Cycle News Staff | August 20, 2024
The close racing at this year’s Casey Folks Vegas-To-Reno, round three of the Best In The Desert Championship, resembled that of an outdoor national more than a typical high-speed desert race, with several lead changes and tight racing throughout the day.
The entry list to the 2024 edition of America’s longest single-day off-road race was loaded with talent from around the world. HRC Honda Rally racers Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes were splitting duties on a works rally bike alongside fellow Honda racers Preston Campbell and Justin Morgan, piloting a JCR Honda CRF450X. Championship points leader Shane Logan, defending Champion Hayden Hintz, and a host of others were joined by the surprising entry of GNCC star Steward Baylor, who recruited fellow Red Bear Kawasaki teammates from the East Coast to traverse 550 miles of the Nevada desert.
The Preston Campbell and Justin Morgan team battled for the win at BITD Vegas-To-Reno. Photo: Harlen Foley
The “race” started with Time Trials on Wednesday morning in Jean, Nevada, to set starting positions for Friday’s main race. Australian Jack Mentha (N3) set the fast time and proved tough to beat, qualifying in 5:02, a full six seconds ahead of Preston Campbell (N304), with Corbin McPherson (N2) another seven seconds behind Campbell. The third through sixth qualifiers were separated by a mere five seconds, with Jarrett Megla (N22), Ricky Brabec (N10) and Trevor Hunter (N1) rounding out the top six and setting themselves apart from the rest of the field. Notably, Nic Colangeli (N15) qualified seventh on a 30-year-old KX500 two-stroke, and Baylor qualified ninth out of 10 Open Pro bikes.
At 5:45 a.m. Friday morning, the N2 bike of Bryce Stavron/Jack Mentha made first dust as 71 bikes/quads embarked on a 550-plus-mile journey from Crystal, Nevada, to Dayton, Nevada. Typical of the early morning hours, the dust was thick and hanging in the fast roads and sandwashes at the start of the race.
Through the first two pits, no passes were made, but Logan and Brabec were moving up on the field, gaining time on the riders ahead. By the third pit 100 miles in, Brabec had closed to the rear wheel of the N22 bike (Jarrett Megla/Matthew Combs team) to pass while the privateer Honda team pitted for gas. The rally bike, holding eight-plus gallons of gas, was only set to stop for gas three times throughout the race, with plans of making passes in the pits while their competitors refueled.
Honda’s Ricky Brabec and Skyler Howes had a short day after Howes crashed out early in the race. Photo: Harlen Foley
Leaving the third pit, the floodgates opened for Brabec, who went on a tear over the next 150 miles to pass through the dust and move ahead of the other three bikes to take the physical lead as well as the overall lead at pit six in Tonopah. Despite the dust and some racers not giving an inch to the Dakar champion, Brabec’s charge through the pack in such a short amount of time was nothing short of impressive and set up what looked to be a winning day for the HRC Honda rally duo.
With Brabec moving up, the battle for the physical and time-adjusted second place raged between the N304, N3, N2 and N22 teams. N3 and N304 swapped the lead back and forth, with Preston Campbell briefly taking the physical lead for the first time.
“Once I got into the lead, I didn’t have tire tracks to judge coming into the corners, and I didn’t feel as comfortable pushing as hard as I did when I was following the leaders’ tracks,” said Campbell.
The JCR Honda pilot was soon passed by Brabec and arguably had the best tracks to follow with the fastest rider in the race leading the way.
As the racers reached the halfway point, the N10 duo performed a full maintenance stop on the works rally bike, refueling all eight-plus gallons, swapping both wheels, and handing over the rider duties to Brabec’s rally teammate and former V2R winner Skyler Howes. Just a few miles into his day, Howes suffered a severe crash, resulting in an ankle injury (among others) and ending the day early for the team. Showcasing the true spirit of desert racing, every rider who came up on Howes stopped and waited with him until the next rider arrived, leap-frogging with each other to ensure Howes wasn’t left alone until rescue arrived. BITD will credit each rider the time they stopped and stayed with Howes to ensure the outcome isn’t affected and that racers will continue acts like this in future races.
Following the crash, the tight racing continued with the N304 and N3 teams at the helm, but the surprise of the race was the N22 bike ridden by Megla and Combs, who were in the fight for the win on adjusted time and moving forward as the miles ticked on. With just over 100 miles to go, tragedy struck the N22 bike, as they had a tire/mousse failure while leading on time. Attempting to go the entire distance without a rear wheel change, it failed to hold up and put them at a stop at a remote checkpoint, ending their chance at victory.
However, the race was far from over. At the front, Campbell and Stavron continued to push the pace and were separated by mere minutes on adjusted time. Meanwhile, the race for third was heating up. After a lackluster first half of the race, defending series champs Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter put in a late-race charge over the final 200 miles to make up ground on the series points leader Shane Logan and team, closing the gap by minutes from pit to pit.
At the checkers, Preston Campbell/Justin Morgan crossed the finish line first in 8:43:35 to give JCR Honda another win and the riders their first. Bryce Stavron/Jack Mentha finished seven minutes back in second with Shane Logan/Corbin McPherson/Ryan Surratt in third. Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter finished fourth Open Pro and Nic Colangeli piloting the KX500 finished fifth in class.
Former Motocross Champion Chuck Sun (center), Dick Wilk (right) and Greg Zitterkopf finished runner-up in the 60+ division. Photo: Harlen Foley
Despite the racing at the front of the field being some of the best there has been in years, the amateur classes were no different. In the 30+ Pro class, team Taylor Stevens/Zach Meyers topped Stephen Helms and company by two minutes for the class victory and sixth overall.
Dustin Slade won the Ironman Pro class with a finishing time of 10:10:43, over one hour ahead of his next competitor. Remington Matthews won the Ironman Expert class in 11:15:02, while Kade Schwarz topped the Ironman Amateur class in 12:29:36.
Former MX star Chuck Sun teamed up with Dick Wilk and Greg Zitterkopf to finish runner-up in the 60+ Expert division. Cycle News’ own Ryan Nitzen made a late race pass to finish second in 30+ Expert.
The final round of the Best In The Desert Championship concludes with the Laughlin Desert Classic in October, where champions will be crowned in the riverside city.CN
Overall (Unofficial)
- Preston Campbell/Justin Morgan (Hon)
- Bryce Stavron/Jack Mentha (KTM)
- Shane Logan/Corbin McPherson/Ryan Surratt (KTM)
- Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter (Hon)
- Nic Colangeli (Kaw)
