BEST IN THE DESERT Vegas to Reno August 19-20, 2016

Can-Am's Jason Murray & Derek Murray each brought home wins at the BITD Vegas to Reno with Derek taking the Turbo UTV Win & Jason secured the Unlimited UTV Win in the newly released Maverick X3

Polaris / Cognito Racing’s Justin Lambert continued to pad his points lead with his fifth consecutive win in the Production SXS Class and his second straight victory in the Vegas to Reno race. He finished first overall.

Polaris / Cognito Racing's Justin Lambert claimed his 5th Straight Best in the Desert Win of the season in the 1000 Production UTV Class & he claimed his 2nd straight BITD Vegas to Reno Overall UTV Win

BITD’s longest race is always a challenge for both competitor and machine, and this year’s race didn’t disappoint. Run over two days in the desert between Alamo and Reno was plenty difficult with deep silts bed and plenty of rocks and hazards on the course. Another curve ball hit competitors when the course was closed between pits one and two, due to a helicopter crash, forcing the teams to trailer their machines between the two pits.

In the end, though, nothing was going to stop the Murrays and Can-Am’s new X3 UTV. Jason Murray started last in the Unlimited Class, battled dust both days, slept about four hours the entire weekend and man, did he race. Justin Brisbon finished second, ahead of Renee Hudson.

Lonestar Racing's Jason Murray was the last UTV to leave the starting line in the all-new Can-Am Maverick X3 that was released just days before the race

“The Can-Am Maverick X3 is a beast,” said Jason Murray. “It comes out of the box ready to race. All we had to do was add the safety equipment and go racing. We ran the stock arms, drivetrain, stock clutch. The only things that weren’t stock were the cage, the nets, and the lights; all of the things that are required by for safety. The whole functionality is stock Can-Am. It has tons of power. That three-cylinder engine just pulls in the soft stuff. The suspension, with 22 inches in the front and 24 inches in the rear, really soaks up the whoops. I rode the car for 650 miles and I could have turned around and drove back to Vegas, it felt so good.

ITP's Jason Murray secured the BITD Unlimited UTV Win in his racing debut in the Can-Am Maverick X3

“The debut of the X3 and the Can-Am guys coming out from Valcourt really put some pressure on us,” added Murray. “But we knew the car was capable. The only reason we ran in the Unlimited class is because it’s not available to the public yet. The car wasn’t in the dealerships, so the series wouldn’t let us race it in the Pro Turbo class. We will run it in the Pro Turbo class at the next race.”

Derek Murray kept their points position strong with a victory in the Turbo class in the team’s regular Can-Am Maverick Turbo. Jacob Carver was second, ahead of Mitch Guthrie, Jr., Marc Burnett and Brandon Schueler.

Lazer Star's Derek Murray took over the solo driving duties in the Turbo UTV class with his brother competing in the Unlimited UTV class

“There was a lot of hard work to get these two wins,” said Derek Murray. “When we race together, we switch off on hard driving stints. This time, it was like we were both iron men, running hard for both days. It was a challenge, but we handled it. We had a few issues working on the car. So we had some sleepless nights between racing, and it was a long couple of days.