Author:

 

Saturday, Feb. 25th, 2017….Derek West and his wife, Ashley and daughter, London attended the 1st Outlaw Off Road Racing Series event held at the Rock Creek Off Road Park in Booneville, Arkansas. This new Midwest series was created by several racers. It is based on a mix of skills in the woods, rocks, & hills in 2 timed laps for the best combined overall score. The series is a total of 4 races and is great for Ultra 4, Rock Bouncer or any off road competitors.

A total of 36 drivers came out for the first event along with many spectators there to enjoy the event, food & trails at the off road park. Derek did great taking the win and putting him in the lead for series points. It was a fun weekend of racing and trail riding. Team #20 is looking forward to the 2nd series event that will be held at Flat Nasty Off-Road Park in Jadwin, MO on May 6th.

Check it out on Facebook Outlaw Off Road Racing or www.outlawoffroadracing.com

Saturday May 6th – #2 Jadwin, MO
Saturday June 10th – #3 Columbia, KY
Saturday June 4th – #4 Spencer, TN

Photo Credits: Papsan Photography & Devin Castle

Follow us on FB and Instagram!
https://www.facebook.com/derekwestracing
https://instagram.com/derekwest20/

Lake Elsinore, CA – The Teryx Girls (Sara Price “Driver” & Erica Sacks “Co-Driver”) have been thinking of Hammertown for the last 12 months looking to better their result from last year at the 2017 King of the Hammers The toughest one day off-road race on the planet as the only all female team. The duo wowed the thousands of spectators in Johnson Valley, California last year as they sped through open desert and found unique lines through some of the technical rock crawling sections of the course. The King of the Hammers is a true test of (wo)man and machine.

Last Year the Teryx Girls started 20th and came out of the desert section in 12th going into the rocks, soon picking off enough cars to run in a 5th place spot before breaking out of the race. “From the moment we realized we weren’t going to finish last year, we’ve been thinking about how this year we were going to get the job done,” said Price. “We could hear everyone cheering for the Teryx Girls last year and I expect we will see even more fans out in Johnson Valley this week. This race is as tough as they come and I know Teryx is up for the challenge.”

Sara qualified the only 800cc to compete in the UTV Class Saturday the 4th for a impressive 20th start position against 46 that day and 70 Total entrants in class thus far. IMG Motorsports built the Teryx Girls, Kawasaki Teryx specifically for the King Of the Hammers leaving a large percentage of stock parts on the race side X side due to the proven strength and performance of the Kawasaki Teryx. Fans can watch the Teryx Girls race live on Wednesday, February 7 at www.ultra4racing.com/live

The Teryx Girls would like to thank all of their supporters including: Kawasaki, IMG Motorsports, Super ATV, Slime, Optimas Powersports, Walker Evans, UFD Racing, Raceline Wheels, Arisun Tires, PRP Seats, KC Hilites, MaxTrax, PCI Race Radios, K&N Filters, The Vinyl Shop, Factory UTV, Coyote ENTS.

The team can also be followed on their journey at www.facebook.com/TeryxGirls

or use Official Hashtag #TeryxGirls on social media sites.

PHOTO CREDIT
ACTION PICTURE: KATHY DURRETT
LIFESTYLE PICTURE: ATTAIN MEDIA

Parker 250 came up quick after the Pahrump Nugget 250 and we were in a mad dash to not only get the repairs done and the Yamaha ready but I also had to get my 6 year old sons car ready for his first race. Parker 250 last year went terrible for us due to a accident with another racer taking us out of the race with our brand new Yamaha so we had something to prove.

