Ryan Prosser becomes youngest BITD Trick Truck champion

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With a third class win in as many races at last weekend’s Laughlin Desert Challenge, 18-year-old Ryan Prosser is the youngest driver to win Best In The Desert‘s Trick Truck championship.

Although Trick Trucks are generally among the top vehicles in desert racing, the class was relatively quiet in 2024 outside of the premier Vegas to Reno. Prosser was the only TT driver to enter all four races, and even then he did the V2R in a UTV Open instead. TT was a Prosser-only show at the season-opening Golden State 250, while defending champion Jonathan Brenthel was his only other competition at the Silver State 300 where the latter retired.

In Laughlin, the only other Trick Truck entered was Jordan Dean who retired. Prosser finished seventh overall among Unlimited vehicles.

While competition was certainly scant, BITD awards forty-five points for simply finishing, meaning a retirement could have easily thrown things out of order. Furthermore, if no driver runs at least three races (the fourth can be dropped as one’s worst finish), a trophy would not be awarded.

Besides the title, Prosser also claimed Rookie of the Year honours. As the reigning champion, he will be allowed to swap his #42 number plate out for #1.

Ironically, TT still had the closest points battle of all cars and trucks. David Ziegler held off Connor McMullen with a strong outing at Laughlin to claim the Class 6100 title. Chris Woo and Chad Hall were the only full-season competitors in the Stock categories, as was Jeff Harmonson in the Jeepspeed Trophy.

On the opposite extreme, the battle for the top motorcycle title came down to just a single point. Although Shane Logan finished behind Hayden Hintz at Laughlin (third to Hintz’s first), Logan’s result was dropped for being his worst outing of the season and allowed him to hold off Hintz for the championship.

Can-Ams swept the three UTV championships. Dustin Jones, in his first full season with the Can-Am Maverick R after winning the 2023 Silver State 300 in its racing début, held off Colt Brinkerhoff for the UTV Turbo Pro title. Another Maverick R topped UTV Open with Josh Row, who was the fastest UTV outright at the Vegas to Reno, beating Laughlin overall winner Cody Bradbury.

Bradbury, Jones, and Row finished 1–2–3 among all UTVs at Laughlin.

Short course racing took place the Friday before the main desert events. Joe Terrana won the Class 11 race ahead of Brian O’Dor, while Chase Mankin and Mason Cotter respectively topped the UTV Short Course and Youth classes. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone pulled double duty by entering both the Class 11 and UTV Short Course events, finishing second in the latter and five laps down in the former.

Laughlin Desert Challenge class winners

Car/Truck

Limited

Class Overall Finish Number Driver of Record Total Time
4800 Ultra4 8 4817 Johnny Valadez 1:02:51.750
Class 1600 DNF N/A No Finishers DNF
Jeepspeed Cup 3 1706 Ken Tichy 2:32:19.134
Jeepspeed Outlaw 6 3769 Alex Littleboy 2:21:31.990
Jeepspeed Trophy 1 4725 Jeff Harmonson 2:20:35.171
Stock Full 7 1230 Chris Woo 2:22:22.023
Stock Mid-Size 5 7300 Chad Hall 2:35:25.930
UTV Sportsman 2 M911 Tray Parkhurst 2:28:49.479

Unlimited

Class Overall Finish Number Driver of Record Total Time
6100 Spec 1 6140 Conner McMullen 1:47:23.286
Class 1000 Limited 4 1077 Brody Aikins 2:00:01.565
Trick Truck 7 42 Ryan Prosser 1:53:51.696
Unlimited Car 6 1507 Nick May 2:07:29.944

