When looking for the ultimate challenge, riders and racers from all over flock to Glen Helen Raceway in early October for the annual 24 Hours of Glen Helen. Testing both man and machine like no other, very rarely will anyone experience a perfect race with no mechanicals, rider mishaps or setbacks throughout the 24-hour period. Well, the SLR Honda squad brought a powerhouse team including Cole Martinez, Jack Simpson, Ryan Surratt and Chance Hymas to this year’s event and they executed as well as any.
At 10 a.m. sharp, the four Open Pro bikes came to life with the lone two-stroke of Tyler Nicholson firing first and rounding Talladega at the front of the field. Through the first lap, the top three of Colton Aeck, Clayton Roberts and Cole Martinez swapped positions several times before settling into this respective running order by the end of the first lap, with a small gap to the Nicholson team. Through the first few hours, the running order stayed relatively the same as the Honda squad seemed to be taking the long game and settling into the race.
Around three hours in, the Honda team made their first move with Hymas aboard and passed into second with their sights set on the leading team of Aeck. Another rider rotation later, Surratt made his way around the 3Bros Kilmartin Racing team to pass into the lead where they would never look back. While the top two teams stayed relatively close through the afternoon, the defending champs (Trevor Hunter team) were forced out at the fifth hour due to a mechanical issue, ending their hopes of competing for a repeat win.
Behind the two Pro teams, two Expert teams were clawing their way up the overall rankings with none other than past teammates and team owners Colton Udall (Brandon Petersen team) and Mark Samuels (Robert Youngs team) going back and forth as they sat in the top five overall as “Vet” teams.
As night falls on Glen Helen Raceway, the real race begins as teams are daunted with power lights, deep silt, thick dust and riders strewn all over the course as the difficulty factor increases. Holding a steady 2–3-minute lead through the afternoon, the SLR Honda team started rolling at night and saw the lead grow nearly every lap from there. Early in the morning, the Kilmartin Racing KTM team experienced a big setback, having to replace quite a few parts in hopes of saving their race. However, they too were forced out for the remainder, only having enough life left in the bike to ride the final lap and score a finish. The Tyler Nicholson team also experienced some setbacks due to lighting issues, but they were able to get going again and finish the remainder of the race.
The real battle continued to be for top Expert supremacy and overall position as the two 30+ Honda teams duked it out all through the night and into the final moments of the race. With Samuels and Udall on dueling squads and finishing the race for their respective teams, all eyes were on these two as they threw down their fastest laps of the race on the final laps just seconds apart.
When the checkers flew Sunday morning, Surratt crossed them first for the SLR Honda Pro squad with 76 laps. Meanwhile, the battle for second raged on, but Samuels held on to lead the SLR/San Diego Powerhouse Honda team to second overall and first 30+ Expert with Udall taking the AHM Factory Services Honda team to third overall and second 30+ Expert, both with 73 laps each.
Other notable finishers include top Ironman Dustin Mcmanus with 50 laps, top Women’s team of Lauren Woods with 56 laps, and top 85cc team of Jaxson Patridge with 58 laps.
Trevor Hunter
- Cole Martinez (Hon)
- Robert Youngs (Hon)
- Brandon Petersen (Hon)
- Tyler Nicholson (KTM)
- Jesse Canepa (KTM)
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