VEGAS TO RENO - Motorcycles and Quads

Argubright, Shirey Untouchable At Vegas-to-Reno

Story by CycleNews Magazine / Mark Kariya Editorial contributions by Scot Harden

After setting fast time in qualifying, Dalton Shirely had nothing but clean air during the race as he and teammate Jacob Argubright sailed away wtith the win.

Photo by Jason Zindroski, High Rev Photography

Jacob Argubright teamed with Dalton Shirely to capture 1st Open Pro Motorcycle Photo by Jason Zindroski, High Rev Photography

The 25th running of the longest single-day off-road race in the U.S. saw former winner Jacob Argubright team up for the third time with Dalton Shirey on Shirey’s 3 Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna. And the third time was the charm at the Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas-to-Reno (V2R), Presented by Fox, round four (for the bikes) of Best in the Desert’s (BITD’s) American Off-Road Racing Series. Denied victory in 2017 when two tire failures allowed Ricky Brabec to collect one of his three V2R wins, it all came together this time. Shirey made his intentions known from the outset with the fastest time in qualifying on an abbreviated fi ve-mile course on Wednesday, so he was fi rst off the line when the green fl ag waved at 5:45 A.M. on Friday at Bonnie Claire. Relying on his ever-improving moto and GP speed, Shirey saw qualifying as a vital component to the entire race: “It was kind of a big deal because [the race itself is] mostly on [dirt] roads, and it’s hard to pass on roads when it’s that dusty. “I put a pretty good sprint in on Wednesday to make sure we had a good Friday.” Running in clean air the entire 485 miles to the fi nish, Argubright and Shirey avoided trouble all day, fi nishing in seven hours, 44 minutes, and 10.4 seconds, unoffi cially, fi nally bagging that long-sought win at the storied event. “Our average speed was 63 [miles per hour],” Shirey stated. That gave them just under 10 minutes over three-time and defending race champion Ricky Brabec, the Monster Energy Honda Team rally

Following a long layoff due to a shoulder injury, Jared Schlapia teamed up with Wyatt Brittner and Taylor Stevens to top 399 Pro, fi nishing seventh overall motorcycle. Photo by Dirt Nation

star claiming the runner-up spot in a solo ride of 7:53:53.6. (Incidentally, both of them bested the fastest four-wheeled vehicle, the Trick Truck of Ryan Arciero, who was the only other fi nisher in a record fi eld of 406 teams to break eight hours with his 7:56:49.1. The 120 motorcycle and ATV entries—including three three-wheelers!—made this the second-largest in V2R history behind only 2008. Bikes now lead cars/trucks in the overall win column, 13-12.) Defending series champs Hayden Hintz/ Trevor Hunter rounded out the overall motorcycle and Open Pro podium in 8:08:26.5 aboard their Kilmartin Racing/3 Bros. KTM. Though it was Argubright’s second V2R victory, it was Shirey’s fi rst, and it couldn’t have gone much better. Shirey handed the FMF/ Enduro Engineering/ Rekluse-sponsored FX 450 he also uses for AMA Hare & Hound Nationals to Argubright at pit four ( mile 130.8), Argubright taking it to pit 8 (mile 299.4), where they executed a rear-wheel change in an estimated 40 seconds. “Me and Laci [Olivas] and Jacob, we all practiced it many times, and when it came to it in the race, everything went smoothly,” Shirey noted. Leaving that pit, Shirey had his closest call when he had to avoid a young calf that decided to stroll onto the course. “I just rode off into the ditch and came back onto the course and kept going,” he reported. From there, he stayed on the bike to the fi nish in Dayton, adding, “I saw donkeys and horses out there and a whole bunch of spectators. I’d say the last 100 miles, there were loads of spectators, so that made it kind of cool.” As he’s done for several V2Rs now, Brabec used the race as a tune-up for next year’s Dakar, though he wouldn’t need to do any navigating due to the well-marked course. With nearly nine gallons of fuel on board (compared to the

