BEST IN THE DESERT UTV World Championship February 20, 2016

A broken axle also sidelined Sims’ hard charge early in the race while leading. He finished fourth in class and sixth overall after receiving a penalty.

The defending UTV World Champion, LSR / FOX's Branden Sims, scored a 4th place finish after suffering a broken axle

“We pitted and then we had an issue with an axle,” said Sims. “I kept it on the lead lap somehow, so that was good. There were cars flipping, cars breaking, there was fire; I’ve never seen so much carnage in my life.”

ITP’s Mitch Guthrie Jr suffered his own axle problems. After leading early, he broke both rear axles on his Polaris on the final lap and settled for fifth in class.

ITP's Mitch Guthrie Jr held the lead before he suffered axle issues, which dropped him back to a 5th place finish

“It was a crazy race,” said Guthrie Jr. “We worked our way up, staying up with the leaders and eventually we took the lead. I heard something going on with my axles. On the last lap we blew out both rear axles so that really set us back. We got a finish, at least.”

In the UTV Sportsman Class, Addict Racing’s Maddie Cox won in her BITD debut after suffering several mechanical issues during the race.

Raceline Wheel's Maddie Cox secured the UTV Sportsman Class Win after overcoming several issues, but she never gave up and finished the race

“We had a broken belt and broken axles,” said Cox. “We ran out of gas twice. A lot of people wrecked today, so it was exciting to finish and finish first. The desert is where we’re going to be in August, this is my dream and I had a good time.”

In the Unlimited UTV Class, Carlo Caya drove his Yamaha Rhino to victory.

LSR / FOX's Carlo Caya claimed the UTV Unlimited Win

The next round of UTV racing for the BITD Championship is the famous Mint 400, which is one of the biggest races on the years in Las Vegas, NV on March 10-13th.

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