We would finish up all last minute things on the Yamaha on Wednesday and get loaded up. Thursday morning we would head to Parker at 7:00 am. We would arrive a few hours later and we pulled in the Parker Python to setup our camp / main pit. The dirt looked hard and not long after we pulled in i would bury the motor home in the sand. We tried a few things and were unsuccessful in getting it out, fortunately Best In the Desert would come to our rescue and pull us out with there big tractor. After that we got everything setup and relaxed a little. Friday morning we would get up early and head to tech, I needed to get through tech fast since my boys race was at 3:00 pm that day. Tech went well and smooth as always and we were headed back to main pit. My boys race was awesome and he did great for his first race at 6 years old and I am looking forward to a busy year with him racing in 2017.

Saturday morning I would wake up to the sound of the motorcycles and quads starting there race and went out side to watch before we would do some last few things to the EFX tires Yamaha. At 12:00 me and my co driver Brandon Altmann would make our way to staging and get inline for the start. Earlier that morning we heard the news of Casey Folks, Casey is the man of Best In The desert and a great guy, he had some great words with my boy at the end of his race on Friday. With his passing desert racing will never be the same. He took the time to shake your hand wish you luck before every start. At the finish he was there to congratulate you and present you with a finishers pin. Casey will be missed by all.

The Green light would drop and we would take off. The dirt from all the rain was epic racing conditions and we had no dust. We would quickly start to catch some cars and set a pace. We would start to see some crashed and broken cars early. We came to one section that was flooded out and a mud bog. After Midway pit the course opened up down a fast windy road, this was a blast in the EFX tires Yamaha grabbing gears and hitting fast speeds, this section would quickly be followed by rocky sections. Around mile marker 55 or so i noticed a clunking in the steering, we would pull over and me and my co-driver Brandon would get out and make quick repairs to a tie rod. As we were done and about to get back in the EFX tires Yamaha another team would pull up with a flat tire and ask us for help, they had lost there socket in the sand so we quickly helped them change there flat tire. We would then get back in the EFX tires Yamaha and and start setting a pace again and finish our first lap. The pit crew was fast with fuel and checking the car and we were off on lap two. Passing more cars again and setting a pace it was cool to have no dust and see the awesome scenery of Parker we got to race through.

We would come in to main pit again after completing lap two and again the crew was fast to fuel the car and wipe down the lights and give it a look over. We took off into lap 3 and it was now dusk, we turned on our lights and kept pushing and passing more cars, now in the dark and around mile 200 on lap three we would come down a hill into a ravine and the throttle would stick wide open, I quickly pushed in the clutch and turned off the EFX tires Yamaha and rolled off to the side of the course. After checking somethings we found a small rock had gotten lodged into the throttle body area causing it to be stuck wide open, we got it removed and would get back into the car and start to push towards the finish. Unfortunately a few miles later we dropped into a G out and i felt the rear of the car was lower so we again pulled over now in the dark and got out to check the car and found we had a failure in the rear suspension. We tried to get parts to make repairs and make it to the finish line but we were informed due to the spot we were in there wasn’t enough time and our race was over 13 miles from the finish line. This race was a grand prix finish so what is very frustrating is racers who would make it 1 lap or two laps but cross the finish line after the overall leader got a finish, and we who went more race miles didn’t cross the finish line would get a dnf. the Parker 250 would win again this year.

I cant thank everyone enough who supports us and my family and friends who come out and pit for us as with out them we couldn’t be a team. This race was special to us as me and my co-driver got to watch our kids race Friday and my Dad was able to come to the race, his first desert race ever. I also want to thank Nate at Alba racing for doing a fast and awesome job making the repairs to the car after Pahrump. Dean and Joe at suspended fabrication for building a great car and always there for us if we need any last minute things. Efx Tires as once again we didn’t have any flats and it is great to be supported by such a great company and people. We will make repairs and get the EFX tires Yamaha tested and dialed for the Mint400.

Our hearts go out to the Folks Family. Casey was a legend in our sport but most of all he was a great human.

A big thanks to all the sponsors that helped me get here.
Alba Racing . PRP Seats . Yamaha Motor USA . Lonestar Racing .
Rugged Radios . MSA Wheels . EFX Tires .
STV Motorsports . Factory UTV .
Suspended Fabrication .
Rhino Wraps

The off road community suffered a great loss this week. Casey was one of a kind. RIP Casey.

