| BEST
IN THE DESERT
Parker 250 UTV Race
January 7, 2017
|
|
Best in the Desert - Parker
250 - UTV Race Report
ITP's Mitch Guthrie
Jr Wins BITD Parker250 UTV Overall
| BEST
IN THE DESERT
Parker 250 ATV & SxS Links |
|
|
|
|
|
Parker, AZ (1/14/2017) - Fast
pit work and a perfectly prepared Polaris RZR
handed Mitch Guthrie Jr. the victory in the GMZ
Winter National Parker 250, the season opener
for the Best in the Desert Racing Series. Guthrie
Jr. finished first overall and won the UTV Turbo
Class, ahead of Cory Sappington, Branden Sims,
Tomas Sallvin and Phil Blurton. Louis Chamberlain
won the 1900 Production Class, and Sheldon Creed
finished first in the UTV Unlimited Class.
While there was plenty to celebrate at the Best
in the Desert season opener, BITD founder Casey
Folks collapsed during the UTV Short Course race
Saturday morning and was flown to Las Vegas after
suffering a stroke. Unfortunately, he didn’t recover,
and the sad news was released on Thursday. Casey
Folks may not be physically with us anymore, but
he will live on for generations in the minds and
hearts of the thousands of off-road racers that
had the pleasure to get to know him, and Folks
family is in our thoughts and prayers. God Speed
Casey Folks.
Mitch Guthrie Jr., with co-driver Kurtis Elliott,
drove his #951 Mystik Polaris in the race that
saw 80 UTVs take the start. After snagging second
early in the 250-mile event, Guthrie Jr.’s pit
crew got him out first on the final lap and he
cruised to victory.
|
|
Mitch Guthrie Jr claimed his first
BITD Pro UTV Desert win at the Parker 250
season opener |
“It was an awesome day,” said Guthrie Jr. “The
car ran flawless. It was just 250 miles of having
fun. The BITD does such an awesome job, and they
put on a great series and it’s great to see so
many entries this weekend.”
Guthrie Jr. had a bad luck season in 2016 when
little issues took him out of contention in several
races. Guthrie Jr. was on a mission to change
that bad luck and that mission was accomplished.
While carnage surrounded him, his Polaris was
dialed in.
|
|
ITP's
Mitch Guthrie Jr took the win by over 7
minutes over second place |
“People were blowing belts and all sorts of stuff,”
said Guthrie Jr.. “We came into the pits on the
last lap and we were right behind Branden Sims.
He was gassing up and we were gassing up. We got
out of the pits in front of him. From there, we
just had a really clean race. We had so many problems
last year. I knew we had the speed, but things
just didn’t go our way. So winning this race was
huge.”
Cory Sappington, along with co-driver Scott Sappington,
drove his trusty #904 Desert Toyz Can-Am to second
after starting 19th. He proved just how tough
Can-Am’s Maverick is before he debuts a new Maverick
X3 at the Mint 400.
|
|
CST
/ ELKA's Cory Sappington secured the second
spot at the Parker 250 season opener in
his Can-Am Maverick, and he is building
a new Maverick X3 for the Mint 400 in March |
“This Can-Am Maverick, this is probably the last
race for her,” explained Sappington. “She has
5,445 race miles. This is an awesome machine.
It has the original engine, transmission and differentials.
This is awesome. I needed this so badly. We’ve
worked so hard and it’s nice to do well at this
first race; it sets the tone for the season.”
|
