When it came to machine preparation, there were two schools of thought. The more conservative camp opted for relatively mild modifications, despite the relative luxury of the work period. Most competitors seemed to share that philosophy. Any way you cut it, 1000 miles is 1000 miles. As Greg Stuart said of the Kawasaki he would share with Jimmy Stephensen, "It's a KFX400, but we've got it bored out to a 440. It has a nikasil-ed cylinder on it and some head work, carburetor, pipe and ignition modifications, but it's relatively mild. We don't have it on 'kill' because it is such a long race, and you really need to get the longevity out of the motor so you can go the distance."
Although you might think the race featured nothing but barren desert, the Nevada 1000 offered a good variety of terrain and scenery-everything from a rocky and rugged former desert racecourse to steep and tight switchbacks in the pine-covered mountain ranges. One of the only common denominators, of course, was the ever-present dust that hampered anyone behind the leader.
Baja 500 winners Cyle Chislock and Josh Frederick drew the first starting position in the lottery, and Frederick led for many miles on their Honda TRX450R. Right behind on his team's Suzuki QuadSport Z400, though, was Chad Prull, who was partnered with Wayne Matlock. The turning point in the entire race came remarkably early.
"It was pit two, I believe, where we both came in with flats; I was right behind Frederick," Prull said. "I got a flat about 100 yards before the pit. We were both racing to change [wheels]. We both went out; Wayne was actually behind Josh going out."
Matlock and Prull put the race away at the next pit, thanks to another Chislock/Frederick flat. "We gassed up and were gone," Prull related. "That's where we put a lot of time on. I was chasing them all day in the dust, so it was very challenging, very dusty. As soon as we got by them, we started gaining ground. That's the biggest thing with quads since they throw up so much dust."
He added, "We drew a good position-got number two, usually we're number 10 or 11, in the back-and I think that was key for this race because a lot of times when you're in the dust you have more chances of beating up your quad. Oh, we hit stuff. When you're doing 80, 90 down a straight, it's kind of hard to dodge stuff. But I was riding about 80 percent today, just trying to be careful. A lot of the track, especially for the quads, had a lot of growth where it was a good foot or two high. I mean, there could be a rock hiding there. You hit that doing 80, and you're going to wad yourself. We just tried to play it safe. It's not just a quick race."
Indeed it wasn't. Just as important as speed was staying out of trouble, something Chislock and Frederick couldn't do on day two, at 331 miles the longest day of the event. According to CT Racing's Allen Knowles, Chislock and rival Stephensen tangled while near top speed, with both racers getting spit off. Chislock didn't suffer much, but Stephensen took a trip to the hospital to get checked for a suspected concussion.
Unbeknownst to Chislock and Frederick, their Honda needed more than just a new handlebar; a sliced hose leaked all the coolant, resulting in an overheated engine that needed a time-consuming top-end rebuild, which exceeded the one hour allowed. The Kawasaki of Stephensen and Greg Stuart, surprisingly, didn't need quite as much work, and they dropped only one spot from the first day, finishing behind Matlock/Prull and the Shane Strunk/Allen White TRX450R. Chislock/Frederick were fifth on the second day.