Story and Photos by Cole Proctor

The Silver Dollar Nationals have been on the minds of BMXers across the country since the final moto crossed the line at the Grands in November. Riders had 48 days to set their 2012 goals, train up, open Christmas presents, and in many cases, build up a new ride and model their 2012 kit in the mirror a few dozen times.

This installment of the Silver Dollars was an historic event in BMX Racing’s timeline–it was the first time a national was run exclusively under the USA BMX brand name (though the ABA name lives on as a tagline to the USA BMX logo). With the new graphics came a new running order for the day’s racing. Instead of the Novice/Intermediate/Expert order that the ABA had been using since day one, the new running order puts all Novices, then all Intermediates, then all Experts down the starting hill.

The New Year brings new rides, new colors, and new companies. This year some big moves mere made, Sean Gaian and Felicia Stancil both left VSI to peruse opportunities at GT (though Felicia wasn’t in Reno). KJ Romero left J&R for a pro ride from Bill Ryan’s new Anarchy team. National Number One Amateur, Josh Klatman, was picked up by Redline. And both Van Ogles put on Hyper jerseys and said “See-ya” to the Redman Tribe.

The track LAYOUT was sick! The surface had some rough spots, but most of it was at par. “A really fast, fun track!” as one A Pro described it.

This Reno race was missing something, what was it? OH YEAH, the PROS! But A Pro and Vet Pro were still on the schedule, and they came to race. With KJ Romero, Blake Paulson, Jake Peebles, and Pete Pascual, in Saturday’s main, the first USA BMX A Pro main was going to be a white hot lap. “The screamin’ demon” Paulson was out to an early lead with Peebles on his back tire. Rookie, Pascual, came in with a respectable third. As for KJ, he took a soil sample in the first straight and logged a snowman this trip.

As for the amateur mains, the best was the 19-27 experts. The BIG #1 on Klatman’s back could just as well been target to Extreme Team’s Robbie Patterson. Redline’s new heavy hitter, Klatman was out with a big lead down the first and second straights, but Patterson was pulling. Everyone could see it, except Klatman. Patterson was going for the kill in the last turn. And it worked, Josh went up and over the last turn and Patterson was the first one across the line. Saturday was in the books, Sunday was just a few hours away.

Sunday, up and on the track early, for day two. This was the day the Saturday heroes would find out if all the training they had been doing actually paid off, or if day one was just a stroke of good luck. The racing was insane. As we made it through the countless motos and qualifying rounds, Saturdays 16 ex winner Dylan Cooley took a hard crash in the second turn of the semis and was out with a broken Humerus (upper arm).

Main time rolled around, and business hours were in effect–the time to put everything you have into your main event lap. The Pros were locked and loaded in the gate, the cadence starts, the beeps sound and the lights flash, and it’s on.

Elliot McGrath flipped the gate in lane six, jamming up Jeremy Rommel in gate seven–so his race was all but over from the drop.
Over the first Jump Kevin Shankel had a few millimeters on the the rest of the pack, but Blake Paulson was pulling through the middle, and Max Egdorf of the new Answer Rennen team was edging in from a lane eight start. Into the first turn, KJ put some serious body english into his approach, pinching off Shenkel’s line, and coming out with nothing but daylight in the distance. He muscled his new Anarchy ride to a smooth-as-butter lap from that point on, and scored his first A Pro win, with Shenkel in second and Peebles in for the final podium spot. But that wasn’t the end, remember Jeremy? Well, he wasn’t just going roll the lap without frontin a little style for the fans. He threw down a SERIOUS backflip over the finish line jump, and the place went nuts!

On the amateur side, new GT go-getter, Sean Gaian, fished the weekend with a double double in the Jr. Devo and the super-fast 15x class. Crupi’s Justin Anderson was out in a hurry in 16x, and was first at the stripe.

More fun and excitement in the 19-27 expert main. Rematch time, Patterson VS. Klatman. Who’s gonna come out on top? The Redline colors were out to a fast lead, but the orange and black colors of Patterson were right there. Around the first turn and down the second straight, Patterson was catching Klatman, saw his opportunity and took it in the second turn. He once again put the hurt on the champ, and took the overall win.

With 300-motos-plus both days, the weekend was long…but the action made it blaze by quick. Props to the newly turbo-charged Hyper Team, who took home Factory Team honors on Saturday (Intense took home the Sunday factory team win). There is no doubt that the 2012 USA BMX National Series is going to be one for the history books, with big races, and the fastest riders from all parts of the country coming together to mix it up on some amazing tracks. Next stop: Guthrie, OK for the Sooner Nationals…then, on to the first Pro race of the year on the newly-rebuilt Oldsmar track. Stay with BMXNEWS.COM for gate-to-stripe action from all of ‘em!

Check out the Photo Gallery

Mike Carruth contributed to this story

Edit 1/21/12 10:36AM, CST>>> We mistakenly wrote that Hyper won Factory Team both days, when, in fact, Intense won on Sunday.

The 2011 ABA President’s Cup Race of Champions was the perfect kickoff to ABA Grands Weekend. As we get the words in order for the three-day mega race, we thought you’d enjoy an appetizer in photo form.

Over 200 images of Novices, Inters, Experts and Pros to feast your eyes on.

Check out the Gallery Now

Check back Wednesday for story and photos from the 2011 ABA Grands.

NOTE: If you see a photo you like, logo-free, hi-res downloads are available for $15 on the photosareposted.com website. Perfect for prints!

For fans attending the Saturday Night show at the 2011 ABA Grands, the $10 admission price delivered on its promise of being “not the kind of BMX racing you see every day.”

Early in the day, more than a few were scratching their heads, wondering how 603 motos, times two, would fit into the alloted 10ish-hours before the published schedule said the evening program would open its doors. Well, the ABA crew did not appear to spend a lot of time standing around wringing their hands, THINKING about it. They GOT about it, and the first hour saw nearly **200** gates. That is space shuttle speed. It throttled back after the first hour or so, and settled in at a ~110-120/hr pace that is comfortable for all concerned.

We are not saying a syllable about the Amateur racing that happened during the day. That will come after Sunday’s mains are in the books. But getting us to a cleared out house by 6:15PM so the paying crowd could be let back in, was a Modern Marvel in its own right.

Three titles would be decided Saturday Night (Vet, Women and AA Pro), with the program running the “classic” ABA Pro format of three mains (Hooray!).

THE WOMEN

Habit is a beautiful thing, and at the same time, very limiting. We are so accustomed to saying “Elite Women” now, that we really don’t know what to call it when it is not Elite Women. Girl Pro? Nah, that seems kind of condescending, and does not have a lofty enough ring to it. “Lady Pro?” Not sure, but that doesn’t seem exactly proper either. “FePro?” Hmmm. That could work. Whatever moniker you wish to attach to it, the gals/ladies/females/women brought the crowd to their feet with full-on title chase action, and some third main drama added to the mix.

