Support vehicles clog the sides of Highway 95 at the staging area. Torrance Ranch Nature Conservancy Preserve is in the background.
The official start on Pioneer road is less than a mile from Crystal Spring with willows, cottonwoods, breeding Amargosa toads, and migratory birds.
A helicopter takes off from the staging area on private land in Oasis Valley, kicking up dust.
Racers line up in the staging area for the start, some impatiently cutting around slow drivers, going onto saltgrass flats of the Amargosa Riverbed.
Racers lined up and support vehicles trying to get out of the private property hosting the start of the event.
The crowded staging area in the Amargosa River valley.
Race cars cross Highway 95 from the staging area to Pioneer Road, where the race will start, into the desert. Traffic is stopped by flaggers. Bailey's Hot Springs Resort and RV Park is in the distance.
Latecomers line up on Pioneer Road for their chance to race.
Motorcycle tracks rip across BLM land creosote desert. (A private mine lies on the ridge in the distance.)
Dust clouds rise as the main racers tear down washes in the Bullfrog Hills from Oasis Valley. People live a few miles from here.
