An Open Letter to the Off-Road Racing Community from Daryl and Bryan Folks

A little over three and a half years ago, we lost our father, Casey Folks, to a sudden and unexpected illness. And though his passing was a shock to the entire off-road racing community, we can assure you that no one grieves his loss more than the two of us. We loved our father deeply. He was a rock, a legend, an irresistible force of nature, but first and foremost, he was our dad. We are his true legacy and he lives on through us and through his organization.

We learned long ago that we shared our father with off-road racing; with the racers, support crews, sponsors, fans, and his beloved Best In The Desert network. And even though everyone misses him, we, his family, live with the constant reminder that we can no longer experience his physical presence, hear his voice, feel his touch, and laugh together.

We share these thoughts in response to comments and rumors we’ve recently read in the press and on social media questioning our father’s legacy and the future of Best In The Desert. This letter is meant to clarify a few things and to set the record straight. Before our father passed, he made it very clear through his Trust and private conversations that he wanted us, his sons, to continue to operate Best In The Desert and lead the organization forward. He imparted his philosophy on life, business, and racing and taught us the importance of treating others with dignity and respect. And while we freely admit we may not live up to his extremely high standards all the time, we have made every effort to do our best to measure up to those ideals.

Over the years, many parties approached us about purchasing Best In The Desert, including some of our internal staff. From the start, we made our position on this matter very clear. We remain committed to our father’s legacy to keep Best In the Desert in the Folks family name. Has it been a bed of roses? Has it been easy? We can assure you it has not. Off-road racing is a very challenging, 24/7 business. The sport has never faced more challenges or as much adversity as it has this past year dealing with COVID-19. Despite the challenges, however, Best In The Desert has never been bigger, better, or stronger than it is right now.

The past year has seen many changes but we continue to strive for a safe, comfortable, and autonomous workplace. Our brand new office, work environment, additional resources, marketing efforts, and so much more are considered long-term investments to lead Best In The Desert into a new era with a wider audience.

This year also saw the introduction of the Maxxis Triple Crown, our biggest payback for racers in Best In The Desert history. 2020 has been anything but easy, but we know how important it is to take care of our own. We are proud of our new website, our social media efforts, and a new television package, all meant to better promote our racers, sponsors, and, in turn, our racing series.

We want to assure everyone of the following:

• We remain committed to this sport and our father’s business.
• We are more motivated than ever to continue to grow Best In The Desert.
• We will continue to fulfill our father’s mission to organize the best off-road desert races in the world.
• Our new, highly-experienced, and passionate off-road Race Operations Mgr., Jeff Phillips, along with powersports industry legend and AMA Hall of Famer Scot Harden leading business development and sponsor relations, are ready to take Best In The Desert to the next level.
• Our partners at Motorsports Safety Solutions and the rest of our hard-working staff remain loyal.
• We are an organization of highly accomplished racers including multi-time Baja 1000 overall winners, Vegas to Reno winners, Best In The Desert Champions, and Dakar veterans in both cars and motorcycles.
• Like our father, we will continue to manage Best In The Desert from a racer’s point of view.
• We will continue to treat everyone equally and fairly and keep an open-door policy for feedback and advice.
• We will continue to put on fun, safe, and well-organized off-road events focusing on camaraderie and a sense of adventure.

We invite everyone who loves the open, dusty horizon, rumbling engines, and high octane to continue on this journey with Best In The Desert. Our organization was established to be a shining example of the sport’s pinnacle, and we plan to keep it that way. We need to come together to make sure that desert off-road racing at its highest form is reaching the large mainstream audiences that sponsors, racers, and the media have come to expect.

If your goal is to race against the best, to test yourself across a wide variety of off-road racing conditions, to do so in front of the largest audience in the sport, as our father often said, “Come Live Your Adventure with Best In The Desert.”

We are our father’s legacy and we are Best In The Desert. Thank you for your time, and see you at the races!