Preston Campbell Wins Second Straight California 300 Motorcycle Race
When motorcycles returned to the Barstow desert for the first time in decades in last year’s California 300, it was Preston Campbell who took the first checkered flag. In Friday’s California 300 Motorcycle Race, it was Campbell on top once again, teaming up with Justin Morgan to complete the first major race of the weekend with a blistering time of 5:21:53.
Dozens of UNLTD’s bravest racers took off bright and early at 7AM, and it wasn’t much more than an hour in before Campbell completed the first of five scheduled laps on the roughly 50-mile course. Fellow Open Pro Motorcycle racer Shane Logan crossed the line roughly three minutes behind Campbell on corrected time, while Nic Colangeli ensured that the top three would be within five minutes of one another.
Colangeli and Logan would swap spots on the second lap, but Logan would reclaim second on Lap 3 and remain there for the balance of the race as Colangeli eventually failed to finish. That opened up a podium spot for Matthew Combs, but Campbell’s #P3 Honda was long gone up front. When all was said and done, he’d have more than 40 minutes on second and almost 45 on third, while Over 30 Sportsman Motorcycle class winner Steven Machado surprised the field as the only other rider to complete all five scheduled laps.
When all was said and done, seven different class winners found their way into the overall top 10, including five different Sportsman winners. Ladies Pro Motorcycle winner Krista Conway backed up her victory in March’s BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 by finishing seventh overall as the top woman in the field, while an Open Ironman Sportsman Motorcycle rider cracked the top 10 for the second time in as many races this year as Jeff Pickton won the class in ninth overall.
Preliminary, unofficial top finishers in the 2024 California 300 Motorcycle Race were as follows:
- #P3 Preston Campbell, Open Pro Motorcycle, 5 laps, 5:21:53.744
- #P10 Shane Logan, Open Pro Motorcycle, 5 laps, 6:02:57.099
- #P69 Matthew Combs, Open Pro Motorcycle, 5 laps, 6:06:25.675
- #379 Steven Machado, Over 30 Sportsman Motorcycle, 5 laps, 6:26:06.784
- #S16 Coleman Westbay, Open Sportsman Motorcycle, 4 laps, 5:24:16.811
- #401 Brett Stevens, Over 40 Sportsman Motorcycle, 4 laps, 5:27:25.278
- #W1 Krista Conway, Ladies Pro Motorcycle, 4 laps, 6:03:59.600
- #322 Clay Mitchell, Over 30 Sportsman Motorcycle, 4 laps, 6:09:47.698
- #I8 Jeff Pickton, Open Ironman Sportsman Motorcycle, 4 laps, 6:21:29.646
- #S258 Oak Adams, 201-300cc Sportsman Motorcycle, 4 laps, 6:26:56.985
Follow along with live timing and tracking from the California 300 all week long at thecalifornia300.com/live.