The 2016 desert racing season is approaching its halfway point with the upcoming SCORE-International Baja 500 this weekend in Ensenada, Baja California. With only one SCORE-International race in the books, the overall points championship is up for grabs and this mid-season race is a pivotal point in the season. (more…)
Desert racing returned to Laughlin, NV this past weekend with the inaugural Method Race Wheels Laughlin Desert Classic presented by Canidae Tap It. A two-day race, the Laughlin Desert Challenge was the first Best in the Desert race in recent years to separate the Trick Trucks into their own race separate of all other classes, allowing elite class to reach their full capabilities and terrorize the partially new 16 mile course that included the legendary Laughlin Leap and The Fly Over where race vehicles flew completely over Highway 162.
#5 Apdaly Lopez charged out of the gate to take the first day overall by +00:00:06 over Josh Daniel. On day 2, Lopez beat Daniel out of the infield and was leading out front for two laps before suffering a flat. At that point, there was only one speed for the Dougans powered #5 Trick Truck. The fearless Lopez hung everything on the line and completely soared the road crossing. “This is off-road and we don’t touch asphalt,” Lopez commented after the race. Unfortunately, in pushing the #5 to its limits, Lopez suffered a driveline failure that ended his day and hopes at the overall.
#17 Eduardo Laguna picked up the slack and earned Dougans a 3rd place overall finish on the podium. Laguna started in 10th place on day one and moved all the way to fourth on the road by the start of lap two. Soon after, Laguna lost an oil belt, forcing him to stop and repair the issue. On day two, Laguna averaged 60.6 mph and finished +00:00:43 off on the day and finished 3rd overall to secure Dougans Racing Engines yet another podium finish on the 2016 race season.
Of the 28 racers to start the race, only 8 made it to the finish line. After laying down a solid qualifying run, #184 Nick Vanderwey cruised to a 6th place overall finish. Vanderwey landed in 11th place overall after the first day of racing and finished +00:18:07 off the winning pace at the end of day two.
Justin “Bean” Smith and Tracy Graf shared driving duties in the #58 Trick Truck. Smith got off to a rocky start on Saturday and crashed a mile in to the race after jumping out front of Jason Voss. Smith lost 15-20 minutes getting it flipped over and redialed in with Graf who was navigating that day. Smith passed a few guys back and finished the day near the back of the pack. Graf piloted the #58 on Sunday and earned the duo a solid 7th place finish.
Hot off his second consecutive Mint 400 win, #41 Justin Lofton went to Laughlin looking to continue his successes in hopes of building another championship season. Lofton qualified third fastest on the 2.4 mile time trial course and lined up next to #5 Apdaly Lopez on day 1. The first day immediately set Lofton back after earning a flat on the first lap, a negligible roll over on the second lap, then another flat on the fourth lap. He finished the day second to last but came out blazing on day 2. Lofton went from 17th to 4th and had fun passing those vehicles trouble free. The flawless day 2 landed Lofton in 8th place overall at the end of the race.
Despite finishing a lap down, Jeff Terzo made it to the finish line in his first race in the #37 YouTheory Racing Trick Truck.
Nine Dougans Racers succumbed to the brutal Laughlin course and did not finish the race, including #16 Cameron Steele, #27 Steve Olliges, #38 Eric Hustead, #4 Justin Matney, #46 Troy Vest, #5 Apdaly Lopez, #54 Robert Johnston, #59 Cole Potts and #95 Scott Whipple.
2016 Method Race Wheels Laughlin Desert Classic presented by Canidae Tap Unofficial Results
3rd – #17 Eduardo Laguna
6th – #184 Nick Vanderwey
7th – #58 Tracy Graf
8th – #41 Justin Lofton
Photography by Jason Zindroski
About Dougans Racing Engines
Dougans Racing Engines (www.dougansracing.com) specializes in high performance engines for the top off-road competitions including the Best In the Desert and SCORE racing series. With over thirty-five years in the industry, Dougans offers high quality engine packages for trophy trucks, Class 1 trucks, and prerunners. We build complete engine packages that have gained a reputation in the racing world as consistent, powerful, dependable winners. Along with our engine packages, we provide dyno testing and personal track support to ensure that our customer’s needs are met all the way to the finish line. At Dougans Racing, customer satisfaction is our top priority and we strive to keep you running hard and winning races mile after mile.
About Mad Media:
The 2016 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires took place March 12th just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. The Race featured one of the most stacked fields in off-road racing history. 350 of the world’s best off-road teams showed up to battle each other and the brutal Mojave desert, for the chance to call themselves a Mint 400 Champion.
Rob MacCachren, Bryce Menzies, Justin Lofton, Cameron Steele, Jason Voss, Josh Daniel, Justin Matney, and Apdaly Lopez all came to battle and pit strategy became a chess game of who could stay out front. Teams fought for every second as they sent their driver back out into the off-road war. The course quickly deteriorated into a nightmare of rocks and dust.
