With early leader Destry Abbott out of the race after a hard crash on day five, Honda’s Johnny Campbell and Tim Staab assumed the overall lead in the Nevada 2000 even though fellow XR650R racers Steve Hengeveld and Jonah Street won the day.
Going into the final 215-mile section yesterday from Tonopah to Pahrump, Campbell and Staab needed to stay within 12 minutes of Hengeveld/Street, unofficially, in order to seal the victory. With Staab also out of the running with four broken bones in his left foot after a day-four crash, Campbell faced the prospect of racing the roughest section of the week by himself while fighting off the lingering effects of a flu bug which manifested itself after day four.
Though Staab dressed in order to race if absolutely necessary, Campbell managed to pull off the overall by finishing the last day in second place to Hengeveld/Street, who ended up the week’s runners-up, unofficially.
Third overall for the day went to 250cc Pros Bryan Folks and Matt Murphy, though their effort was too late, and they took second in class overall, unofficially, on their Sportsman Cycle KTM 250. Yamaha-mounted Danny Cooper and Matt Gosnell won the class, even though they unofficially finished behind their KTM rivals on the last two days.
Rick Bozarth and Daryl Folks hung on for fourth overall for the day but third overall and first Over 30 Pro team for the week on their Sportsman Cycle KTM 300. Darrol and Kevin Brown took second in that class.
Chad Houck, Tex Mitchell and Phillip Zieger were the first Expert team to finish, and they broke into the top 10 on their Baja Designs XR650R. After Houck broke a collarbone on day four, Mitchell and Zieger split the riding chores to beat the next Expert team (also Open Experts) of Bert Bradford, Rob Phillips and Cody Young.
As for Abbott, he was treated at a local hospital for a concussion and received stitches in his chin and tongue. He headed for home in Arizona while teammate Brown soloed the final day in order to salvage points by finishing the event.
Official results should be available soon.
