chicken Ranch, where some unidentified off road desert racers quietly mentioned to DirtNewz staffers that a night of fun was going to cost upwards of $3000 dollars. Yikes!
Once a year in mid-to-late April, the Terrible Herbst Casino Corporation presents the Best in the Desert Terrible’s Town 250 off road race. Terrible Herbst’s Founder – Jerry Herbst has long been regarded as the most gracious host in the Nevada desert and this year was not dissimilar. Saddled along side Mr. Herbst was his three sons, Tim – Troy – Ed, each distinguished as off road racing champions. The Herbst Family is solely responsible for making the Terrible’s Town 250 the richest off road race in the United States. A whopping $40,000 dollar cash purse was dispersed to the winners on Sunday morning lakeside at the Terrible’s Lakeside Casino.
In the days prior to the race some 250 teams converged in Pahrump destined to be crowned a champion. However, by late Saturday evening only a handful of steel-horse cowboys could celebrate as Terrible Town 250 winners.
Crowned as the overall victor, John Herder drove his JIMCO single-seat 500 horsepower steel-horse through the toughest of the Nevada desert untouched and nearly unstoppable. It wasn’t until the waning moments of his race that Herder suffered a single flat tire after bruising BFG’s best rubber on the diamond plated rocks of the Nevada. Herder later admitted at the finish line, “My crew said it was an 11 minute tire change, I guess I have to get better at changing tires.”
Overall Champion John Herder & Crew Celebrate with the Winner's
Cup Full of Crown Royal and Coke
A short time after crossing the finish line, Tim Herbst delivered the Terrible’s Town 250 Overall Winner’s Cup to Herder Racing as they waited for official results to be produced by Best in the Desert scoring officials. The tradition has long been that the Herbst Family / Terrible Herbst Casinos provide the overall winner with unlimited amount of Crown Royal and Coke for the team celebration at the finish line. Upon hearing BITD officially announce that John Herder was the overall winner, the team began their celebration immediately filling the Terrible’s Cup with Crown Royal/Coke and ten pounds of ice. Herder’s winning time of 4:01:29 beat the charging Damen Jefferies by a mere 52 seconds.
It took lots of Crown and Coke...
Herder’s race team wasted no time as they embarked on a victorious journey that included not just the team, but 100 of their closest friends. We stopped counting the bottles of Crown Royal after reaching the sixth bottle, which by the way, we were told was a new record. And well, the rest is history. John Herder, the winner of the Parker 425 won his second BITD Series race here in Pahrump, Nevada, taking a commanding lead in the run for the series point’s championship. Herder will no doubt be back running strong at the next BITD Series race – the famed “Vegas to Reno” race held in August.
Champion Party interview with "Big Shannon" from the John Herder Crew
Captivating the crowds of spectators with pure horsepower and incredible amount of suspension travel is the elite field of Trick Trucks. Often referred to as “trophy trucks,” BITD Promoter – Casey Folks calls them “Trick Trucks,” some say to be different than what SCORE International Promoter – Sal Fish, calls them. Others say because “they’re trick.” Nonetheless, these trucks have very few limits to their production and most are completely custom with more advanced technology than a rocket.
The Trick Trucks are what the spectators come to see. With villains and heroes behind the wheel of these sometimes 800 + horsepower machines, it’s the sight of a big fast truck raging at 130 miles per hour that lights up a young man’s eye. Whether he’s 10 years old or 40 years old, that same young man is often chilled by the intensity of a speeding Trick/Trophy Truck.
Garron Cadiente Crosses the Finish Line to Capture the Trick Truck Championship
Besting the field of 18 rockin’ and rollin’ trucks was Mesa, Arizona racer, Garron Cadiente. He made his mark as a top-rated truck racer in March 2006 when he bested the world’s top off road racers at the SCORE San Felipe 250. It was there that Cadiente listened to remarks from his peers saying, “Most of the competition broke Garron, and you got this one handed to you.”
However, the easy going 30-year old etched his permanent mark in the off road desert racing annals with a tremendous follow-up performance here at the Terrible’s Town 250. Only six-weeks after scoring his first Trophy Truck victory, Cadiente came back and battled against the likes of Tim Herbst, Rob MacCachren, Jesse Jones, Curt LeDuc, Will Staats, his father-in-law Ron Whitton and Pistol Pete Sohren to take a dominating win in the #38 G&R Trick Truck.
