BEST
IN THE DESERT
Parker 250 ATV Race
January 6, 2018
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Best in the Desert - Parker
250 - ATV Race Report
::Continued::
Jeremy Gray was putting together a fast run at
the start, but got caught behind some of the pro
dirt bikes. Trying to make a move in the dust,
his Honda hit a large rock and deflated his tire.
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Jeremy
Gray made the switch to the Q1 Team of David
Scott & Cody Mitchell for 2018 |
“We had a good lead and a good cushion, but I
nailed a rock,” said Gray. “I had a flat and had
to ride on it for a few miles, which ended up
shredding the tire. The course was fast, faster
than in most years, and it was a tough race.”
David Scott was happy to start out the year on
the podium. Noting just how competitive the Pro
ATV class has become, he knows that he and his
CT Racing team must minimize mistakes going forward.
“Josh and Travis are a super fast team, they
know what they’re doing, and it’ll take a perfect
race to beat them,” said Scott. “The bike was
fast and ran great, but that’s the way it goes
sometimes. It was a fun race and they were definitely
hauling ass. We’ll be ready for the next one.”
The Simmons Brothers, on their Duncan Racing
Honda, were looking to repeat their victory here
in 2017. Erin Simmons finished out the race and
was happy to be back racing after sustaining a
broken femur last season. He passed the Can-Am
Outlander 1000R of Higbee during the last pit
stop and went on to score the final spot on the
podium.
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Q15's
Drew Simmons, Erin Simmons & Mike Sloan
rounded out the top three at the Parker
250 |
“It doesn’t even feel like I was off for the
four-and-half months I was recuperating,” said
Andrews. “Unfortunately, we ran a little too small
of a tire and it got pretty rough on the last
lap. We’re really excited to finish on the podium.”
Don Higbee’s team fought vent tube issues during
their pit stops that slowed their ability to refuel
their quad. Arellano and Velez took their first
laps on the only 4X4 quad in the class and were
immediately up to speed.
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Dofo
Arellano & Felipe Velez joined Don Higbee's
Driven Motorsports Team for 2018 |
“We had an awesome weekend with some of the fastest
times we’ve had on the Can-Am Outlander,” said
Higbee. “We had an unfortunate problem that plagued
us all day: we could not get fuel into the fuel
tank. The tank wouldn’t vent and it wasn’t something
we could fix in the heat of battle. So we got
passed in the pits going into the last straight.
We tried to reel him and just came up a minute
short.”
The Best in the Desert Series ATVs return to
action at the Polaris RZR UTV World Championship.
That race is being held April 6-7 in Laughlin,
NV.
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