Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Round 3 ~ OFF-ROAD Best In the Desert Silver State Se ries Davis' teammate , Russell Pearson, tokes off from pit four. Ty Davis and Russ Pearson wom the cloclf to win the 55000 purse at the Terrible's Town 250 STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA en there 's dust on the horizon and $5000 on the line, Ty Davis will beat seemingly impossible odds. In the case of the Terrible's Town 250, round three of Best in the Desert's Silver State Series , the dust he saw was being stirred up by Honda's Johnny Campbell, and Davis had just 44 miles to reel him in - 44 of the toughest miles the race course offered. Campbell actually reached the finish line first, having kept the physical lead all morning with partner Steve Hengeveld on their Precision Concepts/Dunlop/ Renthal-sponsored XR650R. However, since Davis and his partner, Russell Pearson , started one minute beh ind them on their Montclair Yamaha/Race Tech/Moose-backed YZ450F, they didn't actually have to physically beat the Honda to the finish to take the $5000 bonus offered at Terrible's Tow n to the overall motorcycle winner. Thus , the Davis/Pearson duo pulled off the victory in t hree hours, 59 minutes and 15 seconds . After being assessed a IS-minute penalty for not stopping at a paved road crossing, Campbell /Hengeveld were still clearly in second spot with a total time of 4:15:39. Privateers Qu inn Cody and Kendall Norman rounded out the top three overall on their O'NeaIlFMF/Race Tech XR650R in 4:20: I0, also securing third Open Pro. Hengeveld got the Honda team off to a quick start when he took the green flag at 5:50 a.m. in Johnnie , a spot off Highway 160 (and not even a wide spot at that) almost half an hour's drive north 84 MAY 12,2004 • CYCLE NEWS of Pahrump , where the bikes and ATVs started at one-minute intervals . "I just tried to ride my own race. I could've gone a little faster," Hengeveld said. "I was just a little cautious with how dark it was, and I thought that by going out [then] I'd have a little bit of an advantage , but I didn't ." Originally, the race was set to start at 5:45, though it was at the discretion of the first rider off. "They were waiting for a water truck," Hengeveld said. "It went five more minutes [beyond the original starting time], and I was like, 'Let's just get this thing going!' It wasn't me waiting [for it to get lighter] or anything; it was just waiting for a water truck. I just said, 'Let's just get this show on the road . Why should I wait for them to use the water truck for the next guy?'" 40th Anniversary When he handed off to Campbell at pit two, they maintained the physical lead, as they wou ld all day. But Campbell knew that it wo uld be difficult racing effectively. "I woke up about four in the morning with my stomach in knots, " Campbell said. "I just felt like I wanted to throw up all day and felt kind of lethargic and stuff. So, I wasn't in tip-top shape ; I didn't feel like racing. I got on and gave it my best shot. I was kind of right in there my first ride from pit two to five; it wasn't so bad. Everything went smooth; the bike ran stro ng and was handling well. It was mostly a lack of rider today," he admitted . Still, between Hengeve ld and him, the Red Riders maintained the physical lead all day, though Davis appeared confident that he and Pearson had the lead