Menzies, Blurton Extend Vegas to Reno Winning Streaks
Aug. 17, 2020
Off Road Racer Staff
It was back-to-back wins in Best in the Desert’s two premier classes on Friday, as Bryce Menzies (Trick Truck) and Phil Blurton (UTV Turbo) took the top spots in this year’s running of the Maxxis Tire Casey Folks Vegas to Reno presented by FOX. For Menzies, it was the second straight win in the longest point-to-point race in the United States after a heartbreaking DNF with the finish line in his sights two years ago; for Blurton, his status as the undisputed king of this race was reinforced by a fourth straight win.
The Concrete Motorsports duo of Kevin Thompson and Harley Letner were second overall, just under nine minutes off of Menzies’ winning time, while Luke McMillin continued his strong 2020 with a third overall finish. Jason Voss and Andy McMillin completed the top five, while top qualifier Cameron Steele finished eighth. Rob MacCachren handed off the driver’s seat of his truck to son Cayden due to a back injury in the middle of the race to finish ninth, while Robby Gordon’s heralded Unicorn soldiered through early issues to finish 18th.
Blurton’s win in UTV Turbo came in a spirited battle with defending BITD champion Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Dustin Jones, who finished second and third. Defending UTV Production champion and race winner Seth Quintero took the win in that class by just under four minutes over Kolton Hustead, while Wes Miller scored the UTV Unlimited win by just over six minutes ahead of Josh Shelton.
Other premier class winners included Jake Johnson in Class 1500, Ray Griffith in Class 6100, and Jared Teague in Class 1000. None of the classes were separated by more than 10 minutes, with Teague’s victory over Freddie Willert decided by just two minutes and 18 seconds.
As always, Vegas to Reno claimed its share of big-name DNFs, with the most spectacular a fire to Ryan Arciero’s Trick Truck; nobody was injured, but the truck was a loss. Other front-runners who couldn’t make it to the finish included BJ Baldwin and Justin Lofton in Trick Truck, as well as a long list of UTV Turbo stars like Justin Lambert, Wayne Matlock, Brandon Schueler, and Branden Sims.
Photo Credits: Bink Designs
Full results from the 2020 Maxxis Tire Casey Folks Vegas to Reno presented by FOX are as follows:
Trick Truck
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | 7 | Bryce Menzies | Las Vegas, NV | FORD | 07:48:00.839 |
| 2 | 70 | Kevin Thompson | New Braunfels, T | HSB | 07:56:45.683 |
| 3 | 83 | Luke Mcmillin | El Cajon, CA | RCE | 07:57:37.782 |
| 4 | 35 | Jason Voss | Cupertino, CA | FORD | 08:01:41.561 |
| 5 | 31 | Andy Mcmillin | Encinitas, CA | CHEV | 08:05:32.636 |
| 6 | 6 | Steve Sourapas | Rancho Santa Fe FGR | FGR | 08:16:22.200 |
| 7 | 38 | Eric Hustead | St. George, UT | FORD | 08:16:55.594 |
| 8 | 43 | Cameron S Steele | San Clemente, C | FGR | 08:17:20.827 |
| 9 | 11 | Rob Maccachren | Las Vegas, NV | FGR | 08:20:06.663 |
| 10 | 24 | Adam Householder | Yorba Linda, CA | HSB | 08:21:15.067 |
| 11 | 19 | Tim Herbst | Huntington Beach | HSB | 08:23:43.727 |
| 12 | 23 | Dan Mcmillin | El Cajon, CA | MAS | 08:24:51.952 |
| 13 | 8 | Sara Price | Canyon Lake, CA | GEI | 08:25:13.437 |
| 14 | 71 | Rolf Helland | Morris, IL | FORD | 08:39:30.093 |
