Mark Kariya | October 15, 2018
A rare Southern California storm the night before and rain during the first half of the race affected all competitors (and spectators) at the Glen Helen 24-hour Endurance Race, but the Precision Concepts/Chaparral Motorsports Kawasaki crew dealt with it best to dominate from start to finish.
Precision Concepts/Chaparral Motorsports Team Wins Glen Helen 24-Hour
How dominant was the quartet of Michael del Fante, Clay Hengeveld, Justin Seeds and Blayne Thompson?
Despite a couple of minor spills requiring parts replacement, they kept a consistently fast pace while splitting time aboard their FMF/Maxxis/Fast House-sponsored KX450F to record 69 laps during the arduous 24 hours, three laps more than the next quickest team: Open Expert winners Jacob Argubright/Nick Garvin/Brandon Peterson/Colton Udall/Ian Young on their AHM/Baja Bound Insurance/Fixe Hardware-backed CRF450X.
The Open Expert victors were, in turn, four laps ahead of third overall, the Over 30 Expert-winning squad of Adam Chapman, Matt Eddy, Jr., Ryan Liebelt, Andrew Puckett, Justin Schultz and Rowan Trefz who campaigned their TBT Racing/Baja Bound Insurance/IMS YZ450FX.
Besides the speedy riding, credit for the win must be shared with the maintenance strategy the team followed with frequent pressure washing in the pits to clear mud from the radiators and to allow better visual inspection for unusual wear or breakage.
On the other end of the spectrum was the Ironman class with eight hardy souls attempting the challenge. Like the team races, though, it really belonged to eventual winner Stephen Pangburn on his Avid Cycles/Precision Blueprints/Extreme Powder Coating YZ450FX who led nearly every lap. Taking the lessons learned from his debut 24-hour two years ago where he finished second, he said, “I got beat [last time] in the latter end of the night so I knew I had to ride as long as I could and get as many laps in because in the morning, you’re just kind of maintaining.
“Once I saw second place come in (for a brief sleep break that is common in the class), I put in another two or three laps and that pretty much secured my spot for the morning.”
Glen Helen 24-Hour Endurance Race
Glen Helen Raceway
San Bernardino, California
OVERALL RESULTS: October 13-14, 2018
- Justin Seeds (Kaw)
- Brandon Peterson (Hon)
- James Schults (Yam)
- Nick Stover (KTM)
- Tyler Nicholson (KTM)
- Kyle Tichenor (Yam)
- Santiago Creel (KTM)
- Seth Brandenbury (KTM)
- Daniel Lick (KTM)
- Justin Dyar (Hon)