the runner-up spot in a solo ride
of 7:53:53.6. (Incidentally, both
of them bested the fastest four-
wheeled vehicle, the Trick Truck
of Ryan Arciero who was the only
other finisher in a record field of
406 teams to break eight hours
with his 7:56:49.1. The 120 mo-
torcycle and ATV entries—includ-
ing three three-wheelers!—made
this the second-largest in V2R
history behind only 2008. Bikes
now lead cars/trucks in the over-
all win column, 13-12.) Defending
series champs Hayden Hintz/
Trevor Hunter rounded out the
overall motorcycle and Open Pro
podium in 8:08:26.5 aboard their
Kilmartin Racing/3 Bros. KTM.
Though it was Argubright's
second V2R victory, it was
Shirey's first and it couldn't have
gone much better. Shirey handed
the FMF/Enduro Engineering/
Rekluse-sponsored FX 450 he
also uses for AMA Hare & Hound
Nationals to Argubright at pit four
(mile 130.8), Argubright taking it to
pit 8 (mile 299.4) where they ex-
ecuted a rear-wheel change in an
estimated 40 seconds. "Me and
Laci [Olivas] and Jacob, we all
practiced it many times, and when
it came to it in the race, everything
went smoothly," Shirey noted.
Leaving that pit, Shirey had his
closest call when he had to avoid
a young calf that decided to stroll
onto the course. "I just rode off
into the ditch and came back onto
the course and kept going," he
reported. From there, he stayed
on the bike to the finish in Dayton,
adding, "I saw donkeys and horses
out there and a whole bunch of
spectators. I'd say the last 100
miles there were loads of specta-
tors so that made it kind of cool."
As he's done for several V2Rs
now, Brabec used the race as
a tune-up for next year's Dakar,
though he wouldn't need to do
any navigating due to the well-
marked course. With nearly nine
gallons of fuel on board (com-
pared to the 4.5-gallon IMS tank
employed by his rivals), the plan
formulated by Johnny Campbell
Racing (JCR) Honda was to stop
at just three of the 12 pits while
VOLUME 58 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 17, 2021 P45
Three-time and
defending V2R champ
Ricky Brabec had to
settle for second this
time, a crash and other
issues relegating him
to second place.
