The 7th Annual M.O.R.E. (Mojave Off-Road Enthusiast) Powder Puff Race was held in Barstow CA on a rough, whooped-out, rocky 22-mile loop with over 150 entries. The Powder Puff is not only a special race because it’s ladies only. This race raises a lot of awareness and money for Cedars-Sanai to continue research to help find a cure for breast cancer, a disease that affects over 300,000 women a year.

This event has all types of racers, some of which come from racing backgrounds and some who are attending the race for the first time. Over 50 vendors from the off-road community came together and graciously donated products, services and gift cards for a raffle where all the money goes to help fight breast cancer. 

The Powder Puff race was split into two groups. There was a morning race that featured the limited classes and an afternoon race that was the faster, more modified classes. After the green flag dropped for the morning races it was Kelly Mather driving the Motion Tire Class 1 buggy that beat all the competition to take first place overall. She was also one of only three girls to drive seven laps in the allotted time for the race. The other two were Adrea Scanlanm, who took first place in Class 10 and second overall, and Tanya Kirkmeyer driving the #1321 unlimited buggy taking third overall.

With the racing being split into two groups there were just three girls who signed up for both races in Julie Meeham, Tamara & Britney Myers and Bree Cloud. Julie Meehan raced in the morning and took second place in Class 1300 and raced in the afternoon in Class 10 taking second place. Tamara and Britney took seventh in Class 1300 in the morning and fourth in Class 1600 in the afternoon. Bree Cloud drove her class 1300 buggy in the morning race finishing in fourth place. Bree then got into Nick Tonelli’s Class 1400 Truck in the afternoon, driving the first and second lap with Kat Wilson as her co-driver. After lap two, Bree and Kat swapped seats and Kat Wilson drove laps 3-5. Cloud and Wilson were holding the fourth-place position all day ‘til they had a flat tire that cost time, and with a half lap to go the power steering went out on them. Wilson brought the truck across the finish line in fifth place in class out of 19 other trucks.

In the end, it was Nicole Pitell who took first place in Class 1400 for the third year in a row. Also in class 1400 Brittany Sloan and Andrea Coello rolled their trucks, which caused major damage and took them both out of the race. Fortunately all the girls were ok!

Brittany Starr, a first-time racer that was driving her husband’s Trophy Lite that was supposed to go up for sale after this race had a change of heart. After taking the checkered flag for a third-place finish in class, her husband Josh approached the truck and the first words out of Brittany’s mouth were, “We can’t sell the truck. We have to race again next year.” I hope you get to keep the truck, Josh!

This charity race known as the MORE Powder Puff is hands down one of the greatest races all year where everyone comes together to have a great time and Race for a Cure! For more information, visit http://www.moreracing.net/.