Team Green’s Destry Abbott ran a close second to reigning series champ Russell Pearson for most of the day at the Threat Racing King of the Desert National put on for the first time by Roadrunner Off Road Racing, round three of the AMA/FMF Racing National Hare & Hound Series. However, Abbott led the miles that counted most when he crossed the finish line first at the Superstition OHV Area near El Centro, California. It marked the second series win in a row and puts the Pro Circuit/Dunlop/THOR-backed KX450F rider in the driver’s seat to regain the title that Pearson took from him last year.
For Pearson, a day that started out well ended in frustration as the Zip-Ty Racing/Montclair Yamaha/Moose YZ450F-mounted rider finished third for the second National in a row. Actually, he was lucky to have finished, as a near-fatal engine problem cropped up in the final miles to slow him down, letting Honda’s Kendall Norman past for second.Pearson got a good jump off the line and took the lead just before the end of the bomb run, with Abbott tucking in behind and Norman third. Norman—riding the same Precision Concepts/Pro Honda Oils/O’Neal CRF450X that he and Robby Bell had won the San Felipe 250 on two weeks before—had a great view of the battle for first. “They just started dicing, like crazy-style!” he exclaimed. “They were going back and forth, and I just kind of sat back and watched.”Their battle gave them a little room on the rest of the field but not on each other, with Abbott hanging right at the edge of Pearson’s dust when he wasn’t on his fender. But as they started the second and more technical loop, Pearson lost the course, giving Abbott the opportunity to once again latch onto Pearson’s fender.”This is where the race got a lot more fun for me,” Abbott said. “I could ride a second or two behind Russ and just key off him. It was a lot of fun, and at one point I got right next to him and we rode like that for a little bit.”We really had some great, clean racing going on, and I was having a lot of fun.”Pearson related, “One time he saw [the course] veer to the right; he’s pointing to the right because he didn’t want me to take him out!”Side by side or nose to tail, the two rode for miles in the sand dunes of the second loop, but when they got into some of the steep, rocky drop-offs both had their problems, tipping over and getting back up several times.With about 15 miles to go, however, Pearson said, “I just had kind of a freak little issue, and I ended up losing a lot of time and had some more issues. Just right at the end Kendall passed me. Third sucks really bad. I can’t be doing that (getting thirds); it’s killing me. Those, basically, are my two throwaways.”"I was bummed for him because we had such a great race going all day,” Abbott said. “I know it would’ve come down to the very end of the race to see who was going to win.”In a case of déja vu from last year’s event (which was put on by another club), Abbott and the first few finishers discovered that the end of the race course had no marking. In fact, the first riders caught up to a club member on an ATV still putting up ribbon. (The club was going to run the end of the race near the bomb run and needed to wait until all waves had started, but that area got too busy with recreational riders so they went with Plan B.)”It was really weird because it’s a place that’s kind of like Mexico to me,” Abbott commented later. “It’s a place that you can’t ride 100 percent so you’ve got to be smart and look at the course markings and just be really careful.”I didn’t want to try to get out front and try to leave him. I don’t have a problem following.”I could smell his bike burning so I knew something must’ve been happening.”And what’s happening in the series is that Abbott has extended his point lead over Pearson, 85-72, thanks to his 2-1-1 finishes to date. Pearson’s gone 1-3-3 while Norman sits in third with 50 points from his DNF-2-2.King of the Desert National Results
1. Destry Abbott, Kawasaki KX450F
2. Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X
3. Russell Pearson, Yamaha YZ450F
4. David Pearson, KTM 540 XC
5. Kellon Walch, KTM 525 XC
6. Carl Maassberg, Yamaha YZ450F
7. David Kamo, KTM 450 XC
8. Matt Gosnell, KTM 525 XC
