Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127844
INTERVIEW • In the deserts of California, Nevada and Mexico, Johnny Campbell is quickly making a name for himself as one of Team Honda's premier off-road racers. By Matt Freeman Photos by Tom Van Beveren 30 I istory shows that Honda's 11 I desert racing program has been 1~ victorious from the southernmost tip of Baja to the glimmering lights of Las Vegas and the Nevada desert. In the early- to mid-'80s, for example, Honda's XR excellence dominated the Baja 1000, and remains the only fourstroke motorcycle to overall the grueling event. However, things have changed for Team Honda as of late. The '90s haven't been as kind to Honda's off-road racing program. After nearly a decade of runner-up positions and winless attempts for the Baja 1000 (and 500) crown that they once owned, Honda is desperately trying to get back on track - and is hoping to do so with a fairly new crop of fresh, young, up-andcoming riders. One of those is Johnny Campbell, one of the team's most promising riders. While CampbeJrs name might not be synonymous with off-road racing around the country - yet - Campbell is quickly making a name for himself in the off-road world out west, especially in the deserts of California alld Nevada, and even Mexico. For the last five years, Honda has depended on Campbell, and he has not disappointed his bosses. Campbell's accomplishments aboard the XR600 range from multiple AMA District 37 Championships, to top finishes in Baja, to winning the Nevada Rally the longest off-road event this country has ever seen. At 26 years of age, Campbell has a promising future of off-road racing ahead of him, but he did hit a bump in the road, so to speak, when he suffered a badly broken ankle this past February from a crash at the Adelanto Grand Prix. For him, though, this should be only a minor setback. Campbell and his wife, Faye, have recently moved from the California town of San Juan Capistrano to nearby Costa Mesa, where they are staying with longtime friend/fellow racer/magazine editor Jimmy Lewis. The arrangement is only temporary until Campbell can find a new home closer to his place of employment at Honda's U.S. headquarters in Torrance, California. . When r caught up to Campbell at his home, r was surprised to see that he was already back on his XR. Not only was he back on it, but he had spent the previous weekend at the first round of the AMA Western Regional ISDE Qualifier in Lakeport, California. His ride was cut short, however, after jamming a tree stump with the same ankle he had broken just three months before. Campbell's black-and-blue foot looked disfigured and had electric wires hooked up to it to stimulate the healing process, but he took the wires off just long enough to show us some bicycle tricks on Lewis' backyard halfpipe. I thought I was going to come over here and see you wearing a cast. Obviously, your ankle is not setting you back too much. How did you feel before hitting that tree stump? 1 think r was pretty much at my prime, doing the best I've done, going as fast as I've ever gone. r feel the injury has set me back a little bit, because it will take me a couple of months to get in shape again and get back on top of it all. So, you have two screws in your foot now? Yes, basically 1 broke the talus. That's the bone at the ankle joint. What they had to do is go in and put it back into place, and then put two screws in it to hold it together, so I didn't work for a couple of months. 1 didn't do anything, really, just sat around and watched a' million videos. I was on crutches for 10 weeks. 1 just barely got off of them. Is this the worst injury you've ever had? This would have to be the worst. This is the first time I've had surgery. I've had three broken ankles, two wrists and a coJJarbone in my 13 years of racing. Everything healed up fine, but this one has to top them all off. How did the crash happen? I came over kind of a left-hand rise. Every lap, r would come up on the left side of the course and, when I'd go over the rise, I would transfer to the right and would hit a berm and shoot off towards the levy. This particular lap, 1 came over and the rear end seemed to slide out a little more. The course was getting really dry and slick and had really bad square-edged bumps, and it felt like the tire just grabbed in a hole and it just kicked back and turned into some mean swappers. I couldn't hold on to it. When r came down, my ankle was slightl turned and it forced the bone to snap in half. Looking back, how did you get involved in racing motorcycles? My dad raced and he got me into riding. He got me my first bike when 1 was nine, an XR75. Seems like that was everybody's first bike. You have a motocross bac;kground, though, don't you? Basically, I grew up riding grands prix SRA, Double Cross,.some District 37 GPs. That's all I did until r was about 16, and then I started riding a little bit of motocross. Then 1 started riding some SCORE races, but r didn't really ride District 37 desert races or hare and hounds or anything until r got hooked up with Honda. When and how did that hap.pen? It was in May of '92. r was riding a. CR250 in the SCORE races and r had a pretty good ride in '91 at the Baja 1000.' We were, like, sixth overall, and we battled in the 250cc class all day for the lead, .md we ended up third 250. r got in contact with Bruce Olgilvie after that race. He kind of noticed me. r had actually broken my ankle that year, too. The same one you just broke? No, r think it was a different one. 1 was going to ride Parker in January of '92, but I ended up breaking it at a Golden State (MX) race. So, later, we went down to San Felipe, and Honda pitted for us. They don't usually pit two-strokes, but they just happened to do it for us. We won the 250cc class - me, my brother; and Dave Donatoni. The next week, Bruce called me and asked me if I wanted to ride an XR. When did you start working at Honda, and what is your position there? It was March of '95. My position? r don't know (laughs). 1 don't know if I have, like, a real position. My job title or job description basically consists of building all the off-road race bikes for SCORE races, .rallies, and my local racing. With that comes a lot of testing and development. When your racing career is over, would you like to stay at Honda? Definitely. Since I have my foot in the door, it would be easy for me to roll intol a position there. r guess I'll follow in th,e footsteps of Bruce and Chuck Miller. The answer to this question is pretty