Top Adventure Racing Team in America: Team ‘Toyota Tundra’ Surges to Lead

After competing in races across the U.S., the co-ed Adventure Racing team jumped into first place in the USARA Points Ranking after winning the epic 30-hour Stubborn Mule Adventure Race.

Team Toyota Tundra is a co-ed Adventure Racing team that GearJunkie assembled this year in partnership with Toyota.

The U.S. Adventure Racing Association (USARA) recently updated its points series standings, which provides an ongoing ranking of teams across the country based on their race results at USARA-affiliated and USARA-sanctioned events. Teams score points for their top five finishes of the year based on a rankings calculation that combines Race Length with a team’s Overall Finish Place.

Currently, the top three teams are 1) Team Toyota Tundra with 402 points, 2) Strong Machine AR with 369 points, and 3) Rib Mountain Racing with 283 points. More details on the team’s races, finish place, and points can be found under “USARA Points Ranking” on the Adventure Racing microsite.

A Successful 2022 for Team Toyota Tundra

Team Toyota Tundra, led by captain and navigator Justin Bakken, has six first overall finishes (of the seven Adventure Races it’s competed in). The team finished second overall at the 12-hour Code Blue Challenge in Wisconsin. The team’s roster fluctuates but regularly features Justin Bakken, Mari Chandler, and Brian Mayer.

Team Toyota Tundra’s athleticism and navigational brilliance were put on display most recently at the brutal Stubborn Mule Adventure Race, held near Cable, Wisc., on June 25. They were the only team to “clear the course,” successfully navigating to all 65 course checkpoints and crossing the finish line well under the 30-hour cutoff at 28:12:10.

The team raced against the third-ranked team, Rib Mountain Racing, at this year’s 18-hour Berryman Adventure Race. Rib Mountain finished second overall in that race, behind Team Toyota Tundra.

The 2022 USARA season started in August 2021 and will conclude this September at the 30-hour National Championship race held on September 17, 2022, near Bishop, Calif., in the Eastern Sierra Mountains.

Team Toyota Tundra has just two or three more races remaining on its schedule before the National Championship. This weekend, the team heads to New Gloucester, Maine, to compete in another Regional Championship race, the 24-hour Maine Summer Adventure Race, from July 16 to 17. The race will feature trekking, biking, and paddling: common adventure race disciplines.

Both GearJunkie and Toyota will attend the Maine race event this coming weekend, where a 2022 Toyota Tundra will be onsite for race participants to interact with. GearJunkie will post photos and videos from the race on Instagram. Be sure to check it out for an inside look at a fun-filled Adventure Racing weekend.

Additional Information

Read more about Adventure Racing and the Team Toyota Tundra team members. Plus, check out our Adventure Racing microsite for tons of great content, including Adventure Racing 101 articles, Gear Roundups, News, Gear Giveaways, Race Calendar, Points Ranking, and more.

This article is sponsored by Toyota. Find out more about the 2022 Toyota Tundra online. 

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