For those just arriving from a vacation on Neptune, the Women’s title battle was between Dom Daniels and Brooke Crain this year. Brooke has been spending her time trotting the globe to SX races, gaining the essential seasoning she’ll need to take her career to its ultimate heights…and boy (er…girl?) does it show. We wrote a little about how much Brooke’s game has been stepped up as part of our Chula Vista SX coverage. When not hopping the Atlantic, or on a UCI startlist somewhere, you can find her training at the US Olympic Training Center/Chula Vista, establishing herself as a bright star on the present and future roster of Elite female athletes for Team USA.

For her part, Dom has three ABA #1 FePro cups on her mantle (see what we did just then? ), and a fourth would make a mighty fine matched set. She has been racing a lot here at home, doing clinics, training with a laser focus, and looking to take her Team Puerto Rico jersey to London next August. Dom’s program is a little unconventional, no doubt. She rides for Dance Factory Racing, and Grand Canyon University–so may be riding one jersey or the other…and sometimes runs her Team Puerto Rico jersey. Her riding style can be rough-around-the-edges but, and here’s where most people’s “Dom” argument tends to go off the rails, BMX Racing is not figure skating. There are no style points awarded. S/He who crosses the line first is the winner, with no asterisks to equivocate the point.

The first two mains were Dom’s all the way, with Brooke in second and Amanda Geving (who was also riding very well all weekend) in the third. With two Dom wins, there were a number of mathematic scenarios where Brooke could still get it back, but they all involved Dom finishing two places or more behind. If Dom got an 8th and Brooke got a sixth, the first place points would go to Brooke (it would be a tie in points, actually, but last lap finish is the tiebreaker), and then the tabulating to see who gets the title.

Third main got started same as the others–with Dom in the lead…but Brooke was pouring it on down the second straight. Turn two was the place where Brooke took the lead in Friday’s main event…so could it happen again? Into the turn, Brooke is on the outside…and when the riders dropped behind the mountain of the pro set, Brooke came out on the inside of Dom…setting it up for the pass into the lead. They were wheel-to-wheel coming out of the turn, and Brooke rode it to the right, obviously trying to pinch off Dom’s line…she needed Dom two places back to get the title shot back on track.

As the slope of the turn gave way to the flat of the third straight, they got wingtip-to-wingtip. Even after watching the video a dozen times, its tough to know if what happened next was just the side-to-side bike throw of elite racing, or if a little elbow english was introduced by Brooke, hoping to coax Dom further to the margin. Whatever it was, it upset the delicate on-the-edge balance of bar-to-bar racing, and both…BOTH…title contenders spun to the ground. The place went nuts as Amanda Geving scooted home for the third main win, and the two early leaders picked themselves up to finish the race. Dom got in for a seventh and Brooke for the eighth–not two spots apart…so you know what that meant? Dom puts cup #4 on her mantle.

Back in the hotel lobby, our team of officials and forum warriors huddled around the computer watching the vid, and scored it as a clean-but-aggressive move by Brooke. “That’s why they call it ‘all-or-nothing’,” said one T.O. “Sometimes, it comes up ‘nothing,’ but you left it all on the field, and that’s what Brooke did tonight…that’s pretty cool.”

Brooke ended the evening with a Facebook message to fans and friends, thanking them for their support, and congratulating Dom on her fourth title. A classy move, indeed! Dom was on her way out of town, banged up from the bail, but with another year of being the champ–the target having never moved from her back, and we’re fairly sure that’s just the way she likes it

This was part I of a three-part article on Saturday Night’s Pro Title Races. Please check back later for our AA Pro and Vet Pro reports, as well as photo galleries from the weekend.

Story and Photos by Mike Carruth

Read that headline again…four of six podium spots to Team USA in Chula Vista. The other two were Mariana Pajon with the bronze in Elite Women, and Raymon van der Biezen of the Netherlands. Sorry to have delivered the punchline in the first 35 words.

Now, look at the date on which I am publishing this story–a full four days after the event–an eternity in this business of go-go-go instant-everything content.

It just took a day or two to sink in, is all. Now, Team USA is hardly an also-ran on the SX scene, but this level of success is something we have not yet enjoyed. And I am not too proud to admit I wanted to savor the flavor, before I got to writing about it.

I signed off my Friday Time Trial story by saying “More History to be Made Saturday Afternoon,” and that is pretty much what happened.

The Pro-Gate atop the Swatch start ramp at the US Olympic Training Center dropped a total of 46 times on Saturday, October 1. Each time would be either a triumph for one or a defeat for another, in 172 different flavors and a dozen or more languages. With stakes so high, it’s tough to do it justice with the written word. But, I’ll try.

A War Ready to Jump Off

To help in that, I’ll rewind the tape to Friday morning. It’s about 9AM, and I’m already at the OTC, down by the Director’s Office, which is kind of the hub of the whole BMX program there. I am a bit early to pick up my media credential for the race, and sitting on the ground, kind of taking it all in.

Every familiar face tied to the Team USA Olympic BMX effort is in view– from Jeff Glynn to Jerry Bradford, Brian Fell to Kenth Fallen, James Herrera and, of course, the Director himself, Mike King. There are also a half-dozen or so support staff that I do not recognize, but these are likely the unsung backstage heroes that help the aforementioned keep the program marching ever- forward.

Athletes have their tunes, and their seat posts cranked to maximum height as they loop around the soccer fields, down “the Olympic Path” on warmup routines. Some are doing plyo jumps on the soccer field. To the left is Brooke Crain…to the right, Arielle Martin…darting in and out of the athlete’s mechanic space we see Corben Sharrah, Tommy Zula, Josh Meyers, Amanda Carr, Felicia Stancil, David Herman, Nic Long, Barry Nobles and a host of other Americans getting ready to do what they train every day to do.

The mood is one that I have never experienced in BMX before. There’s a palpable energy in the air, but it is all VERY, VERY subdued–gunfighter serious, really.

I imagine it to be the kind of mood that might be present in a room where SEALs are readying their gear, painting eachother’s faces, just before launching on a midnight incursion behind enemy lines. There is a strong component of “let’s get it on!” and at the same time, one of “this is a very fragile situation.” Adrenaline has raised all senses to their peak, and laser-like focus is the only thing that keeps things in balance. Don’t look down.

As an onlooker, you picked up instantly, with no words being spoken, that this was not a time for idle chatter, or casual discourse. Levity was a million miles away from this place. “Good morning” greetings are exchanged politely, but with a quick grin and a nod, then on to wherever the job demands next.

THIS is the BMX Supercross that the fans don’t see, and it is the place where champions are built, bit by bit–with the precision and deliberation of a master building a house of cards or a ship inside a bottle. Fragile, yet in the most artful manner that dedication and passion for ones work can deliver.

All of the riders and USA Cycling crew deserve the credit and the glory for their efforts on behalf of the 312,358,340 of us, commonly known as The United States of America.

That’s how the Racing weekend started…and we covered how it closed out that day: Two USA jerseys on the Superfinal victory step: Brooke Crain and Connor Fields.

With the stage set for Saturday, it was time to hit up the ABA US Open Nationals “upstairs” at Future BMX. A healthy 199 motos on the menu for Day One, as an appetizer to the “Big Track” action that would start at 2:30PM.

