BEST IN THE DESERT Series Parker 250 UTV Race January 11, 2013

Rounding out the podium was Can-Am / Desert Toyz’s Cory Sappington with a time of 3:53:18.  Sappington made the pass on Obering in the final miles of the race to grab the final spot on the box aboard his Can-Am Maverick. It is the same Can-Am Maverick that Sappington raced just a few months ago in the SCORE BAJA 1000 and the Henderson 250.  Since then, they have only changed the belt, oil, and filters and some basic maintenance, which is impressive.

Corry Sappington scored a third place finish with the same Can-Am Maverick 1000 he raced in the SCORE BAJA 1000

"No issues at all. Perfect race, the car ran perfect the whole way," a positive Sappington said about his Can-Am Maverick. When asked about his Maxxis Bighorn tires, he said "Maxxis signed me up again for my eighth year and they are awesome. Best tires out there".

First off the line in the morning was Lonestar Racing's Kevin Shrive who ended up finishing in fourth place with a time of 4:03:45, roughly ten minutes behind the third place of Sappington. Shrive was in the running for a podium finish early on, but he stopped to help fellow racer, Can-Am's Derek Murray, after a mid-race crash.  The Lonestar/One Gear Racing team sacrificed approximately ten minutes of their race help to get Murray’s Can-Am flipped over and running again, which showed true sportsmanship for Kevin Shrive and his co-pilot.

Lonestar / One Gear Racing's Kevin Shrive placed fourth even after stopping to help Derek Murray flip over his Can-Am during the race

"I'm glad we got them on their feet because you have to help each other out," Shrive said about his display of amazing sportsmanship.

Rounding out the Top 5 was the 1938 car of Brian Thomas with a time of 4:17:26 with Jeff Obering dropping back to a sixth place finish after battling for the win in the final lap of the race.

Method Wheel's Jeff Obering finished sixth in the UTV Pro Class after battling for the number one position in the final lap of the race

With the addition of the all new UTV 850 Pro Class, four racers entered with the excitement of competing with cars on their level, rather than the larger 1000cc UTVs. Four different companies were represented in the class as each racer had a different vehicle. Kawasaki, John Deere, Yamaha, and Polaris all made appearances in the newest class to the Best in The Desert Series.

Scott Martinez drove his John Deere Gator RSX 850i to a win in the the newly formed UTV 850 Pro Class