By RaceScene Publisher on Sunday, 10 March 2024
Category: The Checkered Flag

Preston Campbell, Ricky Brabec crush Mint 400 Motorcycle Race

Ricky Brabec had a heck of a Mint 400 weekend as he got to win on both four and two wheels. After winning his UTV class in the Limited race on Friday, he teamed up with Preston Campbell to dominate the Motorcycle Race on Saturday.

Racing a Honda for JCR Honda, the duo crushed the race with a nineteen-minute advantage over runner-ups Danny Cooper, Chance Fullterton, and Connor Eddy. The trio of Jesse Canepa, Ryan Marshall, and Clayton Roberts were forty-eight-and-a-half minutes behind the #P03.

Campbell, the son of Baja 1000 legend Johnny Campbell, adds a second straight Unlimited Off-Road Racing Series win after claiming the inaugural California 300 bike race last October.

“I got off to a pretty good start,” said Campbell. “Me and Chance battled a little bit but I was able to get in the lead pretty early. I didn’t have to fight the dust but just fighting the shadows and the cold, cold air but it wasn’t too bad.”

The win was Brabec’s second in the Motorcycle Race after claiming the 2019 edition with Kendall Norman. Brabec, also the defending Dakar Rally champion, took over the bike from Campbell for the second half of the six-lap event.

“It was a fun day and was a little bit cold, wasn’t too dusty, but the whoops were bigger and deeper. The last lap was definitely brutal,” commented Brabec. “For me and Preston, we’re both very different in weight. To get the bike working good for both of us was… it wasn’t that difficult, it was actually fairly easy, but yeah, the JCR Honda worked really well.”

The Open Pro Motorcycle class swept the top four, with Kyle Hutcheson‘s #P12 holding off the Open Sportsman Motorcycle of Wyatt Cooper.

On the same day as the Motorcycle Race and the Unlimited race, the Youth 170 and 250 classes held their races. Declan Shields swept boh events, with the former being split into Youth 170 Open and Youth 170 Production classes. Youth 570 and Youth 1000 raced the day prior.

Motorcycle class winners

ClassOverall FinishNumberRider of RecordTotal Time
1975–1982 Sportsman Motorcycle65V138Nicholas Lapaglia3:14:07.171*
1983–1995 Sportsman Motorcycle66V269Victor Borg3:25:50.575*
201–300cc Pro Motorcycle7P200Tony Nolen8:59:24.488
201–300cc Sportsman Motorcycle21S258Oak Adams8:28:51.385*
Adventure Bike Sportsman Motorcycle63A26Kaden Lehne3:00:17.192*
Hooligan Sportsman Motorcycle70H69Douglas Darrah3:55:57.815*
Ladies Pro Motorcycle19W01Krista Conway8:15:16.530
Open Ironman Sportsman Motorcycle10I01Reed Christensen7:31:03.042*
Open Pro Motorcycle1P03Preston Campbell7:37:16.063
Open Sportsman Motorcycle5S01Wyatt Cooper8:41:06.000
Over 30 Sportsman Motorcycle24389Robbie Silvernail8:31:19.316*
Over 40 Sportsman Motorcycle11401Brett Stevens7:40:42.780*
Over 50 Sportsman Motorcycle61509Craig Janett7:45:17.489*
Over 60 Sportsman Motorcycle59643Steven McQuerry6:20:21.912*
* – Did not complete all six laps or full distance not required for class

Youth class winners

ClassNumberDriver of RecordTotal Time
Youth 1000Y1610Mason Cotter48:09.674
Youth 170 OpenT218Preston Zygela27:21.175
Youth 170 Production159yDeclan Shields25:38.731
Youth 200Y001Cash Martinez26:18.623
Youth 250258Declan Shields25:09.538
Youth 570Y585Estella Gaddis45:14.100
Youth 570 OpenBrody Berhorst46:01.923
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