14:30 – Race Time

The SX race would be run in daylight this year, saving a boatload of cash to bring in crane-mounted lights, and also removing some of the element of chance for the riders as the evening dew set in on the starting ramp–a big deal the past two years.

Four racks of Elite women and eight of Elite Men were the result of Friday Time Trials qualifying, where 32 and 64 riders, respectively, advanced to “the big show.”

Racing got underway on time, after a moving rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was sung by US Paralympian, Lex Gillette (whom we have written about and interviewed here on BMX News in the past). Lex delivered the opener from the top-step of the awards podium, wearing the silver medal he won at the 2008 Beijing Games.

For those joining the program, already in progress, the three qualifying rounds are not called “motos” in Supercross parlance, but Quarterfinals for the women, and Eighthfinals for the men, run three times, just like…well…motos.

Team USA jumped out to an early show of dominance, as Brooke Crain and Amanda Carr took 1-2 in the first rack of the day. Amanda would win round two, and Brooke round three. Junior Elite champ Melinda McLeod of Australia was a consistent 3-3-3 in the qualifying rounds, and the ever-so-cute, ever-so-fast, Teagan O’Keefe from “SuthAfriga” made the move to the semis with Brooke and Amanda.

The crowd was stoked to see the next gate, cheering on first-time-SXer, Felicia Stancil of Team USA as she took the fight to long-time globetrotters Sara Walker of new Zealand and Magalie Pottier of France. There is no doubt that Felicia is going to be a big name on the Supercross circuit in coming years, and she led all three laps at one point or another. It was awesome to see the new talent right up on the old pros. Sarah suffered a big thump to the California clay, over the first set, in the very last practice gate of the day. She was down for a while, but obviously not too shaken, because she came to the gate ready to rock, come race time. Magalie ended up with two aces in rounds one and two, to Sarah’s double-deuces. Sarah took round three, and Felicia got in for the two-spot, with Magalie in the three.

Speaking of New-ish talent, Dani George of Team Supercross was looking very strong in Chula. She was double-F-FFast down the hill–the whole first straight, really, and led the W1 of Mariana Pajon first round to the second turn, where experience stepped in, and she hugged a tight inside line to pass Dani and take the round one win. Mariana came back to claim round two, but Dani took round three, with some challenge by Amanda Geving. Pajon got gummed up over the first set when Lauren Reynolds crashed next to her, giving the World Champ (and eventual Elite Woman Rider of the year) a fifth that trip. Geving and Nederlander, Laura Smulders would join Dani and Mariana in the Semis.

In the fourth rack, Arielle Martin was nestled up next to Aussie pal, Caroline Buchanan, who took the first round win. After that, it was all Airborne in the final two laps, with Caroline in the deuce. The rest of the field jumbled up a bit from round to round, but France’s Manon Valentino and Jana Horakova of the Czech Republic had their tickets punched to the semis.

Men, Men, Men, Men…Men, Men, Men, Men

Among the men, it was cool to see youngins Justin Posey, Austin Hiatt, and Jordan Miranda in the gate, having made it from the 140-rider Time Trial field into the “special-sixty-four.” And while none cracked the top six in their respective groups, they were in with the heaviest of the heavies, and that puts some rock-solid seasoning in the books for future outings. I’m feelin’ pretty confident we’ll be seeing all three names in a coming-soon-Semi, and beyond.

All eight racks had the same rider acing all three laps. First was Time Trial Superfinal winner, Connor Fields rockin the fresh new Team USA/Chase BMX jersey. Any hotter, and the Con-Man would have needed a full-discharge blast from the nearest fire extinguisher as part of his cool down routine.

Next was Aussie Brian Kirkham, then The Machine, Maris Strombergs. Fellow Latvian Edzus Treimanis was tops in rack five x3, and Redline Great-Northerner, Tory Nyhaug and household-name RL teammate Sam Willoughby were next with across-the-board wins. The final two groups were dominated by Elite Mens World Champ, Joris Daudet of France, and San Diego’s own Nic Long for Team USA.

Below the top-tire-at-the-stripe level, the men had some solid standouts, who could definitely be in the mix, come main time. Americans David Herman, Tyler Brown and Barry Nobles were all looking very strong on the day, Barry fighting back from a first-round superman over the triple into the first turn to get his SE double threes in the next two rounds to move on.

Dutchies Jelle van Gorkom, Raymon van der Biezen and Twan van Gendt were always right there to put the orange crush on any mistake by the comp, however small.

Deep into the third round, all hearts and minds were on the first straight as Donny Robinson, who Hypered-out to a half-a-wheel lead on the pack over the first set, came tumbling down just after the landing. Donny has had a bad stretch of injuries the past year or so, and the crowd held its collective breath, waiting for dR to get up. He did, thankfully. And while he had low enough points to qualify for the quarters. he sat it out. The good news is that we saw him tooling around later in the day, so all hopes are that he’s his happy and healthy self come ABA Grands time.

The Elite Men Semis would be the ones to watch, and re-watch, and re-watch on bmx-videos.com–specifically, the second one. More on that in a few.

WOW! And that was just the qualifying rounds.

Into the quarters for the men, David Herman had the holeshot in the first rack and led the pack to the middle of the third straight. That was when Connor Fields kicked in and sopped-up any lead the Hermanator had on him. Meanwhile, about 10 bikes back from David, Twan van Gendt and Carlos Oquendo of Colombia were cinching up their qualifying spots to the Semis.

Second rack had some pulse-quickening action, as Mike Day found himself in sixth, exiting turn one. Obviously, the Chula Vista track is as familiar to him as an well-worn pair of Nikes, and he made up some serious ground on the second straight, passing Robert de Wilde and Tyler Brown as they came into the berm jump. Strombergs had a solid lead with Tremanis and Frenchman Sylvain Andre in the two-three. Afro Bob, the elder statesman of SX, came close on the last straight, but Mikey closed fast and got the final transfer spot.

Next rack, Willoughby had it well in hand, but the battle would be for the balance. In the first turn, it was three-abreast for the two-spot between Josh Meyers, Tory Nyhaug and Barry Nobles. Down the second straight, Tory opened up a bit of a lead on Barry and Josh, with Sam still way-out-front. Weston Pope was in fifth as they hit the berm jump. Barry had serious momentum, and rocketed past Tory and Josh in turn two and it was three-wide down the third straight with Meyers, Nyhaug and Jelle van Gorkom going for the remaining two spots to the semi.

In the final rack pack, Kurt Pickard had an early lead down the first straight, but Nic Long, on the inside and at the top of his game all day, closed the gap with every pedal and backside. By the triple entering the first turn, Nic was in the lead, and Pickard was fading fast with Joris Daudet and Raymon van der Biezen breathing down his neck. Daudet stayed low into turn one, and came out in second, with Raymon right there, and Khalen Young moving up to replace Pickard for the four spot. And that’s how it finished.

Some say Semm-eyes and some say semm-ees.

Four gate drops would decide the Chula Vista “savvy sixteen,” and it was the gals gettin’ about it first.