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

Parker 250 came up quick after the Pahrump Nugget 250 and we were in a mad dash to not only get the repairs done and the Yamaha ready but I also had to get my 6 year old sons car ready for his first race. Parker 250 last year went terrible for us due to a accident with another racer taking us out of the race with our brand new Yamaha so we had something to prove.

We would finish up all last minute things on the Yamaha on Wednesday and get loaded up. Thursday morning we would head to Parker at 7:00 am. We would arrive a few hours later and we pulled in the Parker Python to setup our camp / main pit. The dirt looked hard and not long after we pulled in i would bury the motor home in the sand. We tried a few things and were unsuccessful in getting it out, fortunately Best In the Desert would come to our rescue and pull us out with there big tractor. After that we got everything setup and relaxed a little. Friday morning we would get up early and head to tech, I needed to get through tech fast since my boys race was at 3:00 pm that day. Tech went well and smooth as always and we were headed back to main pit. My boys race was awesome and he did great for his first race at 6 years old and I am looking forward to a busy year with him racing in 2017.

Saturday morning I would wake up to the sound of the motorcycles and quads starting there race and went out side to watch before we would do some last few things to the EFX tires Yamaha. At 12:00 me and my co driver Brandon Altmann would make our way to staging and get inline for the start. Earlier that morning we heard the news of Casey Folks, Casey is the man of Best In The desert and a great guy, he had some great words with my boy at the end of his race on Friday. With his passing desert racing will never be the same. He took the time to shake your hand wish you luck before every start. At the finish he was there to congratulate you and present you with a finishers pin. Casey will be missed by all.

The Green light would drop and we would take off. The dirt from all the rain was epic racing conditions and we had no dust. We would quickly start to catch some cars and set a pace. We would start to see some crashed and broken cars early. We came to one section that was flooded out and a mud bog. After Midway pit the course opened up down a fast windy road, this was a blast in the EFX tires Yamaha grabbing gears and hitting fast speeds, this section would quickly be followed by rocky sections. Around mile marker 55 or so i noticed a clunking in the steering, we would pull over and me and my co-driver Brandon would get out and make quick repairs to a tie rod. As we were done and about to get back in the EFX tires Yamaha another team would pull up with a flat tire and ask us for help, they had lost there socket in the sand so we quickly helped them change there flat tire. We would then get back in the EFX tires Yamaha and and start setting a pace again and finish our first lap. The pit crew was fast with fuel and checking the car and we were off on lap two. Passing more cars again and setting a pace it was cool to have no dust and see the awesome scenery of Parker we got to race through.

We would come in to main pit again after completing lap two and again the crew was fast to fuel the car and wipe down the lights and give it a look over. We took off into lap 3 and it was now dusk, we turned on our lights and kept pushing and passing more cars, now in the dark and around mile 200 on lap three we would come down a hill into a ravine and the throttle would stick wide open, I quickly pushed in the clutch and turned off the EFX tires Yamaha and rolled off to the side of the course. After checking somethings we found a small rock had gotten lodged into the throttle body area causing it to be stuck wide open, we got it removed and would get back into the car and start to push towards the finish. Unfortunately a few miles later we dropped into a G out and i felt the rear of the car was lower so we again pulled over now in the dark and got out to check the car and found we had a failure in the rear suspension. We tried to get parts to make repairs and make it to the finish line but we were informed due to the spot we were in there wasn’t enough time and our race was over 13 miles from the finish line. This race was a grand prix finish so what is very frustrating is racers who would make it 1 lap or two laps but cross the finish line after the overall leader got a finish, and we who went more race miles didn’t cross the finish line would get a dnf. the Parker 250 would win again this year.

