Best in Desert Finale

Mark Kariya | December 3, 2001

Shane Esposito and Kellon Walch closed out the 2001 Best in the Desert Silver State Series by winning the Vegas 200 in four hours, 41 minutes, 59 seconds on their Price Racing KX500 on Saturday, just north of Jean, Nevada. It was the first win of the series for them. American Honda’s Steve Hengeveld and Jonah Street were unable to close the gap and finished second on their XR650R in 4:44:07, though that was good enough to wrap up the series championship for them. Third went to Ty Davis and Nick Pearson on their Montclair Yamaha YZ426F in 4:52:06. Doug Chiapuzio and Paul Krause took fourth overall in 4:58:24 on their Anthony Wholesale KTM 520 M/XC while Mike Childress and Robert Naughton rounded out the top five in 5:01:25 on their XR’s Only XR650R. Of the 61 starting teams, 48 finished. The bikes (and quads) used a different course than the trucks and buggies, though they shared a common main pit area.

Defending series champions Johnny Campbell and Tim Staab were running a strong third on their American Honda CRF450R but DNFed after Staab crashed and was knocked unconscious. He was taken to the hospital with a suspected concussion and possible dislocated shoulder.

Mark Kariya | Contributor

Kariya spends way too much time in the desert, but we’re glad he does as he’s the man who gets us our coverage of all things sandy.