| 15 | 27 | Steve Olliges | Las Vegas, NV | FGR | 08:55:18.871 |
| 16 | 90 | Raul Gomez | Placerville, CA | GEI | 09:00:22.943 |
| 17 | 75 | Kelly Mcarthur | Pomona, CA | BTI | 09:06:30.192 |
| 18 | 74 | Mike Prescott | La Canada Flintri | JIM | 09:14:15.052 |
| 19 | 73 | John T. Lennon | Paradise Valley, A | HSB | 09:18:07.311 |
| 20 | 78 | Chris German | Petaluma, CA | CHEV | 09:26:25.687 |
| 21 | 77 | Robby Gordon | Charlotte, NC | CTM | 09:51:36.538 |
| 22 | 58 | Tracy Graf | Sylvan Lake, AB | FRAC | 11:32:54.201 |
| 23 | 29 | Dean Van Dam | Texico, NM | GEI | 13:02:45.402 |
| 24 | 44 | Bill Apgood | Holladay, UT | GEI | 14:20:15.850 |
| DNF | 32 | Ryan Arciero | Huntington Beach | HSB | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 82 | Sam Baldi | Beaumont, CA | BAL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 97 | Bj Baldwin | Las Vegas, NV | IDD | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 84 | John Bowers | Norco, CA | FUS | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 127 | Jonathan Brenthel | Temecula, CA | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 54 | Robert Johnston | Ooltewah, TN | GEI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 41 | Justin Lofton | Brawley, CA | JIM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 53 | Wade Porter | Chico, CA | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 40 | Kit Stokes | Las Vegas, NV | CHEV | 00:00:00.000 |
Class 1500
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | 1546 | Jake Johnson | Yucaipa, CA | POR | 08:21:30.163 |
| *2 | 1529 | Brandon Bailey | Riverside, CA | CTM | 08:30:34.029 |
| 3 | 1532 | Cody Parkhouse | Long Beach, CA | JIM | 08:30:56.859 |
| 4 | 1549 | Sam Berri | Murphys, CA | JIM | 08:42:52.281 |
| 5 | 1513 | Michael Frye | Las Vegas, NV | JIM | 09:32:58.590 |
| 6 | 1552 | Brendan Gaughan | Las Vegas, NV | HMS | 09:37:09.079 |
| 7 | 1536 | Larry Brown | Bakersfield, CA | JIM | 10:21:13.942 |
| 8 | 1520 | Butch Jensen | Henderson, NV | ALM | 11:10:47.908 |
| DNF | 1562 | Ladd Gilbert | Las Vegas, NV | BUN | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1583 | Bill Wingerning | Rolling Hills, CA | JIM | 00:00:00.000 |
Class 6100
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | 6149 | Ray Griffith | Downey, CA | GEI | 08:46:01.627 |
| 2 | 6118 | Ryan Hancock | Yuma, AZ | TSCO | 08:50:36.631 |
| 3 | 6125 | Jax Redline | Amarillo, TX | GEI | 08:53:36.683 |
| 4 | 6166 | Jeff Bader | Pasadena, CA | BTI | 08:56:52.101 |
| 5 | 6139 | Terry Householder | Yorba Linda, CA | HSB | 09:00:24.555 |
| 6 | 6164 | Pierce Herbst | Huntington Beach | HSB | 09:02:55.631 |
| 7 | 6168 | Eli Kiger | Mount Morris, PA | MAS | 09:05:27.334 |
| 8 | 6131 | Mike Osborn | Los Angeles, CA | MAS | 09:07:45.069 |
| 9 | 6138 | Brad Lovell | Colorado Springs | GEI | 09:08:16.069 |
| 10 | 6114 | Justin Blower | San Clemente, C | HSB | 09:10:06.591 |
| 11 | 6189 | Sterling Miller | Ackerly, TX | BTI | 09:21:09.624 |
| 12 | 6117 | Troy Messer | Kingman, AZ | ARM | 09:24:12.771 |
| 13 | 6173 | Kyle Jergensen | Murrieta, CA | BTI | 09:28:02.834 |
| 14 | 6197 | Michael Lewis | San Marcos, CA | MAS | 09:31:42.478 |
| 15 | 6177 | Travis. Williams | Avondale, AZ | GEI | 09:36:43.545 |
| 16 | 6122 | Michael Pyle | Draper, UT | CTM | 09:40:24.959 |
| 17 | 6179 | Austin Jones | Goodyear, AZ | TSCO | 09:43:39.867 |