I cant thank everyone enough who supports us and my family and friends who come out and pit for us as with out them we couldn’t be a team. This race was special to us as me and my co-driver got to watch our kids race Friday and my Dad was able to come to the race, his first desert race ever. I also want to thank Nate at Alba racing for doing a fast and awesome job making the repairs to the car after Pahrump. Dean and Joe at suspended fabrication for building a great car and always there for us if we need any last minute things. Efx Tires as once again we didn’t have any flats and it is great to be supported by such a great company and people. We will make repairs and get the EFX tires Yamaha tested and dialed for the Mint400.

Our hearts go out to the Folks Family. Casey was a legend in our sport but most of all he was a great human.

A big thanks to all the sponsors that helped me get here.
Alba Racing . PRP Seats . Yamaha Motor USA . Lonestar Racing .
Rugged Radios . MSA Wheels . EFX Tires .
STV Motorsports . Factory UTV .
Suspended Fabrication .
Rhino Wraps

The off road community suffered a great loss this week. Casey was one of a kind. RIP Casey.

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

Parker 250 came up quick after the Pahrump Nugget 250 and we were in a mad dash to not only get the repairs done and the Yamaha ready but I also had to get my 6 year old sons car ready for his first race. Parker 250 last year went terrible for us due to a accident with another racer taking us out of the race with our brand new Yamaha so we had something to prove.

We would finish up all last minute things on the Yamaha on Wednesday and get loaded up. Thursday morning we would head to Parker at 7:00 am. We would arrive a few hours later and we pulled in the Parker Python to setup our camp / main pit. The dirt looked hard and not long after we pulled in i would bury the motor home in the sand. We tried a few things and were unsuccessful in getting it out, fortunately Best In the Desert would come to our rescue and pull us out with there big tractor. After that we got everything setup and relaxed a little. Friday morning we would get up early and head to tech, I needed to get through tech fast since my boys race was at 3:00 pm that day. Tech went well and smooth as always and we were headed back to main pit. My boys race was awesome and he did great for his first race at 6 years old and I am looking forward to a busy year with him racing in 2017.

Saturday morning I would wake up to the sound of the motorcycles and quads starting there race and went out side to watch before we would do some last few things to the EFX tires Yamaha. At 12:00 me and my co driver Brandon Altmann would make our way to staging and get inline for the start. Earlier that morning we heard the news of Casey Folks, Casey is the man of Best In The desert and a great guy, he had some great words with my boy at the end of his race on Friday. With his passing desert racing will never be the same. He took the time to shake your hand wish you luck before every start. At the finish he was there to congratulate you and present you with a finishers pin. Casey will be missed by all.

The Green light would drop and we would take off. The dirt from all the rain was epic racing conditions and we had no dust. We would quickly start to catch some cars and set a pace. We would start to see some crashed and broken cars early. We came to one section that was flooded out and a mud bog. After Midway pit the course opened up down a fast windy road, this was a blast in the EFX tires Yamaha grabbing gears and hitting fast speeds, this section would quickly be followed by rocky sections. Around mile marker 55 or so i noticed a clunking in the steering, we would pull over and me and my co-driver Brandon would get out and make quick repairs to a tie rod. As we were done and about to get back in the EFX tires Yamaha another team would pull up with a flat tire and ask us for help, they had lost there socket in the sand so we quickly helped them change there flat tire. We would then get back in the EFX tires Yamaha and and start setting a pace again and finish our first lap. The pit crew was fast with fuel and checking the car and we were off on lap two. Passing more cars again and setting a pace it was cool to have no dust and see the awesome scenery of Parker we got to race through.

