Mark Kariya | August 17, 2021
The 25th running of the longest single-day off-road race in the U.S. saw former winner Jacob Argubright team up for the third time with Dalton Shirey on Shirey’s 3 Bros./Hatch Racing Husqvarna.
After setting fast time in qualifying, Dalton Shirey had nothing but clean air during the race as he and teammate Jacob Argubright sailed away with the win.
And the third time was the charm at the Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas-to-Reno (V2R), Presented by Fox, round four (for the bikes) of Best in the Desert’s (BITD’s) American Off-Road Racing Series. Denied victory in 2017 when two tire failures allowed Ricky Brabec to collect one of his three V2R wins, it all came together this time.
Shirey made his intentions known from the outset with the fastest time in qualifying on an abbreviated five-mile course on Wednesday, so he was first off the line when the green flag waved at 5:45 A.M. on Friday at Bonnie Claire.
Relying on his ever-improving moto and GP speed, Shirey saw qualifying as a vital component to the entire race: “It was kind of a big deal because [the race itself is] mostly on [dirt] roads and it’s hard to pass on roads when it’s that dusty.
“I put a pretty good sprint in on Wednesday to make sure we had a good Friday.”
Running in clean air the entire 485 miles to the finish Argubright and Shirey avoided trouble all day, finishing in seven hours, 44 minutes and 10.4 seconds, unofficially, finally bagging that long-sought win at the storied event. “Our average speed was 63 [miles per hour],” Shirey stated.
That gave them just under 10 minutes over three-time and defending race champion Ricky Brabec, the Monster Energy Honda Team rally star claiming the runner-up spot in a solo ride of 7:53:53.6. (Incidentally, both of them bested the fastest four-wheeled vehicle, the Trick Truck of Ryan Arciero who was the only other finisher in a record field of 406 teams to break eight hours with his 7:56:49.1. The 120 motorcycle and ATV entries—including three three-wheelers!—made this the second-largest in V2R history behind only 2008. Bikes now lead cars/trucks in the overall win column, 13-12.) Defending series champs Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter rounded out the overall motorcycle and Open Pro podium in 8:08:26.5 aboard their Kilmartin Racing/3 Bros. KTM.
Three-time and defending V2R champ Ricky Brabec had to settle for second this time, a crash and other issues relegating him to second place.
Though it was Argubright’s second V2R victory, it was Shirey’s first and it couldn’t have gone much better. Shirey handed the FMF/Enduro Engineering/Rekluse-sponsored FX 450 he also uses for AMA Hare & Hound Nationals to Argubright at pit four (mile 130.8), Argubright taking it to pit 8 (mile 299.4) where they executed a rear-wheel change in an estimated 40 seconds. “Me and Laci [Olivas] and Jacob, we all practiced it many times, and when it came to it in the race, everything went smoothly,” Shirey noted.
Leaving that pit, Shirey had his closest call when he had to avoid a young calf that decided to stroll onto the course. “I just rode off into the ditch and came back onto the course and kept going,” he reported. From there, he stayed on the bike to the finish in Dayton, adding, “I saw donkeys and horses out there and a whole bunch of spectators. I’d say the last 100 miles there were loads of spectators so that made it kind of cool.”
As he’s done for several V2Rs now, Brabec used the race as a tune-up for next year’s Dakar, though he wouldn’t need to do any navigating due to the well-marked course. With nearly nine gallons of fuel on board (compared to the 4.5-gallon IMS tank employed by his rivals), the plan formulated by Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) Honda was to stop at just three of the 12 pits while doing a full service (fuel and both wheels) at pit seven (mile 246.3).
This time, however, he struck trouble early, painfully hitting his foot on a rock which bothered him the rest of the way. “I thought my toes were broken and I thought that they were bleeding so I kept looking down at my boot to see if there was blood coming out of my boot or not,” he said.
Following a long layoff due to a shoulder injury, Jared Schlapia teamed up with Wyatt Brittner and Taylor Stevens to top 399cc Pro, finishing seventh overall motorcycle.
More troublesome was a lowside before pit six (mile 219.4) that sliced his arm open substantially and tweaked the front end, something the JCR crew was unable to remedy. Brabec also broke a hub, adding two unplanned stops to swap wheels, the last one due to a melted mousse which forced him to baby it to the last pit. (Former winner Kendall Norman was officially entered but only as a backup in case Brabec was unable to ride.)
“It was an eventful one,” he admitted. “We stopped a little bit too much, I think,” adding, “I thought it was going to be a little bit easier as far as the riding and the terrain, but this year with all the rain, it definitely made the course a lot rockier with a lot more ruts. That kind of put a lot of wear and tear on the body after 500 miles; my hands are pretty beat up and I think I was expecting it to be a little bit smoother, honestly!”
Hintz and Hunter enjoyed a relatively trouble-free race aboard the Kenda/Pro Circuit/FXR 450 SX-F. Third off the start behind the Shirey and Brabec, Hintz found himself unable to match their pace, though he stayed ahead of Beta’s Zane Roberts until he slid out three times in about 10 miles before pit seven due to tire wear.
“We did a tire change at pit eight and I gave the bike to Trevor there and Roberts actually got out in front of us then,” Hintz said. “From eight to 10 was about 90 miles and the Beta 480 RR couldn’t make it on fuel and Trevor knew that, but our bike could because we had the big [4.5-gallon IMS] tank so Trevor stayed in Zane’s dust close enough so when he got into pit nine (mile 352.2) Zane pulled in to pit and Trevor went by because we didn’t have to fuel there. He gave me the bike at pit 12 (mile 443.1) with about a four-and-a-half-minute lead.”
That sealed their podium finish despite finishing with a misaligned rear wheel, the axle nut having come loose at some point but not falling off completely. Unofficially, with Nic Garvin out due to injuries, the duo moves into the series points lead.
Riding with Clint Braun and Danny Cooper, Ryan Kudla found time for a friendly wave about 81 miles into the race. The trio would end up winning Over 30 Pro, finishing ninth overall motorcycle.
Roberts soloed his way to fourth in 8:07:45.7 on his Kenda/Motul/Klim-backed machine ahead of 3 Bros./DT Racing KTM-mounted Jeremy Newton/Jeff Trulove’s 8:12:31.9.
Roberts’ Beta teammate Joe Wasson had been fifth at one point but reportedly had minor issues drop him to sixth in another solo effort.
The Wyatt Brittner/Jared Schlapia/Taylor Stevens team claimed the 399cc Pro victory and seventh overall on their Stevens Offroad Racing Husqvarna FX 350. Open Pros Gregory Pheasant/Russell Tonjum placed eighth overall ahead of Over 30 Pro winners Clint Braun/Danny Cooper/Ryan Kudla, Open Pros Jim Herrero/Kolton Lynn rounding out the top 10 bikes overall.
- Dalton Shirey/Jacob Argubright (Hus)
- Ricky Brabec/Kendall Norman (Hon)
- Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter/Nick Stover (KTM)
- Zane Roberts (Bet)
- Jeff Trulove/Jeremy Newton (KTM)
