Howes Wins Silver State 300
B
est in the Desert (BITD) got
back to racing again with round
two of its American Off-Road Rac-
ing Series: the VT Construction
Silver State 300, Presented by Po-
laris RZR, which was held in Alamo,
Nevada, June 27.
Evidence of having been pent
up for much of the year was
reflected simply in the numbers.
The previous turnout record for
this event was 218 total teams.
This year, 289 teams signed up,
69 of them motorcycle entries.
The race's live tracking on BITD.
com drew so much traffic that it
crashed the site.
What those viewing from afar
missed was a come-from-behind
effort by Skyler Howes to win for
the second successive year as a
solo rider aboard his Garrett Off-
Road/Lake Powell Off-Road Rac-
ing Husqvarna FE 501 prepared
by Wrench 42 Motorsports.
Physically, however, Howes was
second to Beta's Chance Fullerton
and Joe Wasson. Sharing Was-
son's Motul/Kenda/FMF 430 RR
hare and hound bike, they'd drawn
the first start position, giving them
a seven-minute head start over
Howes. They crossed the finish
some 285 miles later still in the
physical lead after four hours, 32
minutes and 59.6 seconds.
For defending series champ How-
es, his rally-bred experience and
endurance made the difference.
"I had the [4.5-gallon] IMS tank
so I was able to kind of strategize
my pits a little bit differently," he
said. "It kind of worked out in
some areas, and I was able to gain
time here and there, but in the
morning there was so much dust,
and the dust was just hanging
there.
"Once the sun came up and the
wind picked up, then it got a little
bit better. It was tough work to fight
through the dust, but I'm super-
stoked to come away with the
win—not physically but to get the
adjusted time win is super-sick."
While waiting for Fullerton at
pit six (of seven), Wasson said,
IN
THE
WIND
P28
Eventual winner Skyler
Howes got the green
light at 5:35 a.m.,
seven minutes after
the Chance Fullerton/
Joe Wasson bike.