We would come in to main pit again after completing lap two and again the crew was fast to fuel the car and wipe down the lights and give it a look over. We took off into lap 3 and it was now dusk, we turned on our lights and kept pushing and passing more cars, now in the dark and around mile 200 on lap three we would come down a hill into a ravine and the throttle would stick wide open, I quickly pushed in the clutch and turned off the EFX tires Yamaha and rolled off to the side of the course. After checking somethings we found a small rock had gotten lodged into the throttle body area causing it to be stuck wide open, we got it removed and would get back into the car and start to push towards the finish. Unfortunately a few miles later we dropped into a G out and i felt the rear of the car was lower so we again pulled over now in the dark and got out to check the car and found we had a failure in the rear suspension. We tried to get parts to make repairs and make it to the finish line but we were informed due to the spot we were in there wasn’t enough time and our race was over 13 miles from the finish line. This race was a grand prix finish so what is very frustrating is racers who would make it 1 lap or two laps but cross the finish line after the overall leader got a finish, and we who went more race miles didn’t cross the finish line would get a dnf. the Parker 250 would win again this year.

I cant thank everyone enough who supports us and my family and friends who come out and pit for us as with out them we couldn’t be a team. This race was special to us as me and my co-driver got to watch our kids race Friday and my Dad was able to come to the race, his first desert race ever. I also want to thank Nate at Alba racing for doing a fast and awesome job making the repairs to the car after Pahrump. Dean and Joe at suspended fabrication for building a great car and always there for us if we need any last minute things. Efx Tires as once again we didn’t have any flats and it is great to be supported by such a great company and people. We will make repairs and get the EFX tires Yamaha tested and dialed for the Mint400.

Our hearts go out to the Folks Family. Casey was a legend in our sport but most of all he was a great human.

A big thanks to all the sponsors that helped me get here.
Alba Racing . PRP Seats . Yamaha Motor USA . Lonestar Racing .
Rugged Radios . MSA Wheels . EFX Tires .
STV Motorsports . Factory UTV .
Suspended Fabrication .
Rhino Wraps

The off road community suffered a great loss this week. Casey was one of a kind. RIP Casey.

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

With the dust just settling from the 2016 season, and just one month off between 2017 it was game on for the 1st race of the season, The Parker 250. A lot of hard work went into stripping down the car to the chassis and fully rebuilding it within less than a month and going testing to make sure everything was perfect. We were excited for a fresh season, new sponsors, and what would be our 2nd season racing BITD.

We rolled into tech and contingency Friday morning in beautiful Parker AZ with 2 cars. One bone stock 2017 RZR for the new “GMZ UTV Winter Nationals” Short-course Race as well as our BITD Desert car. Walking through tech and contingency there were many new teams, drivers, and cars. And I knew we needed a solid showing on Saturday to show everyone we weren’t messing around this season. We rolled back to camp, put the final touches on the cars, and got some rest for what would be a busy day of racing in the morning.

We woke up to cloudy skies and perfect racing conditions to start off the new season. The first race of the day was the shourt-course race where I was looking to have some fun and possibly see some of the track. We had a land rush start with at least 20 plus cars all barreling into the first corner. I was was able to come out of the first corner in second and the race was on. Unfortunately this didn’t last to long, as a few miles in on a very fast section of the course I lost control and went for a wild ride. Thankfully I was okay, we pulled the car back to the pits, and it was time to focus on the big desert race coming up.

Starting the race side by side I was tenth off the line, which I was fine with, knowing there wouldn’t be to much dust to deal with. I got a good start and shortly after settled into a good pace. Not long after starting we came across a couple of cars which had succumbed to mechanical issues early on. We kept pushing on, gaining on the leaders in front of us. Coming into midway pit we got past a couple more cars and I knew we were settling into a great position. Past the first pits we were getting into a good groove and could see that we were gaining on the leaders just ahead of us. We got by one more car towards the end of lap one which put us 2nd on course coming into the pits to finish out our first lap. We came into the main pits just behind the leader and thanks to my awesome crew we were able to make the pass in the pits which made us the race leaders.