The whole pack came off the ramp clean, but by the midpoint on the first straight, only four would be on two wheels (well, any wheels, really). Sarah Walker was down first, and out clean, but in the middle lanes, Felicia Stancil did a stiff-legged rotation thingy, reminiscent of Maris at the ABA Grands last year (which took him out for six months with a broken wrist). Slightly ahead of her, Amanda Carr, Aneta Hladakova and Magalie Pottier all crashed to the ground, and it was tough to know how that chain of events got started. Felicia, for her part, was thankfully back on her feet, and snorting with anger/disappointment and probably a sliver of gratitude for coming out of it in one piece. Hladakova and Pottier picked themselves up and finished out the lap. But Amanda Carr was still down…and it took a few minutes for the ace medical team to make sure she could move off the track with the help of her coaches, rather than a backboard…but she did. The pain of no main probably was as sharp as that of any body part.

The second semi roared down the ramp, with Arielle Martin on the chosen-outside. Dani George was snapping out of the inside lane, and seemed to get a little out of shape over the first set, costing her some valuable sliver-seconds. Caroline Buchanan and Arielle would battle for the lead as the pack edged toward turn one, but AMV15 had it in the bag as they passed the triple. Amanda Geving was in third and Dani was on the bubble. Mariana Pajon was in fifth at this point, but diving for one of her trademark inside swoops…which paid off big time, as she exited the turn in third, but gave Geving back the tre and settled back into the bubble spot…which is how it closed out at the stripe.

On the guy side, the first group was a nail-biter for Connor Fields fans. David Herman had command well in hand as the pack raced to turn one. The freeze-frame at that stage had it as Herman, Strombergs, Treimanis and a neck and neck dual between Fields and Sylvain Andre. Mike Day was back in fifth. Day dove for the mega inside in turn one, and came out in a three-abreast battle for second with Maris and Treimanis, with Connor joining them for a four-wide frenzy for the two-spot. By the berm jump, David was still long-gone in the lead, and the Con-Man creeped into second…so the final two transfer spots were going in hot and heavy between Maris, Day and Treimanis. HOLY COW!, as Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray was famous for saying! Day went high in turn two and did not emerge, so it was Herman, Fields, Strombergs and Treimanis racing down the third straight. Connor overtook David about midway down and the finish was locked at that point…Fields, Herman, Strombergs and Treimanis as half of the Chula Vista Elite Men Main Event.

The second semi had nuclear power on the pedals, as Sam Willoughby, Joris Daudet, Nic Long, Khalen Young, Raymon van der Biezen, Barry Nobles and Josh Meyers and Jelle van Gorkom all were on high alert for one of four spots to the main. At this level, every semi is really a main, and it can be any man’s race, but for a trim here and an extra pedal there. The pack came down clean, and on the backside of the first set, it was Raymon van der Biezen with a spoke nipple lead on Nic Long on the inside and KY on the outside. By the time all riders had gotten onto the backside of the first-turn-triple, it was Long, van der Biezen, van Gorkom, Young, Nobles, with Meyers on the waaay outside, looking for some daylight to do a dive-in, possibly. Willoughby and Daudet were camping out on the back 40 of the pack in seventh and eighth at this point. Out of turn one, van Gorkom carved the inside in a major way, and came out even with Nic, ultimately overtaking him down the second straight. At the tail end of the second straight, it was Jelle-don’t-call-me-jelly, Nic, vd Biezen and KY. Sam got a massive backside off the double heading into the berm jump, and moved from sixth to fourth by the time the pack came out of turn two. Down the third straight they came, as van Gorkom/Long (take your pick), Young and Willoughby. Daudet had moved through the pack as well, passing Barry midway down…and was in striking position of a main event slot as the last turn came into view. Joris was even with Sam, and on the inside, as Jelle took the pack into the third turn. Nic, KY and Sam were in chase, and Joris saw some daylight on the inside, which he took every bit of, and then some. That was when he, Khalen and Sam all went down, and Barry and Raymon steered clear to make it in.

Definitely some stompin and snortin on the parts of Aussies Willoughby and Young vis a vis Daudet. “Heat of the moment” stuff, according to KY in a post on Vintage, following the race.

I don’t hold grudges, or think what he did was dirty.

Things get heated in the middle of the battle.

I apologized for what I said, we shook hands and that was that.

Go Time – The Main Events

After a few more songs from On-Site musical guest, Faduca, 16 riders were climbing the mountain for two main events.

Ladies first, as is the custom. Today, it would be a full house; Americans full of Aussies, and of course Kiwi Sarah Walker, Colombian Mariana Pajon and the lovely and talented Teagan O’Keeffe (whose boyfriend, World Champ Joris Daudet, would be watching from the fenceline today, as previously noted). From the inside, the placement went Buchanan, Walker, Crain, O’Keeffe, McLeod, Pajon, Geving and Martin. Arielle chose the outside, because in the middle and inside, there can be all kinds of traffic, bar-bangin, people casing and other drama. The gate dropped, and it was on like Donkey Kong. At the frontside peak of the first jump, it was a packed group with, perhaps, Walker showing potential for a lead–WAY too early to tell, because 40 feet later, on the backside, it was Arielle’s front triangle that was leading the way. Into the first turn, AMV15 was firmly in command of this mission, with Caroline and Sarah stalking. That was the point when Brooke carved up the inside and put the mega-swoop on the Southern Hemisphere duo.

That was also the point at which you could see how much Brooke’s training is paying off in a major way. A year ago, it is doubtful she could have out-horsepowered Sarah Walker out of that first turn. Today, that was exactly how it went. Arielle and Brooke, on rails, down the second straight, and past the BMXNEWS.COM camera position (POP!- great shot!, below) Pajon was a bike and a half behind the Americans. That could have just as easily been the finish line, because the race stayed that way to the stripe.

Team USA had its first UCI BMX Supercross World Cup win for the Women in a long time, in the person of Arielle Martin. Sweetening the experience further, we grabbed the silver too, with Brooke Crain. The World Champ, Mariana Pajon, joined Team USA on the podium for her native Colombia. Pandemonium at the finish line, as media jockey for position, back of the packers still crossing the line, and the world spinning for the winner.

With the interviews and craziness at the finish line cooked off, it was time for the Men’s main event. Today’s gate was missing some heavy hitters, with Willers out of the race in practice with a jacked-up shoulder, and Willoughby and Daudet still cooling off from their tussle in turn three of the Semi…but still, this rack was stacked to the rafters. From the inside, we had Connor Fields, Jelle van Gorkom, David Herman, Nic Long, Edzus Treimanis, Raymon van der Biezen, Maris Strombergs and Barry Nobles. Half the spots occupied by Americans–another rarity.

The Bottom-of-the-hill holeshot belonged to Maris Strombergs, but Nic Long was milliseconds from the lead, as the pack hit the first jump. It was more or less a tie for third at that point, between Nobles and Fields. Over the second set in the first straight, it was neck and neck between Nic and Maris, and Connor was gaining ground, about up to Nic’s bottom bracket, and on the inside. In case you missed it in the last sentence, “and on the inside” is pivotal positioning for Connor’s day.

