BEST IN THE DESERT Series Epic Racing Products Parker 250 ATV / UTV Race January 10, 2009

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Pro ATV's Q2 Greg Stuart & Nic Granlund win the Parker 250

As day broke, the skies were clear and the desert southwest began to warm up after a chilly night, and although it looked like the beginning of a beautiful day, visibility was a bit of an issue at the start of the race. The race began at dawn and had racers charging off in an easterly direction where the combination of the rising sun’s glare and some dust, made for a rather unnerving start. “We were riding into the sun on the start and it was kind of dusty and hard to see, so that made things a little interesting,” said Andy Lagzdins, who was the starting racer for the number 416 team.

#416 Quad Experts Christy Racing's Andy Lagzdins, Craig Christy, and Steve Abrego	Andy Lagzdins lead the charge in lap one to take over the lead for Christy Racing

Despite visibility issues, and a not so favorable starting position, Lagzdins still made quick work of the competition. Andy took the lead in the Quad Expert class about two thirds of the way through his 78 mile lap and held his position all the way to the checkpoint. Teammates Steve Abrego and Craig Christy also had remarkable success during the three lap race, with Abrego holding the lead through his entire lap and Christy leading their class all the way to he finish. “Everything went really smooth for us. The bike ran great and we didn’t have any issues,” stated Lagzdins, who is running his first full season of the BITD series this year. “I’m really looking forward to this year and racing the BITD. It’s really different from the GNCC and is totally new for me. I really like the desert scenery and the different terrain and so far, I’m having a great time!” Andy concluded.

#414 Bennett's Desert Racing finish 2nd in the Quad Expert Class	Team 421 finished 3rd in the Quad Expert Class on their Honda 450R

While the 416 team held the lead through almost the entire race, the number 414 team of Barry Bennet and Brian Mello held strong to take second in the Quad Expert class. The number 421 team of Jason Wade, who made the trek from Austin, TX, rode a consistent race to take home third place aboard their Honda 450R.

2008 Best in the Desert Q1 Pro Quad Champion's Jeremy Sanchez & David Scott

“Greg started the race. We were 6th off the start and by the time we switched, and it was my turn, we were in 4th,” stated Nic Granlund of the Q2 team. Granlund soon passed the Q4 team of Cody Mitchell and Shaun Moore and before the end of the second lap had also made the pass on Harold Goodman and Wayne Matlock aboard the Q3 Honda 700XX. “I followed the Q1 team for several miles and finally passed them right before the pits and when I stopped to pit they went past me, but I was able to retake the lead,” said Granlund, whose team went on to take the Pro class win without any complications. Behind Granlund was the Q4 team of Cody Mitchell and Shaun Moore, who ran consistently to take 2nd and the number Q7 Honda 450R of Jeff Hancock and Joshua Edwards claimed 3rd, followed in 4th by Ray Fay and David Scarponi on the Q9 Kawasaki KFX450.

Skat Trak's Racing Nic Granlund & Greg Stuart claim yet another win on their hybrid YFZ450 with a XR650 engine and 450R rear end, which are just a few of the many mods to this one of a kind desert racing ATV