Team Honda’s Johnny Campbell and Steve Hengeveld had to dig deep, but a final-lap push by Campbell kept them out in front to win the Henderson’s Terrible 400, the final round in Best in the Desert’s six-race Silver State Series, December 4 The duo completed the 253-mile race in six hours, 44 minutes and 56 seconds, aboard a Precision Concepts/Dunlop/Honda Pro Oils-sponsored XR650R.
Privateer KTM racers Matt Gosnell and Carl Mossberg pushed the winners all day, even taking the unofficial lead on adjusted time early on, but they were unable to catch the factory Honda on their SuperMex/Advanced Chiropractic/Needham Realty KTM 525 XC, especially when the rear tire started coming apart on the crucial final lap. Nonetheless, Gosnell and Mossberg would easily take the Open Pro win and second overall in 6:46:00, the only other team to break seven hours.
With Chuck Dempsey unable to attend, Mike Childress had to ride the entire race alone, so he treated it like a fast trail ride in order to make it all the way to the end. It worked, and the XR’s Only/O’Neal/Scott XR650R pilot claimed the Four-Stroke Pro win and third overall in a time of 7:21:27.
Kendall Norman got the Honda “B” team off to a great start, pulling away from the rest of the field at an amazing clip and leading by some seven minutes after 50 miles. However, he crashed heavily not long afterwards, surrendering the lead with a hand injury and a severely bent bike. After two lengthy pit stops to repair the bike, Robby Bell took the Precision Concepts/HRCA/Renthal XR650R for the remaining five laps and soldiered in for third Open Pro, fourth overall, in 7:24:16.
Over 40 Pro winners Scott Glimp and Ron Purvines rounded out the top five (motorcycles), a career-best finish. They stopped the clock at 7:45:09 on their Countrywide Estate Planning/Motorex USA/Sportsman Cycles KTM 450 MXC.
Campbell and Hengeveld’s triumph capped a year in which they dominated the BITD circuit, winning five of the six races, including the last four in a row. They easily retained their series championship, with Bell and Norman ending up an easy second in points. Childress and Dempsey kept their number-one place in the Four-Stroke Pro class, with a record of 2-1-1-1-1-1.