In a freeze frame we shot just as the race was entering turn one, we see Nic leading it, with Connor setting up an inside move that would write the day’s story. Farther back, in fourth and fifth, Dutch riders van Gorkom and van der Biezen are preparing to enter the turn as well. Herman is in sixth about eight bikes back from Nic’s leading edge. As we could see from a mile away, Connor made his swoop into the lead at that very moment–and not a moment too soon. Just then, van Gorkom’s front wheel broke loose as he was carving hard to get under Nic and Maris, who went wider.

As Redman put it later, Jelle took Nic and Maris down like a 7/10 split in a bowling frame (unintentionally, though it was). Connor said he heard a lot of crunching and crashing behind him, but steamed on, for all it was worth. He was clear of the carnage, and had the still-upright vd Biezen and Herman, seemingly stunned, riding after him. It wasn’t much of a race after that, with Connor crossing the line five seconds before Raymon and 10 seconds ahead of David. Our camera position was perfectly-placed in the first turn, and we captured both the pack all on two wheels entering the apex of the turn, and Connor streaking ahead, just as Nic and Maris were about to hit Jelle’s bike (above). Maris came over the backside of the turn, and took a minute or two to shake off what just happened, but he seemed OK physically.

And that, my friends, is the story of how Team USA captured four podium spots on home turf, in the final SX event of calendar 2011.

According to the UCI schedule posted on their site, the first SX of calendar 2012 will be back in Chula Vista (possibly on a new track??) March 30 and 31. If that sticks, it’s an odd placement, because the same schedule also has a UCI Class 4 race happening in Desoto, TX during the ABA Supernationals the same day.

Heading out of the venue, it was right around the time that the first round would have been over the year prior. The San Diego sun was setting over the Pacific, and the place was mostly cleared out. Three kids, who couldn’t have been older than six, were racing around on scooters, each swooping the other and making an “aaaarrrrroooom!” kind of sound as they did it. As the bigger kid kicked his machine into motion, he shouted “I’m Connor Fields…. aaaarrrrroooom!” and swooped under his buddies–just as Connor, himself had done to HIS buddies, about an hour earlier. A new Elite hero was created today.

Check out the Photo Gallery from the Chula Vista Supercross

By Mike Carruth

For the third time in as many years, the brightest stars in the BMX universe are making tracks to San Diego to ply their trade on the US Olympic Training Center track in Chula Vista. A total of 150 men and 33 women were scheduled to start in Friday’s time trial qualifying.

In the end, 10 riders did not start, including megawatt US stars Joey Bradford and Bubba Harris. Corben Sharrah was signed up, and Jerry Mania had a photo of what looked like him taking a practice lap…could it be?

The most notable DNS of the day was Marc Willers, who went down hard over/after the first set during Practice on Thursday, and seemed to injure his shoulder. We have not had the chance to chat with Marc, so unknown exactly the extent of his situation, except to say he’s out this weekend, and the hopes of an SX title are now all-but-dashed. Tough break for 777–and for all us fans who were hoping to see a repeat of the Chula Vista 2010 main, combined with the London 2011 main.

Among the ladies, 33 started and 32 qualified–the odd (wo)man out being Taylor Wolcott, who spun into the ground on the second set in the first straight. That was tough for us to see, because earlier in the day, we saw her warming up in the parking lot, looking strong and all was well. The next time we saw her was after the time trial runs, and before the Superfinal, strapped into right-side sling. She seems OK, and ready to head to the local MRI spa next week.

This is the first SX outing for many of the new 1995 birthyear bar-bangers, who just got their wings to hit the big ramp as of August 1. We were served an appetizer of some of this talent at the NBL Grands, where Maliek Byndloss, Tyler Whitfield and Felicia Stancil joined the Junior Elite ranks for the first time. Well, in the big leagues of BMX Supercross, there is no Junior class, so all in with the big dawgs.

Felicia was first to go–literally–the first Time Trial rider on the track for Friday. This, because she is low man on the totem pole, with no UCI ranking or points–seeing as though she’s new and all. With her 38.167 lap time the first time out on a SX track (in competition), she sat in the hotseat for 21 more gate drops, until Melinda McLeod of Australia unseated her with a 38.141. Felicia ultimately ended up 10th, with a ticket to the Superfinal for her trouble. Sarah Walker turned the fastest time of the first round, with a 36.802.

Back to Byndloss and Whitfield, they started 18th and 24th, respectively–after name brand stars like Denzel Stein and Jeff Upshaw. Neither n00b got to the big show this first time out, but at 79th and 86th, Maliek and Tyler still finished solidly in the middle–and that is a “way to go” moment, no lie.

When a nuclear power plant goes online, they run it through a series of less-than-full-power tests before they bring it up to full steam. In watching Connor Fields on Friday, you could clearly see that the less-than-full-power trials were well in the past, and it was “full-throttle-till-morning” time. Starting 103rd out of the 140 starters, the Con-Man warmed the hotseat til they turned out the lights, with a first-run lap of 34.073. That, of course, earned him the final gate drop of the day in the Superfinal. It was definitely a proud moment for Team USA, as the first run finished up, revealing that of the 16 Superfinal spots for the men, American would be occupying seven of them. Similarly, USA would have five in the Elite Women’s Superfinal. But, even with numbers like that, there were more proud moments to come.

The sun was getting low in the sky, and just getting into “Golden Hour” territory, when the Superfinals kicked off.

Sorry to get all zen on you here, but watching a perfectly-executed time trial lap rises almost to the level of performance art–the ups are where the ups shold be, the downs are where they should be, and the pedals are placed perfectly, with not to many to rile up the rhythm, or too few to FUBAR your finishing time.

Brooke Crain started sixth in the 16-chick Superfinal. Her run really was a thing of beauty, and at 36.364, she bested Sarah Walker’s first run top time by a half a second (which is a healthy margin in this business). Team USA owned half of the Superfinal props.

The day closed out with serious wattage from 16 of the fastest human beans in the whole burrito (minus one for Willers, who surely would have been among them). Some great laps put down, by the likes of Kyle Bennett, Nic Long and Sam Willoughby. Raymon van der Biezen was up 14th, and turned a lap (34.409) that looked like it would be very tough to beat. Next up was Tory Nyhaug, who bested vd Biezen’s killer lap by a third of a second. But the conquering lap was all Connor’s. He wouldn’t get to sit in the hotseat, because he was the most-super-finalist in the Superfinal. If you saw a basketballer surgically-place 12 three-pointers in “nothin’ but net” fashion, that’s about how Fields executed his run. Words can’t do it justice…heck, video can barely scratch the surface. You had to live it to feel the energy in the place. Winning time was 33.886, which we’re told is a new Chula Vista course record.

More history to be made, Saturday afternoon!

Story and Photos By Mike Carruth

Day Two of the 2011 ABA Hoosier nationals came all-too-early for this reporter. In fact, as I was racing out of Starbucks and onto I-294 breaking the bonds of the 312, the first gate of Sunday racing was on-course.

No biggie, really, because I despise shooting in the rain–refuse to, is more like it–so I would have been just another soggy spectator had I been up at 6AM, as was the plan.

