ITP's Jacob Carver Second at Laughlin BITD
Jacob Carver - Best in the Desert - Laughlin Desert Classic

Laughlin, NV (5/12/2016) - ITP / LSR / Raceline's Jacob Carver finished a season-best second-place finish in the Laughlin Desert Classic, Round 4 of the Best in the Desert Championship. The privateer racer has been one of the few non-factory racers to finish in the top 10 in the Pro Turbo Class in the last three races.

ITP's Jacob Carver earned his BITD season best finish in second at the Laughlin Desert Classic in his Polaris RZR 4

The new Laughlin Desert Challenge event replaced Silver State 300, which Carver won last year.  Unlike the point to point Silver State 300, the Laughlin event was held over two days with two four-lap races held each day on a seventeen mile long course. On Saturday, Carver started seventh and finished a strong fourth on corrected time.

“Our Fox Shocks and Lonestar Racing Suspension really cleared the whoops and we were fast in the Fox Proving Grounds,” said Carver. “On the second lap, we weren’t really catching anyone, so we decided to keep the car together and hold our fast pace. I didn’t want to hurt the car. We thought we had second place locked when we came across the line only seconds behind the 2nd physical finisher who had started one minute and thirty seconds ahead of us, but we finished fourth on corrected time.”

Jacob Carver claimed the win on Sunday to finish 2nd overall for the weekend in the Pro Turbo Class

“Knowing we had a lot of time to make up, we knew we had to push hard on Sunday,” said Carver. “So we prepped the car well, greased everything, changed the clutch and the belt, and we went out on Saturday night and did some testing.”

On Sunday, Carver was ready to push hard. With just four laps per day, Carver elected to run it like a sprint race to make up for the time he lost on Saturday, and he did exactly that by taking the day two win by 30 seconds with corrected time, which boosted him to a second overall finish for the weekend.  

“Our plan was to push for the win,” said Carver. “About the end of the first lap, I had gone through all of my tear offs. The mud was killing my vision, so I backed off. On the second lap, we pushed hard and got right on a competitors bumper for several miles. He blocked me every time I tried to get around him. Rather than ruining the car, I stayed right on his tail again knowing he would make a mistake or have an issue trying to run away from me. We were three quarters through the second lap, and sure enough he had an issue, we were right there to make the pass. Toward the end of the fourth lap, we were running second. We were only 20 seconds back from the leader, so we put the hammer down to try to catch up to him. Only a mile from the finish, we caught him, but he had a minute on us, so rather than take any chances late in the race, we hung out behind him and finished second physically.”

Carver has been running a brand new long wheelbase Polaris RZR for the last couple races. Teething problems kept him off the podium in the last two races. It’s apparent those problems are in the past.

“Unfortunately, with the new car comes all the issues you have to work out,” said Carver. “We went out with Fox Shocks on Wednesday to do some tuning on the shocks. We’ve been doing a lot of clutch testing. We have been working hard trying to get competitive again so it felt great to be back on the podium. We’re hoping to finish out the season strong.

“We’re probably the only car that’s been in the top 10 in the last three races without factory backing,” added Carver. “So we’re hopeful to get some factory sponsorship soon.”

Carver will be back in action in the 48th Annual SCORE Baja 500 June 4-5th.

2016 Jacob Carver Sponsors:
ITP Tires, Raceline Wheels, Lonestar Racing, Baja Designs, Rugged Radios, Factory UTV, Fox Shocks