Charlotte, N.C. (December 4, 2012) – With complete dominance of the Best of the Desert class 1500 thus far, Robby Gordon and the SPEED Energy / RPM Off-road / Toyo Tires team looked to continue their winning ways as they headed for the Henderson 250 in Jean, Nev., for the season finale of the Best in the Desert. With a finish of the 240-mile race, Gordon would find himself becoming the 2012 Best in the Desert class 1500 overall champion.

“To be able to race in the Best of the Desert Series this year with RPM, and Clyde Stacy’s team riding on Toyo Tires is pretty cool. We’ve had a pretty dominate season in class 1 and overall. We’ve been very good week in and week out. Hats off to everyone on the race team for doing a great job, Geiser Brothers, RPM, and the Toyo Tires that I ride on,” stated Gordon.

During qualifying on Thursday, Gordon pushed the SPEED Energy / RPM Off-road / Toyo Tires truggy as hard as possible looking for nothing short of a good starting spot. In doing so, Gordon put the truggy on two wheels and had to make an incredible save from rolling over. Series officials believed a cone marker was hit by the #1537, applying a 15-second penalty to the qualifying time. After the applied penalty, Gordon was officially scored the 6 fastest time in the 1500 class and 16 overall giving him a starting position mid-pack.

As the race started Saturday afternoon Gordon focused on one thing, simply complete the 3 laps around the 80-mile course. However, things did not go according to plan. At race marker 20, the truggy encountered terminal problems and came to an abrupt stop on the race course. The result was a tow back to the main pit area to repair a broken crank sensor.

After a lengthy stop in the pits for repair, determination drove the SPEED Energy / RPM Off-road / Toyo Tires team to finish the race. Not worrying about finishing position the team maintained consistent pace keeping equipment intact and crossed the finish line in the time of 7:14:21:492. By finishing the 240-mile race, Robby Gordon and the SPEED Energy / RPM Off-road / Toyo Tires team were crowed the 2012 Best of the Desert class 1500 overall champions.

“To be able to pull this off for Clyde Stacy and RPM Off-Road as the overall champion for Best in the Desert is a great accomplishment. It started out as a one race deal at the Parker 425 we overall end up winning the race, and we went on to the next one and did it again. We got ourselves in a position to continue on, and be able to bring home this championship. This is the first overall championship RPM has ever had before as well as a first Best in the Desert championship for me, so we are pretty stoked about it. Could not have done it without good partners; riding on Toyo Tires and Robby Gordon wheels is a good thing, so it is a great program for all of us,“ Gordon said shortly after the race.

Robby Gordon and the SPEED Energy / RPM Off-road / Toyo Tires truggy had a very successful 2012 Best in the Desert capturing 3 wins including the Bluewater Resort & Casino “Parker 425”, Mint “400”, and the Bluewater Desert Challenge on the way to capturing the Best in the Desert overall class 1500 championship along with the Best of the Desert overall championship for cars and trucks. Below is results and overall times for each event in the 2012 Best of the Desert.

Bluewater Resort & Casino Parker “425” Overall Position: 1 Time on Course: 7: 18: 50: 953

Mint “400” Overall Position: 1 Time on Course: 6: 05: 54: 355

“Vegas to Reno” Overall Position: 2 Time on Course: 9: 01: 58: 235

Bluewater Desert Challenge Overall Position: 1 Time on Course: 2: 42: 52: 667

Henderson 250 Overall Position: 42 Time on Course: 7: 14: 21: 492

Complete results from the Henderson 250 can be found at http://www.bitd.com/. Follow along with everything Robby Gordon by connecting with SPEED Energy on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thespeedenergydrink or Twitter at http://twitter.com/SPEED_ENERGY.