HORACE LANGFORD JR. / PVT The No. 97 Chevrolet won its class and was second overall in the 560-mile Best in the Desert Vegas-to-Baker Off-road Race Friday, with B.J. Baldwin of Las Vegas the lead driver. A Jimco, driven solo by Sam Berri of Murphys, Calif., was second in class and third overall. Advertisement

RENO -- Two Oregonians and two Californians teamed to win the tragedy-marred Best in the Desert-sanctioned Vegas-to-Reno Off-Road race Friday ... barely.

A 19-year-old motorcycle racer, Brandon Smith of Hesperia, Calif., was killed in an accident near Redlich Friday afternoon. See related story this page.

Driving a Jimco in the 1500 class, the team of Mark Weyhrich and Gary Weyhrich, both of Troutdale, Ore., and Californians Ryan Williams and Mike Baranowski, completed the 560-mile race from Johnnie, in Nye County, to Dayton, in Storey County, in 9 hours, 30 minutes, 32 seconds.

That was merely 54 seconds quicker than a Chevrolet team led by B.J. Baldwin of Las Vegas, which hit the finish line in 9:31:26. Also on the Class 1400 team were 57-year-old Bobby Baldwin and Eric Dickinson of Las Vegas, and Kevin Shea of Lakeside, Calif.

Third, in 9:46:03, was solo driver Sam Berri of Murphys, Calif., in another Jimco, in Class 1500.

Completing the top five was the Class 8000 Ford team of Curt LeDuc and Todd LeDuc of Cherry Valley, Calif., and Brent Wendt, Riverside, Calif., and the Class 1500 Porter-Ford quartet of Shawn Croll and Ray Croll, both of Corona, Calif.; Brandon Johnson, Wildomar, Calif., and Tim Weston, Moreno Valley, Calif.

The LeDuc time was 10:13:24, while the Porter-Ford finish came in 10:18:20.

There were 149 starters, with 74 completing the race. The 74th place team, in a Bradley's Class 1500, needed 21 hours, 49 minutes, 24 seconds to get from Johnnie to Dayton.

Kendall Norman, a 23-year-old rider from Santa Barbara, Calif., and veteran Johnny Campbell, of San Clemente, won the motorcycle division title in 9:24:02 aboard a Honda.

Their victory margin was 5 minutes, 13 seconds against the Honda duo of Steve Hengeveld, Oak Hills, Calif., and Robby Bell, Sun City, Calif.

Finishing third in 9:30:12 were David Pearson of Las Vegas and Quinn Cody of Los Olivos, Calif., riding a KTM.

Fourth were the Dodsons, Zack and Luke of Castaic, Calif.; their Honda crossed the line in 10:24:56. At 10:25:49 was the KTM co-ridden by Max Eddy Jr., and Matt Eddy, from Barstow, Calif.

The first quad to finish was a Honda, co-driven by Wayne Matlock of El Cajon, Calif., and Chad Prull of Laveen, Ariz. Their time was 11:22:06.

Only 75 of 142 starters finished the race. The Pahrump-based Yamaha team of Shaun Moore, Cody Mitchell and Shanon Powell was among those that did not complete the race. They were ranked 78th among all of the starters.

Riding a Polaris UTV, the team of Brandon, Justin and Bill Schueler, all of Peoria, Ariz., and Blake Van DeLoo, Glendale, Ariz., was first in class. They required 21 hours, 13 minutes and 49 seconds to finish -- but no other UTV (out of 11) was able to get to the finish line.