Franklin, Tenn., -- ITP off-road racers Jacob Carver and Dustin Jones each earned UTV Pro Turbo class podiums at the 2019 Best In The Desert Silver State 300 race held May 4-5, in Alamo, NV.
More than 70 side-by-side vehicles entered in the race, which was described by BITD Operations Manager, Donald Jackson, as “extremely fast.”
“The side-by-sides now comprise the largest category in the BITD series and the UTV Pro Turbo field is very competitive,” said Rhett Turpin, Director of ITP Sales at The Carlstar Group. “So earning two Pro class podiums—and two additional top 10 finishes—is especially impressive!”
Jacob Carver, Prescott Valley, AZ, was the top #TeamITP racer at the Nevada event. He was one of only two side-by-side vehicle drivers to finish the course in less than six hours. In fact, Carver’s time of 05:59:14.543 not only gave him a second place finish in the UTV Pro Turbo class, but an overall ranking of 29th—against all the cars, trick trucks and side-by-sides. Carver said he selected ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires for his turbocharged Polaris RZR because “they feature that ‘Tough Tread’ rubber compound” to protect against punctures.
“This race had 47 total DNFs,” added Turpin. “Along with our combined racer results, it confirms that ITP tires really are engineered to conquer the durability demands of desert racing by offering both dependability and traction control over any terrain.”
Dustin Jones and co-pilot Dustin Henderson also finished on the UTV Pro Turbo class podium, earning a hard-fought third-place finish. The Louisiana-based tandem from S3 Racing started 23rd in their Can-Am Maverick X3 vehicle, and then passed 20 other racers to score a top 30 overall finish with a time of 06:01:47.976. Jones, who earned his second podium of 2019, ran 31-inch radial Ultra Cross R Spec tires on his race car.
ITP’s Justin Lambert of Cognito Motorsports rounded out the Pro UTV Turbo class top five and ended up 31st overall against all the cars, trucks and UTVs. Lambert outfitted his Polaris RZR Turbo in the rugged 8-ply ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires. Brothers Derek and Jason Murray secured ninth place in the Pro UTV Turbo class in their Can-Am that wore 32-inch ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires, giving ITP four teams in the top 10.
The next BITD race for ITP pilots is the Casey Folks Vegas To Reno race Aug. 14-17, in Nevada.
For more information on ITP Tires and its complete off-road tire lineup, visit www.itptires.com.
