SILVER STATE 300 - Tight Racing and Close Finishes

Introduction by Scot Harden Story contributed by Race-Dezert.com / Jason Zindroski Photo of Concrete Motorsports Trick Truck by Daniel Schenkelberg Photography

The Jimco Racing Silver State 300 featured a highly competitive field vying for the overall, class wins, and series championship points. 250 Cars, Trucks, UTVs, Motorcycles, and Quads entered the event, the 3rd race in the 2021 Best In The Desert Series. The race was held as Nevada entered its latest phase of COVID re-opening, which meant we could have our first post-race awards party in over a year. It was appreciated very much by all in attendance. Our media colleagues at Race-Dezert filed the following race report. We hope you enjoy it.

Tight Racing and Close Finishes Rule the Day

Ray Griffith - 1st Class 6100 Photo by 4DIRTMEDIA

The Best in the Desert Silver State 300 is always a favorite race to cover as the area the course goes through is different from what you usually see in a Nevada race. While you have your usual Nevada silt all around the course, the Silver State race goes through mountains, tree sections, and water crossings you don’t normally see.

While entries were down slightly compared to last year’s Covid era record turnout, there were still some great battles in multiple classes. With the course being right at 280 miles, the race was more of a sprint, so you need to be on your A-game to win this race. Having a problem-free race was crucial.

Qualifying for the Trick Truck, Class 1500, 6100, and Turbo UTVs had to be canceled, so starting positions were changed to how racers were sitting in points after the Parker 425 and 250 races. If you didn’t race one of the Parker events, then you were put in a random draw in the back.

In the Trick Truck class, the #1 Concrete Motorsports team of Harley Letner and Kevin Thompson started the day off first on the road after winning at the BlueWater Parker 425 Presented by Jimco Racing. The team is always a threat, but it really was their race to lose due to starting first off the line. Adam Householder and Kyle “Skype” Jergensen started behind Letner, and that’s how the majority of the race played out until close to the end. BJ Baldwin was entered with his new sponsor Black Rifle Coffee but experienced problems right off the start. Throughout the entire race, the lead three Trick Tricks of Thompson/Letner, Jergensen, and Householder stayed close together, with Householder and Jergensen trading second place back and forth on corrected time. Householder was ahead physically until the last pit where Kyle was able to get around them, changing a flat tire. Unfortunately, with only 20 miles to go from there to the finish line, it was just too much to make up in time.

Concrete Motorsports would go on to take the win, backing up their win at the BlueWater Parker 425, beating out

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Preston Brigman - 1st Class 1000 Photo by Bink Designs

Troy Grabowski - 1st Class 5000 Photo by Daniel Noble Photography

Joe David - 1st Class 1500 Photo by 4DIRTMEDIA

Tim Martin - 1st Class 1700 Photo by Dirt Nation Jergensen by 1 minute and 44 seconds in an overall elapsed time of 4:42:20. The winning average speed of 59.05 mph set a new record for the event and was one of the fastest winning speed averages ever at a Best In The Desert event. However, Householder would still finish in third place, about two and a half minutes behind. Those weren’t the only close races though in the class; Bill Apgood, who got fourth place, was only a minute after Householder, and Jax Redline was another minute behind him for fifth.

Class 6100 was an even closer race, showing just how competitive the class was. #6153 Ray Griffith took home the win, beating #6114 Justin Blower by a mere 13 seconds, and #6172 Dustin Grabowski, who started first,

came in third place, finishing just a minute behind Griffith. The elapsed times between the first and second place vehicles were 5:05:28 and 5:5:41, respectively. Eliott Watson made some moves starting back in tenth position and worked his way up the field to grab a top 5 finish. As he gets more comfortable in the class, he’ll be a threat for a podium spot for sure.

The largest class of the race was the UTV Turbo Pro class which always delivers exciting racing. Thirty-seven cars left the starting line, and #T944 Phil Blurton didn’t waste any time working his way up to the front of the field, but with as many fast drivers there were in the class, no one was going to let him run away with it. Close to the halfway point in Panaca, the race started to sort itself out, with Blurton still leading and Mitch Guthrie Jr. close behind. Ryan Piplic, who started twelfth, found his way up to third physically, and Brandon Sims, who started even farther back in the 22nd position, moved to 6th position. Blurton had a comfortable lead up to that point, but everyone

Phil Blurton - 1st UTV Pro Turbo Photo by Bink Designs

Chris Blais - 1st UTV Pro Unlimited Photo by RnR Photos JD Marsh - 1st UTV Pro N/A Photo by Dirt Nation

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Bill Baker - 1st UTV Rally Photo by Dirt Nation Mitchell Alsup - 1st UTV Pro Open Photo by Dirt Nation

behind him stepped it up for the second half of the race. At race mile 237, Guthrie Jr., had cut the physical gap down to three minutes, and Piplic and Sims were getting even closer to the lead pack. In the end, CanAm’s Blurton would take home the win finishing in a fantastic 5:11:21, just six minutes off the Class 6110 winning time and 13th overall, beating all the Class 1000 cars and all but three of the 6100 trucks. Piplic would come in second place, two minutes behind Blurton, and Sims would round out the podium, missing second place by a minute.

