The second race of the 2006 Best In The Desert Series will go off big here in the Nevada desert where off road race teams will test themselves and machine against some of the best in the business. Some teams will draw 7 and others will draw the Ace of Spades in their quest for a bit of luck in the Nevada desert. And they won’t be on the Blackjack or Roulette table; they’ll be facing the best of Nevada’s harsh desert environment.
Hosted by Best in the Desert and presented by the Terrible Herbst Casino’s – the BITD Terrible’s Town 250 is slated as one of the most lucrative money races in the desert with a $40,000 guaranteed purse.
Casey Folks says, “Life is an adventure. Come live your adventure with Best in the Desert.”
America’s top off road motorcycle and quad teams are scheduled to race into the desert in the early morning followed a few hours later by the four-wheel vehicles including the premier class of off road desert racer, Best in the Desert’s Trick Truck class. American Honda Red Riders 1X team comprising of Steve Hengeveld and Mike Childress are set to battle against Yamaha’s Ty Davis and Russell Pearson. The field of Open Pro bikes is only four pre-entered teams.
In the Parker 425 time trials, John Herder bested all the four-wheel racers and was rewarded with being the first racer off the starting line in downtown Parker, Arizona. Herder ran a clean race leading wire-to-wire eventually capturing the overall win in his single-seat Jimco Class 1500 car. However, this race may be different with a huge field of 25 Class 1500 teams led by Damon Jeffries, the Wilson Brothers, Chuck Hovey, BJ Richardson, Troy Herbst in the Terrible Herbst Shark, Jeff Quinn, Kory Scheeler and Todd Cuffaro.
John Herder Finish Line Interview From The Parker 425:
In fact, Cuffaro recently dialed in his Class 1500 Porter Car with his new FOX Racing Shox tuned by FOX Racing Kingpin – John Marking in the Plaster City, California desert. Cuffaro was running in the top five Class 1 cars at the SCORE San Felipe 250 when he was sidelined with a slight mechanical issue after charging hard towards the finish line at the San Felipe Arches. Watch for Cuffaro to light up the desert in this short charge across the desert.
Leading an elite field of racers in the Best in the Desert Trick Truck class is the 2005 Trick Truck Champion – Jesse Jones. Jones Motorsports captured the season championship handing their tire sponsor, Toyo Tires, their first ever series win in the off road desert racing world.
At the first race of the 2006 Best in the Desert Series season, Jones Motorsports fielded two Trick Trucks with veteran Baja 1000 Champions – Steve Hengeveld and Mike Childress. The #76 Jones Motorsports truck finished in third position behind Trick Truck winner, NASCAR’s Robby Gordon. Gordon was fresh off his Dakar Rally quest in North Africa driving his Hummer H3 sponsored by Jim Beam, Toyo Tires and Hummer. Gordon was bogged down with 100 gallons of fuel in his Hummer H3, as he ran the Parker 425 in Dakar Rally mode. Although, Gordon blasted around the Parker course with an extreme load of fuel in the first 140-mile lap, his load lightened as he mashed the pedal and he eventually gained speed and agility providing him the necessary attributes to get to the front of the Trick Truck pack and take the win.
Of course, there’s always the “Flash” Gordon-factor when Robby takes to the dirt in search of victory and this was no different. At the finish line Robby took a moment with DirtNewz discussing his first victory of the 2006 season.
Robby Gordon Finish Line Interview From The Parker 425:
Here in the second race of the season the NASCAR Nextel Cup Schedule has Gordon tied up and by all accounts our sources have reiterated that Gordon will not defend his Parker 425 Trick Truck victory at the Terrible’s Town 250 on Saturday.
However, the pre-entered field of Trick Trucks for this race is 19 only days before the race. They include Ed and Tim Herbst racing the #19 Terrible Herbst Trick Truck, Pistol Pete Sohren racing the #2 Speedway sponsored truck, as well as a slew of other potential winners all poised to win.
Garron Cadiente, the SCORE San Felipe Trophy Truck Winner, and his father-in-law, Ron Whitton, have both entered their G&R Racing Geiser-built Trick Trucks in this sprint through the Nevada desert. They will face the All-American off-road racer, Rob MacCachren and Mexicana Logisitics team owner – Gustavo Vildosola racing the #4 red and white Trick Truck.
Racing the completed dialed in SMD Trick Truck will be top young gun, David Scaroni and his older brother Matt, who are joined in the cockpit of the BFGoodrich/TrailReady sponsored Trick Truck by Tom “Turbo Tom” Geviss, a veteran racer who has been in the co-driver seat of many champions during his legendary 25-year career.
Dan Smith and Dave Ashley have plans to return to the desert for the first time in recent history in their brand new Ford Trick Truck. Smith and Ashley arrived to the MORE 250 race last month in order to test their new machine; however they had mechanical failures related to the ignition system early in the morning and were unable to get the newly built truck off the trailer. They have since extensively tested their truck and you can be sure these SCORE Champions will be charging towards victory with a bit of luck.
Skyjacker’s Curt LeDuc along with his 27-year old son, Todd, will tackle this sprint in the Skyjacker Class 8 that they race in the Trick Truck division without blinking an eye.
Debuting his new Geiser-built Trick Truck for the first time will be SCORE Class 8 Champion – Todd Wylie. Wylie recently took possession of his new Geiser-built beauty featuring the latest in FOX Racing Shox and you can be sure that Wylie will be putting the #85 truck through the paces early in search of a dominating performance.
A slew of other top rated drivers and teams all will be vying for that single opportunity to capture victory at Best in the Desert Terrible’s Town 250.
Finally, a huge class of UTV Class 1900 racers have entered this year’s Terrible’s Town 250. These racers have encountered controversy directly in the face from the small crowd of naysayers who have publicly questioned why they are racing what has been described as a “golf cart on steroids,” or the Yamaha Rhino class.
Many so-called experts have provided their two-cents, however, most of those people simply hide behind their computer monitors and are totally out of the loop when it comes to the cost of racing in other classes. Recently, we read on a popular racing forum that a self-proclaimed desert expert seriously questioned many of the UTV Class 1900 racers and claimed that they could race in the 1-2 1600 class for the same cost. Apparently that self-proclaimed expert hasn’t been to his local Las Vegas off road supply store to purchase parts for prepping and repair of a race car. The costs associated with the build-up of any race car are simply the most inexpensive portion of off road desert racing. It’s the cost of the race, the proper race car prep and the associated costs of your traveling crew to and from the races that hits your wallet.
The UTV Class 1900 allows racers to easily load their Yamaha Rhino in the bed of a pickup truck and head to the races without all the fanfare delegated to operating an off road race vehicle.
The Terrible’s Town 250 has pre-entered 12 Yamaha Rhinos in this class. Watch for the action to be off-the-hook wild as DirtNewz brings you the Rhino action from the Nevada Desert.
The DirtNewz Crew will roll into town by midday Thursday and bring you the complete action with audio interviews, digital imagery and more throughout the event live from Pahrump, Nevada and the surrounding deserts. Stay tuned for yet another wild race promoted by Casey Folks and his Best in the Desert staff.
