Since its debut in 1996, Best In The Desert’s 29th annual Casey Folks Vegas-To-Reno, presented by Maxxis Tires, serves as the flagship race on the BITD calendar and is one of the premier long-distance desert races in North America. Starting just outside of Las Vegas in Crystal, Nevada, the 498-mile course traversed north through the Nevada desert to finish just outside of Reno in Dayton, Nevada. Averaging 62 mph, the Hero Racing/Optima Batteries Honda trio of Shane Logan, Ciaran Naran and Arturo Salas topped the overall standings, including both two- and four-wheel vehicles, to finish in eight hours, two minutes and 11 seconds.
Photos by Harlen Foley
The race began on Wednesday with time trials determining the starting order for Friday’s main race. A rough four-mile loop challenged the competitors, but JCR Honda’s Preston Campbell (N304) took the top spot and first starting position for Friday’s main race. Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Axel Pearson qualified second, while Naran settled for third after losing a few seconds in a tip-over.
At 5:52 a.m. Friday morning, the first bike took off in Crystal, Nevada, with Open Pro bikes leaving in intervals of one minute apart. Campbell’s teammate and Baja 1000 winner Tyler Lynn set the pace early, building his lead by 30 seconds at the first pit at race-mile (RM) 30. Pearson maintained second while Shane Logan (N1) chipped away at his deficit, closing in a few seconds of second place. The running order stayed the same through the first two pits before the race order was turned upside down. Coming into pit two, Bryce Stavron on the N3 Husqvarna held fourth place before a big crash slowed the team’s pace. Despite severe injuries, Stavron was able to remount and limp the bike back into the pits to his teammates but lost several minutes and a rider for the rest of the race.
As the lead trio raced into pit three at Bonnie Claire, the N304 and N26 bikes raced past a downed course marker, ultimately taking the unlucky line and sending the pair off course in the wrong direction. The pair was able to regain the course, but Logan on the N1 Honda snuck by to be first on the trail and in clean air for the first time all race. Pearson rolled through pit three in second, handing it off to another Pearson, Otto, with the younger Pearson taking the reins for the next few pits. Lynn handed his CRF450X off to Campbell, who set out to regain the time and positions they had lost. Past winners Hayden Hintz and Jacob Argubright, who started last off the line, worked their way up through the dust and into fourth overall by pit three…