Herbst/Roeseler blaze trail to overall, Trophy Truck win in Saturday’s 2nd Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 desert race

| July 15, 2013
Kawasaki’s Argubright captures AMA National Hare and Hound Series motorcycle race;
Other HDRA class winners include Boyle, Hajas, Quintero, Knecht, R. Frisby, Harper
HDRA     RENO, Nev.—Extending their World Championship point lead even further, desert racing veterans Tim Herbst of Las Vegas and Larry Roeseler, El Centro, Calif., powered by the young guns of the sport to capture the overall and Trophy Truck victory at the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, 19 miles east of downtown Reno, Nev.
With the 405-mile race run as five laps over a rock-strewn 81-mile loop, Roeseler drove the first three laps and Tim Herbst the last two as together they completed the race in nine hours, 25 minutes and 10 seconds, averaging 43.0 miles per hour in the No. 19 Monster Energy Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford F-150.
The veteran Herbst, 50, the all-time winningest SCORE Trophy Truck driver with 11 career wins in the SCORE Desert Series, and Roeseler, 56, who has three career SCORE Trophy Truck victories, started third in the race, took the lead physically and on corrected time on the first lap and held off the charge of 20-year old Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif., who finished second in the No. 85 Green Army Motorsports Ford F-150 in 9:26:40.  On the last lap Davis closed the gap from 8:20 to 1:30 but Tim Herbst held Davis off to earn the victory. Davis won the last 2013 HDRA race in Ridgecrest, Calif., with Herbst/Roeseler second.
Running at overlapping times, with viewing from the same spectator area on a large plateau, the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 for cars and trucks ran concurrently on different race courses as the AMA Reno Extreme for motorcycles.
After three days of festivities at the Dirt Live Off-Road Expo on Virginia Street in the heart of the ‘Biggest Little City in the World’, Saturday was race day as Round 3 of the HDRA Desert Series and Round eight of the AMA National Hare and Hound motorcycle series ran simultaneously at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, owned by Reno’s Roger Norman who also owns the High Desert Racing Association.
Entries from 13 U.S. States as well as Columbia, Mexico and New Zealand raced in 15 classes for race cars and race trucks will be competing in the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 which started at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday and in the elapsed-timed race, the course closed after an 18-hour time limit, at 4 a.m. Sunday.  Included in the field were 11 Trophy Trucks, the marquee racing division in the sport for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks.
“We’re a team of dinosaurs and it has been 10 years since Terrible Herbst Motorsports has won a Trophy Truck race and gotten an overall,” said Tim Herbst. “Our team doesn’t give up. Justin (Davis) is a great young racer and we were just pushing hard and trying to keep the wheels on the truck. It doesn’t exactly feel like our first Trophy Truck win, but the team earned it and it feels pretty darn good. Larry (Roeseller) gave us a big lead after his three laps (6:59) and fortunately we were able to hold off the youngster this time.”
Mexico’s Juan C. Lopez finished third overall and in Trophy Truck, driving the No. 18 Speed Energy RPM Racing Chevy Silverado to a time of 9:47:10 at an average speed of 42.9 mph.
Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin and T.J. Flores, who were the fast qualifiers in the race and started first, fell back to eighth place after the first lap but came back to finish fourth overall and in Trophy Truck with a time of 9:55:13 while averaging in the No. 97 Monster Energy Baldwin Motorsports Chevy Silverado.
Completing the top five overall and fifth in Trophy Truck was Mexico’s Sergio Salgado in a time of 10:32:07 in the No. 88 Ford Raptor.
In the unlimited Class 1 for open-wheel desert race cars, Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif., won for the second straight race in his Jimco-Chevy and finished 11th overall while earning the victory in Class 10 and finishing 12th overall was the team of Peter Hajas, Wayzata, Minn./Kevin Selchow, Lester Praire, Minn., in a Kreger-Chevy.
In Class 5/1600 for VW Baja Bugs, the team of Donald Harper, Palmdale, Calif./Guy Savedra, Las Vegas/Steve Fuentes, Apple Valley, Calif. came from behind on the final lap to pull out their class win.
Other class winners included Lucas Knecht, Garden Grove, Calif. (Class 1/2-1600, Custom-VW), Josh Quintero, El Centro, Calif. (Class 7/7200, Ford Raptor), James Burman, Heber City, Utah (Class 7SX, Ford Ranger), Ryan Frisby, Valley Center, Calif. (Class 3000, Fusion-Chevy) and Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va. (Trophy Truck Spec, Chevy Colorado). Stacy was seventh overall and Quintero was ninth overall.
The fastest sportsman finisher was Los Angeles Lakers’ owner Johnny Buss, Northridge, Calif. (SPT Baja Challenge, BTC-Subaru).
There were a total of 30 official finishers out of the 61 vehicles that started the grueling race for a finishing rate of 49.2 percent. The elapsed-time race had an 18-hour time limit and the course officially closed at 4 a.m. Sunday.
