The spectre of all-wheel drive will be on full display at this weekend’s Vegas-to-Reno marathon off-road desert race.
Team C Racing has declared Luke Johnson will pilot their AWD Trick Truck at this weekend’s Best in the Desert event, one of two in their stable. In conjunction with Mason Motorsports, the team has been testing the truck in preparation for the punishing 550-mile race.
“I have driven a Mason Motorsports 6100 truck before and qualified on the pole for the 2017 Baja 250 & Baja 500. I knew they were awesome truck builders,” Johnson said in a statement. “But these AWD machines have officially ruined me for life! By far the coolest thing I have ever driven. It feels incredibly balanced and the vehicle’s acceleration was simply stunning.”
The key goal for Johnson this weekend is to use Vegas to Reno as a real-world competitive test bed for the 2018 SCORE Baja 1000 being held later this year. He will run all 550 miles of Vegas-to-Reno and is on the docket to drive the entire third leg of the Baja 1000.
For this year’s Vegas-to-Reno, the Car and Truck classes will be starting a half hour later than they did in the 2017 race. This gives these classes a greater time gap before they start catching up to the slower Motorcycles and Quads. This timing should still allowing most competitors to reach the finish line during daylight hours.
The Vegas-to-Reno race is an epic event, covering 550 miles this year over some of the toughest terrain in America. Time trials for Trick Trucks is being held today, August 15th, with machines being waved off the starting line on Friday, August 17th. Racers will have until Saturday morning to cross the finish line in order to earn an official finishing position.
Luke hails from a legendary motorsports lineage, making his own mark in motorsports history with a string of championship titles to his name already. He is the son of Motorcycle & Motorsports Hall-of-Famer and Baja winner Ricky Johnson. He was turning wheels in go-karts at the age of four and started racing off-road a decade later.