RENO, NV – Bryce Menzies and Toyo Tires® have won the Best In The Desert series Vegas to Reno off-road race overall this last weekend. Menzies finished in a time of 08:10:35.985… more than 8-1/2 minutes faster than the second-place finisher. His all-wheel-drive #7 Red Bull / Toyo Tires / KMC Ford Trick Truck relied on Toyo® Open Country M/T®-R tires to help achieve his win.
Menzies started the weekend by qualifying first, placing him at the front of the field for the start of the race. This represents the first win for Menzies as a Team Toyo® driver, having joined earlier this year. It is also the first time Menzies has won the Vegas to Reno overall and is the first win ever for his new-era all-wheel-drive truck.
At approximately 550-miles in length, the Vegas to Reno is considered “the longest off-road race in the United States” and this year’s event was held over a single day, rather than being run in two stages like in the years prior. The high-speed course provided extra challenges after a rainstorm exposed jagged rocks in many areas. The start of the race was located outside the remote town of Beatty, NV. It paralleled the Nevada Test Site and then crisscrossed State Hwy 95 before arriving near the town of Dayton, NV which is on the outskirts of Reno.
“This win has been a long time coming and it feels even better than I imagined,” said Menzies. “To finally put the truck my Dad and I dreamed up together on the top spot and to validate the AWD system feels extra nice. I couldn’t be more stoked to continue Toyo’s win streak and have some momentum going into next month’s SCORE Baja 400.”
“Toyo Tires congratulates Bryce Menzies on his dominant victory this weekend in the Vegas to Reno off-road race,” said Stan Chen, Sr. Manager of Events and Sponsorships, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “It represents his first-ever win while representing Toyo Tires and will certainly not be his last. We look forward to his success while competing on Toyo Open Country M/T-R tires.”
Menzies is a three-time SCORE Baja 500 winner, former SCORE International® Series Champion and two-time Mint 400 winner in the Best In The Desert series. Also proficient in short course off-road racing, Menzies won the TORC Series Pro2 class championship three years in a row, 2011 – 2013. He has also competed successfully in the Pro 2 and Pro 4 classes of the Lucas Oil® Off-Road Racing Series (LOORRS).
With this weekend’s win by Menzies, Toyo Tires has been on a streak in both desert and short course off-road racing. Andy McMillin has won both the 33rd Annual SCORE San Felipe 250 and the 51st SCORE Baja 500 with his #31 Red Bull / Toyo Tires / KMC Wheels / Rigid / Fox Chevrolet Silverado SCORE Trophy Truck to take the early lead in the 2019 SCORE points championship. (It should also be noted that McMillin and Toyo Tires won the 2016 Vegas to Reno overall in 2016.)
In the Lucas Oil® Off-Road Racing Series, Kyle LeDuc and his #99 Monster Energy / Toyo Tires / WD-40 Pro 4 class Ford truck is well in the lead of the 2019 championship points and has the potential to win his sixth championship with Toyo Tires at the end of the season.
To learn more about Team Toyo and the full line of Toyo Open Country tires tailored to your lifestyle, go to www.toyotires.com/open-country-tires.