Lake Elsinore, CA- In his third official attempt at claiming the prestigious Best in the Desert "Vegas to Reno" win, Chidester Transport's Jacob Argubright found great success at this year's event after an intense day of racing. Alongside his parnter Max Eddy Jr. (who has been looking to achieve this victory for nearly 15-years), the duo complemented one another as the chase began from a mid-pack draw position.
The team drew 4th start position, so they set their sights on getting to the front into the dust-free air. As the starting rider for the day-long race, Eddy, took off from the start line and found that storms overnight had dampened the desert floor. The clear air made it easy for him to make the pass on third and second riders, hunting down the physically first place rider. From pit one to pit two, Eddy realized there was a mechanical issue unraveling beneath him, and luckily made it to pit two where Jacob Argubright jumped on the bike and remedied the issue quickly.
From pit two to pit four (of fourteen), Argubright maintained their physical position, gaining time on the front runner to capitalize on adjusted time. The notorious fast course was no challenge for Argubright, who raced his Yamaha through the open valleys and sand washes. Changing pilots again at pit four to keep both riders fresh, Eddy remounted and made the eventual pass into the overall lead. At pit eight, Argubright continued to carry the team's momentum to pit ten where the pit crew did a rear tire and break pad change, and then proceeded to pit eleven where Eddy would again get on for his final section.
In his final section, Eddy was able to build a gap on the field just before passing the bike off one final time to Argubright, who would ride from pit thirteen to the finish line. In the final two sections, Argubright quickly realized a front tire change was necessary to finish the race at 100%. With just five miles to the checkered flag, a technical rocky section would stand between the finish line and racer. Argubright suddenly found himself on the ground with a deep laceration to his forearm after the front end washed out on a downhill. Taking a moment to collect himself, the physical second place team made a pass and Argubright wasted no time getting back on the bike with a blood-soaked jersey to salvage every second and claim the victory.
Argubright crossed the line with his teammate and pit crew at his side to celebrate the unofficial overall victory.
Argubright- "I am so thrilled to finally have won Vegas to Reno! It has been a challenging effort to get here, but my team and my partner Max Eddy Jr. were flawless. I can't thank them enough. I also will now have a great reminder on my elbow of the perseverance it took to win!"
Coming up, round six of the AMA National Hare and Hound awaits Argubright if further evaluation of his injury allows.
Top 5 Official Results:
1. Jacob Argubright (Yam)
2. Brody Honea (Hon)
3. Shane Esposito (Kaw)
