FAST FEMALES - Other Best In The Desert Female Racers

Meet Some of the Other Best In The Desert Female Racers

If there’s one attribute that a female off-road racer has over male racers, it’s empathy. These women are incredibly competitive, but they will never hesitate to stop on the course to help fellow racers or take a younger racer under their wing. While gender shouldn’t dictate how a racer competes, there is something to be said about maternal instincts. Best In The Desert added the Women M/C Class starting in the 2020 series, which, due to the pandemic, was a hard year to launch anything. But because the association kept organizing races with protocols in place the female motorcycle series was a success and keeps on growing. As for the female UTV racers, they are right in there going head to head with their male counterparts. In such a male-dominated sport, it’s hard to separate gender from the competition. Yet, all these female racers share the same sentiment: they want to be recognized for their skills rather they are women. These female racers are so much more than just racers: they are mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends. They love the thrill of coming off the line as much as any competitor, but they love the camaraderie and the Best In The Desert family nearly as much.

FAST FEMALES Story by Best In The Desert

Kimberly Loppnow at the UTV Legends Championship. Photo by Dirt Nation

Kimberly Loppnow

Kimberly Loppnow is riding high, coming off a 2021 Championship Title win for the Female MC Class. To start off, Kimberly only raced GPs, and a lot of the girls on Team Pink actually grew up racing against one another. They’ve only been desert racing since 2020, but they’re all drawn to it. It just takes a little bit of extra coordination and commitment to travel together to events. Kimberly’s first race with Best In The Desert was in 2014 before the association created a women’s class. She raced Open Expert Class and felt that she was always chasing after the win. But she’s happy that there is now a separate class. “I like the Women’s M/C Class. I feel like even though we are competing against each other, we are still all there for one another. Like, the Stout sisters are probably our top competitors, but they’ve stopped on the

Kimberly and her daughters at the UTV Legends awards presentation. Photo by Dirt Nation course and helped us when we needed it. And we’ve given their team a tire in the pit before. I feel like that doesn’t happen in the other classes.” Kimberly has looked up to a lot of other female racers who have come before her. She remembers as she was getting her start, Ashley Fiolek was the female motocross racer to be. She considered Ashley a mentor. She also reminisced about Sarah Price who helped Kim get her foot in the door. She feels like Sarah paved the way for all female racers, really putting in the hard work to be taken seriously in the off-road industry. She does see that female competitors have to be both racers and marketers, getting

themselves sponsors and also making sure to train and prepare for events. She feels like some women have to work a bit harder to make sure they can afford to race. So, what’s next for Kimberly Loppnow? Well, she keeps busy with her kids, including her own nine-year-old daughter Skylar who also rides and competes. But she doesn’t want to push racing on her; she wants her to enjoy it and feel stoked to be on the podium. “My goal for this year is to defend the red plate and keep learning about desert racing. I love the W1 team and even though we all compete against each other, like at the Hare and Hound, we love riding together too.” Kim enjoys racing the Best In The Desert series. She’s already taken her class wins in the Parker 250 and UTV Legends Championship along with her teammate, Krista Conway.

Krista Conway

Krista Conway is a long-time Best In The Desert competitor, often competing in maledominated motorcycle classes. In fact, she was second place in points for the Ironman Exp Class by the end of Best In The Desert’s 2021 series. That is quite the feat.

Krista teamed up with Kimberly Loppnow for the Women M/C Class win at the UTV Legends Championship. Photo by Dirtfocus.com

Krista Conway ran against the guys in the Ironman Expert Class at the 2021 World Hare & Hound Championship. Photo by Dirt Nation

While she considers herself, as do all the men she beat, a serious racer, she is first and foremost a mom. As a stay-at-home mom to a 10-year-old son, all her free time is… not really free! But they spend time at offroad events as her son competes in the local Motorcycle Racing Association of Nevada (MRAN) series riding his 80 and watches his mom race too. He’s her biggest fan!

Krista is nurturing a love of motorcycle racing in her son, as her dad did with her. She grew up in Boulder City, Nevada riding motorcycles with her dad and brother. Now, after 28 years of racing, she and her family are staple competitors at Best In The Desert events. Her dad now races trucks in the series, and it’s become a family affair. Last year, Krista attempted Vegas to Reno solo. And while she only made it halfway due to rough conditions, there were a few instances that she thinks represent the fact she is a female racer.

“The conditions at V2R were really tough last year and there was a lot happening on the course. I ended up stopping to help a racer who crashed after six other racers passed him by. The guy had to be medevaced out. I think that speaks to the level of compassion in female racers versus males. Men are so competitive, so serious! I don’t know a single female racer who wouldn’t stop to help someone who crashed on the course. Maybe it’s the mom in me, but there’s no way I could just pass by.”

Krista has been competing more and more in the Best In The Desert Woman’s Class, away from the co-ed classes, even though she’s proven she can compete there too. She is happy that Best In The Desert decided to build a separate class for females.

