Sendero Racing || Laughlin Desert Classic 2025

Laughlin, Nevada, home of one of the most brutal tracks in off-road racing. This isn't just surviving the desert. Racing Laughlin is a full sprint race. You've got to run as hard as you can while being in a fist fight with 20 other trucks. After the Sendero team had a short run at the Baja 400, the truck was still in great shape and ready to race again. The team decided to bring the truck out to Laughlin and just have some fun. The plan is to have Steven Beal behind the wheel with Sterling Rivers navigating keeping the truck on course. This will be Stevo's first time racing a truck in Laughlin, and he's ready to lay down a fast lap for qualifying. Qualifying went good for the Sendero team. They had a good clean run, no mistakes, ended up with a seventh place starting position for race day. Best in the desert made the decision to mix the trophy trucks with the spec trucks based off their qualifying times, with starting two trucks every 30 seconds. This would mean some spec trucks would have to try their luck against a more powerful trophy truck right off the start, Stevo being one of them. Power, but still hanging with the trophy truck, and now dealing with the blinding dust. The dust at this year's Laughlin Desert Classic was one of the worst we've ever seen, causing many trucks to make mistakes taking them out of the race. More power doesn't always mean better driver. Stevo has to be patient, and Sterling has to keep him calm as they wait for the opportunity to make a pass. Stevo can reel in the trophy truck in the rough, but then the power of the other truck pulls on them once again down the smooth straightaways. Sometimes, a small love tap, known as nerfing, is required. Out of the way with the first tap, well, they're just asking for a harder hit. Lap after lap, Stevo and Sterling were running strong, and keeping the truck in one piece. The Sendero team survived day one, had a good, clean run, moving them up to fifth place. Starting day two, Stevo again would have to face another more powerful truck right off the start. Unfortunately, they would have to deal with dust right off the start again. The plan was to just settle in, and drive smart. After a hard-fought weekend of racing, with only five miles from the finish, the transmission had had enough. That's just the way off-road racing goes sometimes. The Sendero team is now getting ready to head south, to debut their all-new Geyser-built all-wheel drive trophy truck at the Baja 1000. See you all in Mexico.