BEST IN THE DESERT Vegas to Reno August 14, 2015

The BITD Vegas to Reno was a big race for the two front runners in the Quad Pro Championship race with CT Racing's Danny Prather (left) needing a win to stay in the chase against Pro Motorsports' Jeff Hancock (right), but despite the competition on the track, it is great to see how close all the competitors are off the track, which is just one example of how ATV racers are one big family

The Q66 team of Jeremy Gray and Robbie Cockrell finished second, followed by the Q11 squad of Trent Kendall and Conrad Funke. Michael Burrows and Bryan Hulsey (Q3); and Cody Mitchell and Colt Brinkerhoff (Q83) completed the top five. The defending champions, CT Racing’s Danny Prather and David Scott (Q1), the Hancock’s nearest competitors in the title chase, rebounded from a hard crash by Prather to finish sixth.

The grueling 545-mile race was run over the desert between Beatty, NV just outside Las Vegas to Carson City, just south of Reno and is considered to be the longest off-road race in America. This year’s course was a tough one, featuring a racing surface punctuated by rocks, as well as large silt beds. With dry weather in the area, dust was one of the biggest obstacles on the course.

Maxxis' Jeff Hancock started the race for the Pro Motorsports Team & he left the line in the fourth position

The Hancock Brothers were the fourth team off the starting line with Jeff Hancock starting the race for the team shortly before sunrise at around 6am, and they gradually worked their way into the lead with many of the passes coming during pit stops.

“Jess and Kenny with Tire Blocks and Nick Nelson came out to help us out in the pits,” said Matt Hancock. “Obviously, you had to have your pit strategy right. We took second and the lead in the pits and this is a testament to the great work of our pit crew.”

Matt & Jeff Hancock made several passes in the pits just like this pass on the Q66 Team in the pits

Jeff Hancock hadn’t ridden an ATV in nearly two weeks while hospitalized and was released just two days before the event here. “I just tried to stay hydrated because I wasn’t even sure I could still ride,” said Jeff Hancock. “I did the first 30 miles and I felt good enough to help out my brother.”

“I didn’t know what he was going to be able to do,” said Matthew Hancock. “So we didn’t really have a game plan and we winged it. I went in the mindset of riding the whole thing.”

Tireblock's Matt Hancock was motivated by Jeff's early charge & the team put in an impressive charge to not only take their 4th straight win they also finished 6th overall

The brothers both had problems early in the race, but made up time in the pits. In addition, they both helped motivate each other as only two competitive brothers can do: “Jeff got on the bike and he made up some time. Seeing him make up that time really motivated me, so when I got back on, I pushed really hard,” said Matthew Hancock.

Tires also helped the pair. Many competitors experienced multiple flats on the rough surface. The Hancock’s used the same set of Maxxis Tires outfitted with Tire Blocks for the entire 545 mile long race.

“The bike ran flawlessly today,” said Matthew Hancock. “The Elka Shocks worked great. We were able to push all day without really getting tired. The Maxxis tires and Tire Blocks were the perfect combination. A lot of others had trouble with tires, and we ran the same set of tires the whole race and had no problems.”