The bright lights, big casinos and abundance of scantily clad "dancing girls" just scream "Oh Yea!" to the good ol' down and dirty instincts of the American male.

"Take a chance, big boy" the city says, "Let's see what'cha got....."

Come on, admit it. I won't tell. We've all thought about hitting it big at the blackjack tables. We're mesmerized by all the glitter, rhinestones and the promise of a round the clock good time. The need to exceed just crawls up inside you, and suddenly it's 5 am, you're eyes are blurry, and "Jasmine" can't remember where she put your car....

Oh God how I love it here ;-)

It was that spirit of excess, that glitz, and that need for the proverbial "good time" that lead many a race promoter to the neon city. Legendary events like the "Barstow to Vegas", "Vegas to Reno", and the infamous "Mint 400" were the natural result. Filled with Trophy Girls, Factory sponsorship, casino cash, and widespread publicity, the Vegas desert races pulled in gearheads from across the country, and across the world.

Races like the B2V and the Mint may be consigned to off-road racing history, but the spirit of these monuments to mechanical mayhem lingers on. With SCORE, SNORE, and BITD all holding off-road races in the Vegas area throughout the year, dez fans are never short on action and airal artistry.

Unfortunately, many off-roaders around the country will never get to experience the spectacle of a good old fashioned Vegas race, but then again, there aren't many deserts around New York or Florida. Not to be left out, they developed their own form of balls out competition - Tough Truck Racing - a form of motorsport that's been largely absent in the American southwest.

Until now.

Together with desert racing series sponsor Ford Trucks, Casey Folks and the men and women of the Best In The Desert (BITD) racing organization brought Tough Truck Racing to Vegas in style. Located on the grounds of the Sunset Station Hotel & Casino, BITD and Ford took the first steps into putting together what may become a regular addition to their desert racing series.

Let's face it. Not everyone can, or want's to go desert racing (they...they must be crazy people!). The costs and logistics -can- be "prohibitive" to say the least, and the vehicles are pretty exotic. A $750,000 Trophy Truck doesn't translate well to the truck Joe 4Wheeler has sitting in his garage. That doesn't mean however, that off-roaders aren't ready for some hard core competition that hits a little closer to home. Simply put, owning a Trophy Truck may be but a dream, but a Tough Truck? Hell, you may have the makings of one right in your very own driveway!

While pro level Tough Trucks / Arena Trucks are pretty exotic in their own right, the majority of "TT" entry's do double duty as a daily driver / weekend warrior. It's that familiarity, affordability, and accessibility that the TT fans can relate to, and as a result the sport has gained a large family oriented following in many parts of the country.

With the grounds of the Sunset Station Casino at their disposal, BITD spent the large part of a week armed with backhoes, water trucks, and no small amount of good ol' boy volunteer labor. A once level dirt sidelot was transformed into a hill filled, moguled out, whoop infested playground for the gravity impaired. Rock gardens, mud pits, log crossings, and seriously off-camber sections combined to work their magic on street stocker and prerunner alike.

Vehicles ranging from the Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford / Chevy Prerunner to stock Suzuki Sidekicks, to 2WD F-150 rental trucks went heads up in a contest combining both speed and skill. Big horsepower and big suspension sure don't suck Bubba, but they'll do ya little good in low speed technical maneuvering designed to test the driver, not the driven ride......Oh yea, there's a lot more to Tough Truck competitions than meets the eye.

Try this one on for size....

I'd always wanted to do some Tough Truckin', and in fact, ORC has one long suffering project vehicle,

, that's undergoing a 302 swap / long travel suspension conversion with a bit of that in mind. Unfortunately, it's currently in the works and far from ready. So like the gearhead that I am, I figured, "What the hell", and entered my daily driver 79 F-150 - Stone stock but for 33 in. BFG All Terrains. How bad could it be?

You'd be suprised.

The BITD rules were simple. the course is lined with bright orange cones. Every cone you hit is worth 6 points off your score. Stopping (where you aren't supposed to) is worth 6 points off your score every time you do it. Backing up (when you aren't supposed to) is worth 6 points off your score. You begin with 1000 points and work your way back....and there are ample opportunities to royally screw up. Considering that I had less than 1000 street miles, and about 500 feet of off-road time on the truck, this was about to get real interesting.

