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BEST IN THE DESERT
Silver State 150
September 23, 2017

Best in the Desert Racing - BITD Series

BITD Silver State 150 UTV Race Report
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After missing the Mint 400 due to surgery on a torn wrist ligament, Piplic came into this round pumped and ready for action. He ran a steady pace early and caught the lead pack. At mile 50 the turbocharger gave up on his ride and despite being down on horsepower he came in third, his best ever BITD finish.

Ryan Piplic Best in the Desert
Polaris / Long Travel Industries' Ryan Piplic & Larry Heidler secured a BITD career best third place finish at the Silver State 150

“I didn’t get a good jump off the start, but I had a mindset to be smart, be smooth, and let the race come to me,” said Piplic. “It worked out to where I was picking people off that were breaking their cars. The next thing you know, I was up in the front pack. Unfortunately, we lost our turbocharger after mile 50 and I had no boost. So I ran the remaining 100 miles naturally aspirated.”

Fisher started on the third row and had difficulties in the tight sections of the course. He caught up with Piplic late in the race, but fell back in a left-hand turn and held on for third in his Can-Am X3. It equaled his best finish this year, recorded the UTV World Championship.

Dan Fisher Best in the Desert
Lonestar Racing's Dan Fisher secured a 4th place finish

“As soon as that flag waved, we jumped, got in front of everyone in my row and didn’t see them for some time,” said Fisher. “My car ran really well, but it was too wide for some of the narrower sections of the course. There were 60 miles of tight stuff and I was fighting it; my tires were rubbing trees on either side. Piplic was right in front of me coming out of pit three. We got right up on his rear bumper. The course went left and we blew that corner. After that it was too hard to catch up.”

Driving his familiar Cognito Polaris RZR, Lambert teamed up with co-driver Mitchell Alsup again to score the top five. The finish should help his points position, which took a hit with a 20th-place finish in the Vegas to Reno event.

Justin Lambert Best in the Desert
Cognito's Justin Lambert rounded out the top five

In Pro Production, Griffin, with co-driver Everette Crofford, made the trip from Mississippi pay off with his first BITD victory of the season. He battled with Kaden Wells early in the event before taking the lead at mile 30 and he then cruised to victory. Robert Van Beekum finished second in a Polaris, ahead of the Yamaha of Andrei Isac. Wells finished fourth.

Russell Griffin Best in the Desert
Dragon Fire Racing's Russell Griffin backed up his 2nd place finish at the Vegas 2 Reno with the Pro Productionwin at the Silver State 150

“We decided to relax, hang back, and let the race unfold for the first 25 miles,” said Griffin. “That really worked out for us, because the second place guy missed a turn and went out into the trees and the bushes. That gave Kaden Wells some room. He slowed down a little bit and we passed him. A good friend of mine Cappy raced with me here in 2015 and unfortunately he has passed, so we wanted to dedicate this race to him. We have a 28-hour trip back and the win will make it much easier.”

Van Beekum started on the fifth and final row in the Pro Production class and took the lead after pit one. A failing axle slowed his pace, but he recovered to finish second. The tight and technical nature of the course took its toll on the field and Van Beekum was happy to survive to finish on the podium.

Robert VanBeekum Best in the Desert
Robert VanBeekum claimed the 2nd spot in Pro Production UTV Class

“We replaced the CV cage, sped back up, and passed almost everyone,” said Van Beekum. “There was a lot of carnage out there. I saw over 12 cars on their lids. It was really tight and we were rubbing bushes the whole time. There were a lot of rocks and sharp edges. I felt like we were on the King of the Hammers course.”

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