My hysteria about being late subsided as text messages were returned telling of the damp conditions. It was then that it dawned on me that sleeping in my own bed, and heading back to day-two of a national is not a condition I am at all accustomed to…THAT was the “off” thing for me today. Normally, it’s a four-hour flight, or a 10+ hr drive, check in to a hotel and catch-as-catch can for any kind of vegan fare that can be conjured up. But today, it was all the comforts of home–including the alarm clock I have not yet figured out how to use after 16 years (why do laptops last 18 months, and alarm clocks last 18 years?).

Indeed, I have not been to a national within home-sleeping range since Itasca BMX in 1982 (it rained that day too). Oh there have been nats here–at The Hill, and even Imagination Glen, but not since I got back into it in 2008. Rockford is just far enough away–at 94 miles–that a hotel is mandatory on Fathers Day weekend.

DID YOU KNOW…there has not been a BMX race in the Chicago City Limits in 32 years? (“The Great Race” at the Chicago Amphitheater, on the 1979 NBA/Schwinn tour). We need a world-class track in the Windy City-proper!

I rolled up to a grey-but-dry Imagination Glen, just as Justin Posey was taking home a first round win in 17-18x. Seemed like a fair amount of “second-verse, same as the first” happening in the age classes–though that was by no means guaranteed to stick.

The pro class had a little post-haste pow-wow and decided that the threat of rain was…well…threatening, so decided to ditch motos two and three and run the main at the top of the order going into second round. Of course, having just arrived on-scene, I was not clued into that until I noticed no pros gated up for third round. Thus, the final feet of the second lap, when Justin Riddell put the mega move on Andres Holguin in the last turn to win it held a special significance. Jon Jon Rapp was on the right-step for the second day in a row…nice work for a new pro card holder.

In the semis-to-mains break in the action, attention turned to the finish line as ABA past-president Clayton John made a special appearance to honor Imagination Glen/Steel Wheels BMX Track Operator Jackie Altizer. If you go to a lot of nationals, you’ll recognize Jackie’s smiling face as you pick up the weekend’s T-Shirt at racewear in many cities. But we, in the Chicagoland scene, know her as our tireless TO who, along with an all-pro crew of dedicated volunteers, dodge-and-weave the Midwest weather from the outdoor to the indoor (sometimes in the same day ). Taking off my “business” bandanna, and putting on my BMX Dad hat for a moment, it really is a rare gift that we enjoy in the Tri-State (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin) area. Year-round racing, even when the lake-effect snow is measured in meters, and 20-ton snow plows are doing 360s on I-94 (as on “Young Guns Challenge” day in 010). We love you Jackie, Ken, et. al!

The rain held off in such a fashion that we were getting pretty cocky about the fact we were going to get the whole thing done in-the-dry…”glad that RAIN held off” was a common replacement for “what’s up?” around the fenceline. Well, the object lesson is “don’t tempt Mother Nature.” Literally, as the first main event gate dropped, the sky-drip started.

It wasn’t a torrent, but just enough to make shooting uncomfortable (poor me), and a few riders to ditch the fogged-up goggles on the hill. Somehow, we all soldiered on

The girls classes had some serious “it ain’t over til it’s over” finish line action. Brelyn Swendseid came a micro-knobby away from shoplifting 15G out of the clutches of Shay Glynn at the stripe, but Shay kept her at bay for the win. Then, in 16G, Courtney Purcell put the hurt on Sam Brown just as Dan Rumple made the call. And in the next gate, Tori Hopperdietzel applied the afterburners just in time to best Michele Patterson out of a double. The Grasshopper also doubled up in Cruiser on the weekend for Extreme Team.

One thing I love about National BMX Racing is the fact that from five and under to 41-over, there is riveting racing to revel in. Six expert was a great example of that today, as Liam Elo had a commanding lead from the gate to turn two, when the Jedi, Zak Miller, came a callin. Saturday’s third place was not allowed to repeat, as Miller took the lead just out of turn two, and went wee, wee, weeeee, all the way home (or whatever sound little ‘Monkeys make when they are going all the way home). Elo ended up with the deuce, and it was Texan Kiel Ross for the third.

And that was only the fifth age class gate to fall. Plenty of pushin the limits to come, as it would turn out.

Jump it a few classes, to 8x, and it was on like Donkey Kong between day one topper, Kiegen Perlberg on the Mike’s Bikes Redline ride, and Kohl Piluso in the Hyper colors. Piluso scooted in for a Saturday second, and was not looking to go home with a double deuce. Perlberg led it once again til the final feet, when Kohl mounted a charge and edged past at the stripe. Third and fourth was a deja vu, with Nate Coyman and The G-Man, Gavin Freewalt rounding out the top four. Speaking of “The President,” Coyman also doubled up in 8 Cruiser for the weekend.

Over in 9x and 9C, it was all about Young Gun, Nathan Davids, who scarfed up a Double Double (if you’ll excuse the West Coast caloric reference in this Midwest context).

Bringin’ the heat in 14x, Ryan Zinzow, once again jumped out to an early lead, but Justin Knapper was not about to leave it at that. Out of turn one, he was on-the-gas-to-pass Ryan, and thundered down the second straight with a stretched-out lead, which stuck.

Cooley and Ceslok battled in 15x, with DC getting the day one win, and Big B taking it wire to wire for the day two honors. Chalk up a double for B in 15C as well.

No fight to the front in 16x on Sunday, as Tyler Whitfield put a solid showing in and took it to em for the double-double. But the intrigue isn’t always at the front, as demonstrated by Layne Gainer in the last turn. Hootman was running second to TyWhit, and took the prime line–when on the high-side, Gainer scooped over him and into the two-spot. That was a manly move, considering the carnage seen in that turn through the semis in many-a-class.

Posey posted another win on Sunday in 17-18x. And as to the historical backstory we promised you from yesterday’s report…it was actually a national at The Hill in Elgin, IL about eight years ago that was the thing. It was the 9x main, and seems some joker took that opportunity to holler out “Justin…your tire’s flat” just as the cadence was started. JP did what any nine-year-old would do, and looked down to see what was up….SMACK! went the gate, and all the other guys got out with gusto. I guess that is the BMX equivalent of “Hey, your shoelaces are untied!”–which, of course, is something you only need to learn once. Notwithstanding lessons previously learned, all hecklers were silent on this trip to Chicagoland, and Justin did what Justin does.

If 16x was the nail-biter on Saturday, that designation was firmly held by the 19-27-exers on Sunday. Tony Favata was large and in charge, in true Wrecking Crew fashion down the first straight, and deep into the second…Egdorf was in tucked into the two-spot, if temporarily, and Chase Hines was scanning for some daylight in third. Max made a dramatic move to the outside entering the turn, and we could see a hi-low to glory from a mile away…but the “scanning” that Chase was doing was on radar-lock, and he made the move of the day, going from third to first to come out of turn two on top. For those following at home, mark your scorecards with Max in for the two and Tony for the tre.

The 404 crew was in full effect in 28-25x, and Charlie Hunt was not going to chill with Pats 605 flier Mike Weatherford doing a double on him. Great lap for the Morphine machine, and always good “english” on the bike, making for some prime photos.