As for the future? She’ll always race. She will continue racing, supported by Herling Racing and Off-Road Vixens, with her son by her side!

Alexia Leaming

Alexia Leaming is a young female racer and while she competed in the Y1000 Class last year, this year she is going full desert. She’s come leaps and bounds from her first full year of racing in 2020. Alexia grew up in a family of racers. Her brothers Jaxon and Cameron race with Best In The Desert, as does her father, Chris Leaming. “She’s got a kick-ass drive, just like her dad, with an attitude just like her mom,” says Chris Leaming who is out riding the dunes and rock crawling with his kids every weekend. “We have to make sure it isn’t racing all the time. There needs to be some escape from the pressure.” Alexia had a tough year competing against the boys in the Y1000 Class, famously cartwheeling off the start at the 2021 250 after getting clipped from behind to roll four times and then keep racing. Her dad has to remind her that legends get knocked off course from time to time. “At 14, Alexia is one of the only young girls out there and the boys in her class are all going through puberty…they don’t like losing to a girl and can get pretty aggressive

Alexia ran the Y100 Class in 2021. Photo by Dirt Nation

Alexia and Ruslan Yankilevich drove Vegas to Reno last year earning the title as the youngest drivers to ever race in the event. Photo by Dirt Nation

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about it,” says her dad. Everyone is pretty excited about Alexia going full desert this year. “I’ll be 15 this year, so I know more eyes are going to be on me,” says Alexia. “Not only because I’m young, but because I’m a girl, sure. But I also think that a lot of people have a lot of respect for me because of that too. I know how to work on my car, I can do it all myself, and we built a two-seater to race the Pro Super Stock class this year. I’m excited.” Alexia and Ruslan Yankilevich drove Vegas to Reno last year, finishing sixth place in the Rally Class and earning the title as the youngest drivers to ever race in the event. Alexia drove six hours, 240 miles, all at night. To say that she is ready for the next challenge is an understatement. And she has great role models in the sport to look up to. Sierra Romo and Maddy Wedeking are two female racers that she respects and considers her mentors. She can’t wait to race with them this year!

Alexia has jumped into the UTV Pro Super Stock class for this year and shown here fi ghting for position at the UTV Legends Championship. Photo by Dirtfocus.com

19 year old Brook Lynn Deman at the 2021 Vegas to Reno. Photo by Dirt Nation

Brook Lynn Deman

At only 19 years old, Brook Lynn Deman will be the next gal to beat. She comes from a Best In The Desert background, growing up going to the races and hearing stories of past events. Her dad won the MC Championship Title in 2002 and it’s been Brook Lynn’s dream to follow in her father’s footsteps ever since. In 2018, Brook Lynn went to a WORCS SXS race and saw female competitors walking around. She didn’t even know that was a thing. She asked her dad if she could race too. “Baby, you can do anything you put your mind to,” her dad told her. Brook Lynn started racing a Can Am 900 and was successful from the start. She won her first WORCS race in the fall of 2018 by a full two minutes with only a few weeks of practice under her belt and then went on to win the championship title the following season. She was hooked. 2019 marked her first Best In The Desert competition where she placed third at the UTV World Championships, which is one of her favorite races. In 2021 she went full desert when she attempted and completed her first Vegas to Reno. “I was in the car for a full 15 hours as co-driver. I was so exhausted. But I really felt good driving desert; I might even be a better desert racer. I’m excited to get more experience.” Brook Lynn is planning on racing as much of the 2022 Best In The Desert schedule as she can. She needs to figure out the balance between financing races and doing it as a career. “While it’s so empowering being a female racing in such a male-dominated scene,

it’s also a challenge to be taken seriously, especially at events like tech. I want to be respected as a driver who knows mechanics, who knows the course, as much as I’m respected as a girl. And it’s hard to put yourself out there as a female driver and then separate yourself from just being considered an influencer,” said Brook Lynn. “I don’t want people to see my car and think the driver is a girl. I just want to take my helmet off at the end and have my blonde hair fall out!” One thing she does love about being one of the few girls in off-road racing is the incredible support she receives. Other racers are supportive; other female competitors are supportive. Everyone loves the fact that more and more females are getting involved in the sport. Brook Lynn will be driving a Can Am X3 Turbo 1000 this year, sponsored by Evolution Power Sports, Shock Therapy, CST Tires, Deviant Race Parts, Chupacabra Offroad, Savage UTV, Pro eagle, Baja Designs, Seal Savers, Burn Fuel, Rugged Radios, HPR, VP Racing, and Raceline Wheels. The Woman’s MC Class at Best In The Desert continues to grow, and more and more women are joining the ranks in UTV and car classes. The females who race Best In The Desert know one another, respect one another, and will never hesitate to stop their race to help. While seeing women compete may be new to some racers, these women are not new to the sport. Many have grown up in the industry and know their way around the garage. They are serious competitors and fellow racers better watch their tailpipes.