BEST IN THE DESERT Pahrump 250 December 2, 2017

In the UTV Production class, Jonathan McVay had what was essentially a gas-and-go day. After running a conservative pace early in the event, McVay went hammer down late in his Polaris to score his first BITD victory.

STI's Jonathan McVay secured his first BITD Production UTV Win at the Pahrump 250 season finale

“We didn’t have any issues,” said McVay. “Thank you to the Polaris RZR and those STI Tires; there is no better combination in the world. We knew the leader was reachable. I knew we were at least third. I kept gaining time on the leader and I decided to go for the win. I went for it, and fortunately it worked out today.”

STI's Jonathan McVay

Russell Griffin had to finish second to clinch the championship and that’s just what he did. Driving his Dragonfire Polaris, the points tightened considerably after the last round, but he did what he had to do on the tough course.

Dragon Fire Racing's Russell Griffin secured a 2nd place finish at the BITD Pahrump 250, which secured him & Jimmy Keys the Production UTV Class Championship

“Only 12 entries in the last race put a tight margin on us and we knew we had to finish first or second,” said Griffin. “We’ve had a great year and it showed a little more toward the end. We’re privileged to be a champion. These classes are all tough and the Production is as tough as any. This was probably the most brutal course I’ve ever been on. There were rocks for 30 or 40 miles and then the deep silt beds made it difficult to pass.”

Robert VanBeekum got held up a road crossing early in the race and then had to make repairs to a broken tie rod. He made his way back to the front and earned his third consecutive podium in his Polaris.

Robert Vanbeekum secured another podium finish with a 3rd place finish

“The first part of the race I took it easy in the rocks and the dust was really bad,” said VanBeekum. “This was definitely the dustiest and rockiest race this season. It was a close one today. We’ll run this class for one more year.”

Kaden and Corbin Wells finished fourth, which scored them second in the points championship. “We stared 6th in class and had to beat Griffin on corrected time. Pushed super hard the whole race and finished third, which is our first podium of the year. We lost the championship by one point, but we are still happy with a second place finish overall in the Pro UTV class especially for our first full season. There’s some amazing drivers and congrats to Griffin for grabbing the title it was well deserved,” said Corbin Wells.

Kaden & Corbin Wells finished finished 4th at the BITD Pahrump 250

Tony Riggs won the UTV Unlimited race. Driving a Polaris, he beat out the Can-Ams of Michael Isom and Malcolm Sneed III.

Tony Riggs claimed the UTV unlimited class win at the Pahrump 250

Best in the Desert Series competitors won’t have long to prepare before the series kicks off it’s 2018 tour. The Casey Folks Parker 250 is scheduled for January 5-6 in Parker, AZ.

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