February 2nd marked the day of the start of the Best in the Desert Racing series with the Parker 425 in Parker Arizona, sponsored by the Blue Water Resort & Casino. This was our first time out to Parker and I have to say it is one of the best desert races I have witnessed. There are tons of spectator areas around the course, and there were a few extra miles added to the Python this year.
This race also saw one of the largest entry lists in the races history with over 300 entries. The course was a rough one too. Even after prerunning the course many racers talked about blind turns and ditches they did not remember. This caused a very high number of DNFs.
Racing started on California Avenue in Downtown Parker at 7:15am with the vehicles leaving on pavement before they hit the desert.
First off the line was the #40 Trick Truck of Chet Huffman, Jerry Whelchel and Kevin Murphy. Not only did they win the Trick Truck class they ended up taking first overall with a time of 7:15:35.
The second racer to start was the #11 Trick Truck of Dale Dondel, Mike Dondel, Jason Dudley and Joe Heger. They finished 10 minutes afterwards taking second in Trick Truck and second overall with a time of 7:25:51.
Starting third was Chuck Hovey in his 1501 Jimco car. He took first in his class 1500 and 3rd overall with a time of 7:34:38.
The fourth vehicle to leave was the #56 Trick Truck of Kevin McGillivray, Larry Roeseler, Robert Endress, and Robert Endress. They rounded out the top 3 in Trick Truck and took 4th overall for the day with a time of 7:45:29.
