Cycle News Staff | May 1, 2024
Not often is the vast open desert graced with enough water to eliminate dust and provide hero dirt, let alone enough to cover 300 miles of trail, but the 2024 edition of the Silver State 300, round two of the Best In The Desert Championship, gifted racers with prime conditions to battle wheel to wheel for nearly 300 miles through the Nevada desert, April 27.
Photos by Harlen Foley
Often cited as one of the most fun races on the BITD schedule, the event organizers went to work to mix in new roads and sandwashes on the 262-mile point-to-point race starting and finishing just outside Alamo, Nevada. The new trail slowed speeds down with winding roads and washes scattered with loose rocks and soft dirt. Overnight rains left the course dust-free with ample traction and tight racing for the motorcycle racers taking off at first light on Saturday morning.
Staging based on the previous round Golden State 250 finishing order, the Shane Logan/Corbin McPherson team set the first trail on the N2 KTM. One minute behind was the Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter duo on the Dirt Bike Test/1-800-Dent-Doc N1 Honda, with Skyler Howes a few minutes behind on his Monster Energy HRC Honda rally racer (N10).
Within the first few miles of wide-open roads, both the N2 and N1 bikes missed a turn and strayed off course, losing 45 to 90 seconds before re-entering the designated route. As the two found the marked trail, a drag race over the next several miles ensued as the duo topped 100-plus mph into the rising sun. As the course tightened up, Logan began gaining time through the fast, rocky sandwashes and twisty mountain roads. In the meantime, Howes set into his usual fast pace and began clicking off miles with no dust to slow him in his tracks, slowly making up time on the rest of the field.
Just past Pit 1, the N1 bike blew a corner, losing valuable seconds and an overall position as Howes was close enough to make the move. The two raced hard over the next five or six miles, with the rally racer leading the way before eventually dropping them in his pursuit of the N1 bike a couple minutes up the road. Over the next 70 miles, Howes slowly managed the gap down to nothing, eventually hitting Pit 3 at race mile 125 nearly side by side with the KTM team. A lengthy pit stop by Howes to refuel upwards of nine gallons of fuel gave the KTM duo some breathing room after a rider swap. Though he had the win on adjusted time, Howes kept his pace to pass into the physical lead before the final pit.
At the finish, Howes crossed the line first for the fourth time in his career. Shane Logan/Corbin McPherson finished second Open Pro, while Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter rounded out the podium.
The Honda-mounted Ryan Wheeler and Robert Glines duo topped the Open Expert class, while the KTM-mounted team of Craig McMillian, Keith Schulz, Ed Dazzo and Marc Cruz topped the Open Amateur division.
Chad Kenner was the Ironman winner.CN
2024 BITD Silver State 300 Results
OVERALL (Unofficial)
- Skyler Howes (Hon)
- Shane Logan/Corbin McPherson (KTM)
- Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter (Hon)
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