This Mint 400 was one of the biggest unlimited fields in history, with the deepest field of world class drivers. A win here means you have beaten the best.
| After over 12 hours of intense off-road racing BFGoodrich won the Mint 400 overall with trick truck driver Justin Lofton by a mere 42 seconds. BFGoodrich took 7 of the top ten positions and 16 separate class wins once again proving their dominance in off-road racing.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL PHOTO SET AND WATCH THE VIDEO About The Mint 400 About Mad Media |
Team BD Trick Truck Race Summary
Justin Lofton took the overall victory and the top spot in the Trick Truck class; making him the second “Team BD” racer to take back to back wins that day. Finishing only 42 seconds behind Lofton was Andy McMillin in his new TSCO Trick Truck. Finishing just off the podium in fourth was “Team BD” racer Brett Sourapas.
“We turned our Baja Designs lights on with about 20 miles to go to the finish. It was hammer down from the start. Our Baja Designs Lights worked great when we needed them the most!” said Justin Lofton.
“We were in the lead pack all day. It was nerve wracking as it started to get dark, we couldn’t tell who was behind us. It was real dusty coming across the dry lake bed. We flashed our lights to let a slower car in front know we were coming. When our lights lit him up, he knew he better get out of the way. We had no time to spare with McMillin only 42 seconds back,” said Lofton.
Cody Parkhouse checked out from the rest of the class 1500 field and crossed the finish line 35 minutes ahead of second place to take the unlimited class win.
Team BD Class 6100/TT Spec Summary
Finishing well after sunset in the 6100/TT Spec class, Christian Sourapas used his Baja Designs lights to pierce through the dust and darkness to take the win.
Team BD Class 10 Summary
Class 10 winner, and now back to back champion of the Mint 400, Roger Starkey, took the top spot after setting a blistering pace. “Team BD” member T.J. Tuls, of Milk-N-It Motorsports was 2nd and Jason Coleman was 10 Seconds behind to put Baja Designs on the podium in 3rd. It was a clean sweep of the highly competitive class 10 podium.
Team BD UTV Summary
Branden Sims, who recently joined Baja Designs, took the overall win in the UTV class. Showing incredible sportsmanship, Sims jumped out of his race car after taking the overall win, and ran back onto the course to help push a fellow competitor with a mechanical issue across the finish line.
“Getting 1st and the overall be an all-time great moment in my life. I am excited to announce I have partnered with the top name in lighting!” – Branden Sims
Branden Sims, who recently joined Team BD, took the overall win in the UTV class. Showing incredible sportsmanship, Sims jumped out of his race car after taking the overall win, and ran back onto the course to help push a fellow competitor with a mechanical issue across the finish line.
Baja Designs Welcomes Cameron Steele & Desert Assassins
The Mint 400 was also a chance to welcome our latest team member to Baja Designs. Trophy Truck driver and icons in the sport of off-road racing Cameron Steele and the Desert Assassins. They debuted their new light setup at The Mint 400 which created quite the buzz. Baja Designs, Cameron Steele and the Desert Assassins will be changing the lighting world as everyone knows it. Stay tuned!
About Baja Designs:
For 20+ years Baja Designs (BD) has engineered revolutionary ways to stay at the forefront of motorcycle and automotive lighting. The first product developed was a Dual Sport kit that made a pure off road motorcycle minimally street legal. This intimate knowledge of motorcycle electrical capabilities led to a natural evolution to engineer the first HID motorcycle race light. Owner/Lead engineer Alan Roach is an avid Baja 1000 racer who has successfully been able to fine tune a motorcycle’s limited light optics to maximize rider comfort, speed and safety. As a result, Baja Designs (BD) has won every professional and amateur motorcycle and ATV Baja 1000 class for over 15 years.
As their engineers and racers advanced to truck and buggy racing, the next evolution began. Baja Designs quickly adapted their race winning HID motorcycle lights to their new race vehicles. With amazing speed, Baja Designs (BD) HID lights were adopted by the vehicle race community and could be found on the majority of Baja 1000 winning vehicles. In the process, Baja Designs (BD) engineers became well known as “The Scientists of Lighting” and were sought out by professional race teams to develop and aim their vehicle lighting.
LED lights were the next natural evolution of lighting and Baja Designs (BD) was the first company to develop a forward projecting LED light bar that was introduced and raced in the 2005 Baja 1000. That original LED light bar has evolved into a line of the highest performing and race winning LED lights on the market. Revolutionizing industry leading lights is not just a job at Baja Designs (BD), but a lifelong passion for both their owners and employees. The Baja Designs (BD) product line is dedicated to being BRIGHTER, BOLDER, and BETTER, which is why they truly are “The Scientists of Lighting”.
About Mad Media:
Rory Ward piloted the legendary Mickey Thompson “Challenger IV” car to its first ever win at the 2016 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires. The last race that that the “Challenger IV” competed in prior to its resurrection was the 1980 Mint 400 where it was only able to complete one lap. (more…)
Justin Lofton piloted his Jimco built unlimited Trick Truck nicknamed “Bad Co.” to the overall win at the The 2016 Polaris RZR Mint 400 presented by BFGoodrich Tires with an official time of 05:36:10.647. With his second Mint 400 win in a row, Lofton makes history being the first competitor to win on 4 wheels back-to-back in The Mint 400’s 49 year history. After over 360 miles of intense off-road warfare, Lofton finished 42 seconds ahead of two time Mint 400 Champion, Andy McMillin. The 2016 Mint 400 had 50 Unlimited Trick Trucks and 27 Class 1 cars, making the largest and most competitive race of the year. (more…)