Honda duo chalk up another Baja 500 win

Critics say that Team Honda's Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld have no competition in Baja, but don't tell that to either of them - or the trio that finished runner-up at the 36th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500. That race saw Chris Blais, Quinn Cody and Kendall Norman catch and actually pass the Baja veterans, albeit the pass lasted only a few minutes at best.

But for a long, long time, 19-year-old Norman hounded 33-year-old Campbell as they raced from the Pacific side of the Baja peninsula, east over the mountains and Mike's Sky Rancho to the interior farmland of Valle de Trinidad.

"He saw my dust trail, and I think he just went for it," Campbell said. "He caught up to my dust and was within 200 yards or a minute back - depending on how bad the dust was - for my whole ride. It really put a lot of pressure on me. Fortunately, I was able to keep it upright, not make any mistakes and keep them behind me until I gave the bike back to Steve."

At that point, they lost the lead temporarily when Precision Concepts honcho Bob Bell noticed the front wheel had a handful of broken or missing spokes (later determined to be from the hub breaking apart) and needed replacing immediately, prompting him to jump in front of Hengeveld before he could leave the pit. So, after the unscheduled extra 45 seconds, Hengeveld got back into the race just as Blais pulled alongside, putting the Blais-led team into the lead on adjusted time at that point.

"We went up the 'Goat Trail' side by side; that's when I made my pass," Hengeveld said. "I just said, 'Okay, you've got 'em. Now just try to ride the best and hardest that you can go and hang it out a little bit,' and that's what I did. I really wanted to win this race really bad, and I'm just glad everything worked out."

Hengeveld put seven minutes, unofficially, on the eventual runners-up en route to the finish line to put his name in the record books as the only racer to take the overall five consecutive times at the 500 - each time on an XR650R. The last three times, of course, have been with Campbell who also can claim five overalls at the Baja 500, though not consecutively. And that puts them into a four-way tie for Baja 500 overalls with fellow motorcycle racers Paul Krause and Bruce Ogilvie, neither of who competed. Still, they have a way to go before matching Larry Roeseler's nine overalls on a bike (plus two in a truck, LR picking up another class win at this one by teaming with Troy Herbst in their truggy for the Class 1 victory and second overall car).

Chuck Dempsey and Andy Grider rounded out the top three bikes on another XR650R - the choice of the top eight motorcycle finishers. The first two bikes beat the first four-wheeled vehicle with Blais/Cody/Norman 35 minutes faster than the winning four-wheeler, which was a Class 1 buggy.