The 'Henderson 400', the final race of Best in the Desert Racing Association's (BitD) 2007 Silver State Series, will be the "Swan Song" for Team HUMMER's #8111 H1 Alpha Pickup, which will be replaced by a new Class 8100 H2 SUT in 2008. Driven by Chad Hall, the H1 Alpha comes into the Henderson race leading the Class 8100 points chase by 50 points and needs only to finish the race to clinch the class points championship. Powered by a Duramax Diesel engine with an Allison transmission, the H1 Alpha is easily the best of the H1 series of race trucks Team HUMMER has entered in competition during its 14 year history of racing HUMMERs in the desert. Winning the Class 8100 Silver State Points Series in its final race would certainly be a fitting accomplishment for a vehicle that, along the way, has redefined the way production vehicles are prepared for desert racing.
The 'Henderson 400', run Nov. 30 - Dec.2, consists of multiple laps around an 80 mile course stretched out across the El Dorado Valley, located between Henderson and Boulder City, Nev. Unlimited classes are scheduled to run four laps while limited and production classes will run three times around the course. This is the sixth year that Best in the Desert has returned to Henderson for the final race of the season and the course is a bit more forgiving than many of BitD's other venues. Nonetheless, racers can expect plenty of silt and rocks in various locations around the course, making visibility a problem and sudden disaster a possibility most of the time, particularly if the course is dry and windless on race day.
Chad Hall is looking forward to the final race at Henderson in the #8111 Team HUMMER H1 Alpha Pickup. Built and maintained by John Cumming in Mesa, Arizona, the H1 established its lead in Class 8100 points this season with wins at the 'Parker 425' and 'Vegas to Reno' and second-place finishes at the 'Terrible's Town 250' and 'Las Vegas 300'.
"We broke a rear shock at the Vegas 300," said Hall. "Other than rebuilding the shocks, there wasn't much the truck needed but a good prep to get ready for Henderson." Asked how he planned to approach the Henderson race, he replied, "Naturally I'd like to win but I'm not going to risk damaging the truck when I have a points championship on the line. I'll find a competitive pace where it's comfortable for the truck and concentrate on a good finish."
2007 has been a successful year for Team HUMMER and for Chad Hall. In addition to his two wins in the Best in the Desert series, he has co-driven the Team HUMMER H3 Class 3100 SUV with his father, Rod, recording Stock-Mini wins at the SCORE 'Laughlin Desert Challenge', the SCORE 'Baja 500' and the SCORE 'Primm 300'. His most recent win came at last week's SCORE 'Baja 1000' where he teamed up with Sam Edgar to drive the new Team HUMMER H3 Alpha V-8 SUV to victory in the Stock-Full production class, Hall's fifth 'Baja 1000' victory in the past seven years. Chad will drive the new H3 Alpha SUV (Class 4100) in the Best in the Desert Silver State Series next season.