BEST IN
THE DESERT Series
Epic Racing Products
Parker 250 ATV / UTV Race
January 10, 2009
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Best in the Desert - Parker
250 - ATV & UTV Race Report
BEST
IN THE DESERT
Parker 250 Links |
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Pro
ATV's Q2 Greg Stuart & Nic Granlund
win the Parker 250 |
Parker, Arizona- Round one of the 2009
Best in the Desert (BITD) ATV & UTV racing series
kicked off with the Epic Racing Parker 250 in Parker,
Arizona. The “Duel in the Desert” saw
the Christy Racing team of Craig Christy, Steve
Abrego and Andy Lagzdins start their season off
with a bang by taking the win in the Quad Expert
class and the number Q2 Skat Trak team of Nic Granlund
and Greg Stuart came out victorious in the Pro Quad
class.
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.
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#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.
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#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.
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2008
Best in the Desert Q1 Pro Quad Champion's
Jeremy Sanchez & David Scott
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In the Pro Quad class, last year’s champions,
Christy Racing’s David Scott and Jeremy
Sanchez were off to a fantastic start aboard the
Q1 quad, taking the lead right away, but the Q2
team of Nic Granlund and Greg Stuart were working
their way through traffic and gaining ground on
the leaders.
“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.
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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
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