Other class wins for the day went to Joe David in 1500, #1075 Brent Fox, and Preston Brigman in Class 1000. JD Marsh won Production UTV N/A class after starting near the back, and Chris Blais took home a hard-earned win in the UTV

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Ryan Piplic took a close 2nd to Phill Blurton in the highly competitive UTV Pro Turbo class. Photo by 4DIRTMEDIA

Pro Unlimited class, beating Randy Raschein by a mere 12 seconds for the class win. This was just Chris’s second race in Unlimited, and he is already proving a force to be reckoned with. Other UTV class winners included Johnathan Mcvay in the UTV RS1 N/A competition and U992 Bill Baker in the UTV Rally class. The newly formed UTV Pro Open class was won by Can-am, racer Mitch Alsup, who backed up his Pro Open win at the Tensor Tire Parker 250. #6201 Nick Carolan continued his winning ways in Class 6200, backing up his win at the Parker 425 while #5072 Troy Grabowski won Class 5000. In Jeepspeed, #4725, Jerry Harmonson, Tyler Herzog, Darrell Herzog, and Grant Mellon took the Class 4700 win. Class 3700 was won by #3769 Jerry Simonson, Alex Littleboy, Stan Pier, and Kathy Simonson. The JeepSpeed Class 1700 winning team of Tim Martin, Tony Martin, and Cameron Avery put in a great race and took home the win in a time of 8:03:41. The Vintage class was won by Craig Christy in an ultra-clean Chevy Suburban while, as usual, Chad Hall set fast time in Class 1200 with an ultra-competitive overall time of 6:39:11 in what was essentially a production truck.

The morning race for the motorcycle and quad classes saw some great action, with the battle for the overall win coming down to four teams. In the end, #N94 Honda rider Nic Garvin backed up his victory at the opening round Tensor Tire Parker 250 against defending Silver State 300 overall m/c winner Skyler Howes. It was his first race since signing a factory contract with Husqvarna to race Dakar and major rallies for Howes. Rounding out the top three overall motorcycles were Best In The Desert series Open Pro #1 plate holder Hayden Hintz and Trevor Hunter. Nic

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Bryce Stavron - 1st Over 30 Pro Photo by Dirt Nation Tanner Tavernier - 1st Ironman Pro Photo by Dirt Nation

crossed the line in a time of 4:43:14, good for second overall out of all vehicles entered in the race despite hitting a cow at speed while leading the race and losing more than two minutes collecting himself on the side of the trail. Howes was some four minutes back and just 16 seconds in front of N1 Hintz/ Hunter. The top 3 motorcycles finished 2nd, 5th, and 6th overall out of all vehicles. The top motorcycles also averaged 59mph, the fastest ever for a Best In The Desert event.

The Over 30 Pro class was won by Bryce Stavron and Kyle Tichenor, while Husqvarna won the 399 Pro class with Taylor Stevens and Wyatt Brittner. The Ironman Pro Class went to Tanner Tavernier, who beat Zach Myers by just a little over one and half minutes after 5:23:24 of racing. Other motorcycle class winners were Kody Livreri, Karson Boyce, and Gage Davis in Class 399 Expert, Eric Holt, Damon Bush, and Tyler Harvey in Open Expert, Ironman Expert class winner Dallas Theobold and Women’s Expert Class winner W15 Kari Erickson and Darian Hickey riding for Rider of Record Ashlee Gage. In the age categories, the O-40 Expert class went to David Swanson, and the Over 50 Expert class was won by the veteran team of Paul Palmer, Cliff Thomas, Scott Stearns, and Derek Paiment, who finished in 5:53:36.

Motorcycle Sportsman competition proved to be equally challenging, with the Ironman Amateur class being won by Rusty Batza on his Honda in 6:50:29, just 17 minutes ahead of Scott Kastengren.

The Quad Ironman Expert Class and first overall quad went to Kyle Standage in a very respectful 6:27:24. Steve Perry and Marco Mercado took home the Quad Amateur class win.

Altogether, the 2021 Jimco Silver State 300 went off flawlessly with no major accidents or injuries to report. The racing was very competitive and set the stage for the series points battles that will no doubt only get tighter as the 2021 Maxxis Tires ”Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox approaches.

Kari Erickson - 1st Women’s Expert Photo by Dirt Nation Kyle Standage - 1st Quad Ironman Expert Photo by Dirt Nation