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BEST
IN THE DESERT
Vegas to Reno
August 14, 2015
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Best in the Desert - Vegas
to Reno - UTV Race Report
Cognito Racing's
Justin Lambert Takes BITD Vegas to Reno Win
| BEST
IN THE DESERT
Vegas to Reno ATV & SxS Links |
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Las Vegas, NV (8/18/2015) - Cognito
Racing’s Justin Lambert, Justin Sheakley, Brandon
Hong and Victor Herrera drove their Polaris RZR
4 to the UTV Pro victory in the longest off-road
race in the America the General Tire “Vegas to Reno”
Best in the desert race. Can-Am / Murray Brother’s
Jason and Derek Murray claimed the second spot on
the podium in the Can-Am Maverick Max Turbo, and
Jagged X Racing’s Brandon Schueler and Blake Van
De Loo rounded out the top three in the Polaris
RZR
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The
Cognito Racing Team came out on top at the
BITD Vegas to Reno with a come from behind
UTV Pro Win |
The BITD Vegas to Reno grueling 545-mile long
race was run over the desert between Beatty, NV
just outside Las Vegas to Carson City, just south
of Reno. It includes several classes of competitors,
including motorcycles, ATVS, Trophy Trucks, Buggies,
as well as UTVs. It is considered to be the longest
off-road race in America. This year’s course was
a tough one, featuring a racing surface punctuated
by rocks, as well as large silt beds and wash
outs from recent flash flooding, but despite the
rain, the course was still extremely dry, so dust
proved to be on the biggest obstacles on the course.
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The
2015 BITD Vegas to Reno course was the roughest
in years with deep wash out, silt beds &
plenty of dust to challenge the UTV / SxS
racers |
Adding to the challenge, the UTVs didn’t leave
the start line until just after 11 a.m. with the
leaders finishing well after midnight. The day/night
format, along with the limited visibility and
rough terrain made for a difficult time throughout
the field.
ITP’s Justin Lambert’s Polaris left the line
eighth, but the team struggled in the early stages
of the race. A broken skid plate set them back
at the start with Justin Sheakley behind the wheel.
At mile 150, the RZR climbed the wheel of another
competitor while trying to overtake them, got
stuck and bent a steering rack. Once they got
going again, however, they charged through the
night to take the lead in the final stretch of
the race after several of the early front runners
ran into issues late in the race, which opened
the door for the Cognito / Polaris RZR.
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| Cognito
Racing's Justin Lambert had his fair share
of issues early on in the race, which sent
them way behind the lead pack, but their
luck changed late in the race, which allowed
them to close the gap |
“We had high hopes at that point, but we never
thought we’d cross the finish line first,” said
Lambert of his run after mile 150. “I had a good
feeling about this one. We had a rough start,
so this is a killer comeback for us. I got in
at mile 250 and we charged hard from there. Some
people had some bad luck at the end. We had ours
at the start.”
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Cognito
Racing's Justin Lambert was the first UTV
across the finish line after over 13 hours
of racing to secure BITD Vegas to Reno win |
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