Of course 404/ATL cannot be invoked without some due given to 36-40x. Doran Bradshaw doubled up in 36-40 Cruiser, but turned an off-podium fourth in class on day one. As different as the weather was between the two days, so, too, was DB100′s mojo in Sunday’s class main. Dude got it to the front and led it to a nothing-but-daylight trip for the 36-40 win. Long-time legend, Shan Hatfield scooted in for second, and Day One champ Pedro Brown was on the right step.

By the 41-over Ex main, the rain had stopped again, and the sun was making an effort to poke through the thick blanket of upper-strata-blah. Scott Moreland was, again, at max wattage to close it out with a Dan’s Comp double double…but not without an early challenge in Sunday’s class main by holeshotter, Jim Wahl. Wahl was second on Saturday and suffered a small serving of Sunday smackdown by Frank Nuccio who took the day-two-deuce.

(ok to exhale now…)

The crowd was out of the parking lot in a tidy three-hours-and-58-minutes, and headed to nearby MDW or ORD on the flyaway…and some to a local big-box store to snack-up for a double-digit Interstate date. “See you in Chula?” was the goodbye of the day (yes, by the way), and we were home and tuned in to the dreadful Bears game in time for the second half. A profound reminder of why it is so much more enjoyable to watch BMX Racing than mainstream sports. Each gate, you have a new opportunity to root for your favorite “player.” When will the world wake up?

Check out Sunday’s Photo Gallery!

Day one of the 2011 ABA Hoosier Nationals was everything a national should be: a fun, approachable track, solid “name-brand” competition in lots of classes, a moto count that easily passed the “Goldilocks Test” (not too high, not too low…just right), and a dynamite, in-the-high-60s, sunny fall day in Chicagoland.

No UCI racing at this one, but we had a rack of five A Pros, who raced hard and gave the fans four impressive efforts to hoot and holler about. Olijuwan Davis looked like he’d be the top money man heading out of the three moto rounds, having aced every trip, but it was Floridian, Justin Riddell (who recently signed with the DFR pro squad) that was in command wire to wire come main time. OD was in for the deuce, and Jon Jon Rapp was on the podium with a well-raced third.

I have to admit, there were some names at the Hoosiers that I did not expect to see. The winner of the “first seen” award goes to Carly Dyar, as she and dad Rinny were in my sights within five steps of the Newsmobile. Then, all of the sudden it was Shay Glynn, Justin Posey, Chase Hines, Max Egdorf, Ethan and Avery Moore from AZ, Jerry Bradford, with West Coast Hyper hotshoes Pistol Pete Choat and Kohl Piluso all close at hand.

Imagination Glen just underwent a full rebuild. Billy A and his heavy hardware did a great job laying things down. Local talent was called in to assist on three freshly-paved turns, which flowed well…except for some unfortunate potholes that showed themselves in turn one. Blame it on the weather, as the temp has yo-yoed from 100+ to the low 50s, and popped out some of the surface. Everyone seemed to take it pretty much in stride, as all 136 motos had to race the same course. Paving do-over to come!

With 26 riders, 8x was the deepest class of the day, and our only set of quarterfinals in Portage. The talent was tall among these little guys, with local hero Gavin Freewalt hosting main men Kiegen Perlberg from MN, Kohl Piluso (fresh off a second at the worlds), “The President” Nathan Coyman, and Nashville star, Zach Jacobs, among others. In the main, Piluso had his Hyper a wheel in from of Bam-Bam Perlberg’s Supercross at the first jump, with Coyman on the outside, and the G-Man on the inside. After that, though, Bam-Bam muscled to the front, and bounced on home for a strong win, with Piluso, Coyman and Freewalt in trail.

Rewinding the tape a bit for some “Girl Talk,” 15G had 13 in the chutes, and Shay Glynn gave our camera the best “Profile” possible, as she engaged the warp drive to ace the day’s two laps. Lots of miles traveled in this class, with Shay’s hop from So. Cal, second place Brelyn Swendseid (Team) Storming in from South Dakota, and podium pal, New Yorker Rochelle Wooding gettin Rennen-Intense there for third.

Fresh off her sweet 16, Sam Brown was in her home area code, and looking strong for Felt, but it was Courtney Purcell that would put the pressure on and score the day’s high-hardware, with Sam-Wow in second and the tall-and-talented Megan “The Major” Pritchard joining the podium pleasantries.

In 17-27G, it was 26 year old #24, Michele Patterson bringin the heat to the teens to ace the place. The always-fast Tori Hopperdietzel was there for second, and Crankin Carly Dyar rustlin her Redline in for third.

Back to the Boyz, we got to give props to local Badd boy, Liam Elo, who aced up on a seven helmet main event in 6x.

News just had a chat about Pistol Pete Choat at the Interbike show last week, and the skinny is he’s barely lost a lap all season in the black and orange Hyper colors. Indiana seemed to agree with him, with another 7x win. This little guy casts a tall shadow, and he came to do business.

Exactly who was on the winning Rennen-Intense Factory Team Sheet is a mystery to us, but chances are good Devon Yeager’s winning trip in 10x was probably on it…he toasted the baker’s-dozen-plus-one decaders.

In 12x, it was Midwest Muscle versus Dynamite when the gate dropped. Nic Deters exploded out with the most-excellent Erik Meyer all over his chainstay. 1-2 for Nic and Eric, with the Skydive city’s favorite son John Jilbert in for the tre.

Yaaaaawn! Justin Richmond char-broiled 13x per usual. Pulse-quickening pedaling at 110% intensity, but nobody laid a glove on the Juice…and that was that.

Justin Knapper has been demolishing the comp lately, and he must be on some kind of raw-red-meat diet, with that beastly pull he’s got goin on. He laid down a perfect weekend at the NBL Grands in 14x, and dispensed with Jr. Devo today in the same fashion. A first round transfer today in class…but come main time, rockin Rockford local, Ryan Zinzow got his RPM to the front, and held the lead to the stripe.

Great to see Dylan Cooley back in full effect for the All-Tow Wrecking Crew. A spiff new team rig rolled in from points East, and he had command–though not without ever-present pressure in the person of Snap Factory’s Big B, Brandon Ceslok on his left rail.

The 16x main had us breathing into a brown paper bag to keep from passing out. Off-track pals Jacob Hootman and Tyler Whitfield were all business as they were grip-to-grip into turn one. Hootie was on the inside, and drifted a little high on Tyler, buzzing his back tire in the process, and high-siding into the asphalt. The rest of the pack was farther back, but in chase, and slammed into him at full power, all-but clearing the decks. David “Superman” Lujan used his magic powers to avoid the carnage, and get in for a second behind TyWhit.

Justin Posey was a green blur in 17-18x, and served up a heapin helpin of Southern Hospitality, Dan’s Comp style, at the Hoosiers. Word is JP has some history here in Portage, dating back to his days as a nine-year old, so we’ll get you the backstory on that in tomorrow’s report. Jake Sherbno and Jeremy Smith joined JP on the proverbial podium.

As staging was thinning out for the day, 36-40x was on-track. Some major thunder in this one, as Pedro Brown, SE Factory Boy, Shan Hatfield, Snap senior shredder E-Dub Elliott and smilin Doran Bradshaw hit hyper-sonic speeds down the first straight. Elliott blew up over the first jump, but was OK…as Brown and Hatfield continued the feud into the first turn. By the stripe, it was Pedro’s Star Products jersey on the top step, with Shan in for two and Kovachi killa, Jon Irvin in for the third.

