Industry News

Best In The Desert Continues to Lead Off-Road Racing Through a Challenging 2020

Best in the Desert Racing Assaociation

Las Vegas, NV 7/16/2020 – 2020 has been a year that’s tested industries, businesses, and communities the world over due to the spread of coronavirus. Off-road racing was not spared with facing challenges, but despite closures, travel restrictions, and health precautions, Best In The Desert proved to be the leader of the pack by organizing a successful and safe event, the VT Construction Silver State “300” Presented by Polaris, in the midst of a pandemic.

Best In The Desert’s 2020 series started strong with the Tensor Tire Parker “250” presented by Polaris on January 10 and 11, 2020, an event that saw a record number of racers, 295, including 56 entries in the UTV Pro Turbo class alone and marked the first event of the Maxxis Triple Crown for UTVs, Motorcycles and Quads. The kick-off race was followed by the BlueWater Parker “425” presented by Jimco, which was the first Maxxis Triple Crown round for Cars and Trucks and equally as successful. Rounding out the Maxxis Triple Crown will be the Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno presented by Fox, and the BlueWater Desert Challenge, and together they will offer the biggest cash prize payouts in series history. 

The first two races of the series were quickly followed in February by the King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic which saw a new and improved course design and included the Baja Designs UTV Night Race on February 20, 2020, a super-fun event that UTV racers look forward to every year. Torrential rains the night before the weekend racing couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm and led to some of the most entertaining racing of the year. Best In The Desert’s 37th Annual racing series was off to a hot start with high entry numbers, record crowds, and national media coverage.  

Unfortunately, the Jagged X National Desert Cup Presented by Quantum Motorsports fell right at the start of the national shutdown and after great deliberation, Best In The Desert decided to postpone the event to September 25-27, 2020, to keep organizers, racers, and fans safe. This is where Best In The Desert showed why it is the leader in off-road racing when it hosted the first-ever “Virtual Town Hall” Meeting to bring the racing community together. The virtual meeting through Facebook Live brought everyone together, gathered feedback from the off-road racing community, and mapped out its plans for the remainder of the year. 

“2020 has been a year unlike any other,” commented Best In The Desert CMO Bryan Folks. “We started off the year with a huge bang at our first three events before COVID-19 shut down the entire country. Since re-emerging and hosting our first race back at the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris, it’s been non-stop. The off-road racing community is one of the strongest and most resilient racing communities in the world. We are so grateful for their support,” Folks adds. “We look forward to our next race, the Maxxis Tires ‘Casey Folks’ Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox with high expectations, as with the rest of the 2020 series. Thanks to all our racers, sponsors, media, staff, and volunteers for making Best In The Desert the number one off-road racing association in the world today.”

Desert Racing Returns with Best in the Desert Silver State 300

Best In The Desert returned from quarantine with confidence, organizing a safe and successful race, VT Construction Silver State “300” Presented by Polaris. Not knowing what to expect, even with extensive planning and COVID-19 protocol in place, Best In The Desert was inspired to see racers come together to set a record amount of entries. Even a fast-moving wildfire couldn’t stop the race and Best In The Desert proved their long-standing experience in off-road race organization by rerouting the course. 

The rest of the year’s events will be combined in a new championship called the Adventure Series. In fact, Best In The Desert participants have three end-of-the-year championships to compete for: the Best In The Desert 2020 American Off-Road Racing Series Class Championships, the Maxxis Triple Crown (which has already paid out an additional $67,000 on top of winning purses), and the new Adventure Series that was a result of COVID-19 complications. Along with the  4 Wheel Parts Youth UTV Championships, Trick Truck Challenge, and Class 6100 series championships, Best In The Desert offers something for everyone involved in off-road racing. 

Off-road racing is very much alive and well at Best In The Desert and fans who aren’t able to attend events can watch the excitement on MAVTV and streaming through the Best In The Desert website and social media platforms which have also grown extensively this year. 

2020 has been a true test for everyone but in spite of the challenges, Best In The Desert has pulled off some amazing wins and is excited to finish the year off strong.

24th Annual Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno Off-Road Race

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