Chasing and shooting a 534 mile race is a lot of fun. After each stop, you find yourself studying the course map, trying to best figure out “where should I head next”. Right before Pit 9, mile marker 307, there was a spot where the course crossed highway 95. This wasn’t uncommon, except at this point the map was marked “Underpass”. Although sectioned off with fence and barbed wire, we managed to navigate our way down to the course where, in fact, racers had to negotiate their way UNDER the highway.

We managed to grab this shot of Erik Miller, who barely slowed down as he flew thru the Underpass. It was a tight squeeze no doubt, still trying to imagine what this looked like with the Trophy and Class 1 classes.

Just a shot of Jason Shipman, fully gettin’ it right around Pit 6. He took this turn like a man on a mission, and in the end his full throttle determination paid off. Jason grabbed himself a 2nd place 4400 class finish in Vegas to Reno with his Spider 9 powered Jimmy’s racer. Congrats Jason!

EDIT: As it happens, Jason’s co-driver Ben Dinkins was behind the wheel when we grabbed this shot. So, correction in the title, “Ben Dinkins, gettin’ it.” :)

The Lovell brother are back in the Ultra4 hot seat, and their time away from Ultra4 hasn’t hurt them one bit. They ran an amazingly consistent race at Vegas to Reno, securing a 4th place position (69th overall) with their Spider 9 powered racer. This makes them the current Ultra4 Pro Series points leader going into the last event of the series at Miller Motorsports Park September 22nd.

We just received this press release from Lovell Racing, recapping their trip at Vegas to Reno. We’re reposting it below, with permission, as it’s well worth the read.

Enter Lovell Racing.

Colorado Springs, CO 8/20/12 – The route from Las Vegas to Reno is surrounded by the most desolate landscape in the US. Temperatures up to 120 degrees sear rocky mountains and silt filled valleys. The remote nature allows the area to host the longest point to point race in the country – BITD Vegas to Reno. 323 teams took the green flag in an attempt to conquer the treacherous route.

Deep in the Ultra 4 class, brothers Brad and Roger Lovell sat in the #4423 AMSOIL/Torchmate rock racer readying themselves for the 534 mile journey. A lot can happen in that distance and there are no EMT’s around (or even witnesses) when disaster occurs. Roger was quick to set a smart pace and break through the mayhem that is the start of any desert race. The pair pushed through slower traffic and into clean air. The Nevada desert is full of silt but the 4wd and 37″ BFG KRT’s easily pushed through while others got mired.

Near dusk the AMSOIL team was reaching the half way point with a clean run. The crew serviced the truck and added the Warn light bar. The brothers switched seats with Brad now behind the controls. More silt, hills, and rocks dotted the course and the air hung heavy with dust. At times visibility was down to nothing and vertigo set in. Soon the transmission started to slip between gears. Before long, it stopped shifting all together and stuck in 2nd gear. The duo was limited to 50 mph with nearly 200 miles to go. “It really hurt us on the fast roads but didn’t cost us a whole lot of time in the rough stuff,” said Brad, “There was no way we were going to quit after 10 hours of running strong.”

Just as the team left the last pit, a high end ignition miss started to hamper speeds. “That’s when we started to worry a bit. We were on our own and only needed another 40 miles out of the truck.” Luckily, the issue did not increase in severity and they charged through a late breaking rain storm to reach the finish line in 13 hours, 11 minutes, 15 seconds. The Lovells finished 4th in the Ultra 4 class and 69th overall.

The determined effort of the entire team has given Brad Lovell the Ultra 4 Pro Series points lead going into the last event at Miller Motorsports Park Sept. 21 – 23. Before that, however, the team returns to TORC duty in the #44 AMSOIL/Torchmate Nissan for World Championship racing in Crandon, WI on Labor Day weekend. Brad set the track record at the legendary track in the spring and looks to take the points lead away from rival Andrew Caddell as the TORC season winds to a close.

Kevin Sacalas and his “Big Ugly” racer are no stranger to Vegas to Reno. A few years back, Kevin took on V2R in his freshly built Big Ugly 1.0 and grabbed top honors in the 4400 class. Now, driving his updated Big Ugly 2.0, Kevin took the field and showed once again why he is a top contender. He captured 3rd place in class with an unofficial time on course of 12:48:58.737.

And just like that, the “unofficial” finishers list from Vegas to Reno has been posted up on Best in the Desert. Out of roughly 19 Ultra4 racers (that’s class 4400), 15 crossed the finish line which is insanely impressive for an over 500 mile desert race.

We’ll be going through our photos throughout the week, posting at least one a day (but we’ll try to sneak in two a day here and there). Stay tuned.

EDIT: Click HERE for results.