BEST IN THE DESERT Laughlin Desert Classic May 7-8, 2016

In UTV Production, Lambert kept his undefeated streak alive as he won both days to finish over five minutes ahead of the second-place finisher Monster Energy’s Matt Burroughs. Dragon Fire’s Lacrecia Beurrier outpaced her bad luck at Laughlin to finish third.

Cognito Racing's Justin Lambert dominated the Best in the Desert Laughlin Desert Classic in the UTV Pro Production Class by claiming the wins boths days to secure his fourth straight BITD class win

“Fourth race of the season and we went back to back to back to back,” laughed Lambert. “We picked up a four-minute lead on Saturday. Going into Sunday, we took it easy and the course was four times rougher than it was on Saturday. After the first lap, we picked up 30 seconds, so we continued that pace. The course was really choppy, so we didn’t want to risk breaking an axle.

ITP's Justin Lambert remains the man to beat in the BITD UTV Pro Production class

“I like to say it’s ‘checkers or wreckers,’ but you have to have some strategy, as well,” explained Lambert. “When the course is that rough you have to figure out when to be conservative and when to go for it. We’re pretty sharp in knowing when to hammer it and when to back off. That’s paid off this year.”

Burroughs finished second in UTV Production on both days to net the overall runner-up class finish. Running one of the few short wheelbase Polaris RZRs in the field, Burroughs said the smaller SXS has advantages, especially on a rough course.

STI's Matt Burroughs finished 2nd Overall in the UTV Pro Production class

“This is the finish we should have been getting all year,” said Burroughs. “We’ve had some really bad luck coming into this race. Both days went really well. Our car handles so well in the rough stuff. We’re running the 32-inch Chicane STI Tire. It’s a big tire. On Saturday, we would have been better off with a smaller tire. On Sunday, it was the opposite. As beat up as that course was, that tire choice was phenomenal.”

After winning the 2015 BITD Unlimited UTV Championship, Beurrier stepped into the Production Class this year. Her last experience at the Laughlin course, during the UTV World Championship, was an emotional and mechanical nightmare. She was happy to finally clear that bad luck by finishing third in class despite breaking both rear axles on the second day of racing and finishing in front-wheel drive.

Dragon Fire Racing's Lacrecia Beurrier rounded out the top three in the UTV Pro Production class

“We’ve been working hard all season to get on the podium,” said Beurrier. “With so many talented drivers, it’s been really tough, but we finally did it. I like desert racing, so I don’t like these short tracks and this track in particular has really been my nemesis. My plan was to drive my heart out. We started behind everyone on the first day in 50th and we pushed up to seventh place. That got us a start in the top 10 on Sunday. Being able to start up front, I drove as hard as I had ever driven and we made it up to third.”

In the Unlimited Class, Justin Brisbon won ahead of Carlo Caya who was penalized for going backwards in the hot pits, which dropped him back to second place, and Renee Hudson rounded out the top three.

Justin Brisbon took home the UTV Unlimited Win & finished 17th overall on the weekend

The BITD Championship returns to action after the summer break. The Vegas to Reno event is scheduled for August 17-20 in the desert between Las Vegas and Reno, NV.

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