| 18 | 6154 | Alan Levinson | Blue Diamond, NV | CHEV | 09:50:07.325 |
| 19 | 6133 | L.d. Smith | Commerce City, CA | CTM | 09:52:29.415 |
| 20 | 6128 | Jacob Andrew | Vista, CA | CTM | 10:01:28.033 |
| 21 | 6152 | John Langley | Carson, CA | MAS | 10:09:19.742 |
| 22 | 6184 | Andre Laurin | Tiny, NV | CTM | 10:09:32.564 |
| 23 | 6108 | Chad Dohrman | Murrieta, CA | CTM | 10:09:32.648 |
| 24 | 6157 | Trevor Harvey | Westminster, CO | BTI | 10:30:26.949 |
| 25 | 6191 | Alex Wacker | Aubrey, TX | CBG | 11:04:52.550 |
| 26 | 6160 | Jerry.. Herling | Yucaipa, CA | FUS | 11:27:35.779 |
| 27 | 6105 | Kelly Mcneil | Mesa, AZ | CTM | 11:47:57.132 |
| 28 | 6110 | Bryan Scheible | Bowmansville, NY | BTI | 12:55:00.283 |
| DNF | 6143 | Chad Broughton | Scotts Valley, CA | FORD | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6192 | Jason Coleman | Huntington Beach | HSB | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6102 | Kyle Craft | Corona, CA | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6175 | Dustin Grabowski | Alta Loma, CA | HSB | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6150 | Joseph Herling | Yucaipa, CA | FUS | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6136 | Clay Lawrence | Banning, CA | HSB | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6194 | Joe Lombardo | Las Vegas, NV | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6153 | Adam Ray Lunn | Wichita Falls, TX | ARM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6137 | Robert Malone | Durango, CO | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 6104 | Scott Wooden | Cornelius, OR | BTI | 00:00:00.000 |
UTV Turbo
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | T944 | Phil Blurton | Auburn, CA | CAM | 09:52:26.160 |
| 2 | T901 | Mitch Guthrie Jr. | Glendora, CA | POL | 09:55:30.217 |
| 3 | T978 | Dustin Jones | Shreveport, LA | CAM | 09:56:11.315 |
| 4 | T948 | Matt Burroughs | Norco, CA | CAM | 10:04:59.738 |
| 5 | T917 | Jason Murray | Santa Ana, CA | CAM | 10:13:47.499 |
| 6 | T931 | Craig Scanlon | Yorba Linda, CA | POL | 10:20:34.147 |
| 7 | T905 | Marc. Burnett | Chula Vista, CA | CAM | 10:23:21.469 |
| 8 | T998 | Pj Jones | Scottsdale, AZ | CAM | 10:24:13.808 |
| 9 | T873 | Jorge Vela | Cabo San Lucas | CAM | 10:26:31.805 |
| 10 | T969 | Logan Gastel | Highland, CA | CAM | 10:28:11.379 |
| 11 | T961 | Nate Hale | Draper, UT | POL | 10:29:43.079 |
| 12 | T974 | Randy Romo | Henderson, NV | POL | 10:33:33.935 |
| 13 | T813 | Cole Freiday | Kingman, AZ | CAM | 10:49:04.977 |
| 14 | T950 | Vito Ranuio | Stockton, CA | CAM | 10:54:07.919 |
| 15 | T975 | Michael Cafro | Fallbrook, CA | POL | 10:55:46.268 |
| 16 | T887 | Edgar Garcia | Trabuco Canyon | CAM | 10:59:47.934 |
| 17 | T910 | Dan Fisher | Mesa, AZ | CAM | 11:01:44.586 |
| 18 | T925 | James Moore | Farmington, NM | CAM | 11:05:42.795 |
| 19 | T806 | Mitchell Alsup | Bakersfield, CA | CAM | 11:20:08.089 |
| 20 | T958 | Michael Mamelli Jr. | Costa Mesa, CA | POL | 11:20:38.140 |
| 21 | T936 | Jacob Carver | Prescott Valley, AZ | POL | 11:22:21.014 |
| 22 | T991 | Sierra Romo | Henderson, NV | POL | 11:30:01.857 |
| 23 | T990 | Don Daley Iii | Poway, CA | POL | 12:12:06.432 |
| 24 | T952 | Jonathan Mcvay | Queen Creek, AZ | POL | 12:17:53.107 |
