Dixon Bros. Racing Starts Strong in Season Opener at Parker

The season opener for the Best In The Desert racing series, the “Parker 425”, is always a popular race with racers and fans alike and the 2005 edition was no exception. Racing enthusiasts from around the Southwest and across the country came to this small Arizona town alongside the Colorado River on February 4-6 for what was to be an insurmountable challenge for many competitors.

This year’s course was almost identical to the routes used in previous years, except that BITD director Casey Folks decided to run the course backwards! Heavy rains early in the season provided lush green vegetation, mud, and other challenges not usually found in the desert. The high moisture content of the soil provided great traction for the vehicles, and it also helped to keep the dust to a minimum; ideal racing conditions.

Saturday morning found the team staged with the rest of the competitors on California Avenue, Parker’s main thoroughfare. With Aaron Dixon behind the wheel and brother Ian in the co-driver’s seat, the team got the green light and roared off into the desert shortly after 8:30 a.m. Since Ian was unable to attend the pre-run several weeks prior to the race, the first lap served as his introduction to the course for this year.

The Dixons started fourth in their class and quickly moved their way into 1st place by the first pit and held onto that position for the duration of the first lap. At the completion of the first lap, Aaron handed over the reins of the truck to his brother Ian and co-driver Phil Ramirez. Almost immediately after leaving the main pit area, Ian and Phil realized that something was desperately wrong with the transmission in the truck. The transmission had lost 1-3 gears, including reverse! The hopes of a victory were fading fast… and the realization of just trying to finish the race began to set in.

Wrenches and parts started flying as the entire crew went to work on fixing the truck. An hour later, the truck was once again back on the track, beginning its second lap. As Ian and Phil continued along the course, they soon realized the replacement transmission wasn’t working correctly either. Second and third gear were not engaging and a quick stop at the Graham Well pit revealed a loose connector that seemed to solve the problem for a time, but it quickly returned.

In spite of their troubles, the Dixons were in 3rd place as Aaron again took the wheel for the third and final lap with Ed Ramirez beside him in the cab. The Dixons knew they had little chance of catching the leader at this point, but attrition had taken its toll in their class and if the transmission held together, they could have a shot at second place.

Darkness had fallen as reports of a competitor’s truck rolling over and breaking the front suspension came over the radio. The Dixons were now in 2nd place. Aaron nursed the truck over the brutal terrain for another 100 miles and crossed the finish line in 2nd place at approx 8:45 p.m. on Saturday night.

The Dixons look forward to defending their title in the remaining races of the 2005 Best in the Desert. The next race is the Terrible’s Town 250 on April 29th-May 1st, 2005.

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Dixon Bros. Racing would like to thank their sponsors: Ford Trucks, Goodyear Tires, Visteon, PRP Seats, ORW, Fox Shocks, Deaver Spring Company, and J.B. Dixon Engineering.

More information can be found at www.dixonbrosracing.com.

For more information, call or write:
Best In The Desert Racing Association
3475 Boulder Highway
Las Vegas, NV 89121
(702) 457-5775, (702) 241-6431 fax
www.bitd.com