Jacob Argubright has a plan. Actually, he has a couple of them.
The short-term one is to improve on his runner-up finish in the AMA National Hare & Hound Championship Series. The longer-term one is to earn a spot on one of the factory teams in the Dakar Rally. To reach both goals, he’s laid out a fairly ambitious schedule that includes soloing all four rounds of Best in the Desert’s American Off-road Racing Series.
Judging by his flag-to-finish win at the GMZ UTV Winter Nationals Parker 250, Presented by Polaris, in Parker, Arizona, he’s proceeding nicely.
The first to get the green light, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Off-road Team’s Argubight recounted, “The first lap, I went pretty hard. My hands were a little cold; it was a little chilly. Then the second lap, I really put it down. The mileage was actually a little longer than I expected. I was starting to run out coming into the [main] pit [but] I got gas [in time].
“The third loop I went pretty hard. I was just conserving a little bit; like they kind of told me where I was [relative to second].”
Argubright was the first to complete his three laps, taking the checkered flag in four hours, 23 minutes and six seconds.
The chilly, overcast day as well as rain in the week before the race left the 79-mile loop in practically perfect condition, though it meant being in front and kicking up dust for others to work through wasn’t the advantage it usually is since there was no dust.
But that didn’t matter to Argubright. The Monarch Honda team of Danny Cooper, Skyler Howes and Tracon Kirk made an early run at him—unofficially closing the gap enough to lead on corrected time—but Argubright regained the lead and crept away. A broken bike after Cooper crashed later left the trio with a DNF.
That left defending BITD champs Jeremy Newton and Troy Vanscourt (aided by Ray Dal Soglio) the closest to the fleeing Argubright with a time of 4:32:30.
“It’s an awesome feeling to come into this season with the number-one plate,” THR Motorsports Honda’s Vanscourt said. “To show up and finish second today, it’s awesome for us. We just want to finish races and keep having fun. That’s the most important thing for us.”
Fasthead Husky riders Jared Schlapia and Taylor Stevens didn’t consider the conditions chilly, which isn’t that surprising considering Schlapia’s from Idaho and Stevens is from Wyoming. What they weren’t expecting was the high speeds, which left them way under-geared.
Their time was 4:44:01.
“I made some mistakes with the gearing,” Stevens admitted. “I did 13/48 and I think it only topped out at 75. I [also] went down while we were running fourth on the first lap, maybe like five miles before [the] Midway [alternate pit] so it was pretty rough [coming back from that]. After that I tried to keep it on two wheels.”
Eric Kirby and Zachary Myers took the Open Expert win and finished fourth overall on their KTM in 4:52:25 with Over 30 Pro winners Clint Braun and Jesse Canepa dragging their Honda up the finish platform due to the rear tire coming apart after Canepa had to finish on a flat. Fortunately for them, he’d already hit the finish line in 5:01:15.
All of this took place after promoter Casey Folks had been rushed to the hospital after collapsing during the start. He was later airlifted to a Las Vegas hospital where he remains in stable condition, though he won’t be having visitors for the time being. In the meantime, the best way to send well wishes is to mail cards or letters to him care of Best in the Desert, 3475-C Boulder Hwy., Las Vegas, NV 89121.
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