Coastal Racing Wins Vegas to Reno UTV Class

Spanning 534 miles, Vegas to Reno is known as the largest off-road race in the U.S. This year, 40 side-by-sides lined up to tackle the desert between the two cities.

On the ATV side, Team UXC/Driven Powersports/Polaris Factory Racing would line up their Scrambler XP 1000 as the only 4×4 to tackle the race.

Coastal/Holz Racing’s No. 1934 RZR XP 1000 started in fifteenth with Scott Kiger and co-driver Tyler King starting the race. By Pit 6, where they had a driver change, Kiger had moved up to the top five giving Mark Holz and co-driver Rob Utendorfer great position to finish the race strong.

Leading the race the whole day was Brandon Schueler in his brand new No. 1919 Jagged X RZR XP 1000. Holz continued to maneuver through the course getting the No. 1934 into third place by Pit 8. By Pit 13, Schueler was 15 miles ahead of Holz with the No. 1934 driving hard. With Reno 30 miles away, Holz cut the gap to five miles and crossed the line physically behind the No. 1919, but with corrected time Coastal/Holz took the win by 55 seconds.

(Photo courtesy DirtFocus.com)

On the ATV side, the Team UXC/Driven Powersports/Polaris Factory Racing’s No. 440 Scrambler XP 1000 started in third place in the Quad Expert Class. Michael Swift started the race and worked his way to second place by Pit 3. Teammate Chris Robinson took over at Pit 4 with plans to carry the No. 440 to Pit 8, but an unfortunate left rear flat by pit 7 set the team back to third place. Swift climbed back aboard and, at Pit 12, Driven Powersport’s Don Higbee jumped on and tackled some of the most difficult sections of the course. Just 20 miles outside Pit 14, Higbee encountered a problem with a rear tire which the chase team fixed at Pit 14. Swift jumped back on and ride to a second place finish, putting the team in the points lead for the class in the series.

The next Best in the Desert race is the Bluewater Desert Challenge, Oct. 8-10, in Parker, Ariz.