On August 22, BITD kicked off their annual Vegas to Reno race, which is known as the longest off-road race in the United State. This year 14 UTVs would attempt the grueling 457-mile race, which was shorted from previous years due to track changes necessary to avoid environmental issues regarding the Amargosa Toad, a small frog in the Amargosa area. Casey Folks, Director of BITD changed the start location just North of Beatty. For those of you that have raced a desert race, the V2R race separates the men from boys, as this is not only the longest, but the toughest race in the United States. While we did not attend this event, we were able to monitor the progress of the race via the internet and a new tracking system online at: www.irctracking.com/2008/Vegas-Reno and also at: www.racetrackinginternational.com. Both of these track the racers on the track, as well as the last reported speed. RTI (Race Tracking International) tracks the racers with satellite imagery. Not realtime photos, but realtime positioning over terrain images captured from satellites from space. Isn’t technology great?
With only one UTV to ever complete the total distance in time (1919 Jagged X Team) in 2007, there were many wanting to capture the glory of finishing this race. One of those teams was the team from Desert Toyz, comprised of Cory, Jenette, Darren Sappington and Matt Seay. Cory and his team have been racing this race for the past 3 years, having never finished, for various reasons. This year he would get satisfaction as one of two UTVs to finish the race. First place would once again go to the Jagged X team in their Polaris Ranger RZR, and second would go to the DTZ team in their Yamaha Rhino with stock A-arms. Okay, Cory, we know you can finish this race with stock A-arms. Please… get some long travel suspension! You are getting older, and you, your brother, and your wife need some relief. Ah, I’m just messin’ with you, Cory. It truly is amazing what you have been able to accomplish, but more suspension, please! After the race was over, we contacted both finishers for a brief recap of their adventure. First up is the JaggeX team followed by the Desert Toyz team.
We showed up in Las Vegas to the best looking group of UTV race teams that I have seen to date. Everyone was ready to compete and looked like they had all done their homework. After the 130-mile drive to the starting line in Beatty, we unloaded and began the long wait. As usual, the other 300 cars and trucks began to leave the starting line and proceed to grind the Nevada desert into the nastiest, dirtiest, deepest silt you can imagine.
We finally left the start line around 1:00 pm. Our 1919 Polaris RZR started in second position but was able to get out in front before the first pit. Things were going really good, and we were staying ahead of the field pretty well. At Pit 2, we found that the 1904 Desert Toyz Rhino was way closer than we thought. In fact, we barely got out of the pit ahead of them. That got our driver, Brandon, fired up, and he kicked it up a notch and put a pretty good lead on the remaining pack by the next pit. Around Pit 5, we found a boulder at the bottom of a silt hole that bent up the front end a bit.
At the pit, we found a bent bolt and were able to fix it quick and get back out still ahead, but now being chased pretty hard by the 1913 RZR of Jerome Vinagro. Again, kick it up and keep it going was the call. As the sun went down, we began to hear that the field was thinning out and that we were increasing our lead, but not by quite enough to relax. After Pit 10 and deep into darkness about 2:00 am, another hidden silt hazard took the left front corner out pretty good, but Brandon and Blake were able to three-wheel the car about 22 miles into Pit 11 where we thrashed to put the RZR back in shape. Our new chase truck really helped to get the job done with everything we needed on board. After that, it was all about getting to the finish, which we did in just over 17 hrs to grab our second consecutive win at the V2R. Congrats goes out to Cory for getting to finish, as well. And more thanks goes out to all who helped to make this win possible.
WOW! What an adventure. After three years attempting to finish Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno, longest off-road race in America, DTZ is very proud to announce that we finished the race in second place.
