insert issues that cost valuable
time, eventually reaching Dayton
in 9:12:14.
The Monarch Honda quartet
of Danny Cooper/Ryan Mar-
shall/Tuffy Pearson/Nick Tolman
put in a steady ride to third in
9:43:12 to complete the podium.
Having finished third last year,
Argubright looked forward to
improving at this year's classic,
which served as round three of
five for bikes in Best in the Des-
ert's American Off-road Racing
Series.
VOL. 54 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 22, 2017 P35
However, it wasn't to be as the
aforementioned tire/foam insert
issues on their FX 450 cost
them the lead before pit two.
"It sucks when you have
an issue in general in the first
50 miles when you have the
lead [starting position] and all
you have to do is just ride,"
Argubright lamented. A similar
problem occurred later to keep
them from really challenging the
factory Honda effort, though
they stayed the closest. (Flat
tires seemed to be more com-
mon this year than in the past.
Argubright's father had one on
his motorhome and Trick Truck
racer Bryce Menzies alone had
NINE!)
"It was a long day, but it was
good," Argubright said. "I did
better than last year."
While winning the longest off-
road race in the U.S. is certainly
prestigious, Barreda and Brabec
saw Vegas to Reno simply as a
part of training in the lead-up to
the Dakar Rally in five months.
"I like this race, but also I like
these kinds of races that I use
during this part of the year to
work on my speed," Barreda
explained.
To exploit the HRC works
bike's nearly nine-gallon fuel
capacity, the Johnny Camp-
bell Racing (JCR) Honda crew
planned to pit it only three times,
including once for a tire change.
However, the CRF450 Rally isn't
equipped with a dry-break sys-
tem for any of the three fuel tank
fillers. While the Argubright/
Shirey Husky had a four-plus-
gallon IMS tank, they had to pit
eight times.
However, Brabec's crash
provided a frightening moment
for the eventual winners.
(Left) Monster
Energy Honda
Team's Joan
Barreda (shown)
repeated last
year's Vegas-
to- Reno victory,
this time sharing
riding duties with
Ricky Brabec.
(Right) Tire/foam
insert problems
delayed the
Jacob Argubright
(on bike) and
Dalton Shirey
duo, though they
kept charging
and finished a
strong second.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
