Best In The Desert’s Virtual Town Hall Meeting Recap: 2020 Race Schedule, Plans for the Points System, and COVID-19 Precautions

May 7, 2020

Off Road Racer Staff

2020 Race Schedule

Over 400 people participated in the virtual event with the potential reach to over 20,000 Facebook followers. During the meeting, Best In The Desert answered questions and comments in real-time and confirmed the dates for the following races:

The 2020 Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox will take place as planned on Aug. 12-15, 2020. It will be the biggest and best Vegas to Reno race ever held with an all-new start near Beatty and 60 miles of racecourse not used in several years. It is suggested that attendees do not cancel room reservations in Beatty just yet.

The Jagged X National Desert Cup Presented by Quantum Motorsports will replace the Battle Born 250 and take place on Sept. 25-27, 2020. The Battle Born 250 will be dropped from the 2020 schedule.

The 2020 BlueWater Desert Challenge will be held on Oct 22-25, 2020 pending the reopening of the Blue Water Resort. The Blue Water Desert Challenge will close out the 2020 Best In The Desert race season and the Maxxis Triple Crown.

The most immediate concern is the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris. Best In The Desert hopes to run the race either June 11-13, 2020, or June 25-27, 2020. This race is, of course, dependent on shelter-in-place restrictions in Nevada and neighboring states.

Currently, Best In The Desert is working with the assumption that regulations will be relaxed by June 1, 2020. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has given permission to host the race on the dates provided and Best In The Desert is working with the host hotel to get the dates approved as well.

However, the decision to move forward with the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris race is heavily dependent on racer turnout. As a result, Best In The Desert has created a survey asking racers to fill out that can be found here: https://bitd.com/silver-state-300-survey/.

The decision on whether or not to move forward with the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris will be announced along with the corresponding race date on May 15, 2020. The survey will remain open until May 8, 2020.

Points System

If the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris race is run in June, there is still a chance that competitors will not be able to attend due to travel restrictions, especially those who race in “The American Off-Road Racing Series” from abroad. For this reason, Best In The Desert is allowing one race from the series to be a “throw-away” race. Competitors from any class (Car, Truck, Bike, Quad, and UTV) can choose one race from the 2020 series that will not count towards overall points.

That means that if a competitor did not finish (DNF) one of the prior races (Tensor Tire Parker 250 Presented by Polaris, the BlueWater Parker 425 Presented by Jimco, or the King Shocks Laughlin Desert Classic), they can “throw-away” that race. Alternatively, this means the Maxxis Tires “Casey Folks” Vegas to Reno Presented by Fox, Jagged X National Desert Cup Presented by Quantum Motorsports, and BlueWater Desert Challenge can all be considered as throw-away races provided the racer entered these events.

Best In The Desert is making a special exception for the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris. For this event only, racers will be allowed to use it as a “throw-away” race without entering or starting the event while remaining eligible to win a Championship in the 2020 “American Off-Road Racing Series.”

However, racers should note that the VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris is a double points race and could prove to be a pivotal race for many competitor teams.

COVID-19 Precautions

Best In The Desert is taking the following social distancing precautions at the upcoming VT Construction Silver State 300 Presented by Polaris to ensure that events stay safe for everyone involved:

Time Trials will be held so that participating classes do not overlap during registration and while qualifying.
Registration will have scheduled times per class to register and will be limited to only those racers who need armbands and parents to minors.
The Event Expo will see limited vendors. Best In The Desert is limiting the event expo to essential service providers (i.e.: fuel, radio communications, etc.).
If the situation changes and full displays are allowed, they will be considered at a later date.
Contingency will still be offered but a new format will be in place to avoid direct contact with our contingency team.
Tech will also be a new format.
VP Fuels will supply a hand sanitizing product they are now producing at various locations at the race.
The driver’s meeting will be held virtually via Facebook Live. It will not be held as a group meeting face-to-face.
Trophies will be presented at the finish line at the Ford Mesa.

More information on COVID-19 precautions will be announced in the coming weeks.

As organizations begin to plan ahead, this will be a crucial time for communication. There is no playbook for how things will proceed in our new normal. That’s why Best In The Desert is making sure to be transparent with changes as soon as they are internally agreed upon.

These are difficult times, but we will all get through this together and meet in the wide-open desert soon. In the meantime, Best In The Desert is asking their racers to please participate in the Silver State 300 Survey to successfully move ahead with the upcoming race.

Best In the Desert extends its sincerest appreciation and heartfelt gratitude to all who attended and added to the discussion during the Virtual Town Hall. Based on the positive feedback, future Virtual Town Hall meetings will take place again.