Bekki Wik Roars To Victory At A Very Crowded Field Of About 300 Entries In Primm, Nevada

The annual SNORE Battle at Primm brought with it a strong field of almost 300 off-road vehicles along with some of the sport’s highly-respected, top notch-competitors in umpteen categories during the Oct. 10-11 showdown south of Las Vegas.

During a weekend gathering that looked like an entire small town had suddenly move-in east of the I-15 freeway, SNORE once again took its show about 40 miles south of Las Vegas and the reception couldn’t have been any better. With six hotels in the Primm area, virtually everything is put-to-use ranging from playing Black Jack to watching first-class off-road racing.

Once again, SNORE’s legion dedicated souls put together an awesome performance.

Complete with a long line of motor homes, trailers, off-road machinery and anything else that would fit in with the crowd that starts arriving several days in advance, what is known as the “Battle at Primm” drew attracted happy that included the Primm Chamber of Commerce, all of whom loved the outing on land that is largely vacant for the majority of the time until SNORE shows up again to assemble the surroundings once again.

SNORE Off-road fans are dyed-in-the-wool off-road race fans that also have their calendars filled in advance. The fans love the sounds of engines; and when the races come to a halt, they’re equally as happy to see the stars of the races.

Primm is a small town adjacent to the race course that has a hotel, along with several eating facilities. Truth-be-known, the grounds were destined for several housing tracts until the economy collapsed a few years ago.

However, the housing market is once again in the red-hot mode, and it appears that the rally of several years ago is about to rebound once again.

In the meantime, off-road racing is surviving every conceivable challenge while drawing new fans every day.

One of the winners during the most recent SNORE/Primm showdowns was Bekki Wik, who roared to the win in the Class Unlimited Sportsman category. Wik’s victory was very close beating out Jeff Shiroky by a very close margin in a four-lap showdown.

As is the case with every SNORE race, this one had its own personality; one that showed some solid sponsors, fascinating scenery and a built-in Primm Chamber of Commerce that touts the benefits of living in a tiny community far away from the rif-raf that Las Vegas has become since the minute it became a so-called “big city.”

“We had a great amount of entries that people wanted to race because everyone complied well, said John Pellissier, SNORE race official and board member. “I think the event went really well including the mask-wearing. We had a really good variety of classes in race considering that there was another major event on the same weekend (The Martelli’s the UTV World Championships. Our biggest class was the UTVs with more than 50. Needless to say, Primm showed off what it has to offer over the weekend, and the sport of off-road racing lit up the skies in a glorious fashion.

The energetic Wik never looks back as evidenced by her victory in Primm. She got married in 2002, built a house in 2002 and had a baby (Ava) in 2006.

“I have never lost the passion off-road racing, but my direction and responsibilities changed when Ava was born. Life was about Ava, not Bekki. At three years of age, Ava started riding horses (which I know nothing about, other than they are more expensive than racing. Horses became Ava’s passion.”

Without a doubt, little Ava brought another element to the Freeman name, which was first introduced to more than 50 years ago when the group got together at the old Sawdust Saloon to form SNORE.

“We started last in our class Saturday and finished third in class but we beat everyone on time so we won Saturday. It was clean racing, no hitting. I was just driving and having fun. When I got back to the pit, Adam looked at the car and was shocked at the damage to the pre-runner. I had a hole in the radiator, which I guess is why the oil temperature was at 300 degree. The lights were broke and hanging by the wires.

Adam looked at the radiator and said “You are done and can’t race on Sunday. You’re just lucky that you didn’t blow up the engine.”

The ever-enthusiastic Wik, “Oh well, I had a goodtime.”

Not bad for someone like Wik, who hasn’t run a full season since 2000.

Next Race: McKenzie’s Rage at the River, Dec. 10-13.

By Mike Henle