Chandler, AZ — What a difference a year makes… especially in the infamous Canidae/TapIt Silver State 300. Last year, Team DragonFire/AZ West/Rockstar Racing’s Lacrecia Beurrier battled brake issues, a couple crashes and finally suffered a heart-breaking DNF when she ran out of time helplessly stuck in the silt. This year, the UTV Pro Unlimited points leader hit the jackpot instead of crapping out. A lightning fast Polaris XP 1000, well thought-out pit strategy and pure talent saw Lacrecia get the gold at the 2015 Best In The Desert Silver State 300.

Lacrecia lead from the start, courtesy of drawing the #1 starting position. Good thing too since conditions were extremely dusty with no wind! Taking off around 11:00 a.m. all of the UTV classes are facing  some seriously nasty ruts left behind from the Trophy Trucks and did we mention dust? Just before the green flag, the buggy right in front of Lacrecia had battery issues and had to be pushed off the starting line. This meant that Lacrecia had almost a full minute between the green flag and the last car of the previous class. With this lucky break, Lacrecia saw an opportunity to get out front fast with minimal dust and stay there… that’s exactly what she did!

Lacrecia put the hammer down and set a blistering pace, but still running clean to avoid any damage to the car. The 304 mile long race has a reputation for claiming many victims of attrition. Remembering last year’s bad breaks (and bad brakes), Lacrecia showed her skills running flawlessly through the high speed sections as well as the technical mountain pass at the beginning of the race. “The new suspension from Radflo really made a huge difference,” she notes. New Radflo shocks and bump stops were mated to the LSR long travel kit to smooth things out at the Silver State. “And it really makes it easier to race when you have some brakes when you need them!”

She blasted through the first 150 miles with no issues before handing the car off to teammate Brian Thomas at Pit 3. Brian was instructed to simply deliver a working car to Pit 6 for Lacrecia to belt in and take it home. Using his year’s of experience behind the wheel, Brian was able to maintain the pace until a suspect drive belt began acting up. Co-driver Chris Moore was able to change out the belt in a matter of minutes and the team was back on the gas. Large silt beds and tricky sections through high elevation required every ounce of Brian’s talent to deal with loss of horsepower while still staying out front of the Pro Unlimited UTV thundering herd thanks to the sizable lead left by Lacrecia.

At Pit 6 Lacrecia climbed back into her Polaris RZR with the knowledge that the silt bed that ended her race last year was right around the corner. Luckily for Lacrecia, her experience winning the 2014 Baja 1000 and the 2015 Mint 400 gave her the confidence it took to shake the bad memories and carry on. The silt bed looked like a war zone with so many lines going every which way so picking the correct line was a crap shoot. “I don’t care what happens, don’t lift” co-driver Chris instructed her. Lacrecia clearly got the message as the duo flew through the extremely deep silt. Unlike last year, they managed to make it through the silt bed without having to rely on the hot pink Tred 4×4 recovery ramps that had been bolted on specifically to get though this section!

With their nemesis behind them, the duo thought they were home free… Think again! The large amount of Trophy Trucks and other racers that passed through earlier in the day made for large silt ruts all the way to the finish line. Once again Lacrecia showed she is as tough as they come and wrestled the wheel without ever slowing down to take the win! This marks back-to-back wins for Lacrecia in her Unlimited Pro Polaris XP 1000 and a first win at the Silver State!

Wins at The Mint 400 and Silver State 300 and third at the inaugural UTV World Championships put Lacrecia in the points lead and the driver’s seat for the championship… however the next Best In The Desert Race is the toughest event on the schedule! The General Tire “Vegas to Reno” Presented By Fox race is the longest off-road race in the United States and at 600+ miles, twice as challenging as the Silver State 300 was! Mark you calendars for August 13-15, 2015.

If you can’t wait until August to see Team DragonFire/AZ West/Rockstar Racing in action, check out the redemption win coverage of the Silver State 300 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YryXD0hdgQo.

Lacrecia would like to thank all the sponsors supporting her drive to strike it rich with the Best In The Desert Pro Unlimited championship this season, including DragonFire, AZ West, Polaris Industries, AO Coolers, Bell, BS Sand, Bulldog LED lights, CP-Carrillo, Dalton Industries, Factory UTV, Gates, ITP, Lonestar Racing, Monster Seal, Mothers, Muzzy’s, Queen Racing, Raceline Wheels, Radflo, Rockstar Customs, Royal Purple, Rugged Radios and Tred 4×4.