Mark Kariya | January 7, 2018
2018 Parker 250 BITD Results – Lake Powell Off-road Association/Garrett Off-road Racing Honda rider Skyler Howes took advantage of drawing the first start and led from start to finish at the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals/Casey Folks Parker 250, round one of Best in the Desert’s American Off-road Racing Series. He completed three laps of the fast, rough 80-mile loop in four hours, 22 minutes and 51 seconds, with Cooper Motorsports 747/Monarch Honda’s Brody Honea/Tallon Taylor second in 4:31:35 while Stevens Off-road Racing’s Zach Myers/Taylor Stevens rounded out the top three in 4:35:20.
2018 Parker 250 BITD Results
Skyler Howes led from start to finish at the Parker 250. (Photo: Mark Kariya)
“This is the first time I’ve ever drawn first starting position so that was a huge, huge reason why I was able to pull out and have such a healthy lead,” Howes explained. “The dust was insane today so being able to start first was huge. Even if you started second or anything, the dust and the way the course goes into the sun a lot of times, starting first at this race—especially with how dry and dusty it’s been—that’s a huge deal.”
The AHM/STI Tires/Fly Racing CRF450X-mounted Howes continued, “I didn’t really know how anyone else would ride so I rode 100 percent [on the first lap]; I gave it my all and when I came in off the first [lap], they said I had about an eight-minute lead. Off the second [lap], they said I had upwards of almost 15 minutes.”
The ninth Open Pro off the line in a class of 13, the Honea/Taylor duo had their work cut out for them aboard their Star Nursery/Works Connection/Fly Racing CRF450RX.
“We just rode super-smart, picked good lines and tried to stay out of the dust as much as possible when we could,” Honea shared. “You’ve just got to pick your choices through the dust and choose your battles.
“Tallon got [Parker] Steele that last lap and we ended up in third [physically but second on time].”
2018 Parker 250 BITD Results
The Myers/Stevens team seemed to have an uphill battle early on aboard their AZX Glass/Acerbis/Fly Racing Husky FX 450. Myers explained, “About the first 15 to 20 miles when I got on the bike [at the Midway pit 27 miles into the loop], I crashed pretty hard and bent the bars and broke the throttle. We just rode through it and managed [to keep going]. I’m just a little scraped up and we lost the tracker, but other than that, the bike still rode good—just a little lop-sided!”
For last year’s winner and defending series champ Jacob Argubright, the day was frustrating. He picked up a spot on the Chidester Transport Racing team after losing his ride with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team, but on Wednesday, he came down with the flu and lined up at far less than 100 percent.
Fifth off the line and soloing as he’d done all last year, he worked his way up to second on the first time around, but as he approached the end of the loop, he discovered that his on his TBT Racing/Kenda/Fly Racing YZ450FX needed a bit more fuel than the 2.5-gallon IMS tank held and ran out shortly before the main pit. (The 3.0-gallon tanks were apparently back-ordered.)
“After running out of gas, I ran back [to get a can of fuel] and that tore me apart,” he said. “I vomited just from huffing and puffing and coughing. It was bad.”
He obviously lost a lot of time before rejoining the race and ended up a disappointed 12th Open Pro. “I definitely wasn’t 100 percent, but I rode pretty good [for having] a new bike. I was just spent [and] I wasn’t taking too many chances, especially with the dust.”
The Jake Longtine/Parker Steele team ended up fourth bike overall on their 440 Motorsports KTM in 4:38:12 ahead of Jason Alosi/Wyatt Brittner’s Source 1 Commercial Cleaning Services KTM (4:43:00), Cooper Motorsports 747/Monarch Honda’s Danny Cooper/Tuffy Pearson/Nick Tolman (4:44:17), 300cc Pro winners Deegan and Jeremy Newton aboard their Scootin’ Newton Racing/La Piazza Pizza YZ250 (4:49:36), Over 30 Pro winners Danny Cooper/Reece Honea aboard their Cooper Motorsports 747/Monarch Honda (4:54:41), Braxtan Gallian who soloed to seventh Open Pro on his trusty The Pit Enterprise XR650R (4:55:48) and Certified Appliance Yamaha-mounted Alex Kortepeter/Luis Escobedo (4:58:05).
2018 Parker 250 BITD Results
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