Wrangell Gubler ironmaned the 2021 Best in the Desert Vegas to Reno race on a 1986 Honda 350X three-wheeler, or ATC, the moniker given to all Honda produced three-wheeled ATVs. He won his class and was the only three-wheeled vehicle to finish the longest off-road race in the United States. 489 miles on a three-wheeler. Solo.

"That might look like a normal dude, but trust me, that is Superman on an ATC," said fellow competitor David Ham, "This is the biggest thing to happen for trike racing in over 30 years."

In Wrangell's own words:

 

As much as I have always loved Desert Racing I always thought that becoming a racer would just fall into place. In April of this year, I realized that nothing could be further from the truth. I thought to myself, “It’s now or never!”

 

In May of 2021, I entered the World Hare and Hound Championship with Best In The Desert where I got second place in my class. It was there that I met Nolan Rudd the tech inspector for Best In The Desert. I propositioned him to allow me to race my 1986 Honda 350X three-wheeler in the upcoming Vegas to Reno race. After some meetings with Best In The Desert officials, Nolan was able to make my 20+ year dream come true.

 

A few weeks later I was looking for another desert race that allowed motorcycles and talked to BJ and Laura at VORRA. I inquired about racing my dirtbike in VORRA’s upcoming Fallon 250 race when BJ said, “Why don’t you enter the three-wheeler!“ I could not believe my ears. This was going to be the first desert race on a three-wheeler I had ever done. Furthermore, I hadn’t heard of anybody racing a three-wheeler in the desert (in America) in 30 years.

 

With no three-wheeler class, I entered the Pro Quad class for the Fallon 250 and came in third place on a three-wheeler! After a month or so of announcements and promotion on social media, we had enough people signed up with Best In The Desert to create our own class. This was huge because Best In The Desert had never allowed three-wheelers in the past and this would be the first time. I was able to Iron Man finish 485 miles of the Vegas to Reno race and come in first place.

 

A month later I entered Vorra’s Yerington 300 race where I was able to get third overall in the quad class and first place in Open Three Wheeler Expert. Future plans include the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix in another month and I am signed up to race the Mint 400 In 5-1600.

 

No doubt I could not have made this happen without my sponsors, friends, and family.

 

Ruby J Farms

IMS Products

Rugged Radios

Sprocket Specialists

Reno Motorsports

99 Studios

903 Tactical

D&D Transmissions

Samco Fabrication

James Donaldson

Jayme Skinner

Nick Fickle

Chad Taylor

Norma and Tony Camella

And of course my wonderful wife Stephanie

To me off-road is about freedom, family, and connecting with nature at speed and sometimes going slow, It’s about the machines, dust, race gas and glory, dreams, horsepower, and heroes. It’s about connecting with like-minded people with adrenaline addiction issues. Future plans include a couple of much faster three-wheelers and eventually, I would like to start racing trucks.