Going into Lap 2 it was game on, knowing we had a stacked field chasing us down it was time to hammer down. We pulled out of main pits and now that me and my co-driver Kurtis had the track down we knew we could form a cushion between us and the rest of the pack. Without having to deal with dust, or many lappers I focused on hitting our marks and getting a good gap. After a nearly flawless 80 mile lap we came into the pits once more to fuel up for our 3rd and final lap. After fuel and a quick look over we were out of the pits and on to the home stretch.

Our crew notified us that we had a few minute lead once we left the pits and I breathed a sigh of relief. After 60 plus cars had been on the course lap after lap the track was getting brutal. Knowing we had a large gap it was now time to keep the car together and bring it home. As we were nearing the end of the race night time was setting in and it was nice to finally get to use our Baja Designs lights. Those last 20 miles were almost surreal and I was just focused on making sure I got that car to the finish line. After a long but nearly flawless race we crossed the line to start off the 2017 season with an overall win by more than 5 Minutes!

 
Thanks to all my sponsors in 2016.

 

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

With the dust just settling from the 2016 season, and just one month off between 2017 it was game on for the 1st race of the season, The Parker 250. A lot of hard work went into stripping down the car to the chassis and fully rebuilding it within less than a month and going testing to make sure everything was perfect. We were excited for a fresh season, new sponsors, and what would be our 2nd season racing BITD.

We rolled into tech and contingency Friday morning in beautiful Parker AZ with 2 cars. One bone stock 2017 RZR for the new “GMZ UTV Winter Nationals” Short-course Race as well as our BITD Desert car. Walking through tech and contingency there were many new teams, drivers, and cars. And I knew we needed a solid showing on Saturday to show everyone we weren’t messing around this season. We rolled back to camp, put the final touches on the cars, and got some rest for what would be a busy day of racing in the morning.

We woke up to cloudy skies and perfect racing conditions to start off the new season. The first race of the day was the shourt-course race where I was looking to have some fun and possibly see some of the track. We had a land rush start with at least 20 plus cars all barreling into the first corner. I was was able to come out of the first corner in second and the race was on. Unfortunately this didn’t last to long, as a few miles in on a very fast section of the course I lost control and went for a wild ride. Thankfully I was okay, we pulled the car back to the pits, and it was time to focus on the big desert race coming up.

Starting the race side by side I was tenth off the line, which I was fine with, knowing there wouldn’t be to much dust to deal with. I got a good start and shortly after settled into a good pace. Not long after starting we came across a couple of cars which had succumbed to mechanical issues early on. We kept pushing on, gaining on the leaders in front of us. Coming into midway pit we got past a couple more cars and I knew we were settling into a great position. Past the first pits we were getting into a good groove and could see that we were gaining on the leaders just ahead of us. We got by one more car towards the end of lap one which put us 2nd on course coming into the pits to finish out our first lap. We came into the main pits just behind the leader and thanks to my awesome crew we were able to make the pass in the pits which made us the race leaders.

Going into Lap 2 it was game on, knowing we had a stacked field chasing us down it was time to hammer down. We pulled out of main pits and now that me and my co-driver Kurtis had the track down we knew we could form a cushion between us and the rest of the pack. Without having to deal with dust, or many lappers I focused on hitting our marks and getting a good gap. After a nearly flawless 80 mile lap we came into the pits once more to fuel up for our 3rd and final lap. After fuel and a quick look over we were out of the pits and on to the home stretch.

Our crew notified us that we had a few minute lead once we left the pits and I breathed a sigh of relief. After 60 plus cars had been on the course lap after lap the track was getting brutal. Knowing we had a large gap it was now time to keep the car together and bring it home. As we were nearing the end of the race night time was setting in and it was nice to finally get to use our Baja Designs lights. Those last 20 miles were almost surreal and I was just focused on making sure I got that car to the finish line. After a long but nearly flawless race we crossed the line to start off the 2017 season with an overall win by more than 5 Minutes!

 
Thanks to all my sponsors in 2016.