With my daughter Britt riding in the right seat to offer me moral support, watch for cones, and kick my tail if I got too carried away, we left the starting line for our practice run. In a nutshell, here's what it looked like from behind the wheel.....

• Start / finish line

• 90 deg. right turn
• 12 foot steep semi razorback uphill
• 17 foot steep downhill into a 3 foot water / mud pit
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• Right turn over half buried / crossed logs
• 90 deg. hard left / right / left / right over severely broken terrain (1-3 foot ruts)
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• 180 deg. right to a
• 120 deg hard left downhill into a
• 10 foot deep chasm up a
• 25 foot climb with a very tight 180 deg. turn on top.
• Down the hill through another water / mud pit, then
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• Perform a 3 point back-up into a ditch without hitting a cone.
• Do a non-timed run through a 45 deg off-camber stretch that
• abruptly switches to an opposing 45 deg. off-camber about 1/2 way through.
• Do a 180
• Do another water / mud pit
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• Apply gag to daughter - (she just misinterprets my incredible driving skill)
• Do a timed run through a 1-3 foot suspension wrecking mogul field.
• Remember to get rid of chewing tobacco "before" starting next run
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• Do a 3+ foot water pit, then
• Get bonus points for some frame twisting tire placement exercises.
• Resecure aforementioned child-gag with duct tape
• Climb a wet log pile / dirt hill combo
• Stop for "checkpoint"
• Do an uphill / downhill 3 point turn combo without hitting any cones
• Do a non timed series of rock filled s turns
• Cross the podium and go to the pits and see what you just broke.
• Make "note to self" - remember why the finish line flagman dubbed thee "Coneslayer" when you make your "offical" points run.
• Rue the fact that the announcer publicly connected you with Off-Road.com
• Duck flying camera thrown by the boss - Check mail for severance check on Monday

Well, like a truly humbled competitor, I adjusted myself, spat mightily, shook my fist at the heavens, and slunk silently to the back of the line awaiting round 2. Thank God that things improved ....

Aside from Casey's outstanding course, Ford got heavily into "audience paticipitation" and demonstration with their variety of 2000 model trucks and concept vehicles on hand. Representatives circulated throughout the crowds and competitors promoting the product and recording an incredible amount of feedback from an extensive question list - get this - aimed at making Ford Trucks more "Off-Roadable". This marks a significant change in the Blue Ovals recent interest in the off-road recreational marketplace, and it is a more than welcome turn of events. Who knows....perhaps the Jeep Jamborees are having an industry wide impact? Lets hope.....

Highlights & Points of Interest

Factory drivers and 98 SCORE / BITD champions Dan Smith a Dave Ashley (Ford / Duralast) were on hand signing autographs, posing for photos, and explaining just what good 32 valves really are in a desert racer.

Champion desert bike racer Brian Folks blew off several airborne hot laps, giving the Vegas crowds a taste of two wheeled excitement.

In addition to Ford's factory presence, Rod Hall and Team Hummer were featured attendees, with several Hummers in competition, and on display.

Toyota / PPI / Off-Road Racing legend Ivan "Ironman" Stewart made a few laps of his own in his PPI prepped Toyota Land Cruiser.

Custom Street trucks of all marques filled out the parking lot, making the event an "all interest" show.

A wealth of local dealers were on hand plying their wares, giving demos, and tempting the masses with offerings from the upcoming model year.

A free concert from 80's supergroup "Loverboy capped off one of the most enjoyable and family friendly outings of the Vegas weekend....Yes Virginia, Vegas IS a family friendly town - 1.7 million people can't be wrong!

With the First BITD / Ford Tough Truck event in the books, the powers that be are pondering the possibility of making these events a regular occurrence. While the first round was done on short notice with a bare minimum of promotion, several thousand people attended the days events, Ford received a significant amount of product input, and competitors were treated to a unique brand of down and dirty fun.

Off-Road.com gives Casey, his crew, all the competitors, and the people at Ford a big thumbs up for adding the thrill of Tough Truck racing to the growing tradition of Vegas motorsports. You did a hell of a job guys and gals, and we can't wait for round two!