| 25 | T829 | Aspen Chournos | St George, UT | POL | 12:31:02.342 |
| 26 | T912 | Russell Bowers | Stockton, CA | POL | 12:39:00.532 |
| 27 | T923 | Robert Gott | Quincy, CA | POL | 13:25:19.008 |
| 28 | T821 | Nathan Waunch | Olympia, WA | POL | 14:01:51.800 |
| 29 | T904 | Cory Sappington | Peoria, AZ | CAM | 15:02:54.134 |
| 30 | T891 | Bill Hermant | Sparks, NV | POL | 16:21:09.477 |
| 31 | T860 | Ryan Haggerty | Stockton, CA | POL | 16:54:23.229 |
| 32 | T911 | Josh Meister | California City, CA | CAM | 17:17:34.604 |
| 33 | T984 | Kristopher Mccoy | Lindon, UT | CAM | 17:24:27.053 |
| 34 | T967 | Mike Pratt | Draper, UT | POL | 19:04:16.082 |
| DNF | T915 | Jim Beaver | Parker, AZ | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T825 | Cody Bradbury | Nuevo, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T845 | Colt Brinkerhoff | Laguna Hills, CA | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T914 | Martin Christensen | Escondido, CA | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T934 | Nicholas Gurries | Fremont, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T820 | Rj Hayes | Apple Valley, CA | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T858 | John Kawell | Yorba Linda, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T918 | Justin Lambert | Bakersfield, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T920 | Pete Libby | Oxford, ME | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T971 | Wayne Matlock | Alpine, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T884 | Brandon Pierce | Lindon, UT | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T815 | Ryan Piplic | Las Vegas, NV | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T919 | Brandon Schueler | Phoenix, AZ | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T913 | Branden Sims | Prescott Valley, A | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T927 | Justin Smith | Wittman, AZ | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T943 | Michael R. Taylor | Homeland, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T830 | Scott Trafton | Alpine, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T954 | Austin Weiland | El Cajon, CA | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | T849 | Dean Wheeler Jr | Phoenix, AZ | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
UTV Production
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | 1903 | Seth Quintero | San Marcos, CA | POL | 10:34:39.215 |
| 2 | 1938 | Kolton Hustead | St George, UT | TEX | 10:38:31.149 |
| 3 | 1954 | Kristen Matlock | Alpine, CA | POL | 10:55:16.318 |
| 4 | 1995 | Kaden Wells | St George, UT | POL | 11:01:33.525 |
| 5 | 1808 | Madeline Wedekin | Temecula, CA | POL | 11:12:37.076 |
| 6 | 1854 | Zackary Sims | Purcell, OK | YAM | 12:07:53.193 |
| 7 | 1962 | Dodge Poelman | Orem, UT | POL | 12:11:48.198 |
| 8 | 1906 | Mark Levrett | Sparks, NV | TEX | 12:20:51.046 |
| 9 | 1817 | Bret Ward | Scottsdale, AZ | POL | 12:37:29.062 |
| 10 | 1960 | Allen Alexander | Minden, NV | POL | 12:40:56.383 |
| 11 | 1991 | Dominick Gaglione | Henderson, NV | POL | 13:25:50.133 |
| 12 | 1949 | David Ziegler | Reno, NV | KAW | 14:00:30.619 |
| 13 | 1922 | Tim Hall | Hawthorne, NV | POL | 14:41:13.471 |
| 14 | 1907 | Scott Baker | Anaheim Hills, CA | POL | 15:12:09.053 |
| 15 | 1850 | Michael Pascarella | Ridgecrest, CA | POL | 15:19:53.902 |
