Campbell/Hengeveld Lead Honda 1-2-3 at Nevada 1000

Defending series champions Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld took a huge step in keeping their number one plate in Best in the Desert's Silver State Series by winning all four days of the inaugural McMillin Nevada 1000 on their XR650R. In doing so, they led a Honda sweep of the top three spots with fellow Precision Concepts/Honda Pro Oils/HRCA teammates Robby Bell and Kendall Norman the runners-up and the XR's Only/Temecula Motorsports/O'Neal pair of Mike Childress and Chuck Dempsey finishing third overall, first Four-stroke Pro.

The event wrapped up with a third consecutive day in Tonopah, though the loop was a relative sprint loop of 119 miles down the west side of Interstate 95 to a few miles south of Goldfield, the back up the east side and finishing on the south side of town. And it ended much as it began, at least for the winners. With the lead and potential victory well in hand, the Honda team put Hengeveld on the bike for the entire distance, and he once again ran away from the field, stopping the clock at two hours, 11 minutes and 57 seconds, unofficially. That brought the Campbell/Hengeveld total time to 17:27:00.

"Everything went as planned," Campbell summarized. "We had a strategy [and] we stuck to it. We had a couple obstacles to overcome—flat tires and whatnot—but all in all, Steve took the majority of the race and rode like a true champion and just pulled the lead. So, when I got on the bike, any time I rode, it was just get the bike back to him and not make any mistakes."

Several other leading teams found out firsthand what mistakes could do on the final day. The Team Green/Pro Circuit/Dunlop-backed KX500 of Shane Esposito and David Pearson rolled up to the starting line having turned in the second-fastest time of day three. Unfortunately, it didn't roll any farther under its own power as it refused to start, a crushing disappointment for both racers who hoped to keep their series title hopes alive with a good finish. They would still be credited with eighth in total time at 20:17:45.

After his bike's clutch went out en route to the first pit on day three, Childress had to play catch-up, eventually forcing his way through the dust to finish sixth overall. He continued to move ahead on the final day, eventually working his way up to second overall in an unofficial 2:14:49 despite breaking his foot after hitting a hidden rock a few miles from the finish. His total time was 17:58:26.

The Bell/Norman duo started the day fourth off the line after holding second much of day three, only to lose it in the final miles when Norman got lost for a few moments. That dropped them back in cumulative time standings as well, and they knew it would take mistakes or misfortune on the part of those ahead for them to get back into second behind their senior American Honda teammates.

Amazingly, that's what happened.

"It was a very interesting day—lots of ups and downs after Kendall got lost yesterday," Bell said. "But then I got the call over the radio that the Kawi didn't start, didn't make it to the start line. I was pretty much dancing! Basically, all we had to do today [after that] was just keep the KTM in sight."

That they did—at least until before the first pit when Andy Grider hit a rock and cartwheeled the Red Bull/Michelin/Motorex 690 LC4 Rally machine at speed. He was able to get the bike to the pit and give it to partner Chris Blais, but that was it for Grider, who suffered a lacerated elbow, strained shoulder, pulled hamstring, tweaked knee and assorted other hurts. Blais would take the slightly bent bike to fifth for the day in an unofficial 2:28:22, putting their total time at 18:02:44 for fourth overall, third Open Pro.

(Fellow Red Bull KTM Dakar Rally racers Marc Coma and Kellon Walch fared worse with their 525 M/XC quitting suddenly in the first half of the loop. Unable to restart it, Walch could only wait for his pit crew to pick him up and take him back to the main pit—where the bike fired up. The DNF for the day dropped them to ninth overall on total four-day time.)

So, while others dropped by the wayside, Bell and Norman found themselves running second behind Hengeveld and back into second in total time. So even when Childress passed them near the end, they didn't really mind. As Bell admitted, "Mikey caught us, which was fine because he had a reason to push to try to catch the KTM. All we wanted to do was finish second overall, and we were stoked!"

And Childress' runner-up for the day in 2:14:49, unofficially, did get him back on the podium with the third-best total time.

"It was a tough week for some people," as Bell noted. "Our week's been great. We didn't really have any problems—I mean, Kendall got lost [on day three] and that was the only problem we had all week so you couldn't ask for a much better race."

And indeed, the general feeling was that promoter Casey Folks had another popular event on his hands, though he'll be unable to put it on again without substantial sponsorship assistance. Still, the next race in the series—the TSCO Vegas to Reno 500-miler in October—is also well received.

Unofficial Nevada 1000 Motorcycle Results - Day Four
1. Johnny Campbell/Steve Hengeveld, Honda XR650R
2. Mike Childress/Chuck Dempsey, Honda XR650R
3. Robby Bell/Kendall Norman, Honda XR650R
4. Paul Emerson/Gil Grieve, KTM 525 M/XC
5. Christopher Blais/Andy Grider, KTM 690 LC4 Rally
6. Clint Braun/Matt Gosnell, KTM 525 M/XC
7. Nick Fain/Josh Wilson, Honda CR500R
8. Nick Daily/Mike Korenwinder, Honda XR650R
9. David Dunn/Jerry Herling/William M. O'Hara, KTM 525 M/XC
10. Steve Bailor/Mark Goelz/Brett Stubbe, Honda XR650R

Unofficial Nevada 1000 Motorcycle Results - Four-Day Total
1. Johnny Campbell/Steve Hengeveld
2. Robby Bell/Kendall Norman
3. Mike Childress/Chuck Dempsey
4. Christopher Blais/Andy Grider
5. Paul Emerson/Gil Grieve
6. Nick Fain/Josh Wilson
7. Nick Daily/Mike Korenwinder
8. Shane Esposito/David Pearson
9. Marc Coma/Kellon Walch, KTM 525 M/XC
10. Steve Bailor/Mark Goelz/Brett Stubbe