Cole Burdick - 1st Open Expert Motorcycle Photo by Dirt Nation

4.5-gallon IMS tank employed by his rivals), the plan formulated by Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda was to stop at just three of the 12 pits while doing a full service (fuel and both wheels) at pit seven (mile 246.3). However, this time, he struck trouble early, painfully hitting his foot on a rock which bothered him the rest of the way. “I thought my toes were broken, and I thought that they were bleeding, so I kept looking down at my boot to see if there was blood coming out of my boot or not,” he said. More troublesome was a low side before pit six (mile 219.4) that sliced his arm open substantially and tweaked the front end, something the JCR crew could not remedy. Brabec also broke a hub, adding two unplanned stops to swap wheels, the last one due to a melted mousse which forced him to baby it to the last pit. (Former winner Kendall Norman was offi cially entered but only as a backup if Brabec could not ride.) “It was an eventful one,” he admitted. “We stopped a little bit too much, I think,” adding, “I thought it was going to be a little bit easier as far as the riding and the terrain, but this year with all the rain, it defi nitely made the course a lot rockier with a lot more ruts. That kind of put a lot of wear and tear on the body after 500 miles; my hands are pretty beat up, and I think I was expecting it to be a little bit smoother, honestly!” Hintz and Hunter enjoyed a relatively troublefree race aboard the Kenda/Pro Circuit/FXR 450 SX-F. Third, off the start behind the Shirey and Brabec, Hintz found himself unable to match their pace, though he stayed ahead of Beta’s Zane Roberts until he slid out three times in about 10 miles before pit seven due to tire wear. “We did a tire change at pit eight, and I gave the bike to Trevor there, and Roberts got out in front of us then,” Hintz said. “From eight to 10 was about 90 miles, and the Beta 480 RR couldn’t make it on fuel, and Trevor knew that, but our bike could because we had the big [4.5-gallon IMS] tank, so Trevor stayed in Zane’s dust close enough so when he got into pit nine (mile 352.2), Zane pulled in to pit and Trevor went by because we didn’t have to fuel there. He gave me the bike DirtVenture 35

Chris Fry - 1st Over 40 Pro Motorcycle Photo by Dirt Nation

at pit 12 (mile 443.1) with about a four-and-a-halfminute lead.” That sealed their podium fi nish despite fi nishing with a misaligned rear wheel, the axle nut had come loose at some point but not falling off completely. Unoffi cially, with Nic Garvin out due to injuries, the duo moves into the series points lead. Roberts soloed his way to fourth in 8:07:45.7 on his Kenda/ Motul/Klim-backed machine ahead of 3 Bros./DT Racing KTM-mounted Jeremy Newton/ Jeff Trulove’s 8:12:31.9. Roberts’ Beta teammate Joe Wasson had been fi fth at one point but reportedly had minor issues drop him to sixth in another solo effort. The Wyatt Brittner/Jared Schlapia/Taylor Stevens team claimed the 399cc Pro victory and seventh overall on their Stevens Offroad Racing Husqvarna FX 350. Open Pros Gregory Pheasant/ Russell Tonjum placed eighth overall ahead of Over 30 Pro winners Clint Braun/Danny Cooper/ Ryan Kudla, Open Pros Jim Herrero/Kolton Lynn rounding out the top 10 bikes overall. Other class winners and fi nishers of note in Motorcycle Classes were the Over-40 Pro Class was won by Chris Fry, while Ironman Pro went to Dustin Ashe-Everest. The highly competitive Women’s Motorcycle Class was won by the Ashlee Gage, Kari Erickson, and Rebecca and Rachel Stout KTM mounted team in 10:12:28. Coming home 2nd was the W1 team of Kimberly Loppnow, Mica Diaz, Felicia Webb, and Allie

The highly competitive Women’s Motorcycle Class was won by the Ashlee Gage, Kari Erickson, and Rebecca and Rachel Stout KTM mounted team.

Photo by Dirt Nation

The Open Amateur class was won by the #353 KTM mounted team of Justin Storey, Jason Storey, Kirt Hulsey, and Wesley Grimshaw.

Photo by Dirt Nation

IT’S TIME TO UPGRADE YOUR RACE CAR.

(619) 596-3360 sales@jimcoracing.com JIMCORACING.COM

Jose Roberto Villalobos - 1st Quad Pro Photo by Dirt Nation

Stambaugh in a time of 10:31:07, keeping the pressure on the W15 team all the way to the fi nish. Faelly Lopez won the Ironman Expert class in a time of 13:33:19 while the highly competitive Open Expert MC class went to the #312 team of Cole Burdick, Aaron Trujillo, and Garret Coleman in 9:06:1. The second-place Open expert entry ridden by Eric Holt, Tyler Harvey, and Damion Bush was just 7 minutes behind in 9:13:09. The Open Amateur class was won by the #353 KTM mounted team of Justin Storey, Jason Storey, Kirt Hulsey, and Wesley Grimshaw in 10:23:06. They were followed home by perhaps the youngest team of the weekend: Steven Wheeler, Maleana McKnight, Anthony Nolen, and Laine Stevens entry out of Ely, NV. Steven and Anthony were just 14 years old, showing the future of the sport is in great hands. In Quad Pro Competition, a fi eld of fi ve entries left the starting line with Jose Roberto Villalobos, Travis Damon, and Beau Baron taking home the win, followed by Dylan Walraven and Daulton Keyes in second and Humberto Valenzuela in third. The Quad expert class win went to Chuck Bores and Ron Suor, who took home the welldeserved win. Not to be outdone by their fourwheel counterparts, the 2021 Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox boasted three fan-favorite three-wheeler entries with Wrangell Gubler winning the class in 14:34:25. Don’t look now, but it seems the three-wheelers are making a comeback. Altogether, the 2021 Maxxis Tries “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox will be one of the best ever in the history books. It certainly tested riders and their machines to their limits. Hats off to everyone who took on the challenge.