Motorcycle/Quad

Class Overall Finish Number Rider of Record Total Time
Motorcycle 399 Expert 28 225 Josh Newsom 2:35:33.679
Motorcycle 399 Pro 7 X69 Branden Siebenhaar 2:25:45.458
Motorcycle Ironman Amateur 29 O63 Kellen Davies 2:41:08.210
Motorcycle Ironman Expert 13 O27 Remington Mathews 2:32:33.918
Motorcycle Ironman Pro 5 J40 Aiden Poulson 2:41:35.769
Motorcycle Lites Amateur 31 G38 Cooper Nugent 2:26:58.979*
Motorcycle Lites Expert 21 K77 Ethan Monrreal 2:25:59.946
Motorcycle Lites Pro 33 A99 Andy Moore 2:32:08.139*
Motorcycle Open Amateur 25 292 Tyler Simpson 2:32:10.179
Motorcycle Open Expert 6 315 Wyatt Seat 2:25:24.830
Motorcycle Open Pro 1 N1 Hayden Hintz 2:25:43.380
Motorcycle Over 30 Expert 14 510 Morgan Shultz 2:33:05.012
Motorcycle Over 30 Pro 4 P5 Hayden Roberts 2:35:46.257
Motorcycle Over 40 Expert 22 O19 Jayson Kidwell 2:26:08.378
Motorcycle Over 40 Pro 27 C1 Brett Stevens 2:33:29.170
Motorcycle Over 60 Expert 19 923 Dick Wilk 2:40:37.579
Quad Expert 30 458 Dakota Hibler 2:23:02.639*
Quad Pro 10 Q2 Bret Greenholz 2:28:31.079
* – Did not complete all four laps

UTV

Class Overall Finish Number Driver of Record Total Time
UTV Naturally Aspirated Pro 12 R11 Ethan Groom 2:26:54.118*
UTV Open 1 H1 Cody Bradbury 2:17:02.779
UTV Super Stock 6 S930 Todd Zuccone 2:26:25.775
UTV Turbo Pro 2 T978 Dustin Jones 2:19:39.097
* – Did not complete all ten laps

2024 Best In The Desert champions

Some classes did not name a champion because none of its competitors ran every race.

Car/Truck

Class Number Champion Points Number Runner-Up Points Margin
4800 Ultra4 4817 Johnny Valadez 212 4837 Jeremy Jones 82 130
6100 Spec 6123 David Ziegler 262 6140 Conner McMullen 82 180
Jeepspeed Trophy 4725 Jeff Harmonson 216 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stock Full 1230 Chris Woo 288 N/A N/A N/A N/A
Stock Mid-Size 7330 Chad Hall 245 7366 Loren Healy 73 172
Trick Truck 42 Ryan Prosser 218 1 Jonathan Brenthel 89 129

Motorcycle/Quad

Class Number Champion Points Number Runner-Up Points Margin
Motorcycle 399 Expert 225 Josh Newsom 262 208 Jared Silva 59 203
Motorcycle Ironman Amateur O63 Kellen Davies 255 O51 Jason Bowles 117 138
Motorcycle Ironman Expert O27 Remington Mathews 224 O20 Brian Spiersch 79 145
Motorcycle Ironman Pro J7 Dustin Slade 207 J6 Mike Chastain 147 60
Motorcycle Open Expert 315 Cameron Wilson / Wyatt Seat 211 324 Jack Monach 187 24
Motorcycle Open Pro N2 Shane Logan 246 N1 Hayden Hintz 245 1
Motorcycle Over 30 Expert 510 Morgan Schulz 262 525 Mike Beck 118 144
Motorcycle Over 40 Pro C1 Brett Stevens 173 C22 Dennis Belingheri 73 100
Motorcycle Over 60 Expert 916 Harold Harris 264 923 Dick Wilk 134 130
Quad Expert 458 Dakota Hibler 252 440 Joseph Linderborg 192 60
Quad Pro Q2 Brett Greenholz 228 Q88 Jason Zittel 209 19

UTV

Class Number Champion Points Number Runner-Up Points Margin
UTV Open H959 Josh Row 284 H1 Cody Bradbury 238 46
UTV Pro Turbo T978 Dustin Jones 238 T845 Colt Brinkerhoff 199 39
UTV Super Stock S930 Todd Zuccone 244 S74 Derrick Luttrell 196 48