PARKER 425: NEW RACE FORMAT AND BIG PAYOUTS

WORDS BY SHAUN OCHSNER PHOTOS BY ERIC MINKS

The 2020 Best in the Desert season kicked off with a brand-new race format. For the first time, racing was split into two days. Slower and limited classes were run on Friday, while the faster 1500, 6100 and Trick Truck classes were run on Saturday. Officials split the classes to allow everyone to have a chance at finishing safely in the daylight. Racers had fewer bottlenecks and less lapping of slower entries. The two-day format was well received by the racers. The 425-mile race is known as one of the more challenging and grueling events in the Best in the Desert race series. The event starts right on the main street of downtown Parker and finishes near the Bluewater Casino alongside the Colorado River. The race ends the brief 2-month “off-season”. Many racers take the “offseason” opportunity to fine tune race vehicles, install new parts and possibly ready a completely new vehicle. Some teams also secure new sponsorships as well and showcase them at Parker. “What a way to start the new year of Car/Truck racing. This year’s event will go down in history as one of the best ever,” -BITD Operations Manager Donald Jackson

The Parker 425 is part of this year’s Maxxis Triple Crown. A bonus purse of over $50,000 was paid to overall finishers. 83 vehicles started on Friday, while 84 started Saturday. In the Unlimited truck class, all eyes were on Harley Letner who drove for Kevin Thompson in the #70 Concrete Motorsports truck. Harley was the fastest qualifier at time trials. Robby Gordon brought out his new truck, nicknamed the “Unicorn”. This would be the first race for Gordon’s truck. While testing for

Baja, the truck sustained heavy damage and would need weeks of repair. When the dust settled, Jason Voss finished 25 minutes ahead of Tracy Graf.

In class 1500, Brandon Bailey beat out Brian Parkhouse by 4 minutes. Kyle Jergensen took a 6100 win over Ryan Hancock, Chris Schweers was victorious in Class 5000. Kyle Gieselmann won in Jeepspeed.

The Parker 425 still goes strong every year despite losing organizer Casey Folks, who died just a couple weeks before this prestigious event in 2017. Every year racers come here to race in his honor and live their adventure with Best in the Desert.