Tim Daniels Speaks out About Dom’s Tulsa Speech

Got an email from Tim Daniels (Dominique’s Dad) the other day. He wanted to set the record straight on a couple of points relating to Dom’s acceptance speech at the 2009 ABA Grands, where she directly addressed so-called “haters.” We felt that, rather than editorialize Tim’s comments, we would bring his statement to you directly.

This post is to provide a little background on Dominique’s acceptance speech at the ABA Grands. I have had more than a few people ask me what she meant by “Haters not being able to discourage her and that they would only make her stronger.” In previous years I had an idea of what she would say because we would talk about her speech and she would make notes for the podium. This year I had no idea of what she intended to say and I was very proud of her thoughtfulness toward Erin Shaefer. I also understood the “Haters” comment, based on certain circumstances which I would now like to let everyone in on.

Many people do not know that, for the past three Grands, she has had to race with the knowledge that someone has tampered with her bike. We have found loose chain rings, headsets, handlebars, cut tires, loose wheel nuts, and this year, spokes were literally cut-through on her front and rear wheels. These problems were found after her bike had been checked by myself and mechanics at the track, so there is no doubt what happened. We try to keep a close eye on her bike, but with her schedule, it is impossible to watch it 24/7.

I have asked her to take stuff like this in stride but, honestly, she shouldn’t have to. I know in my heart that it is probably one, or perhaps, a small group of individuals who may think they are helping someone else in her class by doing this. But, to the person(s) responsible, I can say with confidence, that the rider you think you are helping doesn’t want to win that way.

Back to the podium speech, Dom told me she was just angry and should have been in better control. She also said that many of the young riders she spoke to throughout the weekend asked her “how do you deal with people being mean or saying mean things in the staging area?” That added to her frustration. This is not meant to start a lot of discussion, but just to shed some light on the motivation behind her comments.

The BMX community is by far the most family-friendly group in sports, and this kind of action toward Dom is not the norm. We harbor no ill will or bad feelings. I hope it never happens again, though we will keep checking her bike diligently. I thank all those who have helped keep her safe, because the last thing I want is for her to be seriously injured because of actions like this.

Thank You,
Tim Daniels

Redline Gets Bitter Taste of the “Third Main Jinx,” Give Props to Stumpy

No question that Denzel Stein was ablaze at the ABA Grands. He was way up in there every time BMXNEWS turned around. We also had our eye on Sam Willoughby, as it was really wierd (but quite excellent) to see him in a new uniform. And we always enjoy watching Alise sky over the hard stuff. Tory Nyhaug was also way in the mix in his A Pro debut. In fact, all four Redline Pros were getting impressive laps throughout the weekend. But, as Sunday evening rolled around, there were a few observers on the floor who noted that Redline’s pack of pros had some kind of black cloud in the air in the third round of Pro Mains. Call it “Malocchio,” or the old “hoo-dee-hoo,” the third main did not bode well for the Red, Black and White.

Today, we received the following release from gOrk over at Redline HQ, which summed it all up pretty well.

AA Pro: In what was by far the most “heavy” gate-of-eight this year, both DENZEL STEIN and new Redline pick-up SAM WILLOUGHBY found themselves in the AA-pro final. Despite not being in the ABA championship-chase, both would play a vital part in making all three mains exciting. Main number one saw Denzel display his incredible power with the holeshot and horsepower – hotly pursued by the Gold Medalist himself. Willoughby, in his first-ever race for Redline, was holding off the other two title-chasers in the third spot. Out of the final turn, Maris pulled up alongside Denzel and inches before the line, they both stretched to the line – with the Latvian SuperHero stealing the win away from Stein by sheer millimeters. Still, with Denzel second and Sam third, the Redline camp was definitely thrilled. But there were still two mains left before they could do any celebrating.

In AA main round two, it was Willoughby in the third position, this time following two of the title-chasers, and holding off a hard-charging Denzel and Strombergs. Sam’s third place and Denzel’s fourth would tie them up for second place overall, with six points apiece. Ironically, the nearly reverse finishes for title-chasers — Stumpy, Kyle and Maris, made the points pretty dang close going in to the third main. The ABA Pro title hadn’t been decided yet, and our two Redline pros were still playing a factor in the outcome.