The final gate had just as much wattage as the first, with Scott Moreland, Cornhusker Jim Wahl and local legend Frank Nuccio inking a solid podium in 41-over ex.

So, cool-runnings on Day One, with an out-of-the-parking-lot time of 3:25PM. Gotta love that ABA efficiency! First gate drops at the command of Bill Morris at 8AM sharp, where Rennen-Intense will take the parade lap as Factory Team winner, with Mike’s Bikes close behind as today’s Bike Shop Team winner. Keep it here on BMXNEWS tomorrow night for the final word…and follow BMXNOW on Twitter for as-they-happen updates from the infield.

—Mike Carruth

Check out the 150+ Photo Gallery from Saturday’s Race

On to Sunday’s Race Re-Cap and Photos!

P.S. As usual, a BIG thanks to Bill Curtin and the ABA backstage crew for getting us the results, post-haste. Without their help, you’d be staring at a blank page.

While the NBL Grands were underway back in Louisville, the classic ABA Black Jack Nationals were rolling strong in Reno. Both cities will play a solid role in the go-forward national schedule under USA BMX, with the Reno Race being the “ABA” Divisional Championships, and Louisville being the “NBL” Divisional Championships. News will have more on this, and other emerging details of the 2012 season later in the week.

Meanwhile, BMX News contributor Cole Proctor was in Reno, and filed the following story and photos package. Good stuff!

—Mike Carruth

Re-Cap and Photos by Cole Proctor

The talk around the arena was that the track seemed long-ish, “Bro this track is super long, has Reno always been like this?” Yeah it has…I mean, was only 950ft. With the last two indoor nationals being Vegas and Tucson this track seemed like forever. The first straight was technical and fast, with long jumps and steep transitions. The second straight had more flow then the past Reno tracks Lots of mellow rollers in between the doubles. As for the third straight, there was a “Decision maker” Same length as the amateur side, but on the outside and with steeper lips. The question was, Should I go wide and jump the section for the inside? Or should I stay low and close to earth hoping to pull whoever took the gamble of jumping through the section? The last straight was more like dirt jumps, with close, fast transitions and tall lips. This track fit every style of racer.

SATURDAY
Saturday started of with a bang– 207 motos strong–the Black Jack nationals have begun! As racing went on through out the day, the “decision maker” seemed pretty popular with riders 13x – 19-27x.
After a couple dozen semis, it was time for the mains. The A Pro main was one for the books. Napa Valley Crush rider Blake Paulson with his first Pro win and Factory Tangent rider Josh Oie wins enough money to put him over the top, and bump him up to AA. Sean Gaian and Carlie Ferree both locked up wins in the USAC Junior development. And SE Factory flyer, Javier Colombo, won Vet Pro.

As Day One of the Black Jack nationals ended, the night had just begun. Living here in Reno, there was little need for us to go to the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in years past. But this year I did, and had a blast! It was full of rowdy BMXers, Burning Man “Burners,” Rib Cook-off enthusiasts, and AVID girl Volleyball players. The place was packed! After the race, “Down time” was in effect, but it wasn’t so mellow. With kids and adults alike smashing golf balls at the driving range, racing the go-karts, shooting each other in laser tag. You know there was a lot going on. The night eventually softened and it was time to focus on Sunday’s race.

SUNDAY
Racing ran quick, with an “out-of-the-parking-lot” time of about 2:00PM. But don’t think the action was any less intense–Sunday was jammed with great racing, gate-after-gate. As mains came around, A Pro had everyone on their feet. Jacob Peebles came up on underneath side of Blake Paulson to take over the lead then lost in it the “Decision maker” to Lee Lewis. The ‘Flea’ taking the win in A Pro. Lain Van Ogle blasted Factory Crupi’s Justin Anderson in turn two of 16x to take the win, and in 19-27x KJ Romero tried taking the lead away from reigning number one Am, Josh Klatman, but fell short in the first corner.

The net impression on Sunday’s racing was that everyone was putting in 110%, and it was all-out war to the finish line. Words were exchanged, some tears shed, and hands shaken in sportsmanship. BMX At its finest.

A great Weekend in Reno! A nice, fast track, that had something for everyone, solid comp, and lots of after-race fun. What more could you ask for? The Black Jack Nationals were a success!

Check out the Black Jack Nationals Photo Gallery

It was a blazin hot weekend of Elite BMX Racing in Louisville Friday and Saturday, as 36 Elite Men and 18 Elite Women grabbed center stage at the hot-onfire Derby City BMX facility.

The Junior Women added some spice to the program with lead-changing-action between Shelby Stacy and weekend-first-timer, Felicia Stancil. Felicia ultimately took aces in every lap, but Shelby, Audrey Zuloaga and fellow “rookie” Shay Glynn kept the heat on.

Junior Men had some sizzle on Friday night, but four DNS-no-starts kept it to more of a low-grade conflict versus all out war. Maliek Byndloss copy-pasted his Friday first into the Saturday results page. Tyler Whitfield mounted some challenge on Friday, but he was ampin’ with the Ams on Saturday, so only a foursome in the gate.

The 34th-and-final NBL Grand Nationals is running alongside the UCI/ABA Pro Elite Program, and had its first two rounds on Saturday, as the Elites were weaved into the program to keep the excitement at full wick.

Sunday’s “AA Pro” (or whatever you call it in the former NBL) Racing was ho-hum, with a lot of boat ridin and non-racing for the fans. Don’t get us started on that topic, as the Internet doesn’t have enough ether. But suffice it to say we feel pretty strongly that if your workday is a sum total of 160 seconds…you know what…another time.

Day two racing started on time at 8AM, and ran completely in-the-dry til the 12 Cruiser main, when a steady sprinkle started up, and lasted until a few minutes after the final main crossed the line. Some asserted that it was the BMX Gods crying as the final passing of the NBL era was at hand.

Lots of good racing in the am ranks, which we will report tomorrow once the tires hit the driveway at HQ.

Photo Galleries (Includes Elite and Amateurs)

Friday Gallery

Saturday Gallery

Sunday Gallery

More words on the 2011 NBL Grands Tuesday Morn (traveling today)…Meanwhile here are some results for ya’

Saturday UCI Results

Junior Women
FELICIA STANCIL – Speed Bicycles
SHAY GLYNN – Profile Racing
AUDREY ZULOAGA

Junior Men
MALIEK BYNDLOSS – Ssquared/Troy Lee Designs
DAKOTA CODY
HEATH HART

Elite Women
DOMINIQUE DANIELS – Grand Canyon University/DFR
BROOKE CRAIN – Haro
AMANDA GEVING – MCS

Elite Men
SAM WILLOUGHBY – Factory Redline
NIC LONG – Haro
BARRY NOBLES – SE Bikes

As our story from the ABA Land O Lakes Nationals is in development, we thought you’d like an advance peek at the photos from day two.

Check back later in the day for the full report.

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