NBL Coyote Nationals – Goodyear AZ

Report By Chase Campbell with tweaks by Carruth
Photo courtesy of peterpaulpics.com

It was out to the desert for the first stop of the NBL Elite Pro series. Goodyear (Phoenix), Arizona was the perfect setting to get away from the winter blahs and cabin fever. Estrella Mounatin BMX is, most certainly, one of the best facilities in the country, with a very smooth layout. The pro set was technical, which made races very interesting. Perfect weather, and a respectable turnout of Elite riders made the race a success.

Day 1 provided some good action through motos and semis. Elite men had a tough class with Maris �Golden Boy� Strombergs, now over his jetlag, doubling both days.

The elite men’s Main event finished as follows:
1.Maris Strombergs (Free Agent)
2.Randy Stumphauser (GHP)
3. Steven Cisar ( Haro, TLD rockstar)
4.Jarrett Kolich (Avent)
5. Mike Day (GT)
6.Yvan Lapraz
7. Barry Nobles (Clayborn)
8. Christian Becerine ( Free Agent)

Day 2 for Elite Men proved to be deja vu all over again for the top two spots, with Olympic gold and Nat #1 repeating Saturday’s performance, but Mike Day, fresh off his win the previous week in Reno, rounded out the podium. The main finished as:
1. Maris Strombergs (Free Agent)
2. Randy Stumphauser (GHP)
3. Mike Day (GT)
4. Jarrett Kolich (Avent)
5. Yvan Lapraz
6. Sergio Salazar
7. Javier Colombo (SE)
8. Christian Becerine (Free Agent)

Super Ex

Super ex was super tough, with 22 riders from all over the “great 48″ making the trip. Talk about some big names that showed were Josh Meyers, Matt Kelty (sporting his new OFR colors), Logan Collins, Fausto Endara, Nic Long (still flying high from his A pro debut, and day-one win in Reno), Weston Pope, and local Johnny Woodmansee. Semis off-the-hook crazy, and ended up making a very legit main event. The main rounded out like this.
1. Fausto Endara (Free Agent)
2. Matt Kelty (OFR)
3. Nic Long ( Intense/phantom ontrac)
4. Logan Collins (Clayborn)
5. Tyler Faoro (Morphine Industiries)
6. Kory Reid
7. Daniel Smith (Road Kill)
8. Jason Morris (Raceplacebmx.com)

On Day 2, some of the names in the main were different, but the action hotter than ever. Excalibur’s Josh Meyers, who crashed hard on day one and was rumored to be riding with a concussion, managed to keep his bruised brain in the game for an impressive win. The semis were lite one BMXmania jersey, as I had a pretty hard crash 3rd round and ended up in the ER for the semis and mains (broken foot=out for at least six weeks).
1.Josh Meyers (Excalibar)
2.Nic Long (Intense/Phantom Ontac)
3.Matt Kelty (OFR)
4.Logan Collins (Clayborn)
5.Fausto Endara (Free Agent)
6.Jason Morris (Raceplacebmx.com)
7.Corey Reid
8.Johnny Woodmansee (Lost Racing)

Elite Women

Elite woman had more slicing and dicing than a Popeil infommercial, with some of the some of the toughest ladies in town for the first elite race of 09. Hometown girl Dominique Daniels, making her NBL Elite debut, made a statement by doubling both days. Amanda Geving bailed big time in the day one main event, and was not racing Sunday…here’s hoping she’ll be fine.

The Day 1 main looked like this.
1. Dominique Daniels
2. Madison Pitts
3. Ashley Verhagen
4. Stephanie Barragan (Raceplacebmx.com)
5. Rachel Smith (Kenda/Bawls)
6. Carly Young
7. Amanda Geving

Elite woman day 2 had only 7 riders, with many familiar names (apologies for not having more on this…I was in XRay when it was running).
1. Dominique Daniels
2. Stephanie Barragan (Raceplacebmx.com)
3. Ashley Verhagan
4. Madison Pitts
5. Rachel Smith (kenda/bawls)
6. Carly Young