Though beaten to the finish...
Though beaten to the finish by almost 10 minutes, Cyle Chislock and Josh Frederick had enough of a points cushion to take the championship.
The final round of Best in the Desert's Silver State Seriesthe Henderson's Terrible 400promised to be a no-holds-barred über-battle because of the fact that a mere 15 points separated the top five Quad Pro teams. Points leaders Cyle Chislock and partner Josh Frederick held the upper hand with 304 points and enjoyed a six-point cushion over their rivals, the closest of whom were Nick Granlund and Shaun Moore with 298. Here's where it got interesting. They had two points over Jimmy Stephensen and Greg Stuart's 296, while Wayne Matlock and Chad Prull sat in fourth with 295 points. And mathematically, Anthony Baker and Greg Row with 290 points had a shot as well.
Chad Prull pulls away after...
Chad Prull pulls away after passing the Cyle Chislock/ Josh Frederick machine.
So, in order to hold their spot at the top, Chislock and Frederick needed to win or place second, no matter what anyone else didno small order, even considering they'd won the previous round in the five-race series, the TSCO Vegas to Reno 500-miler, after running into minor difficulties that come with a new partnership at the first three events.
"[The plan was to do] kind of what we've been doing all year[ride] fast and hard but not over our heads," Frederick said. "See what happens toward the end of the day and then see if we needed to turn it up or just sit back."
The race outside of Henderson, Nevada, would be a tough one. Motorcycles and ATVs would start first, a couple hours before the trucks and buggies, and run 43 miles of the 70-mile truck/buggy loop. From there, they'd do six laps of a 35-mile bike/ATV-exclusive loop that included lots of rock, tight single-track and two-track, sand washes and more rock.
 More than a few competitors...  More than a few competitors described the Henderson course as rocky. |  The Chislock/ Frederick team...  The Chislock/ Frederick team won the championship with their second-place finish. |  Sometimes, you've just got...  Sometimes, you've just got to wait for the lapper to have a chance to pull over. |
The Michael Cafro/Danny Prather...
The Michael Cafro/Danny Prather duo capped off their season with third.
After some sorting out, the Michael Cafro/Dannny Prather team went to the front on their Temecula Motorsports/Maxxis/IMS Honda TRX450R, with defending series champs Matlock and Prull's Alba Suzuki/Elka/ITP LT-Z400 not far behind. The Chislock/Frederick team's Temecula Motorsports/Maxxis/IMS TRX450R soon settled into third place.
About halfway through the race, however, the Cafro/Prather bike pulled off the course and stopped, the rider obviously searching for something that seemed to be amiss. That was all the opportunity Matlock/Prull needed, and the Suzuki slipped into the lead to stay. Cafro/Prull would surrender yet another spot to teammates Chislock/Frederick on the final lap and place third Quad Pro.
Knowing that they had the championship wrapped up if they stayed in second was "a good feeling," Frederick noted, though he admitted, "On that last lap, you start to hear a lot of noises [from the bike]. Crazy things start going through your head.
Fourth place didn't improve...
Fourth place didn't improve the Jimmy Stephensen/Greg Stuart's third in points.
"It would've been nice to win the race, for sure, but we knew what we needed to dothe championship's more important."
And the championshipthe first for eitheris what they ended up with. However, it appears that both will be going their separate ways next year, with Chislock concentrating on motocross and Frederick focusing more of his efforts on the WORCS races, as well as select desert events. In addition, there is talk of the Matlock/Prull team switching to Hondas and Stephensen retiring. In other words, 2006 should be another interesting year.
The Henderson's race drew...
The Henderson's race drew a good number of entries, especially among ATVs.
Henderson's Terrible 400 Top 10 ATV Results
1. Chad Prull/Wayne Matlock, Suzuki LT-Z400
2. Cyle Chislock/Josh Frederick, Honda TRX450R
3. Michael Cafro/Danny Prather, Honda TRX450R
4. Brandon Carter/Eric Lemley/David McCarroll, Honda
5. Jimmy Stephensen/Greg Stuart, Kawasaki KFX400
6. Brett Callen/Travis Dillon, Bombardier 650
7. Glenn Brchan/Ruben Wilson, Yamaha YFZ450
8. Bret Greenholz/Lynn Prosser, Bombardier 650
9. Pete Garcia/Todd Johnson/Patty A. Moore, Suzuki LT-Z400
10. Marc Choquette/Ray McKenzie/Eric Pealstrom, Honda
Final Series Points, Quad Pro
1. Chislock/Frederick, 381
2. Matlock/Prull, 376
3. Stephensen/Stuart, 367
4. Granlund/Moore, 332
5. Baker/Row, 325
6. Greenholz/Prosser, 302
7. Steve Beilman/Clark Evernham, 205
8. Shane Strunk, 201
9. Cafro/Prather, 196
10. Chris Farr/Jeff Hancock, 175