Champions were crowned on the banks of the Colorado River in Laughlin, Nevada, as the Laughlin Desert Classic kicked off the third and final round of the 2025 Best In The Desert Championship. In their first unified race with UNLTD Racing, the two-day format saw tight racing and fierce battles among all the classes. After two days and 10 laps of racing, Hayden Hintz and Trevor Hunter took the victory in a thrilling season finale, the first win of the year for the past champions.
Photos by Harlen Foley
As the sun crested the mountains east of Laughlin on Saturday morning, the green flag flew and the first row of Pro motorcycles fired to life from the dead-engine start. Barreling into the first chicane, defending champion Shane Logan on the Hero Racing CRF450X led the pack of Pro-class riders into the desert with bike number 22 of Jarrett Megla on the Skaggs Racing/TAS Insurance Services CRF450X hot on his heels. Past race winner Trevor Hunter struggled to get the N57 DirtBikeTest.com CRF450X to fire, leaving the line last in a cloud of dust behind the full Pro field.
Typical of Laughlin, only a small portion of the 14-mile loop is watered, and with speeds high, maintaining the physical lead is crucial for success early on. By the end of lap one, Logan checked out on the field, leaving the competition in his dust as he set a blistering pace in the morning light to open up a one-minute advantage over Megla and Hunter, following another minute behind in third.
As the race started and settled in, the front-runners began catching lapped riders as early as lap two, with dust now becoming a factor for all teams. Despite this, Logan continued to set the fastest laps in the first half, leading by two minutes over Megla in second and four minutes ahead of Hunter in third. At the halfway point, teams pitted to refuel and swap riders, but the front-runners kept their positions in the order that they would ultimately finish on day one. Logan led by nearly three minutes over the bike-number-22 team of Megla/Combs and nearly four minutes ahead of the bike-N57 team of Hunter/Hintz. Behind the top-three Open Pro teams, the 30+ Vet Pro team of Nolan Rudd and Branden Siebenhaar overcame a slow start to move up to fourth overall and first in class by the day’s end. Fifth overall on the day was young Lites-Expert racer Caleb Tate, riding a Husqvarna 250F to first overall in the Expert class and making significant progress into the Pro class contenders on his small-bore machine.
As the flag turned green on day two, all of the Pro contenders surged to the front right from the start, racing through the first few corners to kick up the first dust. Just like the day before, Shane Logan launched off the line and reached the desert first, with Hayden Hintz and Matthew Combs close behind, along with the rest of the Pro field and some Expert bikes mixed in.
Logan led the first lap, but Hintz kept the gap steady, and over the next two laps, he continued to close in as both battled dust from lappers. Nearing the end of lap three, both riders pulled into the pits for a stop just seconds apart. A quick rider change and splash of gas allowed the N1 bike to maintain its lead, but the N57 only took fuel as they set out in pursuit of the N1 bike. As both teams pushed through the treacherous conditions torn up by cars and trucks the day before, the leading N1 rider made a mistake in one of the toughest sections, resulting in a crash. Fortunately, the rider was able to get up and limp the bike back into the pits for minor repairs and a rider swap, but that gave Hintz the breathing room he needed to bring it home for the day’s win and the overall weekend victory, overcoming the time deficit from the previous day. This marks the pair’s third victory in four years in the desert of Laughlin, demonstrating both consistency and speed on the hallowed grounds of the riverside city.
Not going out without a fight, Logan hopped back on the bike to work his way up the leaderboard and finished second overall for the weekend. With the podium finish, Logan successfully defended his N1 plate and secured the championship for the second year in a row. Megla/Combs finished third in class and third overall on the weekend, followed by Rudd/Siebenhaar, who claimed the Vet Pro class win and placed fourth overall. Standout amateur Caleb Tate rode the wheels off his 250F to win the Lites Expert class and finish an impressive fifth overall.
Other notable finishers include Chris Fry winning the 40+ Pro class, Paul Vitale winning the Open Expert class, Dick Wilk and team claiming the 60+ Expert class, and Coleton Jaffa winning the 399 Amateur class and first overall Amateur.
The 2025 Best In The Desert American Off-Road Racing Championship will make its return to Parker, Arizona, early next year with the Parker 400, the first of five rounds in the newly formed championship with UNLTD Racing.CN
2025 BITD Laughlin Desert Challenge Results
OVERALL (Top 5)
- Hayden Hintz/Trevor Hunter (Hon)
- Shane Logan/Jake Hogan (Hon)
- Jarrett Megla/Matthew Combs (Hon)
- Nolan Rudd/Branden Siebenhaar (Kaw)
- Caleb Tate (Hus)