 

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

With the dust just settling from the 2016 season, and just one month off between 2017 it was game on for the 1st race of the season, The Parker 250. A lot of hard work went into stripping down the car to the chassis and fully rebuilding it within less than a month and going testing to make sure everything was perfect. We were excited for a fresh season, new sponsors, and what would be our 2nd season racing BITD.

We rolled into tech and contingency Friday morning in beautiful Parker AZ with 2 cars. One bone stock 2017 RZR for the new “GMZ UTV Winter Nationals” Short-course Race as well as our BITD Desert car. Walking through tech and contingency there were many new teams, drivers, and cars. And I knew we needed a solid showing on Saturday to show everyone we weren’t messing around this season. We rolled back to camp, put the final touches on the cars, and got some rest for what would be a busy day of racing in the morning.

We woke up to cloudy skies and perfect racing conditions to start off the new season. The first race of the day was the shourt-course race where I was looking to have some fun and possibly see some of the track. We had a land rush start with at least 20 plus cars all barreling into the first corner. I was was able to come out of the first corner in second and the race was on. Unfortunately this didn’t last to long, as a few miles in on a very fast section of the course I lost control and went for a wild ride. Thankfully I was okay, we pulled the car back to the pits, and it was time to focus on the big desert race coming up.

Starting the race side by side I was tenth off the line, which I was fine with, knowing there wouldn’t be to much dust to deal with. I got a good start and shortly after settled into a good pace. Not long after starting we came across a couple of cars which had succumbed to mechanical issues early on. We kept pushing on, gaining on the leaders in front of us. Coming into midway pit we got past a couple more cars and I knew we were settling into a great position. Past the first pits we were getting into a good groove and could see that we were gaining on the leaders just ahead of us. We got by one more car towards the end of lap one which put us 2nd on course coming into the pits to finish out our first lap. We came into the main pits just behind the leader and thanks to my awesome crew we were able to make the pass in the pits which made us the race leaders.

Going into Lap 2 it was game on, knowing we had a stacked field chasing us down it was time to hammer down. We pulled out of main pits and now that me and my co-driver Kurtis had the track down we knew we could form a cushion between us and the rest of the pack. Without having to deal with dust, or many lappers I focused on hitting our marks and getting a good gap. After a nearly flawless 80 mile lap we came into the pits once more to fuel up for our 3rd and final lap. After fuel and a quick look over we were out of the pits and on to the home stretch.

Our crew notified us that we had a few minute lead once we left the pits and I breathed a sigh of relief. After 60 plus cars had been on the course lap after lap the track was getting brutal. Knowing we had a large gap it was now time to keep the car together and bring it home. As we were nearing the end of the race night time was setting in and it was nice to finally get to use our Baja Designs lights. Those last 20 miles were almost surreal and I was just focused on making sure I got that car to the finish line. After a long but nearly flawless race we crossed the line to start off the 2017 season with an overall win by more than 5 Minutes!

 
Thanks to all my sponsors in 2016.

 

Copyright FATOGRAPHY

Staggs runs hard but a $2 part ends his day early at Pahrump 250.

Coming into Pahrump we had one thing in mind and that was to end the year with the last race finish on the box. We finished prepping the YXZ just before Thanksgiving. This gave the team a chance to relax and enjoy the time with family. The following Thursday afternoon we would make our way to Pahrump, all the hotels in town had sold out months before the race. We opted to stay in our RV right across from the hotel/tech and it worked out great. By the time we arrived and got settled it was already freezing, in all the kaos of unloading and getting set up, we some how managed to lock the keys in one of the rv’s. “Siri…… How may I help you?”  “Siri look for a local locksmith”…… I found 1 match in this area. “Siri call locksmith”…. you get the point. Things started out rough but we figured it out.

Friday morning would greet us with freezing cold temps. Luckily BITD had worked out a deal with the town and we were able to drive our race car to tech. This made registration and tech a breeze. We used the extra time to go back and get all the last minute things ready for the race on Saturday, after speaking with some friends who had the chance to pre run we knew it was going to be a rough race and freezing temperatures for the start.