The special spectator area for the event was on a elevated plateau overlooking start/finish with sight lines of more than 15 miles of the race course provided some of the best viewing area in all of desert racing.
The festive start/finish line area also had food and beverage vendors, a beer garden with Monster Energy drink specials, the massive Monster Energy hospitality area, Monster Energy Girls and three performances by the Monster Energy LivFast Freestyle motorcycle stunt team which is based in Sparks, Nev.
Live coverage and vehicle tracking of the cars and trucks in the event aired on the Internet at and is still available for replay at www.hdrarace.com.
DAKAR CHALLENGE 2013
     This year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 500 (held June 1-2) and this weekend’s Eldorado HDRA Reno 500 are part of a special program where the combined best qualified car/truck finisher will receive a special entry packages into the 2014 Dakar Rally in South America. Regulations and other information on Dakar Challenge 2013 are available at http://www.dakar.com/dakar/2013/us/dakar-challenge.html.
MOTORCYCLE MANIA
     Jacob Argubright, Northridge, Calif., rode a Kawasaki to victory in the accompanying Reno Extreme motorcycle race which was round 8 of the 2013 AMA National Hare and Hound Series.
Running an endurance race with solo riders around a rugged 20-mile desert course at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex, Argubright earned his first win of the season and second in his young career while breaking the five-race AMA NHHS win streak of KTM factory rider Kurt Caselli, the reigning season point champion who still holds a big lead in this year’s point battle. Earning his first podium finish in the series, Mexico’s Ivan Ramirez was third on another factory KTM.
At the checkered flag, Argubright was timed in 2:23:19 with Caselli two minutes and three seconds behind him and Ramirez third in 2:37:52.
Caselli and Ramirez are also teammates on a factory KTM team in the SCORE Desert Series. The duo will ride again for KTM on November 14-17 at the season-ending 46th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Ensenada, Mexico. Ensenada is Ramirez’ hometown.
With part of the AMA motorcycle race course running under and then parallel to the HDRA car and truck course and finishing on the same podium ramp, over 75 riders competed in the Reno Extreme.
DIRT LIVE OFF-ROAD EXPO
    The colorful Dirt Live Off-Road Expo, held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of race week on Virginia Street in downtown Reno, was a production of the Eldorado Hotel Casino, presenting sponsor of the 2nd Annual Eldorado HDRA Reno 500, in conjunction with Dirt Live, HDRA, SCORE International desert racing, Wide Open Excursions, BFGoodrich Tires and Monster Energy.
Budweiser was an associate sponsor of the event as well.
Another major supporter of this multi-day motorsports extravaganza was the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
The Silver Legacy Resort Casino and Budweiser were associate sponsors of the event as well. Supporting hotels included not only the Eldorado and Silver Legacy, but Circus Circus and Harrah’s who are all part of the downtownReno.com promotional group.
For more information on the Expo, visit the official event website at dirtliveexpo.com.
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF DESERT RACING
     The 2013 SCORE Desert Series is part of the quickly-evolving World Championship of Desert Racing, which combines points accumulated in the three SCORE Baja races along with points earned from three of the four-race 2013 HDRA Series, all held in the United States. Both the SCORE and HDRA series will crown their own individual class and overall point champions as well with a bonus purse for those racers who qualify for the World Championship of Desert Racing point’s bonus purse program to earn a desert racing World Champion title.
With a growing total, for the inaugural World Championship of Desert Racing bonus purse, an official total of $45,000 has been posted to date from new SCORE sponsors Amber Racing Services ($25,000), King Shocks ($10,000) and Rigid Industries ($10,000).
For car and truck classes with at least three starters in each qualifying race in 2013, the World Champion titles will be decided on combined points from the three SCORE races and three HDRA races with the bonus purse paid using the same formula based on total purse and number of starters in each class as is used currently for each SCORE race.
For the pro motorcycle classes, the World Championship of Desert Racing will include points earned in the three SCORE Baja races as well as the AMA National Hare and Hound race to be held during the Eldorado HDRA Reno 500.
For more information, visit the official website of the organization at www.hdrarace.com.
