DIXON BROS.
CHASE DOWN COMPETITION TO
WIN VEGAS TO RENO

Reno, NV - Although environmental concerns shortened the Best in the Desert ‘Vegas to Reno’ race by almost 100 miles, the change in length did nothing to make the course any easier for the competitors. If anything, it was more difficult. Aaron Dixon behind the wheel of The Dixon Bros. #7101 Ford Ranger started ninth in the gaggle of Class 7100 trucks and ran a conservative pace, early on, threading his way through the race traffic. About 40 miles into the race Aaron got caught up in a traffic jam at a steep and silty hill where a number of production class vehicles were stuck. Those that were not stuck were each forced to wait their turn in line for 20-30 minutes to take a run up the steep hill and get on with their race. Had the race been started in Johnnie, as originally scheduled, this hill would have been at race-mile 150 and would probably have been clear since the slower and weaker vehicles would have fallen off the pace by then.

After finally getting past the “hill climb” as Aaron called it, he was moving through some really extreme braking bumps when the #7101 Ford lost the power steering. “Once we loose power steering pressure, the feedback from the steering wheel is INSANE and it is impossible to hold,” said team owner Aaron Dixon. “We pulled off the road to survey the damage and found that the rack was cracked on the pressure side. We use a factory part, per the rules and were 20 miles from the next pit so we decided to limp it in rather than try to fix it ourselves.”

While trying to get back on the course, they got stuck trying to cross a ditch, which turned out to be deeper than it looked. “Without the superior traction of the Goodyear MTR tires and our Radflo Hydra Jack, we might still be stuck!” Aaron commented. Back on level ground, Aaron with co-rider, Ed Ramirez, continued on their way to pit #2 with no further issues. The steering was changed in the pit and they were back in the race and running in seventh place after losing about an hour and a half to repairs. He passed a few broken Class 7100 trucks on the way to Tonopah at race-mile 150 where Ian Dixon and Phil Ramirez were scheduled to take over.

The Dixon Bros. #7101 Ford Ranger had moved into third place when Ian got behind the wheel, about 25 miles off the pace set by the #7114 Ford, who had held the lead all day. As darkness fell, Ian had some trouble working the adjustable actuator on the new light rack but the headlights and bumper mounted KC HiLites HID’s turned out to be more than enough to light the way to the next driver change in Hawthorne at race-mile 300.

Along the way Ian had reeled in the leaders and when Aaron took over for the final 155-mile stretch to the finish, he was in the lead. The Dixon Bros. #7101 Ford Ranger had a flawless ride to the finish in Dayton, winning the BitD ‘Vegas to Reno’ by 40 minutes over the #7102 Ford, who had passed the #7114 truck for the second place finish in the final 50 miles of the race.

“We want to thank Robby Woolworth for opening up his shop the night before the race until midnight” Aaron said.. “We heard some loud gear noise coming from the rear end while loading up the truck after tech and decided to change out the ring and pinion. I called up Robby and he said, ‘No problem, I’ll wait for you to get here’. We ended up using our spare 3rd member with a gear set that had 5 races on it.”

At the finish team owner Aaron Dixon said, “This is how the Vegas to Reno race always turns out, everyone has problems. Sitting at Pit #2 fixing the steering rack, I really couldn’t imagine winning this race, but we’ll take it!”