Brabec Bags Vegas-to-Reno Win
F
or as strange as this unprec-
edented year has gone, it's
actually working out well for
Monster Energy Honda Team/
Johnny Campbell Racing
(JCR) Honda's Ricky Brabec.
He started out, of course, by
becoming the first American to
win the Dakar Rally and followed
that up with a triumphant Sonora
Rally performance. And with the
majority of remaining rallies this
year cancelled or postponed due
to the ongoing global pandemic,
he couldn't pass up the chance
to do a race closer to home: the
24th Maxxis/Casey Folks Vegas-
to-Reno, round three in Best in
the Desert's American Off-road
Racing Series.
Having won in 2014 and 2017,
a victory this year would put the
two-time AMA Hare & Hound
Champion in elite company
indeed, further cementing his
name among the legends in
desert racing lore.
It wouldn't be easy, though.
He'd drawn the 10th starting
position, meaning he'd have to
battle dust for much of the 514
miles between the resurrected
Amargosa Valley start and the
traditional finish in Dayton. But
Brabec proved up to the chal-
lenge, finally charging into the
physical lead not far from the
finish and completing the journey
by himself in seven hours, 59
minutes and 54.75 seconds.
"I knew winning wasn't go-
ing to be easy and [defending
race and series champ] Skyler
[Howes] kept me on my toes all
day; we were both pushing it,"
Brabec admitted. "This third win
really means a lot."
Brabec was fourth-fastest
entry overall, three Trick Trucks
besting his time on the high-
speed course. It also put him
over 17 minutes ahead of Cham-
pion Adventures Honda's Nic
Garvin, who also soloed but on a
production AHM Factory Ser-
vices/STI Tires/Torco CRF450X,
finishing in 8:17:10.59.
The trio of Nic Colangelli/Evan
Kelly/Sage Vincent rounded
out the top three aboard their 3
Bros. KTM/DT Racing/Acerbis
450 XC-F in 8:19:01.56.
Garvin enjoyed a little over 100
IN
THE
WIND
P42
Ricky Brabec won
Vegas-to-Reno for
the third time of
his career.
PHOTOS: MARK KARIYA