9. Mathew Henderson, Kawasaki KX250
10. Quinn Cody, Honda CRF450X
11. Ryan Kudla, Yamaha YZ450F
12. Cameron Corfman, KTM
13. Dave Byrd, KTM
14. David Graham, Yamaha
15. Bob Roberts, Kawasaki
16. Eric Carnes, Honda
17. Zack Dodson, Suzuki RM125
18. Timothy Scott, Yamaha
19. James Henderson, Honda
20. Chilly White, KTM
For Pearson, a day that started out well ended in frustration as the Zip-Ty Racing/Montclair Yamaha/Moose YZ450F-mounted rider finished third for the second National in a row. Actually, he was lucky to have finished, as a near-fatal engine problem cropped up in the final miles to slow him down, letting Honda’s Kendall Norman past for second.Pearson got a good jump off the line and took the lead just before the end of the bomb run, with Abbott tucking in behind and Norman third. Norman—riding the same Precision Concepts/Pro Honda Oils/O’Neal CRF450X that he and Robby Bell had won the San Felipe 250 on two weeks before—had a great view of the battle for first. “They just started dicing, like crazy-style!” he exclaimed. “They were going back and forth, and I just kind of sat back and watched.”Their battle gave them a little room on the rest of the field but not on each other, with Abbott hanging right at the edge of Pearson’s dust when he wasn’t on his fender. But as they started the second and more technical loop, Pearson lost the course, giving Abbott the opportunity to once again latch onto Pearson’s fender.”This is where the race got a lot more fun for me,” Abbott said. “I could ride a second or two behind Russ and just key off him. It was a lot of fun, and at one point I got right next to him and we rode like that for a little bit.”We really had some great, clean racing going on, and I was having a lot of fun.”Pearson related, “One time he saw [the course] veer to the right; he’s pointing to the right because he didn’t want me to take him out!”Side by side or nose to tail, the two rode for miles in the sand dunes of the second loop, but when they got into some of the steep, rocky drop-offs both had their problems, tipping over and getting back up several times.With about 15 miles to go, however, Pearson said, “I just had kind of a freak little issue, and I ended up losing a lot of time and had some more issues. Just right at the end Kendall passed me. Third sucks really bad. I can’t be doing that (getting thirds); it’s killing me. Those, basically, are my two throwaways.”"I was bummed for him because we had such a great race going all day,” Abbott said. “I know it would’ve come down to the very end of the race to see who was going to win.”In a case of déja vu from last year’s event (which was put on by another club), Abbott and the first few finishers discovered that the end of the race course had no marking. In fact, the first riders caught up to a club member on an ATV still putting up ribbon. (The club was going to run the end of the race near the bomb run and needed to wait until all waves had started, but that area got too busy with recreational riders so they went with Plan B.)”It was really weird because it’s a place that’s kind of like Mexico to me,” Abbott commented later. “It’s a place that you can’t ride 100 percent so you’ve got to be smart and look at the course markings and just be really careful.”I didn’t want to try to get out front and try to leave him. I don’t have a problem following.”I could smell his bike burning so I knew something must’ve been happening.”And what’s happening in the series is that Abbott has extended his point lead over Pearson, 85-72, thanks to his 2-1-1 finishes to date. Pearson’s gone 1-3-3 while Norman sits in third with 50 points from his DNF-2-2.King of the Desert National Results
1. Destry Abbott, Kawasaki KX450F
2. Kendall Norman, Honda CRF450X
3. Russell Pearson, Yamaha YZ450F
4. David Pearson, KTM 540 XC
5. Kellon Walch, KTM 525 XC
6. Carl Maassberg, Yamaha YZ450F
7. David Kamo, KTM 450 XC
8. Matt Gosnell, KTM 525 XC
9. Mathew Henderson, Kawasaki KX250
10. Quinn Cody, Honda CRF450X
11. Ryan Kudla, Yamaha YZ450F
12. Cameron Corfman, KTM
13. Dave Byrd, KTM
14. David Graham, Yamaha
15. Bob Roberts, Kawasaki
16. Eric Carnes, Honda
17. Zack Dodson, Suzuki RM125
18. Timothy Scott, Yamaha
19. James Henderson, Honda
20. Chilly White, KTM
