It wouldn’t be 2020 if there weren’t some craziness at a race. News came out on Friday that a wildfire near the race course that started the night before from lightning strikes was burning near miles 288 and 17. BITD officials led by Donald Jackson were already working with the Bureau of Land Management on rerouting the course to avoid the affected areas.
Friday afternoon BITD sent out updated GPS files with the reroute that only had to take away 10 miles of race course and would swap the start and finish line to avoid the fires. Everything seemed all fine Saturday morning as the bikes left the line but 2020 had other plans.
As the day progressed the heavy winds spread the fires close to the finish line so BITD and BLM made the decision to shorten the race and have Pit 7 be the new finish line. As bikes and atvs began finishing the race the fires got worse and because Pit 7 was close to the highway and where the fires were progressing the decision was made once again to move the finish line. This time Pit 6 would become the finish line shortening the race for the four wheel vehicles to 220 miles.
Big props goes out to the entire BITD who adapted quickly to the situation and made due with the unavoidable circumstances they were dealt with.
All results are currently unofficial as there is some controversy regarding the winner of the Trick Truck class. Luke McMillin finished first physically but on time it was Concrete Motorsports who finished first on corrected times. Rumors started circulating right after that the #70 truck had cut the course near Panaca so BITD is reviewing all tracker information and a decision should be out later this week. In 6100 Kyle Jergensen finished first in time after starting in the back but we heard of protests since they started the race with no body on.
Unofficial Silver State Results
Here are a few quick photos to get you by but as soon as official results get put out by BITD we’ll get them up here along with a race recap and more photos so stay tuned!
Photos by HighRev Photography