Team Alba Score's Big In Vegas!
Matlock/Prull Take 2nd - Expert Rider Prosser finishes 1st in class and 3rd overall. Beilman unexpected "Ironman" an Impressive 5th after disaster in the pits.

VEGAS TO RENO - BITD

The Vegas to Reno race is generally considered the pinnacle of desert racing in America. Running somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 miles through a barren landscape that is better suited to nuclear testing and munitions manufacture than ATV riding, the Vegas to Reno race brings together the best riders in the world to dice it out. Or maybe everyone comes out for the race to justify a trip to Vegas AND Reno in the same weekend - either way, the competition is serious making for a great event.

This year, Team Alba Racing featured two pro and two expert teams. BITD front runner Wayne Matlock and riding partner Chad Prull on the Q2 Team Alba Suzuki and the Q5 Team of Vegas to Reno past champion Steve Beilman and Baja multi-winner Greg Row headed up the pro team for Alba. Expert Rider Q53 Lynn Prosser of Flagstaff AZ and her riding partner Bret Greenholz represented Team Alba Racing in this demanding event along with team Q64 of Eric Pealstrom, Marc Choquette and Todd Johnson.

Matlock entered this race defending his current lead in the BITD points race, so when he drew the 12th starting position, he new he's be starting from the back and fighting a lot of dust - so the strategy was simple - pass as many people as possible as quickly as possible.

"The beginning of the race was super rough." Commented Matlock "the trail was rock whoops. Not rocky whoops, but whoops made out of solid rock. Without my Ohlins and GPR Stabilizer, I'm not sure how I would have made it without being all torn up."

Pit 2
By the time Matlock hit Pit 2, he had passed 3 other riders, leaving 9 Pro ATV riders ahead for Prull. The entire trail was silt which meant thick, lingering dust. Visibility was very low - especially when following another rider. And there wasn't even any relief from the wind - the air was perfectly still. By Pit 4, Chad had passed another 3 riders - including Mike Caffro and closed gap to Team Alba's Greg Row, who started a few positions ahead. Wayne got on at Pit 4 and chased Beilman into In Pit 5. Team Q5 switched riders and Wayne had caught and passed Row coming into pit 6 in 2nd - closing the gap on the leader, Doug Eichner.

Pit 6
Pit 6 was a big turning point in the race for the Q5 Team - but not in a good way. Greg Row had just passed another rider prior to the stop and was in a hurry to get going - but needed some fuel. Something happened when he went to leave, dumping racing fuel all over him - including his goggles. In the haste to maintain his position and not realizing the extent of his dousing he took off. I'm happy to report that he didn't become a UFO fireball through the Nevada desert, but he did get a good load of fuel in his eyes and was unable to continue once he reached Pit 7 - where Beilman took over.

Ironman
At the time Steve Beilman took over at Pit 7, I don't think he knew what he was getting into. Due to Row's injury, Beilman would end up running the rest of the race by himself - totaling 350 miles without much of a brake. In the hot and in-hospitable wasteland that is the course, that's some pretty serious riding. Because of that, Beilman was awarded the "Cojones Grandes" award - much coveted in desert racing for going above and beyond the call of duty. The name comes from an indian word meaning "mighty spirit."

Meanwhile the Q2 Matlock/Prull team experienced their first problem. By pit 9, they noticed they had a loose pivot bolt - which they promptly tightened. Then, shortly after leaving, Matlock got a flat rear tire - and had to ride 30 miles on it to the next pit, loosing a bit of time on the leader. Nonetheless, he still had a commanding lead on 3rd. They were going so fast, in fact, that they nearly beat the chase truck to pit 13, where Matlock was scheduled to get on and ride to the end.

Finish
By the time Wayne Matlock crossed the finish line, he had made up 5 minutes on the leader, Doug Eichner, but it wasn't enough. The Q2 team finished in 2nd, 9:57.07 after they started in Reno earlier that morning. No only did they beat all but one of the other quads, they managed to fly by all but the top riders in all the Motorcycle classes. Matlock said that his Team ALBA Suzuki with the Alba Racing 470 Stroker motor ran flawlessly and was ready to turn around and run the course again. Possibly the most surprising part of the day was the outstanding finish of Team Alba Expert Quad #Q53 of Lynn Prosser - that finished just a little over 15 minutes behind Matlock and was the 3rd Overall quad to finish. She wasn't even in the pro class - but finished #1 in Expert, nearly 20 minutes over the #2 Expert rider!

Steve Beilman rode his ass off. To make sure that he could make it to the finish, at pit 10 Beilman hopped off, ate a sandwich and chilled for a brief moment. After which he made a quick run to the finish scoring a solid 5th. After the race, Beilman mentioned that his Advanced Tie Bo has really paid off. The Team Alba Q64 Expert team of Pealstrom, Choquette and Johnson had a solid Expert class 5th finish , 13th quad overall.

Support
The riders weren't the only ones to put it all out there for this grueling race. Both expert teams featured three chase trucks each with a host of volunteers leapfrogging through the desert providing them with everything they might need along the way to the finish. They did have air conditioning though, so that helps a bit. Nevertheless, without the support of their volunteers, neither of these racers could have made it to the finish.

Q2 Support Team
Kristin Matlock
Cliff & Marla Matlock
Eddie & Cathy King
Phil Leonard
Rich
Taylor Knorr

Q5 Support Team
Rob Vegter
Stan
Jim Santoro
Cory Hove
Jack

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