OFFICIAL FINISHERS
Pro Cars & Trucks
  TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Production Trucks)— 1. Tim Herbst, Las Vegas/Larry Roeseler, Boulevard, Calif., Ford F-150, 9 hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds (43.0 miles per hour); 2. Justin Davis, Chino Hills, Calif., Ford F-150, 9:26:40; 3. Juan C. Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, Chevy Silverado, 9:47:10; 4. B.J. Baldwin/T.J. Flores, Las Vegas, Chevy Silverado, 9:55:13; 5. Sergio Salgado, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford Raptor, 10:32:07; 6. Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., GMC Sierra, 10:41:16; 7. Troy Herbst, Las Vegas/Ryan Arciero, Foothill Ranch, Calif., Ford F-150, 10:47:49; 8. Shawn Croll/Ray Croll, Ontario, Calif., Ford F-150, 11:23:47; 9. Todd Jergensen/Kyle Jergensen, Oak Hills, Calif., Ford F-150, 15:01:09. (Total Starters: 11, Total Finishers: 9)
CLASS 1 (Unlimited single or two-seaters)– 1. Richard Boyle, Ridgecrest, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 11:25:51 (35.5mph); 2. Cody Parkhouse, Garden Grove, Calif./Brian Parkhouse, Long Beach, Calif., Jimco-Chevy, 12:04:36; 3. Chad Dohrman, Murrieta, Calif., HMS-Chevy, 12:44:24. (Total Starters: 6, Total Finishers: 3)
CLASS 1/2-1600 (VW-powered, single or two-seaters to 1600cc)– 1. Lucas Knecht, Garden Grove, Calif./Raul Solano, Montclair, Calif., Custom, 12:04:10 (33.6mph). (Total Starters: 3, Total Finishers: 1)
CLASS 3000 (Unlimited minitrucks, Ecotec engines)—1. Ryan Frisby, Valley, Center, Calif., Fusion-Chevy, 12:58:08 (31.2mph); 2. Reid Rutherford, Montrose, Colo., Mason-Chevy, 14:07:23. (Total Starters: 3, Total Finishers: 2)
CLASS 5-1600 (1600cc VW Baja Bugs) (324 miles, 4 laps)– 1. Donald Harper, Palmdale, Calif./Guy Savedra, Las Vegas/Steve Fuentes, Apple Valley, Calif., 10:54:02 (29.7mph); 2. Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va./Thomas Fernandez/Raymon Fernandez, Ensenada, Mexico, 11:29:02. (Total Starters: 3, Total Finishers: 2)
CLASS 7/7200 (limited, production mini trucks)–1. Josh Quintero, El Centro, Calif., Ford Raptor, 11:21:19 (35.7mph); 2. Jonathan Brenthal/Jordan Brenthal, Newport Beach, Calif., Chevy S-10, 13:55:15; 3. Steve Kovach, Chandler, Ariz., Ford Ranger, 14:12:55. (Total Starters: 5, Total Finishers: 3)
CLASS 7SX (Modified, open mini trucks) (324 miles, 4 laps)—1. James Burman/Jayson Strachan, Heber City, Utah, Ford Ranger, 11:39:45 27.8mph); 2. Elias Hanna, Ensenada, Mexico, Ford Ranger, 14:05:14. (Total Starters: 2, Total Finishers: 2)
CLASS 8 (Full-sized two-wheel drive trucks)–(Total Starters: 1, Total Finishers: 0)
CLASS 10 (Single or two-seaters to 1650cc)– 1. Peter Hajas, Wayzata, Minn./Kevin Selchow, Lester Praire, Minn., Kreger-Chevy, 11:33:38 (35.1mph); 2. Matt Cullen, Long Beach, Calif./Chuck Sacks, Canyon Lake, Calif., Alumi Craft-Ford, 11:59:18; 3. Mike Lawrence, Sunset Beach, Calif./Joel Liska, Banning, Calif., Chenowth-Chevy, 12:24:41; 4. Andrew Myers, San Marcos, Calif./Ross Savage, Costa Mesa, Calif., Alumi Craft-Chevy, 13:05:53; 5. Mike Shaffer, Alameda, Calif./Eric Strom, Canby, Ore., FullPotential-Chevy, 15:20:22. (Total Starters: 10, Total Finishers: 5)
TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimted Truck/SUV, stock, sealed V8s)– 1. Clyde Stacy, Bristol, Va./Carlos Apdaly Lopez, Tecate, Mexico, Chevy Colorado, 10:45:58 (37.7mph). (Total Starters: 2, Total Finishers: 1)
HEAVY METAL (Open Production Trucks, V8 Engines)–(Total Starters: 1, Total Finishers: 0)
CLASS 19 (Limited, Stock 4-wheel Utility Vehicle) (324 miles, 4 laps)–(Total Starters: 5, Total Finishers: 0)
SPORTSMAN
  SPT UNLIMITED TRUCK (324 miles, 4 laps)– (Total Starters: 1, Total Finishers: 0)
SPT LIMITED TRUCK (324 miles, 4 laps)– (Total Starters: 2, Total Finishers: 0)
SPT BAJA CHALLENGE (identically-equipped, Subaru-powered Baja Touring Cars)–1. Johnny Buss, Northridge, Calif./James Levesque, Santa Monica, Calif., 16:57:37 (23.9mph); 2. Jon Largent, Riverside, Calif./William Romine, Hemet, Calif./Tom Mullen, Riverside, Calif., 17:35:16. (Total Starters: 6, Total Finishers: 2)

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