Prescott, AZ (12/9/2016) -
Father and son duo, Keith and Matt Hughes,
claimed the UTV Rookie of the Year honors
in the Best in the Desert Series by claiming
third place in the points UTV Pro class with
a seventh place finish at Pahrump Nugget 250
season finale in Pahrump, Nevada.
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STI's
Keith Hughes finished 7th at the Pahrump
Nugget 250 to secure the UTV Rookie
of the Year honors along with a top
three in the BITD Pro UTV Points Championship |
The Hughes set out just to have fun this
year in their Polaris RZR. As the season progressed,
they were in the thick of the points, so they
stepped it up.
“We wanted to spend some more time together
and this was a good bonding experience,” said
Matt Hughes. “It’s awesome because we went
into this thing just wanting to have some
fun in the desert, so it was good to be able
to show our skill and hang with these big
guys out there. We were hoping for a top 10
in points so this is an unexpected honor.
Things started to get a lot more serious as
the year went on, so I started putting a lot
more work into the car.”
The pair split driving duties pretty equally
until Keith Hughes injured his back at the
Laughlin Desert Challenge. He cased a jump
and compressed a vertebrae and the car caught
fire. After that race, he drove minimally
to keep his rookie of the year chances alive.
“I just wanted to spend some time with Matt
after he got out of college,” said Keith Hughes.
“We were pretty equal in driving duties before
my injury at Laughlin. From there, Matt took
on more of the driving responsibilities while
I healed up.”
The Hughes Team is building two new cars
to compete in the Pro Turbo class next season.
Matt Hughes will drive the entire season,
while Keith is planning to drive a second
car later on.
“We’re building two new cars for next season,
so Matt will take over the car to start the
year,” said Keith Hughes. “I’ll step back
and may start racing later on in the season
when the second car is ready.”
Look for the Hughes family to showcase their
talent as they take on the Pro Turbo class
in 2017. The BITD season kicks off January
6-7 in Parker, AZ..
