For the past two days I have been dealing with some environmental issues that have come up regarding the 2008 TSCO “Vegas to Reno” event. There is an issue with the Amargosa Toad, a small frog in the Amargosa area. The Center for Biological Diversity, just outside of Beatty, has challenged the Bureau of Land Management’s biological opinion document regarding the impact of the “Vegas to Reno” event on the Amargosa Toad. In order to continue the legacy of this challenging event, I have worked out with the BLM a new start area that will get me away from toad habitat. I am a person that never gives up and I believe the most important issue regarding the sport of off-road desert racing is that the 2008 TSCO “Vegas to Reno” event take place.

I am very sorry to those of you that will be inconvenienced by this course change. I know this makes things very difficult for you, but making the changes now will insure that we have a secure racecourse, one that cannot be challenged at the 11th hour with a court injunction.

The most important thing for you to do now is to change your hotel reservations for the pre-fun run and for the race. The overall course mileage will change and the race will now start North of Beatty on private property. You will need to cancel your room reservations in Pahrump and make reservations in Beatty. Beatty is approximately 125 miles north of the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas on US-95. We will announce the revised race mileage as soon as it is confirmed.

For the PRE-FUN RUN, cancel your rooms in Pahrump and make reservations in Beatty for Friday, August 1, 2008. We will still be staying in Tonopah on Saturday, August 2, 2008, so NO hotel rooms need to be changed in Tonopah.

For the RACE, I recommend you still stay at the South Point in Las Vegas and transfer to Beatty in the morning, or if you have rooms in Pahrump Thursday night, cancel those and make them for Beatty, Thursday, August 21, 2008. There are only 338 rooms available in Beatty, but actually they have more rooms than in Pahrump. Now, you can still stay in Pahrump Thursday night if you choose and that will save you 55 miles in the morning. However, we suggest taking US-95 North from Las Vegas to Beatty and not drive through Pahrump, US-95 is faster. Pahrump to Beatty is 73 miles.

Regarding your PIT LOGISTICS, I also realize most of you have laid out your logistics (i.e. pit plan, rider changes and fuel consumption) and again I apologize for this inconvenience. We are working hard in this office to re-work the pit book and we will have this information posted in a day or two, but we have lost pit’s 1, 2, & 3.

Again, I apologize for all of your inconvenience, your time and trouble that this is going to take to change all of your room reservations, but again, it is so important to have this race and not let the environmental community succeed in closing any more of our public lands. I appreciate your understanding and we will have updated information for you as soon as we can.

Sincerely,

Casey Folks, Director
Best In The Desert

2008 BITD VEGAS TO RENO HOTEL / MOTEL LIST

• Motels in Beatty, Nevada
• Motel 6 (775) 553-9090 Exchange Club (775) 553-2333
• Stagecoach (775) 553-2419 El Portal (775) 553-2912
• Phoenix Inn (775) 553-2250
• Death Valley Inn & RV (775) 553-2419 (Formally the Burro Inn - Yes, same # as Stagecoach)
• Long Street (775) 372-1777 Hwy-373 – 38 miles to Beatty
• RV Parks
• Space Station RV Park (775) 553-3039 Beatty RV Park (775) 553-2732
• Baileys Hot Springs (775) 553-2395