BEST IN THE DESERT UTV World Championship February 20, 2016

Walker Evans Racing’s RJ Anderson may well have challenged Guthrie Jr for the victory after driving through the field from the second row holeshot, but he stopped during the race to check on Mike Gardner who had flipped several times. After getting back on course, Anderson finished second in class just over a minute behind Guthrie jr.

HOLZ Racing's RJ Anderson grabbed the holeshot on the 2nd Row

“I had to stop and make sure Mike was all right, and I’m glad to hear he’s going to be OK,” said Anderson. “Man, what a gnarly race. Dusty is an understatement. It was crazy what we went through in the end. I started on the second row and drove through traffic to finish second. This is huge leaps and bounds over last year. I learned a lot. I didn’t make any stupid mistakes.”

Walker Evans Racing's RJ Anderson secured a 2nd place finish even after stopping to check on fellow racer, Mike Gardner

Monster Energy’s Marc Burnett was using the race weekend as a shakedown for next weekend’s SCORE San Felip 250 in Mexico. He was pleased with his results by scoring a third place finish in the Short Course Turbo Class to go along with his second place finish in the Desert Race to cap off a great day of racing.

Monster Energy's Marc Burnett secured his 2nd Podium finish on the day with a 3rd place in the Short Course Turbo Class

“RJ and I were going back and forth for most of the race,” said Burnett. “We’re just learning how to drive the thing. We have 32 (inch tires) on it. We just milked it through and finished third. These are a lot better results from last year. There are a lot of fast guys out there. It was just survival.”

Grounded 4’s Cody Bradbury had to pit on the first lap for a clutch adjustment issue and overcame two flat tires to net the fourth-place finish.

Team BRADCO's Cody Bradbury secured a fourth place finish

“I couldn’t run over 50 miles per hour, so I pulled into the pits, they adjusted the clutch and everything went well,” said Bradbury. “Then I caught a rock and had a flat tire. Then I went in for fuel, came out and ended up finishing on a rear flat. We didn’t tear up too much stuff, so it was good day.”

S3 Racing’s Dustin Jones was battling with Anderson throughout most of the race, but a broken axle slowed his effort on the final lap.

Can-Am / S3 Racing's Dustin Jones rounded out the Turbo Top Five

“I took a spot from him and ran in front of him right up until the end,” said Jones. “Then we had a broken axle that caused me to flip on the last lap. I fell into mid pack after I got my car back on the tires and finished it out. I’m beat up. My car is beat up. But, man, I had a good time. The UTV World Championship is another level of racing for UTVs.”