Brown, Esposito Win Vegas to Reno

Mark Kariya | August 22, 2011

Drawing the fifth start position didn’t faze the THR Motorsports/Hoosier Precision Machining/KLeN Laundry KX450F-mounted duo of Chris Brown and Shane Esposito. The pair shared riding duties and methodically punched through the dust until they were the ones in clean air by pit four and went on to win the TSCO Vegas to Reno marathon, round five of Best in the Desert’s American Off-road Racing Series on August 19.

At 549 miles this year, the longest off-road race in America began in Beatty at 5:45 A.M., finishing once again in Dayton. Second off the line, Max Eddy, Jr., quickly moved to the front on his Barstow Motorcycle Center/Blais Racing Services/O’Neal CRF450X. With extra incentive in the form of his Race for Dianna’s Cure charity (to raise awareness and funds for his mother’s battle with cancer, which she would lose the next day), Eddy built a good lead through the first 100 miles. However, he would lose the course and eventually blow the engine.

From there, the Brown/Esposito duo took over and managed to hold off Purvines Racing/Countrywide Estate Planning/Precision Concepts CRF450X-mounted David Pearson and Rob Phillips. Purvines Racing’s Open Expert team of Carl Maassberg and Justin Morrow took third overall motorcycle with Over 30 Pro winners David Fry and Jason Trubey fourth overall for a Purvines Racing 2-3-4. Zip-Ty Racing Husqvarna’s Nick Burson and Ty Davis rounded out the top five overall and were the third Open Pros.