Back in the 60s, American Honda tested the durability of its motorcycles by sending a CL72 Scrambler on a 950-mile trek through rocks, sand washes, dry lake beds, mountain passes and paved roads. Fifty years later, that legendary run is remembered for inspiring one of the most significant off-road races in the world—the Baja 1000. In celebration, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is hosting a tribute dinner, one-day off road show, and summer-long exhibition called Braving Baja, 1,000 Miles to Glory.   Continue Reading »

The Johnny Campbell Racing Honda team handily won the 2012 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 rally, setting the fastest time in any motorcycle class by more than an hour. The win marked the 16th consecutive victory and 23rd overall for Honda.

JCR‘s Colton Udall, Timmy Weigand and David Kamo completed 1121-mile course on a Honda CRF450X with a time of 20:09:30 for an average speed of 55.64 mph. That was good enough to win the Class 22 category and beat all other motorcycle entries. Overall, JCR set the third best time, trailing only the father and son duo of Gus Vildosola and Gus Vildosola Jr. (19:45:00) in a Ford Raptor and B.J. Baldwin (20:00:59) in a Chevy Silverado who finished one-two in the Trophy Truck category for production trucks.

“I am overwhelmed by the effort my pit crews put together to make this race run smoothly,” says Johnny Campbell. “JCR brings a small army of some of the most extraordinary people together to make a race like the Baja 1000 possible. I can’t thank them enough for their service and support. I am proud to have each one of them in the JCR family and look forward to many more adventures together. Thank you to the racers for their commitment to upholding this Honda legacy and our 16th Baja 1000 win in a row.” Continue Reading »

Off-Road.com and the related reading links at the bottom of this post.

After more than 14 hours of racing, the overall motorcycle win for the 2011 SCORE Baja 1000 still came down to the wire. At the finish line in Ensenada, Mexico, the 1x JCR Honda CRF450X and the 11x Kawasaki KX450F were separated by only 10 minutes, but in the end Kendall Norman, Quinn Cody and Logan Holladay earned another Baja 1000 victory for Honda.

This year, the Baja veterans Norman and Cody decided to add another racer due to the roughness of the course, and instead of taking on another racer with tons of Baja experience, they went with the talented rider but inexperienced Baja racer in Holladay. The JCR Honda 1x team decided it was a worthwhile risk.

“You know, it was a good thing. We need another guy for this race to break it up,” Cody said. “Last year it was the Peninsula run, 1100 miles, and we did it with two guys. But this course was so rough we needed to add another guy.

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With the 2010 SCORE Baja 1000 just around the corner, a new video chronicling the career of iconic dirt bike racer Johnny Campbell is being released. The documentary film entitled True Champion: The Johnny Campbell Movie, is directed by Ryan Ray and narrated by Troy Adamitis telling the story of how Johnny Campbell evolved from a young rider into a multi-time desert racing champion.

The movie by Seven Films talks with family, friends and competitors about Campbell’s career, but it also features other well-respected dirt bike and truck racers Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Johnson, as well as some conversations with the late, great Bruce Ogilvie. The video features plenty of racing action that ranges from remote deserts and beaches in Baja to the scorching heat of the Nevada desert, showing just how much stamina and courage is required to pilot a race bike at speeds over 100 mph.

The video provides insight into how Johnny and other dirt bike experts prepare for racing the longest and toughest desert race on the planet at the SCORE Baja 1000, where Campbell has chased his dream to become the winningest racer in the 43 year history of the race.

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