TONOPAH- In celebration of its 20th anniversary of off-road racing throughout Nevada, Best in the Desert Racing Association announced recently in Tonopah that the Nye County seat will be the overnight stop for a special two-day race in August 2016.
The announcement was made to the Tonopah Town Board earlier this month by association operator Casey Folks.
In announcing details publicly for the first time, Folks said his group has been working “undercover for 90 days” and expects to reveal race details at a Las Vegas press conference later this summer for the “Vegas to Reno” race.
“This will be the 20th anniversary of this event. We wanted to do something special in 2016 and decided on a two-day event,” Folks told the Tonopah Town Board. “Typically the race starts in Beatty and we do a one-day race straight to Dayton.”
Folks is proposing to start next year’s race in Alamo on Aug. 19 with the overnight stop in Tonopah. Racers will leave the Queen of the Silver Camps the following day and complete the event in Dayton.
Folks began outlining and driving the proposed route recently, which led to his stop in Tonopah. He announced the race plans because he sought board approval to use town property for some of the race activities.
Specifically, he wanted to use the Joe Friel Sports Complex ball fields for an evening meeting after the race’s first day. More than 1,000 people are expected for the mid-race confab and he also sought permission to use the sports complex parking area and old paintball site for RV parking.
Board members Horace Carlyle, Tom Seley, Janet Hatch and Doug Farinholt approved his plan.
Folks said the race is expected to draw more than 325 entrants in various classes as well as an “entourage” support staff, spectators, media and others which could top 5,000 people.
More than 1,000 vehicles would be involved overall, he said. As a result, Tonopah hotel/motel rooms, restaurants and other businesses will be taxed beyond their limits so alternatives like the use of town property will be needed, Folks said.
For example, the racing association alone will need 50-75 rooms for its staff, he said.
“The financial impact to Tonopah is tremendous,” Folks said. “We sell out rooms, food and gas, restaurants are full and we support auto parts stores, grocery stores, RV parks and other specialty stores.”
The event is expected to be covered in a one-hour show on NBC sports.
Folks reviewed the past two decades and Tonopah’s association with the event, noting that one other overnight Tonopah stop was made in 2009.
Seley, a fairly recent town board member, was the local Bureau of Land Management top official in 2009 and for several years when the racing association has run through Tonopah.
He recounted positive interaction with Folks and Best in the Desert races and said the staged event in 2009 “went very well.”
Folks remembered, “The 2009 race took place because Tom Seley made it work with BLM cooperation.”
The race promoter made several pledges familiar to local residents like grading every mile of the course, picking up and removing all trash and providing certification of liability insurance coverage to the town.
He asked if Tonopah was covered by a full-time or volunteer fire department. When told the Tonopah Volunteer Fire Department covers the area he pledged a $1,000 donation to the unit.
The race organization and its events have a listing on Wikipedia which says:
“The Best In The Desert Racing runs Vegas to Reno, the longest off-road race in the United States and since 2012 is the sanctioning body of the Mint 400.”
Various divisions are offered in Best in the Desert races like trick trucks (aka trophy trucks), buggies, motorcycles and quads. Wikipedia described the “Vegas to Reno” race as “the flagship event of the series.”