Mongo Racing Finishes Strong at BITD Silver State 300
BITD Silver State 300 Overview
Best In The Desert Racing Association’s Silver State 300 was held Saturday, May 5, 2012, near the small towns of Alamo and Caliente, NV. The third race of the series promised a desert showdown for most classes, including Class 7200 (V6 Unlimited).
Race Start
Saturday morning’s start was about 10 miles outside of Alamo, NV, with clear and breezy weather. As racers lined up, the team of Mongo Racing conducted final checks on the KC HiLiTes/General Tire/ICON Vehicle Dynamics/TNC Ford truck #7281. The first vehicle started at 9:30 am.
Randy Merritt, driving the KC HiLiTes/General Tire/ICON Vehicle Dynamics/TNC Ford truck, started the BITD Silver State 300 at 10:20 am. This was Merritt’s second race in the new state-of-the-art chassis designed by Tracy Rubio at TNC Machine. Starting 4th out of 16 in class meant he would be in the thick of the action from the beginning.
Race Progress
Randy Merritt and co-rider RD Minor raced through the Nevada desert, trying to maintain pace with the leader. Slower traffic slowed the KC HiLiTes/General Tire/ICON Vehicle Dynamics/TNC Ford truck. The breezy conditions helped, but dust lingered in narrow canyons as Merritt raced to Caliente, NV for his first scheduled fuel stop.
The Mongo Racing team planned a strategy with two fuel stops. At the first stop, 103 miles into the race, Merritt requested the hood be removed due to damage sustained about 60 miles in. He entered the pit in 6th place and left in 5th, with the top 8 trucks within 5 minutes.
Race Finish
Merritt remained in the top 5 for the entire race. After the second fuel stop, downtime in the pits was only about 1 minute and 30 seconds. At the finish, Merritt thanked his crew for excellent preparation and highlighted the performance of General Tire and ICON Vehicle Dynamics.
He finished 4th in Class 7200, with a corrected time of 6 hours, 14 minutes, and 41 seconds. Overall, he placed 34th, 48 minutes behind the overall leader and 18 minutes behind the class leader. The truck was also the highest-finishing in the BITD Class 7200 Season Points Championship standings.
Team and Sponsors
Randy Merritt commented on the past month’s excitement, with national ad campaigns featuring Mongo Racing trucks. The Class 7200 Unlimited Ford #7281 is sponsored by: KC HiLiTes, General Tires, TNC Machine, ICON Vehicle Dynamics, Trail Ready Bead Lock Wheels, Kincaid Racing Engines, Yukon, Wilwood, Pro AM, EBC Brakes, Master Craft Safety Innovations, Lucas Oil, K&N Filters, Borla Exhausts, MSD Ignition, and Mongo Made Graphics.
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