In the wee hours of a cold Nevada morning (Yes
Virginia, there is such a thing, trust us ;-), Destry Abbot Kicked
over his big KX 500 Kawasaki, grabbed a healthy hand full of
throttle,and shattered the peaceful morning's calm. 4 hrs 55 min
later, the men in green shattered Big Red's hopes for back to back
wins by Johnny Campbell and the all mighty XR650 coming off the
Baja 1000. When the Fat lady had sung, Team Kawasaki stood
triumphant as the overall winner of the 1999 BITD "Terrible Town
250"
For the 99 TT250, The Herbst boys pulled out all the stops for fans and racers alike, teaming with series sponsor Ford Trucks to provide nearly $40,000 in prize money to the racers of BITD. And that was far from all. Jerry, Ed, Tim and Troy Herbst opened their casino, their facilities, and most importantly, their Bar ;-) to the BITD faithful, pushing the sport ever closer to the days of Mint's gone by. Doin' the Dirty 84 bikes, 16 quads, and 73 trucks and buggies - 173 entries in total went head to head in the desert surrounding Parhump NV, with entries coming in from across the United State, and as far away as Canada . Two notable entries came in the form of "Rocket" Robbie Gordon, who's mid engine Toyota "Trophy / Trick Truck" had undergone a mad dash re-prep after the 1K race in Baja, and Class 8 Whiplash champ Mike Doherty , whose co-driver, Greg Krasnow pried himself away from Off-Road.com's "El chismoso" mailing list long enough to get back to nature, and commune with Gaia - at over 100 MPH.
Bike Me! In the 2 wheeled world, Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki renewed their eternal battle for desert dominance. With Team Honda's runaway win of the SCORE Baja 1000 by Johnny Campbell aboard the all new 650cc 4 stroke, the odds were on Big Red's return to the winners circle in Nye county NV. But the best laid plans don't always work out. While the new XR is as close to the perfect desert weapon as a thumper can get, Destry Abbot and his big KX showed the world that an open class 2 stroke is an ever present threat to ruin your day. While the 98 race resulted in one green machine after another seizing up in the frigid winter temps, the Kawasaki pilots in 99 learned their lessons, and jetted up accordingly. Ty Davis ended his day within 5 miles of the starting line, when a bad hop resulted in massive damage to the big blue YZ. While Davis was able to patch himself and the bike up to a point, it was still 240 miles to the finish, and today wasn't the day that that was going to happen. Campbell had a bumpy ride of his own, with an untimely crash that extended Abbot's lead, and left the desert superstar in less than perfect operating condition to mount a last minuet charge to victory. Even longtime partner Tim Stabb couldn't close the gap, leaving Abbot and Brown to cruise to the overall win in BITD's TT250. Next Stop - Quad City
Dwight Lowell, Charles Lamson, and Gary Jackimowicz are among the Honda faithful, and drove their 400 to a dominant win over the field in a time of 6:29:42, 11 minuets ahead of 2 Roll Design chassis piloted by midwest racers Yokley/Kuhnle, and Gobel/Huffman. Gobel. With the Manufactures foolishly self imposed "ban" on "Sport Quads" now ended, and a power hungry marketplace contributing to the sudden sales explosion of the new performance machinery, look for the Quad ranks to swell considerably. Off-Road.com will be greatly expanding it's coverage of ATV Motorsports in the year 2000 and beyond to capture all the action, so don't forget to wave on the way by guys and gals! Terrible, Just Terrible!
Desert racers, that's who, and very competitive ones. While Ed and Tim Herbst waged war in the "Trick Truck" ranks, Troy and Mike Smith went head to head with BITD's best and came away victorious. With $10,000 dollars on the line from Ford Trucks, Ed and T were on a mission to make sure no one from the bow tie brigade put a damper on the party. From our vantage point some 45 miles into the course, we could hear the throaty roar of 8 fuel injected cylinders echoing through the valley. With just over 200 miles to go, Ed ran the big red Ford as if he were running a sprint race (which after the 1000 mikes of Baja, it practically was). And he had good reason. Hot on his heels, Robby Gordon in the ultralight mid engined DOHC Toyota was setting a blistering pace of his own. Gordon, famous for his over the top "close your eyes and punch it" driving style, had learned a few lesson in Baja about his still new ride, and was very prepared to ruin the competition's day. As the day wore on, both competitors experienced minor problems (flats and such), with little ground being gained or lost. With Gordon fixated on the bulbous red body panels ahead of him, he forgot about the great red shark rapidly approaching from behind. Troy Herbst and "Truggy" had left the open buggy class far behind, and were rapidly closing on Gordon. Eventually, Troy unleashed all of Truggy's 785 Horsepower and put Gordon in the rear view mirror. Now barring any unforeseen problems, it would be a 1-2 finish for Team Herbst. The question was, would Ed and Tim take the top spot, and the 10 grand from Ford that went with it, or would Truggy continue closing the gap and take them both away? In the end, Tim Herbst sat waiting atop the finishers podium. He had brought the "Terrible Trophy Truck" home in 1st place "physically", but There was a very real possibility of Troy making it back in time to take the overall on time. Time passed slowly. Finally, word came down that Truggy was within a mile of the finish in plenty of time to take home all the marbles. Tim had resigned himself to a "mere" win in the Trick Truck class, when brother Troy slammed on the brakes within sight of the finish line - and proceeded to wait out the clock, handing the overall win, and the $10,000 to Ed and Tim! Needless to say, the assembled crowd went wild, loving every minuet of it. They Just Kept Coming With such an impressive racer turnout, The Brothers Herbst were but the first of a long list of finishers.
Jeff Hoskins made the trip north from Brawley Ca to toss his hat into the Protruck ranks. When he left, he took his hat back, mounted atop a first place trophy. Hoskins Ford came across the finish line under a minuet ahead of 2nd place Kevin McGillvary's Chevrolet, making it 2 out of 3 for the Blue oval in the big truck ranks. In the REALLY big truck ranks, Terry Henn's Pro Class 8100 Hummer went the distance after mangling some iron a mere 35 miles into the race. Terry and brother Eric took home more than 8100's top slot at Parhump, they added the prestigious "Hummer Challenge Cup" to their most impressive season to date.
Party Like It's What? The post race festivities were many, with fans and racers doing their level best to drink the grounds of the Terrible's Town Casino dry. As Casey presented the checks to the Herbst for their wins of the day, Ed, Tim, Troy, and Jerry took a few minuets to thank their crew, friends, fans and family. They also made it clear that they appreciated everyone involved with making the TT250 the success that it has become. Maybe that's why there's more to come! As impressive as the last BITD race of the century was, the Herbst have promised to make next year's TT250 even better. Considering the apparent cash, time, and resources that this racing family has put into the event over the past 2 seasons, we're all in for a hell of a show come 2000! No, of course they don't do it for the money. If they did, they'd be in for a hell of a shock. Everybody knows that the fastest way to make a million in racing is to start with two. They do it for the love of the sport, and it's helped the sport to grow anew. Well, from our side of the fence, we all appreciate the work you've put into the sport of desert racing, and perhaps it's time someone stood up and said it - Guys, From all us fans and a whole bunch of racers out there, Thanks. See ya in Laughlin! |
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