McMillin's Baja Run, Vegas to Reno Backward: Desert Racing Recap, July to October 2026

The desert calendar does not care about the summer heat, and the stretch from July to October 2026 packed in three results that will shape how this season is remembered. Luke McMillin made it three straight SCORE wins at the Baja 400. Best in the Desert sent Vegas to Reno the wrong way for the first time in 30 years, and an Unlimited 2WD truck that started at the back beat everybody. And the first season of the American Off-Road Racing Championship came to a close in Laughlin. The Baja 1000, the race that finishes the SCORE year, has not happened yet: it is set for Nov. 9 to 15.

August: Vegas to Reno, the other way

For its 30th anniversary, the Casey Folks Vegas to Reno ran in reverse. Time trials took place on Wednesday in Dayton, Nevada, and the 505-mile main event ran on Friday, Aug. 14, from Dayton south to Crystal, Nevada, with the Amargosa Valley pit along the way. Thirty years of this race had always pointed the field north toward Reno, so this edition asked teams to run the event in the opposite direction for the first time, a change that makes the finishing order worth a closer look.

Eric Hardin won overall in his No. 79 Unlimited Truck 2WD, and he did it from the back of the 2WD grid after a flat tire in qualifying. His 7:37:55.986 was almost six minutes clear of Mitch Guthrie's pace in the Rally Raid 4WD Ford Raptor T1+, a truck making its North American debut and the first Rally Raid 4WD vehicle to attempt the race. Dave Mason Jr., sharing with Cameron Steele, moved into third after time credits and penalties. Both Rally Raid entries finished in the top 10, with Brian Baragwanath fifth overall.

The Hardin family had a big day beyond the overall. Cole Hardin, Eric's nephew, won Unlimited Truck SPEC for his first class victory, holding off Conner McMullen by just over 18 seconds. RJ Stidham took third.

In UTV Pro, Brock Heger won in Polaris's No. T96 RZR Pro R Factory, seventh overall among the four-wheelers at 7:51:29.311. Polaris says it was the factory team's first win at the event. Ciaran Naran, with teammates Cody Simpson and Callum Norton, won the motorcycle overall in 7:44:56.755 on a Ducati Desmo450 EDX, 1:33 ahead of Preston Campbell's Honda CRF450X, with Caiden Fenstermaker third.

September: McMillin makes it three for three

The seventh SCORE Baja 400 ran out of Ensenada during SCORE's Sept. 9 to 13 race week, covering 423.42 miles, round three of the SCORE World Desert Championship. The race belonged to McMillin. Driving the No. 83 Ford Raptor with navigator Jason Duncan, he finished in 8:40:50, beating Bryce Menzies by 2:32, with Kevin Thompson third. McMillin had already won the San Felipe 250 in March and the Baja 500 in June, so this made it three wins in the first three rounds of the 2026 SCORE season.

SPEED SPORT counts it as the ninth SCORE Trophy Truck win of his career, which ties him with Ivan Stewart, Dan Smith, Dave Ashley and Mark Post. That is serious company. The win also completed his SCORE Grand Slam. SCORE's Journal says he joined its Grand Slam winners, and SPEED SPORT notes the set also takes the San Felipe 250, the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000, which he won in 2024.

The rest of the sheet had good stories too. Maverick and Chasen Gaunt won Trophy Truck 2WD in 9:52:19 for their first class win. Carlos Apdaly Lopez won Trophy Truck Spec in 9:20:22. Gus Vildosola Sr. and Ricky Johnson won Trophy Truck Legends in 9:15:48. Wayne Matlock won Pro UTV Open and the UTV overall in 9:54:28, and claimed the $50,000 Polaris SCORE Challenge prize, his first Baja 400 win.

On two wheels, Tyler Lynn's SLR Honda team with Sam Pretscherer and Carter Klein won in 8:53:51 on corrected time, about 26 minutes ahead of Naran's Ducati team in SCORE's provisional moto results. Daemon Woolslayer's Husqvarna crew was third. Jesus Gonzalez took the Pro Moto Ironman by riding the whole distance alone in a provisional 11:41:31.

October: the first AORC champions

The Laughlin Desert Classic closed the first American Off-Road Racing Championship season, a series combining the Best in the Desert and Unlimited Off-Road Racing platforms. Conner McMullen won Unlimited Truck SPEC in his No. 240, then jumped into Nic Whetstone's No. 18 Unlimited Truck 2WD and posted the fastest overall time in both divisions, with a two-day 2WD time of 1:57:00.938. Naran swept the weekend in Open Pro Motorcycle, and Kyle Jergensen finished seventh overall in the weekend standings on his way to the SPEC title.

• Unlimited Truck 4WD and overall Unlimited: Tracy Graf
• UTV Pro and overall Limited: Phil Blurton
• Open Pro Motorcycle: Ciaran Naran
• Unlimited Truck SPEC: Kyle Jergensen

What comes next

Two recent headlines point forward. Tavo Vildosola is out of the Baja 1000 as he recovers from a compressed spine and fractured vertebrae suffered in a rollover at the June Baja Nevada 1000. He missed the Baja 400 too, and his target is a 2027 return. And Polaris used Camp RZR at Glamis to show a RZR Pro R Factory Boost with up to 400 hp from a turbocharged 2.0-liter four, a 111-inch wheelbase and a 45-gallon fuel cell. Its first race is planned for the 2027 King of the Hammers.

For now, the question is simple. McMillin has won all three SCORE rounds so far this year, and the last one on the card is the longest.