DAY TWO: TOYO TIRES DESERT CHALLENGE PRESENTED BY MONSTER ENERGY
The second day of the 2024 Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy saw 182 competitors take on the challenging 182-mile race winding its way through the rugged and rocky terrain of Johnson Valley. Taking the flag first were the limited trucks, buggies and UTVs in the morning race, while the fastest vehicles in desert racing took to the course in the afternoon in the Unlimited Race. Both races were extremely competitive, with only seconds separating the top finishers.
Capturing the overall and T1 class win in the Unlimited Race was Christopher Polvoorde (#94) in his brand-new 1,000-horsepower Mason Motorsports AWD truck. Polvoorde started from the pole and had a near-flawless race with only one flat tire the entire afternoon. Tim Herbst (#19) was able to pass Polvoorde for the lead while he changed the punctured tire, but Polvoorde quickly regained time on Herbst, running seconds behind him. In a dramatic showdown in the pits between the race’s two laps, Polvoorde’s crew got him back on course before Herbst, and he was able to retake the lead. Polvoorde never looked back, holding the lead for the rest of the race, with Herbst finishing just over two minutes behind.
“It feels good. It was a super fun race, and we just cruised. I made a mistake early on and got myself a flat, but I just put my head down,” said Polvoorde. “I have to give a huge shoutout to my pit crew. They are really the ones who got me this win. They got us in and out faster than Tim Herbst, so really, they are the ones that should be up here celebrating. They pulled me out of a bad situation. I am super happy, and tonight we celebrate.”
The battle in the T2 class was also highly competitive, with Kyle Jergensen (#6147) and Cade Garcia (#6104) fighting it out at the front. Both of the more restricted trucks set a blistering pace, running in the top five overall and among T1s with double the horsepower. Garcia was able to pass Jergensen in the pits but bypassed most of the short-course section in the process, resulting in a penalty. While finishing before Jergensen, the penalty time pushed Garcia to second and bumped Jergensen to first. “I feel good. It was a quick day, so we are not too exhausted,” said Jergensen. “Sean (co-driver) did great, and the truck ran flawlessly all day. It was good racing out there. The spec class is always fun.”
The UTV classes in the morning’s Limited Race saw a massive turnout, with the largest field of both races. Brock Heger (#1896) bested them all, setting a blistering pace with a time of 3:35.23.4, taking the B3 overall and UTV Open class wins. “It was a good day. We qualified first, so went out first on the road,” said Heger. “It was nice having clean air, and we charged hard on the first lap. Obviously, it got rougher on the second lap, but the car came alive. We had some fun out there.”
To view complete results for the Toyo Tires Desert Challenge Presented by Monster Energy, follow the links below. For the full race schedule, click here. To watch live tracking, scoring and the YouTube livestream, visit https://kingofthehammers.com/live-stream/.