Dubbed the longest, single day off-road race in the United States, the “Las Vegas to Reno” race actually started at Jonnies Mine just north of Pahrump, NV, 75 miles north of Las Vegas and ended in Dayton, NV, 15 miles east of Carson City.   The course encompassed 567 miles of desert terrain.  Of the 149 trucks that started the race, only 74 finished.

According to Mike Ruane the team lost a lot of time due to a failure in the bead lock at about the 75 mile marker.  “I was working my way through the rocks just outside of pit 3 when the bead lock fractured.  Because of the location I had to find a flat piece of ground to change the tire.”  When the team made a driver change at Pit 4, they were in third place, 20 minutes behind Swift.

Once in the truck, Jason Ruane chased the leader for the entire race.  “Nick and I kept trying to make up the time, “said Jason after the race.  “It seemed that if I made up a minute, they would pick it up somewhere.”  Finishing in 12 hours, 30 minutes they even bested their first place time of a year ago by an hour and 20 minutes. 

This was the third race in the five race series.  Currently Team Orbit is 40 points behind in points for another class championship.  “We still have two races to go,” said Team Owner Ruane.  “That’s a lot of racing but the leaders have a real advantage.  They just have to finish to beat us.”  Their next scheduled race is the Las Vegas “300” just south of Las Vegas, near Primm, NV. 

About Team Orbit:

Team Orbit Motorsports is an off-road racing team based in Palmdale, CA.  Owned by Mike Ruane, they have been the Best in the Desert Class Champion in 2003, 2004, and 2006.  Off-road racing icon, Larry Roeseler is the driver of record.  Team Orbit is sponsored by B.F. Goodrich Tires; American Racing Wheels; King Off-Road Shocks; Hot Weyer Performance Engines; OMF Performance, Cone Industries, Beard Seats, True Flow Filters, Lazerstar Lights, and Tom’s Transmissions.  For more information you can find them on the web at www.team-orbit.com.