Next week in Ensenada, Mexico
Honda's Johnny Campbell revving for record 11th overall Motorcycle win at 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race
Campbell's JCR team has three factory-supported Hondas as well as
providing Honda Pit Support program;
Racers from 39 States, 20 countries entered to date in
internationally-televised Granddaddy of all desert races;
LOS ANGELES--Desert racing champions become legends in Baja and
Southern California's popular Johhny Campbell is hoping to enter a
league of his own by winning a race-record 11th overall motorcycle title
next week during the legendary 41st Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. The
world's most grueling and famous desert race will be held Nov. 19-23
in Ensenada.
A veteran American Honda factory rider and former longtime Honda
employee, Campbell, 37, of San Clemente, Calif., is completing his first
year as owner of Johnny Campbell Racing (JCR) with three
factory-supported Honda CRF450X motorcycles entered in Class 22 for open
motorcycles that will lead over 150 motorcycles and ATVs into the wilds
of the northern part of the magnificent and mysterious Baja California
peninsula.
Spending more time with logistics and team management this year,
Campbell did pinch hit for then-injured 1x co-rider Kendall Norman, Santa
Barbara, Calif., and won the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 with team rider
of record Robby Bell, Sun City, Calif. Campbell is expected to ride about
a third of this year's race as part of the Bell/Norman team in his
quest to capture an unprecedented 11th overall motorcycle win. The 1x
team won both the SCORE San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Baja 500 this year
and the team will be looking to win SCORE career season point titles No.
11 for Campbell, and third straight for Bell and Norman.
Hoping to break the 10-10 tie in overall motorcycles wins with
legendary Larry Roeseler in this race, Campbell has also signed up on the
JCR's 10x Honda that will be ridden by Caleb Gasselaar, Juniper
Hills, Calif./Timmy Weigand, Santa Clarita, Calif./Quinn Cody, Buellton,
Calif./Tim Morton, Escondido, Calif. While Gasselaar and Weigand are new
to the Honda team, Cody was part of the overall winning motorcycle team
in 2006 and Morton is a veteran Baja racer with four career class wins in
this race.
Riding the third JCR entry, the No. 16x Honda will be the
'futures' that features newcomers San Clemente, Calif./Justin
Seeds, Phelan, Calif., and Bryce Stavron, San Clemente, Calif., with
veteran Baja racer Ron Wilson, Encinitas, Calif.
With over 375 entries expected to compete in 28 Pro and 7 Sportsman
classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs, the granddaddy of all
desert races. Completing its 35th year as the World's foremost desert
racing sanctioning body, the event is the finale of the five-race 2008
SCORE Desert Series. To date entries have come from 39 U.S. States and 20
countries.
"I have been incredibly blessed in my motorcycle racing career,
not only with the opportunities I have received to ride for the Honda
factory team, but even more importantly, to learn how to ride and
about the sport from a great teacher like Bruce Ogilvie," said
Campbell, who also has seven career overall wins in the Tecate SCORE San
Felipe 250 and five in the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.
"Now that my position has changed to team owner, the demands are
even greater and I am thoroughly enjoying the process of developing and
maintaining the next generation of factory-supported Honda desert racers.
We could likely sweep the podium at this year's Tecate SCORE Baja
1000, but the important thing is we will be well-prepared, be riding on
the best equipment available, and should be right in the thick of things
throughout the challenging race. I've ridden just about every inch
of Baja and I can't remember an overall more difficult and demanding
course than this year's race."
Campbell's JCR team has also taken over operation this year of
the prominent Honda pit program that will support more than 50 of the
motorcycle teams entered in the race with 15 pits spread out along the
race course.
In desert racing, riders don't retire as early as other sports,
they move onto the very competitive age-group classes that SCORE offers
at its three Baja races.
Racers are so attracted to riding the magnificent Baja California
peninsula that SCORE has Pro classes for engine size as well as age group
classes for motorcycles and two Pro ATV classes for engine size.
Additionally, SCORE offers competition for two Sportsman Motorcycle
classes based on engine size and one Sportsman ATV Class.
And riders enjoy racing in Baja so much that many ride for multiple
teams, hoping to pull of double class wins if possible.
Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 for open motorcycles
has the most entries to date with 16, followed by age group classes Class
30 (riders 30 and older) with 11 and Class 40 (riders 40 and older) with
10.
Leading the Sportsman classes in the race to date are Sportsman
Motorcycle over 250cc (44), Sportsman ATV and Sportsman Motorcycle under
250cc (16 each).
Testimony to the lure of this great race, all seven Pro motorcycle
and both Pro ATV class winners have returned to defend their titles this
year.
Among the legends of Baja who will be riding in this year's race
are nine riders who have earned 64 class wins between them.
Besides Campbell's 10 wins in Class 22, entered this year are
Chris Haines, Dana Point, Calif. (13, Class 50), Craig Adams, San
Clemente, Calif. (11, co-rider in both Class 50 and Class 40), Jim
O'Neal, Chatsworth, Calif. (7, Class 50 and Class 30), Richard
Jackson, Acton, Calif. (6, Class 60), Bill Nichols, Peoria, Ariz. (5,
co-rider in Class 60), Scott Pfeiffer, Costa Mesa, Calif. (5, co-rider in
Class 50), Tim Morton, Escondido, Calif. (4, co-rider in Class 22) and
Gerardo Rojas, Vicente Guerrero, Mexico (3, co-rider in Class 30).
On the ATV side of the race, the battle for the overall appears to
be between the two Honda-supported teams of No. 1a Danny Prather and No.
8a Wayne Matlock. Both teams ride the new Honda TRX700XX ATV.
Riding with Prather, the 2007 SCORE ATV point champion from Ramona,
Calif., are Mike Cafro, Bonsall, Calif./Chad Prull, Laveen, Ariz. and
Levi Marana, Hemet, Calif.
Riding with Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., who has led teams to victory
in the first two SCORE Baja races this year, are Harold Goodman,
Brownstown, Mich./Marc Spaeth, Ramona, Calif. and Wes Miller, Fallbrook,
Calif.
The motorcycle and ATV classes in this race have also attracted
adventurers from not only the U.S. and Mexico, but also, Australia,
Canada, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Israel,
Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
To make the challenge even greater, nearly three dozen Motorcycle
and ATV riders are expected to enter the race as a solo rider. If they
succeed, they will each receive one of the prestigious Sal Fish SCORE
IronRider awards.
So far, these 32 riders have officially confirmed they will be
attempting to ride solo: Class 22--4x Jack McCormick; Class
30--303x Lloyd Andrew, Class 40--402x Daren Griffiths, 403x Steve
Corrie, 408x Robert Barnum; Class 50--503x Gary Barr; Sportsman
Motorcycle <250cc--205x Scott Anderson, 214x Jason Lulis, 217x Baron
Keffer, 218x Eric Forster, 249x Yoram Lavee; Sportsman Motorcycle
>250cc--253x John Crowley, 257x Adrian Lovelace, 258x Michael
Ott-Eulberg, 260x Mike Kaplan, 263x Mark Lucke, 269x Andrew Vela, 270x
Vernon Smith, 277x Greg Matherly, 278x Yvan Perroud, 279x Davy Patterson,
281x Graham Wilson, 282x Robbie McAlerney, 286x Ken Kosiorek, 288x Brett
Bardsley, 289x Tibi Imbuzan, 290x Brady Van Mare, 292x Laurent Lazard;
and Sportsman ATV--51 Martin O'Leary, 53a Josh Hogan, 57a Warren
Lovelace, 65a Yoav Regev.
Andrew, Griffiths, Adrian Lovelace, Warren Lovelace are all from
Australia, Lavee and Regev are from Israel, Ott-Eulberg is from Germany,
Perroud is from France, Lazard is from Uruguay, Imbuzan is from Hungary,
Patterson, Wilson and McAlerney are all from Ireland and O'Leary is
from Spain.
As an added bonus will be $150 for the fastest Sal Fish SCORE
IronRider, $100 for the second fastest and $50 for the third fastest
posted by Ott-Eulberg, a German attorney who will be making the attempt
himself. Ott-Eulberg's posting has been matched by Tom Wimberly of
Bakersfield, Calif.
It's the oldest and most well known of all desert races, and it
remains as the single most appealing accomplishment to a driver. Since
1967, the Granddaddy of all desert races has been run over the mysterious
Baja California peninsula. Because of the economics and logistics
involved, some years it is a peninsula run while most years it is a loop
race, starting and finishing in Ensenada.
