Since its 1996 debut, Best In The Desert’s 30th annual Casey Folks Vegas-To-Reno “The Other Way,” presented by Camburg/Magnaflow, serves as a flagship race on the BITD and American Off-Road Championship calendar and is one of the premier long-distance desert races in North America.
Photos by Harlen Foley
For the special anniversary, the race dubbed “V2R” would switch directions, starting just outside of Reno in Dayton and heading south for 505 miles through the Nevada desert to finish just outside of Las Vegas in Crystal. Averaging 65 mph, the Hero Racing/Malcolm Smith Motorsports trio of Ciaran Naran, Cody Simpson and Callum Norton topped the overall motorcycle standings and finished third vehicle overall with a time of 7 hours, 44 minutes and 26 seconds.
The race began on Wednesday in Dayton with Time Trials determining the starting order for Friday’s main race. A four-mile loop challenged the competitors, but JCR Honda’s Preston Campbell (N3) took the top spot and first starting position for Friday’s main race. Hero Racing’s Ciaran Naran (N2) settled for second, less than one second off Campbell’s time, while Norman Racing Husqvarna’s Shane Logan piloted the N1 machine to the third spot. Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Dalton Shirey (N46) and Caiden Fenstermaker (N13) rounded out the top five Open Pro motorcycle qualifiers.
At 5:55 a.m. Friday morning, Campbell and his JCR Honda CRF450X made first tracks in the wet Nevada desert after overnight rains soaked much of the upper portion of the racecourse. Heavy rain had washed out roads and tore down some markers, making it tricky for racers to push the pace. But the sunny skies and lack of dust in the morning allowed for impeccable racing to kick things off.
Early on, Naran and the Ducati Desmo450 EDX proved to be the fastest of the bunch, slowly reeling in Campbell on adjusted time as the miles clicked off with Naran’s 2025-winning teammate, Logan, following closely behind. By pit four at race-mile 134, Naran held a 30-second advantage on adjusted time over Campbell and Logan, who were about dead even leaving the small town of Gabbs. Entering pit five at race-mile 177, the N3 and N2 bikes were side by side with an all-out duel between the two Open Pro bikes. By race-mile 208, the lead three bikes were all within a minute of each other, with Naran leading ahead of Logan and Campbell, though dust was a factor on the racecourse by this point. Leaving pit six at race-mile 231, the N2 and N1 bikes left in a fury, racing wheel-to-wheel, trying to grab the all-important lead to make dust with miles of dry, high-speed roads and washes ahead.
Nearing pit eight at race-mile 345, the race saw a big shakeup. The Ducati team first came across a closed barbed wire gate with Cody Simpson on board and riding through the gate. Luck was on his side, however, as he didn’t go down or suffer any injuries to his body. His bike was left with busted-up plastics, and he continued on in the lead.
However, the Hero Racing team then suffered a mechanical issue during their pit stop, costing several minutes while they repaired the fueling system, ultimately letting both the N1 and N3 bikes by. Leaving Cottontail, Daemon Woolslayer took the lead by several minutes, but near race-mile 400, disaster struck the Husqvarna rider. Loose rear-sprocket bolts caused a rear-hub failure and ended their run for the overall victory. They ultimately made it to the finish line, nearly 90 minutes back from the overall leader.
With the N1 bike out, rally ace and past winner Skyler Howes rode the JCR Honda CRF450X flat-out to try and open up the gap to Australian Callum Norton on the Ducati Desmo450 EDX. At the finish, Howes and the JCR Honda team crossed the line first physically but second on corrected time by 34 seconds. With the V2R victory, Naran has won three in a row in the AORC and holds the points lead with one round remaining. After a long day in the desert, brothers Caiden and Gregory Fenstermaker finished third overall and Open Pro in a time of 8 hours, 24 minutes and 28 seconds.
Other notable results include Kane Hellberg claiming the Ironman Pro win, Caleb Tate and team winning the Open Expert division and finishing first overall Expert and fifth overall motorcycle, Jeff Miller’s team winning the 60+ Expert class, and Derek Marley winning the Open Amateur division and placing first overall amateur.
Next up for BITD racers is the season finale in Laughlin, Nevada, for the Laughlin Desert Challenge, on October 15-19. CN
2026 AORRC Round 5 Results
OVERALL (Top 10)
- Ciaran Naran (Duc) 7:44:56.755
- Preston Campbell (Hon) 7:46:30.233
- Caiden Fenstermaker (KTM) 8:24:28.169
- Matthew Grant (Hon) 8:39:04.000
- Caleb Tate (Hus) 8:41:48.181
- Clayton Renner (KTM) 8:48:32.929
- Jason Shakespeare (KTM) 8:54:38.770
- Zackery Eaton (Kaw) 8:56:25.137
- Shane Logan (Hus) 9:00:02.828
- Kane Hellberg (Kaw) 9:05:00.165