Jesse Jones Congratulates Overall Champion John Herder
DirtNewz staffers joined BITD Trick Truck Champion – Jesse Jones after the race and Jesse shook his head and commented, “Garron is the real-deal. Man I’m a bit jealous.”
This year’s four-wheel vehicle race was likened to a NASCAR Talladega circle track race. Race mile 44 was similar to turn one at the popular Alabama speedway. At Talladega they raced into the turn one three or four wide; we saw multiple trucks and buggies racing side-by-side as they fought for position in the rubble of Nevada’s dirt.
In the end it was Cadiente who bested Ed and Tim Herbst, who piloted the Terrible’s Racing #19 Trick Truck, by only five minutes. Finishing third on the podium was the wily desert veteran, Skyjacker’s Curt LeDuc. Amazingly, the elder LeDuc and his oldest son, Todd, raced the LeDuc Class 8 in the Trick Truck class and ran a stifling pace to finish on the podium a full five minutes ahead of the nearest in class competitor.
Ed & Tim Herbst Chasing Down Cadiente
Dominating the professional motorcycle scene was the newest teamed up duo of Mike Childress and Steve Hengeveld of the Honda Red Riders team. Mike and Steve claimed victory aboard the revolutionary Honda XR650R motorcycle. Steve told DirtNewz staffers, “We were racing side-by-side for the first half of the race and then when we got to Pit 6 they told us we nearly had a 20 minute lead. We ran a good solid effort and it paid off.”
The celebrated Honda champions first joined forces at the 2005 SCORE Baja 1000 were they, along with Honda’s legend – Johnny Campbell, claimed victory in what has been regarded as the most difficult Baja 1000 race in two decades. In the first sanctioned desert race of the SCORE season, they finished first ahead of teammate Robby Bell, however were later disqualified after SCORE officials deemed they had short-cutted the race course. In what was a challenging situation for the young Mike Childress and veteran Steve Hengeveld, they have roared back to life with a commanding victory here at Terrible’s Town.
On the heels of another terrific season, Honda ATV Baja 1000 Champion – Wayne Matlock continued his domination in the ATV Class besting the legendary desert veteran, Doug Eichner. Matlock, who also captured the win at the SCORE San Felipe 250 continues to set the bar very high in the ranks of professional ATV racing. Matlock teamed with Chad Prull for their charge through the desert of Nevada finishing the race in 4:54:22 ONLY 14 seconds in front of Doug Eichner.
Finally, in the ranks of sportsman four-wheel vehicles, the Terrible’s Town race saw a total of 17 Yamaha Rhinos entered in the newly developed Class 1900. The Yamaha Rhino is the latest craze to hit the off road scene as the utility vehicle, in stock or near stock setup, can crawl, climb and roar down the most difficult trails in the mountains or desert. However, racing a full 250 miles throughout the desert in race conditions is a whole different story. Of the 17 Yamaha Rhinos entered in this race only three finished within the sixteen hour extended time limit. Taking home the crown at this race was JD Marsh/Brian Wood/Jonathon Nelson all of Hemet, California. The trio completed the course in 8:49:04 over an hour and a half in front of the second place finisher, Ryan Combs/Chris Dunsire. The Bohica Motorsports Yamaha Rhino was one of the finest looking Rhinos that rolled through contingency and obviously worked very well in the harsh desert environment.
The question is how long will the craze continue and will the Yamaha Rhino class be the next best desert challenge. Only time will tell and with the SCORE Baja 500 and the BITD Vegas to Reno race soon to come, we will see if the entries continue at what could be considered a record pace.
This year’s edition of the Best in the Desert Terrible’s Town 250 was one that won’t be forgotten in many years. Wild side-by-side racing action between the nation’s top drivers has already been seeded into minds of thousands of spectators who flocked to the Nevada desert in search of wild off road desert racing action. Best in the Desert provided spectator viewing areas at different areas of the race course this year perhaps an indication of their devotion towards hosting bigger crowds in the desert.
The stars of the race were each and every steel-horse cowboy who braved the ultimate challenge known to many as off road desert racing. Not everyone took home a trophy, but all those that roared from the start line should be considered champions for their sacrifice to the sport of off road racing, because without them there would be no racing.
