Photo: Polaris/HighRev Photography
Imagine your average endurance race for sports prototypes. You know the kind, a circuit race over hundreds of laps in 12 hours or more. A race like that can leave even a competent driver in tatters, even on asphalt. Now take that same race, replace the circuit with a nearly 550-mile sprint through Nevada, and you have the Casey Folks race from Las Vegas to Reno from Best in the Desert.
At this year’s event, autoevolution was delighted to serve as media representative for the Polaris Factory Racing Team, who were competing for the first time in a race that features big name race teams and OEMs from across the 4×4 spectrum. From Honda, Kawasaki, Red Bull and Monster to Polaris and their eternal rivals at Can-Am, the longest and most prestigious point-to-point off-road endurance race in North America may not have the media presence of Dakar or Baja, but believe us when we say it’s much more accessible and just as intense.
But none of this would have been possible if it weren’t for an exceptionally talented dirt bike racer and racing enthusiast named Casey Folks. Born in 1944, Folks didn’t win a single major off-road race in the Western United States during his time. Additionally, Folks was one of the first Americans to travel abroad to compete in what are now prestigious races in Baja and Tunisia. After founding the Best in the Desert sports association in 1984 with a focus on dirt bike racing, it was Folks’ idea to incorporate four-wheelers of all sizes into an existing Las Vegas to Reno motorcycle race in 1996, giving birth to the modern phenomenon we know today.
Although Folks sadly passed away in 2017, the spirit and essence of the innovations he created from Vegas to Reno will remain at the heart of the race in 2024. Vehicle classes at the event range from small UTVs to dirt bikes and V8 rock crawling buggies to trophy trucks, making for an eclectic selection of racing vehicles that almost rivals the more well-known off-road races like the Mint 400. But this time, it was clear that Polaris’ Factory Racing Team was the newcomer the competition should be looking out for.
The Polaris Factory Racing team was loaded with talent from top to bottom. A team powered by Brock Heger with over 150 podium finishes in the yellow race car, five Baja 1000 wins by Maxy Eddy Jr. in the blue race car, decades of experience from team leader Craig Scanlon in the red race car, and the DNA of a true 4×4 racing legend in 22-year-old Cayden MacCachren, son of American off-road racing king and multi-discipline world champion Rob MacCachren, in the purple race car. With matching LED headlights in their respective racing colors, the Polaris Factory Team RZR side-by-sides were some of the most beautiful race cars at this year’s race.
Photo: Polaris/HighRev Photography
Our task that afternoon was simple in theory but infinitely complicated in practice: We had to follow the Polaris Factory team from the race’s starting point about 50 miles north of Las Vegas to its finish point 50 miles south of Reno in Carson City, Nevada, taking photos at every pit stop. For the media and the chase cars, the whole affair is almost as physically and mentally taxing as the race itself. Especially for me, a person who has never had a racer’s body or been lean in any way. If anything, it made the daily menu of hot dogs, pizza and gas station chicken tenders seem even more familiar.
At each point along the way to the 13 custom-built pit stops, groups of Polaris Racing team personnel assigned to each stop gathered with gas pumps, welding equipment, and all the spare parts and equipment the vehicle would need to keep pace during a sprint across the Nevada desert. As soon as the car is refueled and checked over by the pit crew, the driver heads to the next pit. At that point, the completed pit crew packs up and heads back to either California or Mexico, depending on which side of the Polaris Racing operation is on site at any given time during the race. Unlike the barely controlled chaos of Baja, crews are forced to pick up all of their trash, including blown tires, which must be carried with the vehicle to the finish.
Yet for all the passionate work going on in each pit, Cayden MacCachren’s father Rob was a constant point of contact. As part of Cayden’s personal follow team, Rob was constantly speaking to his son via race communications hardware, supported for the first time via SpaceX’s Starlink. He was also in the pit every step of the way, with a sports bottle of ice-cold water ready when Cayden stopped for fuel and maintenance. If that’s not the healthiest thing we’ve ever seen in motorsports coverage, we don’t know what is.
As racers of all kinds raced across the sand, kicking up walls of dust over 500 feet high, our route took us alongside them through a handful of towns that showcase Nevada’s craziness at its finest. Places like Goldfield, Tonopah and the ghost town of Coaldale, teeming with abandoned vintage cars, abandoned mining equipment and a world-famous clown-haunted motel, would have been incredibly entertaining in their own right. Unfortunately, that will have to wait. While the media followed our chase, Off-road vehicle While we stuffed ourselves with greasy fast food, the setting sun heralded the start of the toughest part of the race for the participants.
Photo: Polaris/HighRev Photography
Polaris Factory riders Brock Heger and lead rider Craig Scanlon rode bravely throughout the afternoon, battling through their numerous mechanical issues. While both undoubtedly fought like lions, both exited the race, avoiding further damage to their already battered vehicles. With well over 425 miles of boulders, crater-like depressions and endless roaring sand behind them, lesser quality racers would have folded much sooner. Had fate been even a little different, either man could have easily made the podium. Meanwhile, teammates Cayden MacCachren and Max Eddy Jr. continued to battle through.
Enduring the final stretches of racing in near-total darkness, save for headlights, makes the finish all the more grueling. But with a little luck and more talent in one finger than most have in their entire body, the two remaining Polaris Factory Racing riders crossed the finish line in Carson City proudly and with distinction. Cayden MacCachren and his co-driver Hailey Hein finished eighth in the UTV Open class and 11th overall, while Max Eddy Jr. and his co-driver Austin Eddy finished second in their class and third overall.
It may not have been a clear win for the Polaris Factory Team, but with such an impressive performance in their first appearance at the Vegas to Reno race, there’s a good chance the rivalry between Polaris and Can-Am will continue to excite fans for years to come. Plus, the Polaris Factory Racing Team had won the last eight races prior to this race. You can’t win them all, especially when you have a winning streak of this caliber. For us in the media car, it was an experience unlike any other race we’ve covered. It was so much fun that we’re ready to start racing the Baja 1000 in November. Stay tuned for more to come.
