Franklin, Tenn. - Outfitted with ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires, Tony Riggs piloted his Polaris RZR side-by-side vehicle to the UTV Unlimited class overall win at the 2017 Best In The Desert (BITD) Vegas To Reno race this past weekend in Nevada.
"The largest class in the Best In The Desert racing series is now UTVs, so selecting the right tires and wheels is critical for surviving these long endurance races over such difficult terrain and demanding conditions," Rhett Turpin, head of ITP sales at The Carlstar Group, said. "Whether it's more serious UTV race teams, like Tony Riggs, or recreational customers looking to take on challenging environments with their off-road vehicles, ITP continues to prove it's the brand to you can count on."
Riggs, the driver of record, was coming off an eighth-place finish at the Baja 500 and was looking to continue his team's recent success in his No. 2912 Polaris. Along with co-pilots Kyle Melville and Travis DeMeester, Riggs did just that at the Vegas To Reno event, which is known as the longest off-road race in the U.S. at roughly 540 miles. The team finished the race with a time of 13:41:32.992 to win the UTV Unlimited class. Riggs armed his vehicle with dependable 8-ply, 32-inch (32 x 10R-15) ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires. This specific radial off-road tire features an openly spaced tread pattern and is a proven option for desert terrain.
The runner-up finisher in the UTV Unlimited class went to Renee Hudson, who ran ITP SD Series Beadlock wheels on the No. 2911 Polaris RZR. Hudson and co-pilots Ritchie Hudson and Mathew Goade put down a time of 14:15:10.245 to score a podium spot.
In the UTV Turbo class, which consisted of 50 total competitors, Logan Gastel drove his No. 969 Can-Am Maverick, dressed in 31-inch (31 x 9.50-14) ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires, to a strong third-place finish. Co-pilots Adam McKinney and Steve Amrine helped navigate the vehicle through the dusty, rocky, and silt-filled course, which forced 97 other competitors to suffer a DNF within the B division of the race.
"Without the strength of reliability of the ITP Ultra Cross R Spec tires, it would not have been possible [to finish this demanding course]," stated Gastel. "We finished with the same four tires we started with."
