The day started cold but the weather turned warm for the BlueWater Resort & Casino/Best in the Desert Parker 425 off-road race for cars, trucks, and rails held Feb. 5 in Parker. At the awards ceremony Sunday morning, Best in the Desert Racing Association President Casey Folks said 212 vehicles started the race, and just over half of them, 116, finished it. Folks said the race was very exciting, with the leads in many classes changing times several times. He said there were several classes, which were so close, they couldn't go by who crossed the finish line first to determine a winner. They found someone who had started later than the first one across the line actually had the better overall time. Taking the top spot in the three-lap classes were Jesse Jones of Litchfield Park and Joe Weining of Tucson. They drove No. 76
in the 1400 Pro class, A Ford, to a time of 7:32:41.

Jones and Weining also received the Manny Esquerra Valor Award as the top overall performers in the race. The award was named after Manny Esquerra, who drove the Parker race for many years and won his class several times prior to his death in 2008.

Placing second overall in the three-lap classes was were BJ Baldwin, Bobby Baldwin and Sandy Stewart of Las Vegas and Steve Covey of Henderson, Nev. Driving No. 96, a Chevrolet in the 1400 Pro class, they came in with a time of 7:41:52.
Troy Herbst of Huntington Beach, Calif. and Tim Herbst of Las Vegas placed third overall as they drove No. 49 in the 1400 Pro class, a Ford, to a time of 7:49:11.

Also in the three-lap classes was Trent Beaver in No. 8105. He placed 66th overall and second in the 8100 class with a time of 11:21:14. His co-drivers in his Ford included Brad Makrdichian, Kevin Davis and Jim Beaver.



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