2013 Vegas to Reno Best in the Desert Race Recap

CarsonCindy

CarsonCindy

Administrator
Staff member
Last weekend, we headed out to the Nevada desert to help Mel Wade out as he took on the 2013 Vegas to Reno Best in the Desert Race in the Discount Tire/Off Road Evolution EVO 1 Jeep JK Wrangler Race Rig. At almost 550 miles long, it is by far the longest off road race in America and because of it, participants are allowed 24 hours to complete it. For our purposes, we would officially be Chase 7 and our job was to leap frog from pit to pit and assist in any way that we could. Here are some pics from our adventures following EVO 1 to the finish line, I hope you enjoy :cool:

Friday Morning - 4:30 am
Leaving South Lake Tahoe bright and early to head to the start of race in Beatty, NV and meet up with the EVO Crew
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RubiCAT's shadow
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Friday - 10:30 am
We arrive in Beatty just when EVO1 is starting to line up
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Mel and co-driver Colin ready to go!
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Crew Chief Kyle making sure everything is set
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Getting closer to the start
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EVO1 at the starting line
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Friday - 11:10 am
And they are off!
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Our first stop would be at Pit 3. Eddie and Brian putting on the Mastercraft/Impact fire suit to get ready for the fueling.
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The fuel is ready.
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Here comes EVO1
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Friday - 2:11 pm
EVO1 arrives at Pit 3 with some electrical problems
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Eddie and Brian begin fueling
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Kyle works on the electrical issue and Lisa provides food and drinks - did I mention it is over 100 deg out! :shock:
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Fueling done, wiring patched, helmets on
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Friday - 2:21 pm
Time to head out!
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Our next stop would be Pit 6
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Discount Tire RESQ1 standing by at Pit 6
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Hanging out at pit 6 as the sun goes down
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Here comes EVO1
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Friday - 7:13 pm
EVO1 arrives at Pit 6 and fueling begins
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Dan performs a visual inspection
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Colin cutting an old piece of scrap metal found laying around on the ground to use as a heat shield for the fuel pump
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Getting ready for night racing
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Little Mel getting ready for his turn as co-driver
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Harley helping her dad get suited up
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Loading up
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Almost ready to roll out
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Friday - 7:35 pm
And they're off
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Next stop, Pit 10
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Friday - 11:45 pm
EVO1 arrives at Pit 10
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Fueling
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Changing out a low tire as a precautionary measure
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Visual inspection and a co-driver change - Kyle's turn
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Friday - 11:50 pm
Time to head out
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At Pit 13, Chris gets suited up for fueling
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Saturday - 2:56 am
EVO1 arrives at Pit 13
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Little Mel gets back in the co-driver seat after Kyle
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Almost ready to take off
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Father and son getting ready to head for the finish line
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Saturday - 3:06 am
Off they go!
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FINISH LINE - Saturday - 5:22 am - 18 hours and 11 minutes
And they made it! WooHoo! Congratulations EVO!
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Mel and co-drivers Colin, Little Mel and Kyle
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EVO and Pit Crew
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EVO1 loaded up.
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The sun is just beginning to come up. After being up for more than 24 hours, it's time to go get some sleep!
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Great photos! Congrats to Mel and team!

Really bummed I missed this. Stupid work! :grayno:
 
From one photog to the next great job on the low light shots.
Seeing these gave me the feeling I was there experiencing the moment first hand.
What a great team effort, all those buggies, but only one EVO 1.
 
So sweet!

Great job by the whole team, beautiful photos too Cindy and Eddie :rock: I'm really proud of everyone's effort and dedication!
 
Are you guys still using the Nex5 camera, by chance? Great pictures.
Also fueling is the toughest/scariest job out there! I get "suckered" in because of my height.
:thinking:
 
Thanks everyone, we're so glad that you like the pics. :cool:

DynoMax Exhaust said:
Are you guys still using the Nex5 camera, by chance? Great pictures.
Also fueling is the toughest/scariest job out there! I get "suckered" in because of my height.
:thinking:
Click to expand...

Actually, no. I beat ours to the point where it's having focusing problems. For this, Cindy resorted to using her old a700.

As far as fueling goes, it is a scary job but, having the right protective gear for it helped make it feel safer :yup:
 
wayoflife said:
Thanks everyone, we're so glad that you like the pics. :cool:



Actually, no. I beat ours to the point where it's having focusing problems. For this, Cindy resorted to using her old a700.

As far as fueling goes, it is a scary job but, having the right protective gear for it helped make it feel safer :yup:
Click to expand...


Ha! I just traded mine with Ryan, mine was beat too!!!
Also the ULTRA4 team added fire suits AFTER this year's KOH, my "suit" this year was a PSC rain poncho. Good times, good times... :icon_crazy:
 
DynoMax Exhaust said:
Ha! I just traded mine with Ryan, mine was beat too!!!
Also the ULTRA4 team added fire suits AFTER this year's KOH, my "suit" this year was a PSC rain poncho. Good times, good times... :icon_crazy:
Click to expand...

:cheesy: I can just see it now....

emergencyponcho.jpg

Glad to hear you now have something a bit more substantial to wear :thumb:
 
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