The Parker 425 - The Best in the Desert

The Parker 425 Race sponsored by The Best in the Desert has been held for 40 years. In the beginning they raced 1 lap in California and 2 laps here in Arizona. Then California started giving them grief - ruining the desert- so they now hold the entire race here in Arizona. Over 10,000 spectators line the 141 mile path through the desert to cheer on the racers. There are different classes of vehicles - jeep, truck, car - along with stock, modified and fancy divisions within the class. But they all race the same track and each other. They start 1 vehicle at a time, 15 seconds apart and this year there were over 250 competitors. We were between the 8th and 9th mile of the race where passing lanes existed. They had to pass our vantage point 3 times. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... First there were time trials. They were held on Thursday morning. We traveled just a few miles down the road to watch. Here are some people arriving....  we parked on the side of the road and they raced right beside the paved road in the sand.

This is how close to the road they get during the time trials.

After the time trials were over they had an event called the "Show and Shine". All the drivers, vehicles and crews parked along the streets of the town so the spectators could view the machines and pick up fan items. There were 2 entries that I was familiar with....  Robby Gordon of NASCAR fame and Jesse James of Sandra Bullock fame. Here are some pictures from the street show.

Robby Gordon and his group near the truck he raced.

Robby's car entry. He rode it in the time trials but I don't know who drove it in the race.

The Milk-n-it Crew

There was a Jeep 4X4 club that was racing in the Jeep category. They were showy in the way they displayed their vehicles. We watched them drive right up on the wheels of the jeep next to them.

Friday was technical inspection day so we spent time at the Street Fair filled with crafts, food and second hand items. Here is Millie and I sporting our new hats. Believe it or not they are made from wood from the inside of airplane wings. They were so unique and comfortably cool that we both just had to have one.

Saturday morning.... at 7:19AM... the first vehicle passed the front of our motor home. The sand never stopped flying all day. Here are just a few of the exciting things we saw.

This is Robby on one of his laps. He had problems on lap 2. And NO, I did not use a zoom for this picture.... we were literally feet from the track.

2 guys fighting for position...

Almost went over..

The last car passed by us in the dark at about 9:30 PM. I have been spending today getting sand out of everything. It was a long day but what an experience.

We will be watching the Super Bowl today. Isn't modern technology wonderful.... parked in the Arizona  desert 10 miles from the nearest town, 11 miles from California, no electricity and we'll be watching the Super Bowl and munching on wings, chips, dip, veggies and fruit with friends. It doesn't get any better than that.