Johnny Campbell Racing gave American Honda the top two overall motorcycle finishing positions and their 15th straight Baja 500 title as Kendall Norman and Quinn Cody take the win and Honda’s 16th overall motorcycle victory in the very demanding 452.84 mile SCORE Baja 500 with a winning time of 8:47:07 at 51.76 mph on a Honda CRF450X. Their times were the fastest of all vehicles on the course. This race marks the second straight overall SCORE Baja 500 race win for Norman and Cody. Norman now has five career race wins in this event in the last six years. It was the second triumph for Cody. Udall was teamed with Kamo for the first time as Johnny Campbell Racing dedicated the race to the memory of Udall’s former teammate Jeff “OX” Kargola, who passed away recently following a motorcycle riding accident in Baja. During Saturday’s race, the two JCR/Honda vehicles actually crossed the finish line together in what was one of the closest races in the history of the Baja 500. Early reports had the win going to the 0x bike ridden by Colton Udall and JCR/Honda newcomer David Kamo however after final data review the win was awarded to Norman/Cody. Both teams were racing identical Eric Siraton prepped Honda CRF450X’s.
JCR/Honda congratulates the following teams, winning their respective motorcycle and ATV classes, all relying on the popular JCR/Honda race support pit service: Wayne Matlock, El Cajon, Calif., (Class 25, Honda TRX700XX), Brandon Brown, Umatilla Ore. (Class 24, Honda TRX450R), Francisco Septien, Ensenada, Mexico (Class 30, Honda CRF450X), Jeff Kaplan, Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Class 40, Honda CRF450X), Trevor Insley, San Clemente, Calif. (Class 21, Honda CRF450X), Jim Dizney, Alpine, Calif. (Class 50, Honda CRF450X), Donald Lewis, Marlborough, Conn. (Class 60, Honda CRF450X).
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“The last month has been a real challenge for my team. With the tragic loss of OX, it was really tough to pull this one together. I am so proud of my Racers, Chase and Pit Crews for persevering through this tough time. OX would have wanted nothing less than for the Team to continue on in its dominate fashion and tradition. Until we meet again my friend-Ride in Peace!” Love to all –Johnny Campbell
“The thing is, it is always going to be a really aggressive race between us (and Colton Udall) because we have the same support, we’ve got the best bikes and the best pits so it’s always going to be a dogfight. I can’t complain. My ride went really well but it was really slow getting started. We had no mechanical issues on the bike and our pits were great and I just want to thank everyone that supports what we are doing down there and special thanks Red Bull and most of all to the Baja.” — Kendall Norman