Johnny Angal and UTV Inc. won the 2015 Best in the Desert Pro UTV championship after a dramatic season finale at the Henderson 250. Angal secured the title by only two points over Cognito Motorsports racer Justin Lambert, completing one of the closest UTV championship battles of the season.
The championship added another major accomplishment to Angal’s racing record following his victory in the 2014 SCORE Baja 1000. He captured the BITD title during only his second season of desert racing.
Championship Decided at the Henderson 250
Angal entered the Henderson 250 with the advantage in the Class 1900 championship standings, but the series’ throwout-race rule made the final points calculation unusually complicated.
Lambert and co-driver Justin Sheakley finished fourth in the No. 1918 Cognito Motorsports Polaris RZR after racing most of the approximately 160-mile event with a badly bent right-front lower control arm. Angal encountered his own problems and finished 22nd.
Initially, the Cognito team believed it had overcome Angal’s points lead. However, Henderson became Angal’s throwout race, leaving him with 739 championship points against Lambert’s 737.
Read Justin Lambert’s first-person Henderson 250 race report for the full story of Cognito’s championship challenge.
2015 BITD Pro UTV Championship Results
- Johnny Angal — UTV Inc. / Polaris: 739 points
- Justin Lambert — Cognito Motorsports / Polaris: 737 points
- Derek and Jason Murray — Murray Racing / Can-Am: Third in the season standings
The Murray brothers completed their 38th consecutive BITD race and became the only Pro UTV team that season to finish in the top three in both the Best in the Desert and SCORE championship standings.
Branden Sims finished fifth in the BITD season standings, followed by Dan Fisher in sixth and Logan Gastel in seventh.
S3 Racing Wins the Henderson 250
Although Angal earned the season championship, the Henderson 250 race victory went to Shane Dowden and Dustin Jones in the No. 1978 Can-Am/S3 Racing Maverick MAX 1000R.
Dowden moved into the driver’s seat for the finale while Jones served as co-driver. They completed two laps in 3:14:56.027, earning the rookie desert-racing team its second BITD victory of the season.
See the complete 2015 Henderson 250 UTV race recap.
Angal and Lambert’s 2015 Seasons
Angal’s consistency throughout the seven-round season ultimately delivered the championship, even though his Henderson result was removed from his final points total.
Lambert entered the finale with considerable momentum after back-to-back victories at Vegas to Reno and the BlueWater Desert Challenge. Cognito’s fourth-place Henderson finish left the team only two points short of the title.
Both championship contenders raced Polaris RZR platforms equipped with ITP UltraCross R Spec tires. Angal’s program also included support from Method Race Wheels, Rigid Industries, FOX shocks and Lone Star Racing. Cognito’s program included Sparks Performance Products, Mystik Lubricants, FOX, Method Race Wheels, Rugged Radios and Rigid Industries.
2015 BITD UTV Championship Summary
The 2015 finale produced two different winners. Shane Dowden and Dustin Jones won the Henderson 250, while Johnny Angal emerged with the larger prize: the Best in the Desert Pro UTV season championship.
Only two points separated Angal and Lambert after a season that included the Mint 400, Silver State 300, Vegas to Reno, BlueWater Desert Challenge and the deciding Henderson 250.
