IN
THE
WIND
P40
ARGUBRIGHT POUNDS OUT PARKER 250 WIN
T
wo-hundred-fifty miles is a
big chunk of desert to take
on by yourself, but Rockstar
Energy Husqvarna Factory Rac-
ing Off-Road Team star Jacob
Argubright made it seem like the
proverbial walk in the park as
he led from start to finish to win
the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals,
Presented by Polaris, the open-
ing round in Best in the Desert's
four-round American Off-road
Racing Series, in Parker,
Arizona, January 7. Defending
BITD champ Troy Vanscourt
took second with co-riders Ray
Dal Soglio and Jeremy Newton,
while privateers Jared Schlapia
and Taylor Stevens rounded out
the top three overall, unofficially.
Rain in the week before the
race made for practically dust-
free and epic riding; cloud
cover all day also meant lead-off
riders didn't face both dust and
blindness from the rising sun
on the traditional sprint east up
Shea Wash to the alternate pit
at Midway. Teams faced three
laps of the usual 79-mile loop on
both sides of Shea Road with
Ironman entrants required to go
two laps.
Starting first off the line on
his Bel-Ray/Dunlop/Fly Racing
FC 450 wasn't as much of an
advantage as it usually is, but
there was no catching Argu-
bright today.
"The first lap, I went pretty
hard," he said. "My hands were
a little cold; it was a little chilly.
Then the second lap, I really
put it down. The mileage was
actually a little longer than I ex-
pected. I was starting to run out
[of fuel] coming into the main pit,
but I got gas in time. The third
loop I went pretty hard. I was
just conserving a little bit; like
they kind of told me where I was
[relative to second]."
Argubright completed the
three laps in four hours, 23 min-
utes and six seconds.
After starting fourth, Monarch
Honda/Star Nursery/Fastheads
CRF450R-mounted Skyler
Howes made up enough time to
not only get into second place
physically, but unofficially take
the time-corrected lead.
Unfortunately for him and team-
mates Danny Cooper and Tracon
Kirk, they ended up with a DNF.
Cooper said, "I crashed pretty
Jacob Argubright
rode the entire race
by himself, but he
stayed in front the
whole way to start
the season with a
convincing win.
