John Argubright Solos To BITD Parker 250 Win
Beginning in front is often an advantage in a desert race like the GMZ UTV Winter season Nationals Parker 250, Presented by Polaris, which served as the starting round of Best in the Desert’s American Off-road Racing Series.
That’s because the race in Parker, Arizona, starts just before the sun pops over the horizon, and with the course heading directly east, that means the sun’s usually right in a rider’s eyes.
Combine that along with often blinding dust, and anyone following has to back off since they basically can’t see well.
Not this year.
Rain the week before turned the 79-mile-long loop into a brown ribbon of hero dirt punctuated by sections of rock gardens, but dust had not been the issue it usually is. As well, clouds removed the sun’s harsh glare from the equation so , basically, everyone had an equal playing field.
But not everyone had equal speed after setting off first, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s John Argubright outran everyone despite tackling the distance alone, completing three laps in four hours, 23 minutes and six seconds.
Photo by Mark Kariya
This is concerning the dustiest it got at Parker, meaning the guy in front didn’t have as much of an advantage as usual. So , Jacob Argubright made sure he rode faster than everyone else and documented a convincing win, riding the entire distance by himself.
As he observed, “I don’t think it would’ve considered [if I’d started later]. It was so good on the market! It was really, really good and that is what made it fun. ”
Asked about his decision to solo Parker, Argubright declared, “I’m going to solo every one of them! ” referring to all four BITD races this season.
“I think it’ll help me pertaining to hare & hounds and aiming to do rallies [in the near future]. I just want to do it! ”
Early on, the Monarch Honda team of Danny Cooper, Skyler Howes and Tracon Kirk got their 2016 CRF450R close up enough to unofficially take the guide on adjusted time, though bodily they remained in second. (They’ll run a new ‘RX later but made do with a 2016 ‘R instead of a ’17 model since a larger tank was available. )
But Argubright quickly picked up the pace and regained the lead, keeping this to the finish.
A crash and subsequent motor failure left the Cooper/Howes/Kirk trio with a DNF and moved defending BITD champs Jeremy Newton and Troy Vanscourt (assisted by Ray Dal Soglio) to second within 4: 32: 30.
Photo by Mark Kariya
Jeremy Newton (shown) along with Ray Dal Soglio and Troy Vanscourt rode a stable and speedy pace to finish 2nd as they began the year with the N1 plate earned last year.
“It’s an awesome sensation to come into this season with the number-one plate, ” THR Motorsports Honda’s Vanscourt said. “To show up plus finish second today, it’s awesome for us. We just want to finish competitions and keep having fun. That’s the most important thing for all of us. ”
Privateers Jared Schlapia and Taylor swift Stevens picked up the final spot on the podium after finishing in 4: 44: 01 on their Fasthead Husky FC 450, despite Stevens misjudging how fast Parker is.
“I produced some mistakes with the gearing, ” he admitted; “I did 13/48 and I think it only topped away at 75.
“I [also] went down while we were running fourth on the first lap, maybe like five miles before [the] Midway [alternate pit] so it was pretty rough [coming back from that]. After that I tried to keep it on two wheels. ”
Eric Kirby and Zachary Myers came from further back to win Open Expert plus finish fourth overall in four: 52: 25 on their KTM while Over 30 Pro winners Clint Braun and Jesse Canepa rounded out the top five overall in 5: 01: 15 on their Sparks Racing KX450F despite the rear tire coming apart just after the finish.
Photo by Mark Kariya
The Eric Kirby/Zachary Myers duo sped away from the Open Expert field to win the class by more than 12 minutes and place 4th overall.
Photo by Tag Kariya
Ironman riders had to full two laps of the 79-mile training course instead of the three that teams do and Ryan Parszik managed to outrun the rest of them to take the overall and Ironman Expert victory by just no time over Warren Healey, who’d directed physically for most of the way.