Harley Letner Wins the 2017 Laughlin Desert Classic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Voss wins Trick Truck class and King takes eight of the top ten overall spots

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#1570 Harley Letner of Youtheory Racing took the overall win this weekend at the 2017 Method Race Wheels Laughlin Desert Classic presented by Canidae Tap It. Letner finished over four minutes ahead of second place overall finisher and King Shocks teammate, Jason Voss.  King Shocks took eight of the top ten overall finishes and the win marks Letner’s third consecutive in 2017.

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The two day, multi lap sprint race didn’t allow much time to catch the frontrunners on race day so qualifying was as important as ever and the order stayed relatively the same on race day. #1575 Pat Dean.

#1 Jason Voss, #1570 Harley Letner, #32 Shawn Croll and #4 Justin Matney were the top five qualifiers, all on King Shocks, amongst the 23 Trick Trucks and 11 Class 1500 vehicles.  Dean best Voss by just 00:00:00.784 seconds.

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King Shocks’ #1575 Pat Dean held the physical lead on day 1 after being rewarded a lone start off the line for Thursdays accomplishments but Harley Letner quickly found a comfortable distance behind Dean to take the overall lead on corrected time.

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After Dean fell back around the beginning of the third lap on day two, the tension was released and Letner cruised to the overall win with an elapsed time of 02:03:48.320 and “I missed out on the top qualifying spot by a few seconds.  I found a confident distance behind Pat on day 1, I knew I could get him on corrected time to start out front and run my pace on Sunday,” commented Letner.  “Comfort in my King Shocks and Toyo Tires eating up the terrain allowed me to run just behind his dust to ensure that key overall lead heading in to day 2.  From there, I knew I could hold off Pat and Jason for the overall."

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                                                                    Pictured above: Harley Letner at the 2017 Mint 400 finish line

Letner has now won every Best in the Desert race of 2017 with two class wins at the Parker 425 and Mint 400 and an overall win at the Laughlin Desert Classic.

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Jason Voss was top qualifier for the Trick Truck Class (second overall) and started out front alone of the rest of the Trick Truck field.  Voss’ pace on day 1 was just over three minutes off Letner’s and heading in to day two he trailed three Class 1500’s for the overall.

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A standout performance by #32 Shawn Croll left him just three seconds behind Voss and RPM Off-Road's Lalo Laguna was forty five seconds from Croll with another 68 miles to go the following day.

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Voss fell short at the end after Letner added more time to his lead on day 2.  Voss finished with a total elapsed time of 02:08:00.925 and did however take the win in the Trick Truck class by a narrow margin over Croll and Laguna, gaining valuable points towards another overall points championship in the Best in the Desert Series. “I had a great time battling Shawn and Lalo out there.  It was great having our own race with no other classes on the track. Taking the Trick Truck class win for King Shocks is good momentum heading in to Vegas to Reno in August,” said Voss.

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1. Harley Letner (Class 1500) - 02:03:48.320
2. Jason Voss (Trick Truck) - 02:08:00.925
3. Terry Householder (Class 1500) - 02:08:32.369
4. Shawn Croll (Trick Truck) - 02:08:36.742
5. Eduardo Laguna (Trick Truck) - 02:08:56.906
7. Pat Dean (Class 1500) - 02:13:07.350
9. Adam Householder (Trick Truck) - 02:14:20.485
10. Travis Chase (Class 1500) - 02:14:21.135

About King Shocks King Shocks makes world-class desert racing shocks for trucks, buggies and UTV’s. King manufactures and hand assembles all of their shocks in Southern California.

King Shocks has been the industry leader for over a decade and continues to leave the competition in the dust by providing the level of quality, performance and customer service that champions demand.

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