Adam Householder Triumphs in King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic
Adam Householder scored the Trick Truck class and overall victories as the 2020 Best in the Desert season continued this weekend with the return of the King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic. The unique two-day race format, which saw cars and trucks run four laps each on both Saturday and Sunday, saw Householder post the weekend-best time of 2:09:38, just over two minutes better than the runner-up Trick Truck led by Kevin Thompson. Former BITD champion Jason Voss completed the Trick Truck podium.
Laughlin proved to be a battle of attrition, with Apdaly Lopez falling short of the finish in Tony Smiley's truck by just half a mile to hand the victory to Hourseholder. A dramatic Class 1500 battle also shaped much of Sunday’s action: first, James Dean stopped on track to change a belt from the lead, and Bob Lofton later rolled from the top spot. In the end, Sam Berri ended up taking the top spot in the 1500 standings.
Class 6100, meanwhile, produced a highly compelling fight for the win. Kyle Craft and James Dean beat Ryan Hancock for the class victory by just 31 seconds, while Troy Messer ensured that the three podium finishers in class were all within a minute of one another. In fact, the 6100 battle was so tight that the entire top 10 was within 10 minutes of one another at race’s end.
Alongside the car and truck action, the event began on Thursday with the Baja Designs UTV Night Race, the only event of its type on the BITD calendar. Defending UTV Turbo champion Mitch Guthrie Jr. took his first win of the season in the premier class, while last year’s UTV Unlimited champion Michael Isom also scored a victory in his class and Kolton Hustead topped the UTV Production category.
Class results from the King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic were as follows:
Trick Truck
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Home | Laps | Total Time |
| 1 | 24 | Adam Householder | Yorba Linda, CA | 8 | 02:09:38.655 |
| 2 | 70 | Kevin Thompson | New Braunfels, TX | 8 | 02:12:10.264 |
| 3 | 35 | Jason Voss | Cupertino, CA | 8 | 02:14:20.371 |
| 4 | 27 | Steve Olliges | Las Vegas, NV | 8 | 02:19:52.394 |
| 5 | 58 | Tracy Graf | Sylvan Lake, AB | 8 | 02:20:28.148 |
| 6 | 47 | Carrie Smiley | Buckeye, AZ | 8 | 02:32:37.322 |
| 7 | 84 | John Bowers | Norco, CA | 8 | 02:34:28.951 |
| 8 | 69 | Carty Beal | Midland, TX | 8 | 02:47:40.519 |
| 9 | 2 | Tony Smiley | Buckeye, AZ | 7 | 01:49:09.793 |
| 10 | 127 | Jonathan Brenthel | Murrieta, CA | 7 | 01:55:07.455 |
| 11 | 38 | Eric Hustead | St. George, UT | 7 | 02:03:10.886 |
| 12 | 25 | Jax Redline | Amarillo, TX | 7 | 02:07:31.901 |
| 13 | 41 | Justin Lofton | Brawley, CA | 6 | 01:35:05.767 |
| 14 | 32 | Shawn Croll | Corona, CA | 5 | 01:34:46.858 |
| 15 | 45 | Scott Schovajsa | Dayton, TX | 5 | 01:53:09.730 |
| 16 | 68 | Joe Miller | Wildomar, CA | 4 | 01:07:30.543 |
| 17 | 33 | Brett.. Comiskey | Yucaipa, AZ | 4 | 01:12:49.388 |
| 18 | 100 | Dale Dondel | Temecula, CA | 2 | 00:30:41.224 |
Class 1500
| Pos. | No. | Home | Laps | Total Time |
| 1 | 1549 | Murphys, CA | 8 | 02:29:59.523 |
| 2 | 1513 | Las Vegas, NV | 8 | 02:51:28.021 |
| *3 | 1529 | Riverside, CA | 8 | 02:59:50.383 |
| 4 | 1541 | Brawley, CA | 7 | 02:02:15.545 |
| 5 | 1575 | Henderson, NV | 7 | 02:06:04.558 |
| 6 | 1583 | Palos Verdes, CA | 5 | 01:28:24.354 |
| DNF | 1562 | Las Vegas, NV | 0 | 00:00:00.000 |
Class 6100
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Home | Laps | Total Time |
| 1 | 6102 | Kyle Craft | Corona, CA | 8 | 02:17:21.699 |
| 2 | 6118 | Ryan Hancock | Yuma, AZ | 8 | 02:17:52.196 |
| 3 | 6117 | Troy Messer | Kingman, AZ | 8 | 02:18:06.363 |
| 4 | 6175 | Dustin Grabowski | Alta Loma, CA | 8 | 02:18:07.925 |
| 5 | 6139 | Terry Householder | Yorba Linda, CA | 8 | 02:19:25.199 |
| 6 | 6149 | Ray. Griffith | Downey, CA | 8 | 02:19:53.308 |
| 7 | 6108 | Chad Dohrman | Murrieta, CA | 8 | 02:19:59.886 |
| 8 | 6147 | Scott Shields | El Cajon, CA | 8 | 02:24:06.240 |
| 9 | 6184 | Andre Laurin | Toronto, ON | 8 | 02:25:27.097 |
| 10 | 6178 | Taylor Mills | Houston, TX | 8 | 02:27:10.480 |
| 11 | 6120 | John Walton | Sparks, NV | 8 | 02:30:27.337 |
| 12 | 6190 | James P. Scully | Long Beach, NY | 8 | 02:31:29.585 |
| 13 | 6116 | Neal Drickey | Rancho Mirage, CA | 8 | 02:32:54.703 |
| 14 | 6127 | Kelly P. Mcarthur | Pomona, CA | 8 | 02:36:23.882 |
| 15 | 6150 | Joseph Herling | Yucaipa, CA | 8 | 02:36:32.938 |
| 16 | 6133 | L.d. Smith | Commerce City, C | 8 | 02:36:38.096 |
| 17 | 6177 | Travis. Williams | Avondale, AZ | 8 | 02:38:58.933 |
| 18 | 6132 | Steve Croll | Corona, CA | 8 | 02:44:06.572 |
| 19 | 6110 | Bryan Scheible | Georgetown, TX | 8 | 02:57:49.947 |
| *20 | 6173 | Kyle Jergensen | Murrieta, CA | 8 | 03:27:10.527 |
| 21 | 6142 | Brandon Arthur | Ramona, CA | 7 | 02:03:40.784 |
| 22 | 6185 | Matt Laughlin | Laughlin, NV | 6 | 01:47:09.958 |
| 23 | 6122 | Michael Pyle | Draper, UT | 6 | 01:48:02.307 |
| 24 | 6159 | Dennis Jean | Sacramento, CA | 6 | 02:06:17.355 |
| 25 | 6154 | Alan Levinson | Blue Diamond, N | 6 | 02:44:45.433 |
| 26 | 6153 | Adam Ray Lunn | Wichita Falls, TX | 4 | 01:10:02.453 |
| 27 | 6157 | Trevor Harvey | Westminster, CO | 4 | 01:17:43.259 |
The 2020 Best in the Desert season continues for motorcycles, quads, and UTVs with the Jagged X National Desert Cup, also in Laughlin, on March 20-22. All BITD classes will be on the starting line for the VT Construction Silver State 300 in Alamo, NV on April 30-May 3.
