Dougans Racing Engines went full force at Best in the Desert’s 2017 Vegas to Reno. Named the longest off-road race in the United States, it is naturally the most grueling as well. Of the 21 Dougans powered trick trucks that took the green flag, 18 finished finished led by second place finisher #4 Justin Matney & third place finisher #7 Bryce Menzies. (more…)
“They bill it as ‘The Happiest Race on Earth’ and I think it really is,” quips Ron Stobaugh in describing the NORRA Mexican 1000. “It’s just as tough as the Baja 1000 – it uses the same dirt, same roads, some rocks, same cactus as the traditional 1000 – but instead of having to do it non-stop point-to-point it’s broken up into four days. You get all of the adventure, all of the terrain, all of the toughness of the Baja 1000, with a break each night to look your car over, work on it, visit with your co-racers, visit with your team, and enjoy a little bit of Baja instead of just racing through it.” (more…)
With a finishing time of 09:02:42.094, King Shocks’ Jason Voss earned the overall win at the 2017 Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno. The victory marks his fourth Vegas to Reno overall win in five years and distances himself further ahead in the 2017 overall Best in the Desert points championship.
Kicking off the weekend, King Shocks took seven of the top ten qualifying positions in the time trails event held at the notoriously rough APEX Road. Full of jumps, g-outs, whoops and overall nasty terrain, APEX weeds through the field and keeps the fastest racers up front.
“It’s always going to be rougher and more challenging qualifying at APEX and that’s how I like it knowing I’m equipped with one of the best trucks out there. I can’t say enough about King Shocks’ ability that allows me to push its limits. We were able to earn a third place starting position for race day and muscle our way to the front nearing the halfway point. From there, we held off Justin Matney for the overall. Four out of five years ain’t bad!” commented Jason Voss.
After a grueling 550 miles, Voss was first to the finish line in Dayton, NV, followed by King Shocks teammate Justin Matney. Matney started the race in seventh position and proved that the RPM Off-Road 4WD trick truck has its advantages in a race which winning pace was around 61mph. At race mile 300, Matney handed the truck off to Josh Daniel, who fell just short of catching Voss in the second half of the race by just +00:03:30. Vegas to Reno marks the second race in a row in which Matney has missed out on the overall by three minutes.
King Shocks also took the top five spots in Class 1500. #1589 Jon Walker took the class win by nearly four minutes over teammate #1549 Sam Berri. Youtheory Racing’s Harley Letner finished in third place and will keep his points lead in the overall points championship for Class 1500.
#6107 Steve Kovach destroyed the 6100 field, with second place finisher Carrie Smiley crossing the finish line +00:46:10 than Kovach’s pace.
About King Shocks
King Shocks makes world-class desert racing shocks for trucks, buggies and UTV’s. King manufactures and hand assembles all of their shocks in Southern California. King Shocks has been the industry leader for over a decade and continues to leave the competition in the dust by providing the level of quality, performance and customer service that champions demand.
25 years ago, Baja Designs was founded with a passion and thirst for off road. Performance driven and race proven – Baja Designs engineers and manufactures American made products, using only the best components available, right here in San Diego, California. (more…)
When it comes to the light truck and SUV tire market, Nitto Tire has every category covered. No matter if you’re a hardcore off-roader, weekend ’wheeler or dedicated pavement pounder, there’s a Grappler for you. To give you some better direction on which of Nitto’s Grapplers is the best fit for your vehicle, we’ve put together a buyer’s guide highlighting each member of the cutting-edge tire family. (more…)
After a grueling 550 miles, Jason Voss was first to the finish line in Dayton, NV and took home his fourth Vegas to Reno overall win in five years. Starting from third qualifying position, Voss quickly got out front physically nearing the halfway point and remained in position to take the overall win with a time of 09:02:27.
Second place finisher Justin Matney had one a strong performance in the #4 RPM Off-Road Trick Truck. Matney split seat time with Josh Daniel, who fell just short of catching Voss in the second half of the race. The duo’s spectacular performance finished just +00:03:30 off of Voss’ winning pace.
Bryce Menzies finished in third place after an unusually high (nine) amount of flats. Him & co-driver Pete Mortensen pushed on to secure the final spot on the podium, despite their significant down time.
Many classes are still battling it out in the Nevada desert. Click here for a full list of unofficial results as the finish.