This year’s racecourse was one of the roughest courses in history. DTZ racing prep team of three, Cory, Darren and Matt, finished the Rhino Wednesday night, only hours before it was time to leave. With no time to test, the Rhino went from the Dyno right to the trailer, and off to Vegas we went. This year there were a total of 326 entries, of which 14 of them were UTVs, 12 Pro and 2 Sportsman. The UTVs are the last to leave the start line, and we were third to start in that class. I was so nervous that I decided to let Darren start as the driver and Matt start as the navigator. Only 10 minutes into the race, they passed 1941, the Burke Team, and soon after caught three trucks, one of them being the Fab Tech full-size Ford. The Fab Tech truck was so tall Darren decided to bump ‘em on the rear tire to keep from going under the truck. I’m sure the trucks never expect to get passed by a Rhino, so they always seem to require a nudge. We were right on the tail of team 1919 Jagged X. We continued to chase them to just before Pit 3, mile 116, when Darren and Matt hit a rock hidden in the silt bed. The impact not only bent our front right suspension and broke the tie-rod end, but also rolled them over on their side. They tried several times to turn the Rhino back over but were unsuccessful. After 10 minutes, the Camburg truck team stopped and helped them roll the Rhino back over. Darren placed the broken tie-rod end and we were back on our way. They came into Pit 3 in 6th or 7th place. We replaced the steer box, knuckle and upper A-arm in 40 minutes. We also made our driver change and Jeanette and I got in the Rhino.
Between Pit 3 and Pit 4, mile 158, we passed 1944 team Texas. Shortly after passing 1944, we got a left rear flat and stopped to change it. No one passed us while we were stopped and continued on to Pit 4. At Pit 4, our chase team gave us a new rear tire and pulled the light covers off because it was getting dark. We didn’t stop at Pit 5 but passed the Lindsey Razor Team that were working on their UTV. About 14 miles before Pit 6, rm (race mile) 229, going up a small hill, our Rhino suddenly shut off. I thought it was an electrical problem so I hooked up jumper cables from our light battery to our engine battery. The Rhino fired up but we only went about 50 yards and the Rhino died again. I turned our auxiliary electric fuel pump on and could tell by the sound that it was not sucking fuel. I reached my hand into the fuel cell and discovered we were out of fuel. I moved the fuel pick-up tube to the back of the cell and was able to get the Rhino started again. We went about one more mile and that was it.
After 5 minutes, the #1802 full-size four-seat buggy pulled up and stopped. We asked them for fuel and they did not have any. We then asked of they could tow us, and they said yes. I quickly hooked up the tow strap and off we went! With only a 10 ft. tow strap and the lights off, it was a hair-raising experience, to say the least. We arrived at Pit 6 where our crew was waiting. Darren and Matt were scheduled to get in, but I decided to ride with Darren in case there were any other mechanical issues. Darren and I arrived at Pit 7, rm 276, at 1:00 am. I got out and Matt jumped in, and they were off to Pit 8, rm 279. At Pit 8, Jeanette and I were scheduled to get in, but Jeanette was sleeping so Matt stayed in and I jumped in the driver seat. Pit 9, rm 346, was too far for our chase team to go to, so they went straight to Pit 10. They also informed us that we were now in third place now, and the only Rhino still running with 1913 Team “Stripping Shop” and 1919 Team Jagged X ahead of us. About 5 miles from Pit 10, rm 346, we passed 1913. They were broken down and out of the race. Now in second place and so close to the finish I started to get misty-eyed.
At Pit 10, Darren was scheduled to get in as driver, and I would ride with him to the finish. But after three years of trying to complete this race, my adrenaline was really pumping and I asked Darren to ride instead of drive. He graciously accepted, and we headed for the finish. Just as we left Pit 10, our chase team called on the radio to inform us that 1919 had broken their front suspension and were limping to the finish on three wheels. 1919 was at approximately rm 412, and we were at 398. Then suddenly, BAM, our drive belt exploded! It was 5:00 am and still dark. It took about an hour to fix the drive belt, and we were back on our way. The sun was now up, and we were headed for the FINISH. Darren and I were so excited that we were whooping and hollering over the intercom to each other. We had no stop scheduled at Pit 11, rm 411. As we rolled through Pit 11, several chase teams ran out of their trailers and cheered us on.
At rm 430, our chase team informed us that we only had 20 minutes until the finish line closed. I knew I had to push the limits to get to the finish line on time. At rm 446, we high centered on a huge boulder in the center of the course, but by rocking back and forth in our seats, we were able to back off of it. Shortly thereafter, it became very hard to turn the Rhino to the left. Our right front was going flat. With no time to change it, we raced towards the finish. Now we could see the finish line. It was all downhill, and I ran wide open across the finish line! We were the last vehicle to finish the course on time with only two minutes to spare. My chase team, Best in the Desert Staff, and Creighton King from Maxxis tires were there to congratulate us. What a sweet victory. We were the only UTV in our class using stock suspension parts and two-wheel drive. With odds stacked against us, we finished the longest, toughest off-road race in America!
