Vaughn Gittin Jr. has raced and received in a wide range of disciplines, starting from the pavement of Components DRIFT to the rocky terrain of Ultra4. Now, he can add the Nevada desert to his portfolio of successes.
Regardless of being new to abandon racing and never with the ability to pre-run the course, Gittin received the Automobile/Truck total in final Saturday’s Silver State 300. Racing a Ford Bronco nicknamed “Brocky”, his time of 5 hours, 13 minutes, and nineteen seconds was 14:30 sooner than the runner-up 6100 truck of David Ziegler.
“Brocky” often sees motion in Ultra4, a rock crawling collection whose 4400 championship was received by Gittin in 2021. His team-mate Loren Healy, who has desert expertise together with the Baja 1000, retired with an engine downside.
“Tremendous pleased with our outcome, how I did. I drove simply actually flawless and clear,” mentioned Gittin. “This endurance course of 264 miles was very rewarding to automobile placement and my driving model. It was simply tremendous technical and tight after which technical and large after which simply tremendous quick. It was lots of enjoyable to make use of my total talent set, all the pieces I’ve realized within the drift automobiles and motocross and Ultra4, and apply it to this.”
The 43-year-old’s versatility has taken him from a number of disciplines even in 2024 alone. He completed sixth at King of the Hammers in February, then returned to California in mid-April for the Components DRIFT season opener on the Acura Grand Prix of Lengthy Seaside the place the 2020 champion was eradicated by Nick Noback within the Spherical of 32. With the Silver State 300 out of the way in which, Gittin will return to Components D subsequent weekend in Atlanta.
“I used to be out within the automotive for six hours simply operating exhausting. It was simply actually unbelievable and only a good reminder why we work with one of the best manufacturers within the enterprise and make one of the best merchandise to deal with that load. I used to be simply beating Brocky so exhausting, effectively over 6000 RPM the whole race. No drama, simply gas and go,” he continued. “It’s superior to strive new issues and be aggressive proper off the bat, particularly folks which have been doing it for thus lengthy. It feels good and I’m tremendous grateful.”
“It was an honour to have Vaughn race the BITD Silver State 300 as his first enterprise in off-road desert racing,” commented Finest In The Desert CEO Bryan People. “I believed he could be aggressive, however I used to be shocked by how rapidly he tailored and made his stake in our area. I feel we’re about to see much more from Vaughn sooner or later to come back.”
The Silver State 300 was the second spherical of the 2024 Finest In The Desert season. Dustin Jones, who spoke with The Checkered Flag after being the primary UTV to win a desert total on the 2023 version, completed fifth after combating a number of flat tyres however nonetheless received the Professional Turbo class. UFC Corridor of Famer-turned-desert racer Donald Cerrone received in UTV Sportsman. Gittin’s Ultra4 colleagues Bailey Campbell and Cole Johnson duelled within the 4400 class, with the previous profitable out and putting third amongst all Automobile/Truck entries.
World Rally-Raid Championship common Skyler Howes received amongst bikes in what he referred to as a “actually good shakedown” for the Desafío Ruta 40 in June. Mitch Guthrie, second in Challenger on the Dakar Rally in January, added one other runner-up as he narrowly misplaced the UTV total victory to Cody Bradbury by fifty seconds.