Saturday morning we would get up and get ready and go to the staging for the police escort to the start. The chase crew would take off and head to pit 1. The police escort that BITD and the town had put together was awesome, we would get to drive 15 miles on the highway through town with the streets lined with fans. It was cold out and we were nice and warm with our PRP heated seats. Sitting in line at the start we would wait our turn. After a hand shake from Casey Folks from BITD we got the green light.

There was a slight breeze which was helping with the dust but I definitely wasn’t ready for the first 15 brutal rocky race miles. Rolling into pit one we started having radio and communication issues, we stopped in pit 1 for a brief stop and couldn’t get the issue resolved so we took off and shortly after would lose all communications. Navigating a desert race is hard when things are perfect, when you cant speak to your co-driver the challenge more than doubles. My co-driver Brandon would start using hand signals as our only result. Our chase crew had a mishap at pit 1 they jumped out to help a 6100 team with flats and some how locked the keys in the truck, they would have no choice but to break a window to get inside (Siri coulnt help us with this one), keys were not on our side this weekend.

Coming into pit 2 we would start getting a taste of the silt and visibility was reduced to 1 foot, to top it off we were still navigating with hand signals. We blew though pit two and would go into some more rough rocky terrain followed by long sections of deep silt, silt just as bad as I have seen in Baja but the sections seemed to never end as we approached pit 3 we would stop and take a splash of fuel and take off again into more dust and long nasty silt beds. We were charging hard and making good time by the time we made it to pit 4 our crew informed us we were now 3rd in class and 7th overall. BITD implemented a new rule in 2016, “the first ten cars to start were the top ten overall finishers in class from the last race.” I definitely don’t like it, we would have to push hard to make our way through the 900 turbo class before we would even start to reach the 3 front runners in our class. Leaving pit 4 we had had a good plan and so far the Pahrump 250 was going well for us and we had our sights on a podium finish. 3 miles out of pit 4 we would break a inner tire rod end link off in the rack. We now were trying to get a hold of the crew, no cell service we tried the radio with the hand held mic and we were able to get through to them and tell them what parts we needed. While we started to repair the steering, two teams would bring the parts from pit 4 to us and drop them off, in BITD racers or officials only can help racers on the track the pit crew can only help if we are in the pit so I owe a big thank you to both of those teams who brought us the parts or it would have cost us a lot more time.

We got the repairs done and got back into the Yamaha YXZ1000r and started to charge hard again and make up lost time. Thanks to our tracker the crew was able to see we were up and running again. The next 30 miles would be brutal deep silt and we would pass many broken cars as we came down the big 5000 to 3000 elevation drop in the course into more silt and into pit 5. With no issues we waved at the pit crew as we passed. Unfortunately at mile marker 175 in the deep silt we would lose a $2 part ending our run for the podium.

Pahrump was a rough one but we learned a lot this year in what it takes to get the new Yamaha YXZ1000R to the top in the roughest off road race series in the country. As always we will regroup and be ready for a fresh and strong start jan 6-7 at the first Best In The Desert race for 2017 in Parker, AZ. I also want to thank MSA wheels and EFX tires, we once again had no wheel failures or flats in the rough sharp rocky terrain in Pahrump while many others did. I cant thank my crew which consists of my friends and family with out them we wouldn’t be out there. The support I get from so many great partners gives us the drive to compete at this level.

I want to give a huge thank you to my friends and family. Without their support none of this would be possible.

A big thanks to all the sponsors that helped me get here.
Alba Racing . PRP Seats . Yamaha . Lonestar Racing .
Rugged Radios . MSA Wheels . EFX Tires .
STV Motorsports . Factory UTV .
Suspended Fabrication .
Rhino Wraps

Copyright FATOGRAPHY