Mike Childress (shown) and Quinn Cody dominated Parker, winning by more than 11 minutes.
You knew it had to happen sooner or later. After all, Mike Childress claimed nearly every win in the Four-stroke Pro class during the 2005 Best in the Desert Silver State Series, and in 2006 it appears he intends to continue that dominance in the Open Pro category. Teamed with Quinn Cody, the pair ran away with the Epic Racing Products Parker 250, round one of the 2006 BITD SSS, completing the three-lap, 232-mile event in an unmatched four hours, 39 minutes and six seconds aboard their Berkley Honda/IMS/O'Neal-backed XR650R. Open Experts Brian Melsheimer and Jason Trubey claimed second overall, first in class, on their Temecula Motorsports/Suspension by Jake/FMF CRF450X in 4:50:32 followed by fellow Open Experts Chris Ray, Jeff Trulove and Robby Woods on their FMF/GPR/IMS KTM 525 M/XC.
The Brian Melsheimer/ Jason Trubey pair scored a spectacular runner-up finish.
Paul Krause held second overall for much of the race on his Malcolm Smith
Motorsports/FMF/MSR KTM 250 XC, soloing the race for Elmer Symons who is working as a mechanic at the Dakar Rallye for fellow BITD competitor James Embro. He got held up behind a trio of ATVs, however, and besides allowing the pack to catch up, that threw his rhythm off, and fatigue became a factor. Krause would hold on for fourth overall in 5:01:20, with Open Experts Daniel Davis, Chris Garnett and Wade Phillips rounding out the top five bikes in 5:10:14 on their Davis Construction/RN Drywall/Firehouse Grahpics Yamaha WR450F.
The Chris Ray/ Jeff Trulove/ Robby Woods team got second Open Expert and third overall.
But besides the Childress/Cody victory, Honda made news for who wasn't there: defending race and series champions Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld. Honda's Bruce Ogilvie put to rest any rumors about Campbell's retirement by saying, "Johnny's role as a racer is being scaled back. He's not retiring; he's just going to be racing a whole lot less, and he's moving more into a team coordinator role."
Ogilvie explained that Honda seeks to move into more arenas in order to better showcase a more diverse product line. "Honda's now got [CRF]450Rs, 450Xs—a lot of products that we can race—so what we've done is we've shifted our focus a bit. We're going to have Steve and Kendall [Norman] do all the [AMA/FMF Racing] National Hare & Hounds this year. Robby [Bell] is going to branch out and do the WORCS events. I hope to be able to put a program together to have Mike be our arm at the Best in the Desert events."
Campbell and Hengeveld will take part in the next BITD race, the Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles and round four, the TSCO Vegas to Reno. They will also compete in the three SCORE Baja races as part of a two-team Honda effort.
Paul Krause soloed Parker, riding a 250 two-stroke for the first time in years and ending up fourth overall.
Parker 250 Results - Top Motorcycles Overall
1. Mike Childress/Quinn Cody, Honda XR650R
2. Brian Melsheimer/Jason Trubey, Honda CRF450X
3. Chris Ray/Jeff Trulove/Robby Woods, KTM 525 M/XC
4. Paul Krause, KTM 250 XC
5. Daniel Davis/Chris Garnett/Wade Phillips, Yamaha WR450F
6. Charlie Barney/Steve Pitts, ATK 605
7. Shaun Hanson/Jimmy McKay, Honda CRF450X
8. Kenji Gauthier/Tom E. Willis, Yamaha YZ450F
9. Jody Braasch/Jim Jaquette, Honda CRF450
10. Kyle Hucklebridge, Honda XR650R