The 631.35-mile race will start for the 34th time and finish for the
19th time in Ensenada. The motorcycle and ATV classes will start their
journey at 6:30 a.m. (Friday, Nov. 21) with the car and truck classes
starting at approximately 10:30 a.m., or three hours after the last ATV
leaves the line. Vehicles will leave in 30-second intervals in the
elapsed-time race and while the fastest finishers are expected to
complete the course in approximately 14 hours. All vehicles will have a
31-hour time limit to become official finishers in the legendary
adventure.
The race will start and finish on Boulevard Costero along the
picturesque Bahia de Todos Santos in front of the historical Riviera del
Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.
By drawing the first starting position in the race, Grant Steele,
38, Temecula, Calif., and his team, will lead the 16 entries to date in
Class 22 for open motorcycles on a Honda CRF450X. Grant's older
brother Cameron Steele, San Clemente, Calif., drives the No. 16 SCORE
Trophy-Truck and will be a third driver in Class 7SX on the team led by
his wife Heidi Steele. Heidi Steele is leading her class point standings
entering the race and is attempting to become the first female driver of
record in history to capture a SCORE season truck class point title.
While late entries are accepted up to race day, a total of 369
entries have officially been accepted for the race as of today which will
put the starting field in the top five in the 41-year history of the
storied event.
With massive crowds reaching nearly 300,000 anticipated to again be
spread out along the rugged course that travels through the Pine Forest
up over the infamous La Rumorosa grade to near Tecate and Mexicali, down
Laguna Salada to San Felipe and back to the Pacific Coast and up through
Santo Tomas and back to Ojos Negros on the way back to Ensenada, covering
much of the northern half of the majestic Baja California peninsula.
Pre-race festivities on Thursday, Nov. 20, for the Tecate SCORE
Baja 1000, including the vastly popular tech and contingency of all
vehicles and the SCORE Manufacturer's Midway will be held from 10
a.m. to 6 p.m. on Boulevard Costero in front of the Riviera del Pacifico
Cultural Center. The pre-race mandatory driver/rider briefing will be
held Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Cathedral Room at the Riviera del
Pacifico Cultural Center. Racer and media registration will be held at
the San Nicolas Resort Hotel from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 19
and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.
The post-race Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Survivor's Celebration will
be held poolside at the San Nicolas Resort Hotel at 10 a.m. on Sunday,
Nov. 23.
The car and truck classes with the most entries to date are the
unlimited Class 1 (31), SCORE Trophy-Truck (29), Class 1-2/1600 (19),
Class 5/1600 (16), SCORE Lite (14), Baja Challenge Class (13) and Class
10 (12).
This year's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race will be televised
on a delayed basis as a one-hour NBC Sports special for the fifth
consecutive year, scheduled to air at 1 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, Dec. 14 on
the NBC Television Network. It will also air on a delayed basis outside
of the U.S. on ESPN International.
The 2008 SCORE Desert Series also includes the chase for the $20,000
Volkswagen of America Point Leader Bonus and the run for the Toyota
Milestone Awards for car and truck racers who complete every required
mile of the season.J
The Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 also features the $5,000 Volkswagen bonus
to the highest finishing Volkwagen-powered vehicle in the race. Among
the other special awards at the event will be the Sal Fish SCORE
IronRider award presented to all declared motorcycle and ATV riders who
are official finishers of the race while riding solo.
Current SCORE official annual sponsors are: BFGoodrich
Tires-official tire, Volkswagen of America-official vehicle, Sunoco Race
Fuels -official fuel supplier, Bilstein-official shock, Instant Mexico
Auto Insurance-official Mexican auto insurance, Slime-official tire
sealant and Red Bull--official energy drink. Associate sponsors are:
Tecate Beer, Coca-Cola of Mexico, Las Vegas Events, Terrible Herbst Inc.,
Blue C Enthusiast Advertising, Kartek Off-Road, American Suzuki,
SignPros, P.C.I. Race Radios, McKenzie's Performance Products and
Advanced Color Graphics.
Additional associate sponsors, for the 2008 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
is the Fideicomiso Publio para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada.
-credit: www.score-international.com.
