ON THE MONEY: It did not take long for Jerry Whelchel to achieve a victory for new team owner Chet Huffman. Whelchel and Huffman teamed up to best a record turnout at BITDs Parker 425, claiming the overall and Trick-Truck wins after a fierce battle with Todd Wyllie.

The slogan "The Legend Lives On" was slathered across every poster, program and promotional piece associated with Best In The Desert's (BITD) Blue Water Resort & Casino's Parker 425, and it was there for a reason. First run in 1971 by NORRA, the Parker race has a rich history that almost came to an end when the race was dropped from SCORE International's 1998 season. Picked up by Whiplash Motorsports, the Parker 425 managed to continue on until Casey Folks and his BITD racing organization took over the race in 2003.

Folks' plan was not just to keep the legend alive, but return it to its former glory, and walking down the massive starting line of the 2008 Parker 425 just before dawn, it was easy to see he'd done just that. Just under 300 vehicles had shown up to take on the Arizona desert, including a jaw-dropping 67 Unlimited Buggies in Class 1500. The Trick-Truck category was also healthy, with 27 of the outrageously exotic and über-expensive machines set to race. Between the two classes, roughly 47,000 horsepower got ready to launch off the starting line.

GOOD TIMING

Rodney Smith and Vic Bruckmann teamed up for the Class 1100 win.

The big jump in entrants might seem overwhelming, but BITD's head honcho, Folks, explained it perfectly. "I think it's three things," he said. "Number one is this race is a legend. It's 32 years old, a huge event and very popular. Everyone you talk to will tell you Parker is their favorite race. It has to do with the town, the atmosphere, the Blue Water Resort and the Colorado River. Also, it's no big secret there are major problems south of the border, and a lot of people are saying they're not going down there anymore. It's not just problems with the people, drugs or police, but it's also very expensive [to race there]. You take a deep sigh of relief now when you cross back over the border and know you're back and relatively safe. BITD also had a record year last year. Each event, we are getting stronger and stronger. That's coming from our reputation. People are saying to us that they like what we do, they like the safety and they like the organization. We put all of those factors in a pot, stir it up and you have an organization that is moving up."

Even so, with a record 295 starters doing battle on the 150-mile loop Folks had laid out, safety–as it related to the overtaking of slower vehicles on the course–was bound to be a concern, especially considering that the last Sportsman car to leave the starting line had a mere 15 minutes on the first Trick-Truck to complete the opening lap. However, during the drivers' meeting, Folks had wisely chosen desert racing veteran Curt LeDuc to talk specifically about driver etiquette with regard to passing and being passed during the race. The drivers took heed, and overtaking was not a problem at all during raceday.