12/4/04
HENDERSON 300 - BITD

Going into the weekend at Henderson, the last race in the 2004 BITD season, things were looking pretty good for Team Alba Racing's Q2 Team of Wayne Matlock - they were #1 in the points after strong finishes throughout the season. The championship was theirs to loose and with a contender like last year's champion, the Q1 team of Doug Eichner, no one wanted to mess around. To win the championship, Wayne had to finish within 4 positions of Eichner. This race was business. Sounds easy, but anyone who follows desert racing knows, anything can happen.

Desert racing is usually carried out in the blazing heat over some of the most arid land on the map. Not this weekend in Henderson. A cold spell (for the West Coast, that is) was in town making the starting conditions very different than what the riders were used to. Note the custom Duct Tape hand guard set-up on the Suzuki above. Team Alba's Q5s Steve Beilman mentioned almost getting bucked off of his quad on the start - because the shocks were so cold and stiff. Wayne's Camelback mouthpiece froze solid.

The night before the race, the main street in old town Henderson is blocked off for an Off-Road contingency like no other. With every form of off-road vehicle lined up for tech inspection and a unique variety of vendors on display, it's really an out door off-road party. This year even featured a freestyle motocross jumper putting on a show for the crowd and a live band. There were last minute repairs going on in the parking lots - and every available space was taken up with race preparation. Even competitors were hanging out together, discussing pre runs, the course and the cold.

At 7:00am sharp, the MX and ATV race began, at 30 second intervals. Eichner's Q1 team was sandwiched in position 6, right between Beilman's Q5 and Matlock's Q2. The KFX700 team jumped out to a quick start with a 10 minute lead over the filed in the first lap but was quickly overtaken by Matlock, Eichner and Beilman.

By the second lap, Teams Q1 of Eichner, Q2 of Matlock and Q5 of Beilman headed out for an early lead over the field. The course featured a 65 mile starting loop - and 6, 35 mile smaller loops. Due to the extremely rocky terrain, the 35 mile loop was running just under 60 minutes for the pros. Not the fastest pace for a desert race, but that is what it's all about, dealing with a variety of riding environments. This course featured several miles of large rocks - nothing but tire shredding rocks. Several of the riders thought it was funny that a couple of miles into a long run of rocks was a caution sign, warning of, you guessed it, rocks. The course then returned back to a large infield that gave everyone a chance to watch the racers come in, maneuver a couple of long straights, a few curves and some jumps and head back out to the desert.

Near the half-way point the Q2 team of Matlock and Prull had the lead, but Eichner's Q1 team was closing rapidly. At about the 4th lap, Eichner came into the pits on Wayne's heels - about 60 seconds back. By the fifth lap, on Chad's last run, Eichner left the pit area air horn blaring at a lapped quad, just 5 seconds behind the Team Alba quad. Beilman's Q5 quad dropped back about 10 minutes off the leaders, but held strongly onto third place. After the race, Beilman noted that his quad just wasn't set up properly for the extreme amount of rocks they encountered this year - costing him some time.

Even the desert floor was nothing but rocks, so having a good set of tires was key to

finishing. Matlock's Q2 team was running Tire Balls, inflatable tire inserts that resemble silicone breast implants. Wayne said that the rocky terrain was perfect for the tire balls, that just ate up the rocks and kept going. Flats were not an option on this season ending race - and the tire balls really did their job. Team Q5 on the other hand suffered a couple of low tires, but nothing that cost them very much time - with pit stops running under a minute for a complete fuel fill and tire change.

By the last lap, Eichner's team had a 1:45 lead on the Q2 team, but that wasn't going to be good enough to take over the championship. If Eichner won, Matlock had to finish fourth place or better to take the championship - so the championship looked good for Q2. Wayne was riding the last leg of the race - and still wanted to win, but also wanted to play it smart. Doug Eichner had stayed on the quad for the last two laps to make up time, but switched off on the last lap with a fresh co-rider Marc Spaeth. The race was on.

The last lap began with Q1 leaving the pits with a slight lead over Q2. And then we waited. By this time, the lap times were down around 50 minutes, but the wait for the last lap seemed to last forever! And then the phonecall from the remote pit...

Dramatic Finish

Just 15 miles from the finish, was a remote pit, there for a splash of fuel , a tire change or a quick repair. The phone rang when Q1's Spaeth rolled into the pit with a flat tire. Matlock still had a chance for a win, just a couple minutes back. The clock was ticking. Would Matlock be in in time to pass? Spaeth had the tire changed in under a minute and was off. Just then, Matlock rolled in pointing to the motor. The remote pit asked if Matlock had a tow rope and was wondering how far back Beilman's Q5 was. Everyone was silent. Was the championship falling away due to a mechanical problem just a few miles from the finish? All we could do was wait.

Apparently in BITD it is legal to tow another rider, but they can only be towed a fraction of the distance of the total race or else be DQed. The call from the remote pits was dropped - so we didn't know the extent of the problem. Did the motor give out? Was there a problem with the tranny? The entire Alba crew was gathered around the finish line when Spaeth crossed the line 7:46.11 minutes after the start for the win. Reports were that Matlock left the remote pits on his own with Beilman about 10 minutes behind him - and briefed to help out if there was a problem. Seems that Matlock thought that his transmission was going out - he was having a hard time shifting.

But 1 minute 45 seconds later, Matlock and the Team Alba Racing Q2 rolled into the pits and crossed the finish line. Wayne's Dad, Cliff Matlock, a multiple Baja 1000 Winner himself was right there at the line to congratulate him along with all the Alba crew - all relieved that Wayne finished at all. Turns out that a large rock smashed into the shifter, bending it, causing it to hit the case - making shifting difficult. The ALBA LTZ470 was still running strong. Matlock had won the overall championship and the overall points leader trophy thanks to a strong team commitment, a great co-rider, great equipment, strong reliable motor and a family that no only stands behind him but really supports his racing efforts.

Beilman's Q5 3rd place podium finish, just 12 minutes out, was overshadowed a bit by Wayne's championship win, but is to be celebrated nonetheless. Steve Beilman and co-rider Clark Evernham had a solid ride - finishing 4th overall for the season - just a few points off of the podium.

Excellent Alba Expert Race...

In addition to the Pro race, the Alba expert teams had a great battle. The bright green frame of Lynn Prosser and Bret Greenholz's DS560 ran a good race, and like Alba's pro team, finishing 2nd overall for the Henderson 300 and also took the overall Quad Expert championship. Congratulations to Lynn and Brett. Lynn Prosser's team only had to finish the race for the overall win. They've had a fantastic season and everyone at Alba has been proud to have them as part of Team Alba Racing!

Alba's 3-man Team Guilty, pitted just a few trailers down from the Pro Team, was riding strong. Their Honda TRX 450R looked good as did their cool pit shirts. Eric Pealstrom, Marc Choquette and Todd Johnson took the Expert lead in the middle of the race and didn't look back. A thumbs up while blasting by the pro pits let everyone at Team Alba know that Q64 was on a roll. Congratulations to Team Alba Racing's Team Guilty for their Expert win in Henderson!