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Viva Las Vegas to Reno!
Winning team of Ebberts, Castro & Ortiz, racing
their
unlimited
buggy to the finish line under a moonlit night
530 miles across the Nevada desert
Story and photos by Jack W. Peters
Pahrump, Nevada, September 28, 2001
-- North of Las Vegas was the start of the longest off-road race in America.
A total of 226 teams took the green flag, piloting trucks, buggies, bikes
and quads for a one way 530 mile shot to Reno. The entries included 97
trucks and buggies, 106 bikes and 23 quads. Participants came as far
away as Japan and Canada, including the Bronco team of Kitteringham and
Harvey who drove 2250 miles form Ontario just to get the there. This
race has always been a favorite, as its distance and challenge makes it
as big and alluring as Vegas itself.
Contingency
and tech inspection before any big race is always exciting. This years
event was even more so. You could feel the electricity in the air as
teams spent the day before the race making final preparations. Crowds
swarmed the rows of venders while checking out all of the impressive machines
ready to take on the Nevada desert. Lucky fans got autographs from their
favorite race celebrities like Ivan Stewart.
But this
years race was different. Being held only two weeks after the September
11th attack, this event could have easily been canceled. Desert
racers however, are the last people to give up. Instead they decided
to show their true colors which happened to be red, white and blue. Vehicles
were painted up in Stars and Stripes with lots of patriotic slogans and
flags. Participants knew with war on the horizon, that showing up and
taking on this challenge was their way of showing that terrorism will
not stop us!
Shannon
Switzer shows off his teams Dodge Trophy truck.
Shannon
decided to move up to trucks after shattering his arm
on a motorcycle
in this same race in 1999. This truck is a
serious
rushyou could drink cappuccino with this suspension!
The bikes
and quads were first off the line followed by 10 Trick Trucks, 11 Pro
Trucks, and 10 unlimited cars. All the favorites were there, including
Brian Collins, Larry Ragland, Herbst brothers, Baldwin family, McMillin
family, and Brian Stewart. Participants left the line in one-minute increments,
as one by one racers screamed off into the desert followed by a mile long
plume of dust.
 
The race
course roughly follows Highway 95, with fifteen pit stop checkpoints that
were accessible from the highway. The course included brutal part-breaking
rock gardens, breathtaking high mountain passes, and deep silt beds responsible
for a number of DNFs. The one consistent factor was hot temperatures
and lots of blinding dust. As the racers traveled north, they went through
towns such as Beatty, Tonopah, Hawthorn and Yerington.
Jim and Josh Baldwin pull off a third place finish
in Trick Truck class.
By the time
the leaders reached Hawthorne, the sun was already starting to set. The
bikes and faster vehicles finished the last third of the race in the dark,
which meant slower vehicles battled half of the course at night. Banks
of lights came on across vehicles that resembled a UFO landing. But you
cant have too many lights considering hitting rocks the size of a microwave
oven in daylight is only a hazard. Hitting obstacles at night can be
down right dangerous. As the night went on, more vehicles dropped out,
but the survivors, sometimes working hard for every mile, worked their
way north to Reno.
McMillin team come in for a night pit stop before
taking a 3rd
place finish in unlimited class 1500.
After ten
hours and 13 minutes and anxious crowd at the finish line heard the rev
of a motor and saw dancing lights across a black desert landscape. The
first four wheeled vehicle in was the class 1500 Toyota V6 powered unlimited
buggy of Dale Ebberts and Louie Ortiz. They experienced one of those
perfect days of racing as co-driver Louie said during the race they did
not even change drivers, Things were just going to good to stop! Driver
Dale Ebberts remembered how thrilling it was to see motorcycle riders
pull over and cheer them on as they headed for the finish line. The first
bike team to win overall was the Baja 2000 champions of Johnny Campbell
and Tim Staab.
Most teams
didnt quite have it so good. As battered and dusty trucks and buggies
rolled in from the dark, stories came out about how tough this race was.
The Weyhrich team from Portland, Oregon took fifth place in unlimited
class. They rolled over, lost the alternator and starter, and had to
wait an hour and a half for a bump start. Gary Weyhrichs summed up the
thoughts of many, Had a tough day, but at least we finished. Im tired
and want a beer!
Got
travel? Steve and Ray Croll took first place in class
ten
in their very trick Indy style Chenworth Millennium car
The director
of Best in the Desert Racing Association, Casey Folks summed up the race
best, The stories at the finish line to see what it takes to finish are
just incredible. It takes perseverance, there is no other sport like
it. Casey, to be outdone only by himself, is planning a 1000 mile race
beginning and ending in Vegas for next year. The next Vegas to Reno run
is scheduled for 2003.
For more information, check out www.bitd.com.
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