| 16 | 1950 | Dean Yale | San Diego, CA | KAW | 16:24:02.697 |
| 17 | 1855 | Scott Davis | Moreno Valley, CA | YAM | 17:38:59.904 |
| DNF | 1977 | Brayden Baker | Yorba Linda, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1957 | Joe Bolton | La Mirada, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1803 | Aaron Clark | Brea, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1958 | George Felix | Houston, TX | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1992 | Brenden Hempel | Bettendorf, IA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1928 | Shandy Kittleson | Houston, TX | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1985 | Adrian Orellana | Escondido, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1927 | Ryan Ottersberg | Phoenix, AZ | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1986 | Amin Patel | Terrebonne, OR | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1959 | Josh Row | Lakeside, CA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1940 | Troy Wall | Washington, UT | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1895 | Corbin Wells | St George, UT | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 1948 | Paul Ziegler | Reno, NV | KAW | 00:00:00.000 |
UTV Unlimited
| Fin. | No. | Driver | Hometown | Manufacturer | Time |
| 1 | 2989 | Wes Miller | Las Vegas, NV | POL | 10:44:15.613 |
| 2 | 2929 | Josh Shelton | Spicewood, TX | CAM | 10:50:22.325 |
| 3 | 2924 | Randy Raschein | Brownsville, OR | CAM | 11:07:20.628 |
| 4 | 2901 | Michael Isom | St George, UT | CAM | 11:15:53.108 |
| 5 | 2998 | Cameron Ornelas | Scottsdale, AZ | CAM | 12:03:21.683 |
| 6 | 2981 | Rodney Pyburn | Mesa, AZ | POL | 13:01:46.128 |
| 7 | 2930 | Sean Cook | Twain Harte, CA | CAM | 13:38:59.238 |
| 8 | 2925 | Jeramiah Drew | Las Vegas, NV | CAM | 13:47:37.786 |
| 9 | 2917 | Ben Vrbancic | Brighton, CO | POL | 13:58:11.401 |
| 10 | 2940 | George Pondella | Glendale, CA | CAM | 13:59:30.045 |
| 11 | 2982 | Nicholas Shearer | Riverside, CA | CAM | 14:26:47.621 |
| 12 | 2994 | Christopher Polvoorde | Hermet, CA | HON | 15:37:51.688 |
| 13 | 2969 | Cheyne Dewolfe | Buckeye, AZ | CAM | 16:12:40.470 |
| 14 | 2996 | Brook Jensen | Pinon Hills, CA | POL | 16:36:42.219 |
| 15 | 2920 | Cindy Cobian | Claremont, CA | POL | 20:48:06.301 |
| DNF | 2935 | Ryan Camp | Bremen, GA | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2977 | Justin Elenburg | Mesa, AZ | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2914 | Daniel Hurn | Peoria, AZ | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2963 | Craig Johnson | Clarissa, MN | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2951 | Herman Johnson | Rio Rancho, NM | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2941 | Steven Poole | Quartzsite, AZ | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2915 | Branden Sorensen | Las Vegas, NV | CTM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2964 | Robert Vanbeekum | Queen Creek, AZ | POL | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2933 | Eliott Watson | El Centro, CA | HON | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2927 | Nolan Williams | Lompoc, CA | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |
| DNF | 2975 | Travis Zollinger | Logan, UT | CAM | 00:00:00.000 |