With a third class win in as many races at last weekend’s Laughlin Desert Challenge, 18-year-old Ryan Prosser is the youngest driver to win Best In The Desert‘s Trick Truck championship.
Although Trick Trucks are generally among the top vehicles in desert racing, the class was relatively quiet in 2024 outside of the premier Vegas to Reno. Prosser was the only TT driver to enter all four races, and even then he did the V2R in a UTV Open instead. TT was a Prosser-only show at the season-opening Golden State 250, while defending champion Jonathan Brenthel was his only other competition at the Silver State 300 where the latter retired.
In Laughlin, the only other Trick Truck entered was Jordan Dean who retired. Prosser finished seventh overall among Unlimited vehicles.
While competition was certainly scant, BITD awards forty-five points for simply finishing, meaning a retirement could have easily thrown things out of order. Furthermore, if no driver runs at least three races (the fourth can be dropped as one’s worst finish), a trophy would not be awarded.
Besides the title, Prosser also claimed Rookie of the Year honours. As the reigning champion, he will be allowed to swap his #42 number plate out for #1.
Ironically, TT still had the closest points battle of all cars and trucks. David Ziegler held off Connor McMullen with a strong outing at Laughlin to claim the Class 6100 title. Chris Woo and Chad Hall were the only full-season competitors in the Stock categories, as was Jeff Harmonson in the Jeepspeed Trophy.
On the opposite extreme, the battle for the top motorcycle title came down to just a single point. Although Shane Logan finished behind Hayden Hintz at Laughlin (third to Hintz’s first), Logan’s result was dropped for being his worst outing of the season and allowed him to hold off Hintz for the championship.
Can-Ams swept the three UTV championships. Dustin Jones, in his first full season with the Can-Am Maverick R after winning the 2023 Silver State 300 in its racing début, held off Colt Brinkerhoff for the UTV Turbo Pro title. Another Maverick R topped UTV Open with Josh Row, who was the fastest UTV outright at the Vegas to Reno, beating Laughlin overall winner Cody Bradbury.
Bradbury, Jones, and Row finished 1–2–3 among all UTVs at Laughlin.
Short course racing took place the Friday before the main desert events. Joe Terrana won the Class 11 race ahead of Brian O’Dor, while Chase Mankin and Mason Cotter respectively topped the UTV Short Course and Youth classes. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone pulled double duty by entering both the Class 11 and UTV Short Course events, finishing second in the latter and five laps down in the former.
ClassOverall FinishNumberRider of RecordTotal TimeMotorcycle 399 Expert28225Josh Newsom2:35:33.679Motorcycle 399 Pro7X69Branden Siebenhaar2:25:45.458Motorcycle Ironman Amateur29O63Kellen Davies2:41:08.210Motorcycle Ironman Expert13O27Remington Mathews2:32:33.918Motorcycle Ironman Pro5J40Aiden Poulson2:41:35.769Motorcycle Lites Amateur31G38Cooper Nugent2:26:58.979*Motorcycle Lites Expert21K77Ethan Monrreal2:25:59.946Motorcycle Lites Pro33A99Andy Moore2:32:08.139*Motorcycle Open Amateur25292Tyler Simpson2:32:10.179Motorcycle Open Expert6315Wyatt Seat2:25:24.830Motorcycle Open Pro1N1Hayden Hintz2:25:43.380Motorcycle Over 30 Expert14510Morgan Shultz2:33:05.012Motorcycle Over 30 Pro4P5Hayden Roberts2:35:46.257Motorcycle Over 40 Expert22O19Jayson Kidwell2:26:08.378Motorcycle Over 40 Pro27C1Brett Stevens2:33:29.170Motorcycle Over 60 Expert19923Dick Wilk2:40:37.579Quad Expert30458Dakota Hibler2:23:02.639*Quad Pro10Q2Bret Greenholz2:28:31.079* – Did not complete all four laps
UTV
ClassOverall FinishNumberDriver of RecordTotal TimeUTV Naturally Aspirated Pro12R11Ethan Groom2:26:54.118*UTV Open1H1Cody Bradbury2:17:02.779UTV Super Stock6S930Todd Zuccone2:26:25.775UTV Turbo Pro2T978Dustin Jones2:19:39.097* – Did not complete all ten laps
2024 Best In The Desert champions
Some classes did not name a champion because none of its competitors ran every race.
