BEST
IN THE DESERT
Pahrump 250
December 2, 2017
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BITD Pahrump 250 UTV Race Report
Brandon Schueler
Wins, Phil Blurton Clinches BITD Championship
BEST
IN THE DESERT
Pahrump 250 |
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Pahrump, NV (12/5/2017) - Six-time
Best in the Desert Series champion Brandon Schueler
finished strong with at the Pahrump Nugget 250 season
finale. Driving a Polaris RZR in the top-billed
UTV Turbo Class, he beat out Justin Lambert and
Pete Libby for his first victory of the season.
BITD Rookie Phil Blurton finished fourth in his
Can-Am and clinched the championship. Snake Livermash
rounded out the top five.
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Can-Am
/ No Limit's Phil Blurton & Beau Judge
clinehed the Best in the Desert Pro Turbo
UTV Championship at Pahrump with a 4th place
finish |
Jonathan McVay won the UTV Production race, ahead
of Russell Griffin, who clinched the championship.
Robert VanBeekum finished third.
Run on a course in the desert surrounding Pahrump,
NV, it was quickly apparent that if featured some
of the roughest terrain of any venue this season.
The track started in rocky desert, then into silt
beds. The final 20 miles were the most trying
for the competitors with its rocks and G-outs
causing the most retirements in the field. With
little wind and heavy silt beds, visibility-robbing
dust further challenged the racers.
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Can-Am
/ Monster Energy's Matt Burroughs held a
considerable lead till less than 50 miles
from the finish when he broke a belt &
ran out of gas, which dropped him to the
back of the pack |
Mitch Guthrie, Jr. led from the pole in his Polaris,
but Matt Burroughs took the lead early in his
Can-Am. Schueler quickly caught up to Burroughs
and the battle was on. They were running within
seconds of each other when Burroughs’ machine
blew a belt with less than 50 miles left and he
then ran out of fuel. Schueler navigated the final
leg of the course to score the victory.
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Polaris
/ Jagged X Racing's Brandon Schueler secured
his first BITD win of the season at the
Pahrump 250 |
The win moved Schueler to second in the final
points and was made extra sweet by coming just
two weeks after he won the SCORE Baja 1000. With
the start of the 2018 BITD season just weeks away,
Schueler is happy to hit the mark and hopes to
ride that inertia into the Parker 250 BITD season
opener.
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6-Time
BITD Champion, Brandon Schueler, finished
second in the Pro Turbo UTV Class Championship |
“Our first win of the season was a rough one…it
was dusty, rocky and silty,” said Schueler. “That
last section from the last pit on was pretty nasty.
It was nasty, rocky and the G-outs at the very
end were tough. We got out of the rocky stuff
and those G-outs nearly ended our race. After
winning only one race this season, second in points
is pretty good. Our car is getting really dialed
in so we’ll keep running and we see ourselves
on the top of the box next season.”
His runner-up finish is also a momentum moment
for Justin Lambert, who finished just three seconds
behind Schueler after a 23rd-place start. Moving
though the field in what was likely BITD’s most
grueling race of the season will definitely help
Lambert going into the 2018 season opener.
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Polaris
/ Cognito's Justin Lambert charged his way
through the rocks & dust to secure an
impressive 2nd place finish just a few seconds
behind Brandon Schueler |
“Schueler started fourth, so I know we’re faster
than him,” explained Lambert. “As long as we can
keep the car together, it will be some fun racing.
This was our first season in the turbo car, so
we’ve been working super hard to get things dialed
in. So it’s great to see it pay off at the end
of the season. We’re going to carry that momentum
into Parker in four weeks.”
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