DON McDERMOTT / PVT With a cloud of dust obscuring the background, the Ford truck team of Roger Norman of Reno and Larry Ragland of Cave Creek, Ariz., made a pit stop in Tonopah, during the Best in the Desert's Vegas-to-Reno Off-Road race Friday. The Norman team was sixth overall and fifth in Class 1400. DON McDERMOTT / PVT Defending champion Mark Wehyrich, driving the TSCO Jimco in Class 1500, stops for fuel in Tonopah. The truck was second overall and first in class in the Vegas-to-Reno off-road race Friday. Advertisement

The best ways to get out of the heat during an off-road race is to go as fast as possible, get to the finish line ... then relax under the nearest shade tree. And, if possible, win.

That's what Rick D. Johnson and Brian Salee of Barstow, Calif., accomplished Friday, finishing first against a record 321 rivals in the Best in the Desert's 456-mile TSCO Vegas-to-Reno Silver State Series race.

Co-driving the General Tires Class 1400 Ford trick truck, Johnson, 41, and Salee, 43, needed only 7 hours, 41 minutes, 43.359 seconds to complete the race that started on Pioneer Road in Beatty and finished near Dayton.

That's an average speed of almost 58 miles per hour over some of the toughest terrain in west-central Nevada. The Barstow team started 15 minutes behind the first to leave Beatty.

Second overall and first in Class 1500 was a Jimco Unlimited Buggy. The Oregon-California quartet of Gary Weyhrich, Mark Weyhrich, Ryan Williams and Keith Mila completed the race on desert trails, through ravines, over mountain passes and along treacherous cliffs in 7:49:23.734. The Weyhrich team was the defending overall champion.

Finishing just 50 seconds later (7:50:13.093) was a Class 1400 Chevrolet truck, co-driven by B.J. Baldwin of Las Vegas and Jonathan Nelsen of Hemet, Calif. The Baldwin team -- top qualifier in Thursday morning's time trials -- was the first to leave the Pioneer Road starting line; the McMillin team was second to hit the road to Dayton.

Completing the top five were two more Class 1400 Fords. Fourth in 7:50:33.078 was the California-based team of Andrew McMillin, Brady Thompson and Todd Tenbroek. Fifth in 7:54:38.484 were the Arizona duo of Ron Whitton and Gerald King.

The first 22 finishers were in either classes 1400 and 1500. Finishing 23rd in a Class 1000 Jimco were Californians Kyle Conlon, Steve Eugenio, Jake Velasco and Cameron Bucher. Their time was 9:18:57.093.

In 27th, with a time of 9:44:08.562, was the Class 8000 Ford team of Curt LeDuc, Kyle LeDuc, Brent Wendt and John Becka, all from California.

A total of 103 cars and trucks finished the race. Last in 18:35:07.218 was a Class 1700P Jeep, driven by a Reno-based team.

Winning the motorcycle-quad division in 8:07:08.578 was the Open Class Kawasaki-riding team of Scott Myers of Sun City, Calif., and Shane Esposito of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.

Second in 8:12:39.859 was the Open Class Honda team of Mike Childress of Wrightwood, Calif., and Brent Harden of Sun City, Calif..

The first 4-stroke motorcycle to finish was a Honda, co-ridden by Max Eddy and Matt Eddy of Barstow..

The first quad to finish was a Laeger, co-ridden by Greg Stuart of Yacalpa, Calif., and Nicholas Granlund of Las Vegas. Their time was 9:34:31.562.

A total of 74 motorcycles and quads finished the grueling race.

Two UTVs completed the race. A Polaris team which included Arizonans Brandon Schueler, Blake Van De Loo and Justin Schueler and Minnesota's Craig Scanlon, needed 17:26:37.718 to complete the race.

Second in 18:44:02.328 was the Porter-riding trio of Arizonans Cory Sappington, Jeannette Sappington and Darren Sappington.

The next Best in the Desert-sanctioned race is the Silver State 300 Sept. 26-27.

Complete official results that include drivers and riders who did not finish will be posted on the Web site, www.bitd.com, later this week.