One of the longest off-road events of the year is underway. Competitors have begun taking the green flag for today’s General Tire Vegas-to-Reno Presented by Fox, an event stretching 550 miles through the desert.

Brody Honea got things started at the Vegas-to-Reno race the early hours of this morning. They’ll be a force on the trail, trying to add to their recent Silver State 300 win. Check out the video below from the BITD Facebook page.

After the close of registration, BITD found themselves with no fewer than thirty-two pages of entrants vying for a spot on the Vegas-to-Reno podium. The largest class is the group of UTV Turbo machines, with 61 competitors.

The mighty Trick Trucks aren’t far behind with 45 entries. These beasts of the desert can scream across the sand at speeds frowned upon by the local constabulary if one were to attempt them on public roads.

With hundreds of competitors signed up before the deadline, organizers had to adjust their plans. For this year’s event, 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, allowing the field to string out before these ultra-fast machines start catching up to the slower (yet still rapid) Motorcycles and Quads. Organizers predict most competitors will reach the finish line during daylight hours.

Getting ready to start Vegas to Reno pic.twitter.com/qdk2Qih6dU

— Scott Sappington (@deserttoyzaz) August 17, 2018

The 2018 General Tire “Vegas to Reno” presented by FOX is billed as “The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States” It is a single day event with many checkpoints, covering approximately 550 gruelling miles of desert terrain.

Live scoring and a map can be found on the RacingTraX website, while a livestream is also planned for fans. Click here for that off-road goodness which should go live around 1:00pm PT.

Be sure to follow the #VegasToReno and #BestInTheDesert hashtags on social media for all the latest race updates.