Photos by Matt Kartozian/Durka Durka Photo

First across the finish line on day two was Danny Anderson and driver of record Pat Dean.

Silt. Rocks. Dust. Maybe it was the wind, and maybe it was just the terrain, but day two seemed to take more of a toll on the racers than day one did in Best in the Desert’s Vegas to Reno race. Sure, today covered 367 miles of course – the longest of the three days of racing – but many of the truck and buggy racers seemed to really struggle with the course today, and it was hard to pinpoint exactly why.

Some teams seemed to handle the one-hour pit times last night okay, while others had lingering issues that carried over into today. It also seemed as though some racers were able to overcome flats during the race and continue on, while others were hindered greatly with flats and other mechanical issues that ultimately pushed them off the pace. For instance, Kory Halopoff (co-driver Harley Letner drove yesterday) came off the line fourth but was out of the top 10 at the end of day two, as was the Trick Trucks of Jason Voss and Gary Weyrich.

Though unofficial, it appears Andy McMillin still holds the overall lead for trucks and buggies.

While the story yesterday was of the first two vehicles across the line (the Trick Trucks of Andy McMIllin and BJ Baldwin, respectively), the day two honors belonged to the buggies. Though Pat Dean handled the driving duties yesterday, teammate Danny Anderson took over the wheel on Friday and led the team to across the finish line first on day two. The team was able to stay out of trouble and take advantage of issues racers ahead of them had.

“We just kind of set a conservative pace, and everybody kind of had problems, and next thing you know we were up front,” Anderson said after the race, pointing out the key to today’s result was not having to work on the car. “No flat tires, just gas – that’s all we needed today. Hopefully tomorrow goes just as well.”

Day one’s race leader Andy McMillin was able to overcome some early issues his team had and be the second vehicle across the line, and it appears as though he still has the overall race lead, though we weren't able to get confirmation from BITD officials.

“My dad had two flat tires before pit three, and he had to change those and it took him probably 11-12 minutes for both of them,” McMillin said at the finish line. “So we fell down quite a ways, and I got in at pit three because my dad was pretty tired, and I just tried catching everyone and making the time back up. [We] had a really good day; had one flat tire and got it changed. I’m surprised we came in second.”

Troy Herbst started ninth on day two but crossed the line third.

One of the more impressive rides of the day was Troy Herbst (not Tim, who is actually piloting the team’s Class 1500 buggy), who came off the line ninth but crossed the finish line in third.

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Rick Johnson started 12th but finished in fourth overall out of the trucks and buggies on day two. Photo by: Josh Burns

Defending Vegas to Reno Champion Rick D Johnson also had a solid day, starting off the line 12th and crossing the finish line in fourth.

“It was a better day than yesterday,” Rick D. Johnson said, explaining that a rock sneaking by the alternator fan seems to be the likely culprit for the broken serpentine on the truck yesterday. “I tell you, it was a lot dustier today, and we were in traffic 300 of the 360 miles it seemed like. A lot of silt. We were almost slowing down to stop because the track went away and the car is a half a mile ahead of your still.”

Johnson went on to explain the team’s strategy for the final leg of the race tomorrow: “We’re not really in the points, so we’re going to go for it.”

Kevin Colan and TJ Flores tag-teamed day two and ended up fifth across the finish line. Photo by: Josh Burns

TJ Flores, who drove the entire leg yesterday and drove the last 160 or so miles after driver of record Kevin Colan drove the first leg this morning, got three flats during his section of the course today but still crossed the line fifth..

“Anytime you gotta get out sucks,” Flores said of having to fix the flats during the race. “Tomorrow I’ll start and hopefully get a better pace than what I got in the second half today. I didn’t think I was pushing that hard, but obviously something didn’t work today.”

 

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"The Flyin' Hawaiian" drove Trick Truck 76 across the line in sixth on day two.

Alan Pflueger took over the driving duties from teammate and driver of record Jesse Jones. Despite battling brake issues all day (much like Jones did yesterday), Pflueger was able to get the team into contention by getting the Trick Truck across the line sixth overall (and fourth in trucks).

“We kind of carried over yesterday’s problems into today,” he said. “Jesse took out a pretty new truck and qualified it ninth, and then the first day of racing he raced all day with no brakes. We brought it in for our work period and changed the master cylinder and thought we got it all fixed, and literally right off the start we knew there were no brakes at all , and [we were] just grinding the transmission. We actually got up to fifth on road at one time, and I just had driver error and hit a rock. I’m looking at the cars coming in behind us, and I’m amazed we did this well with no brakes. ”

One of the major stories today was BJ Baldwin, who was in the physical lead for most of the race until entering pit seven (of nine) when his transmission went. Baldwin sat in the pits while his crew went to work finding the issue and ultimately had to replace his transmission.

BJ Baldwin was in the physical lead until pit 7 when he had transmission issues. Photo by: Josh Burns

Baldwin was able to get going again after 45 minutes to an hour, and he still managed to cross the finish line in ninth place after Robby Pierce came in just ahead of him in eighth (who co-drove with driver of record Will Staats). Baldwin’s stop at the finish wasn’t without event, though, as the 1594 buggy of Dennis Boyle came in just behind Baldwin in 10th and showed some displeasure with Baldwin by ramming the back of his Baldwin's truck at the finish line. Boyle apparently was not happy with how Baldwin passed or attempted to pass him on the course. We were told that unofficially the result of the incident would be a 5-minute penalty against the Boyle team.

One of many great stories today was Sam Berri in his single-seater buggy in the 1500 class. The 55 year-old-racer not only had to drive without the aid of a co-driver, but he also had to change his own tires.

Sam Berri started 11th but crossed the finish line in seventh.

“Too many flats today,” Berri said after the race. “I lost 5 minutes by the time I do it and get back in and all that stuff … if everything goes right.”

That’s if everything goes right. Still, despite issues on the rocky course, Berri had a very solid day and looks forward to the final section of the race on Saturday. “Well, tomorrow is the last day and that’s the one that counts, so we’re going to have to push it a little harder.”

Berri won’t be the only one looking to push the limits tomorrow, as everyone knows that tomorrow is the go-for-broke day. Only 297 miles left to go for the conclusion of “The Longest Off-Road Race in the United States.” Though we weren’t able to get our hands on results yet, what we do understand is that Andy McMillin unofficially still has the lead heading into day three. We reported on our Twitter updates (www.Twitter.com/OffRoadDotCom) that we heard of a helicopter crash at race mile 530. We later learned it was the team chopper of Greg Nunley. We had heard five were injured in the crash (two serious, three not serious), but we haven't receive any more updates yet. We’ll update results and any other news as it becomes available.