Ladies Pro: ALISE POST was also looking strong in the first two mains. In the first round, she snapped hard from lane 1 and never looked back. Chalk up an easy win for The Beast. In the next round, Alise again ran a great lap, and wound up second behind Australia’s Caroline Buchanan. With a win and a second, for both Alise and Caroline, they’d go in to the third main tied up with 3 points.

Again… all was well in the Redline camp.

A-pro: As one of many new single-A-Pros, Redline’s 2010 Rookie TORY NYHAUG was also tied for the win going in to the third main. Tory had been looking strong all weekend, but he had Dennison Smith to deal with – who had the same six-point score going in to the final main.

As we said – things were definitely lookin’ good for all four Redline Pros … until the third mains.
Unconfirmed are the reports that someone was seen in a rvial factory trailer, sticking pins in a Redline voodoo doll. Or maybe it was a BMX dad giving them the famous “hoo-dee-hoo*.” Whatever the story is – suddenly, things were about to go from sweet to sour.

AA-pro Third Main: While title-contenders Bennett and Stumpy shot straight to the front, Denzel weaved his way in to the third spot but left the door wide open in turn two. In came the Latvian BMX machine, in a picture perfect swoop, to take away Stein’s line, riding him to the top of the berm, and on in to no-man’s land. As Denzel visited the softside of turn two, Redline’s wiley one zoomed in to give the Olympic Gold Medalist a race for the 3 spot. Willoughby gave it his all, but couldn’t catch Maris this time. Now Sam and Strombergs were tied with 11 points for their efforts and the 3rd rung of the podium would go to the better finish in the final main (Maris). Sam wound up with 4th overall and Denzel held on tightly for 5th place.

Ladies Pro Third Main: Even before the gate dropped, Alise had the odds stacked against her. Starting in lane 8, with Three-D in lane 7. The girls Post would have to beat – Buchanan, was lined in lane 3 with a clear shot to the first turn. Alise really had her work cut out for her. Receiving a stiff elbow straight out of the gate, our Redline lady was shoved to the back of the pack and tried her hardest to weave thru the traffic, to no avail. With 11 points for the day, Alise still had a low enough score to finish 3rd overall. Still on the podium – just not exactly the finish she had hoped for.

A-pro Third Main: Following with the rest of the team, new pro Tory Nyhaug got a poor start in round three, and was left with no room to get thru the congested A-pro traffic jam. Being stuck in mid-pack, he too, would wind up taking third place overall for the day. The dreams of his first Pro victory will have to wait until Reno in January.

Despite no wins, Redline’s Pros sure did know how to get out front and cause a stir in the Pro title chases. And we already can’t wait for next year.

gOrk, in his characteristically classy writing, also gave props to the 2009 ABA Pro Champ:

We would like to congratulate a good friend of Redline – Mr. Randy Stumpfhauser, on his incredible, long journey to becoming ABA’s newest No.1 Pro. Stumpy has done what no other Pro in his 30’s has ever done – proving to all in the BMX industry that double-A racing careers aren’t over at 30, and giving hope to many BMX racers out there to keep chasing the dream and to never give up. Way to go, Stumpy.

BMXNEWS had two favorite Redline shots from the weekend (click on the image for the mega-size version):

2009 ABA Grands – Awards

As we noted earlier, all major ABA titles were up for grabs as of the start of the mains on Sunday. ABA does this awesome “rolling” format where they announce the person in each main who is in contention for a National title (National Number one Amateur, Girl, Cruiser, Girl Cruiser, Pro, Girl Pro and Pro Cruiser). It really makes a great show of it, with people rooting for (or against) the person on the gate now, who has the chance, with a win, to snatch the title out of the hands of the person who just took over the points lead in the previous race.

This was huge in the National Number One Girl title, as BA announced that Kristin Hokit had the title locked up with a win in 17-27 Girls. Kristin lead the race to the last turn, where Samantha Bretheim slipped into the inside, and made the pass to take the trophy of the day, and hand the National Number One Girl title back to Jordan Nopens for another year.

Major Title Recap:

2009 ABA National Number One Pro: Randy Stumpfhauser (GHP BMX)
2009 ABA National Number One Gril Pro: Dominique Daniels (Avent Bombshell)
2009 ABA National Number One Vet Pro: Kenth Fallen (Supercross BMX)
2009 ABA National Number One Pro Cruiser: Danny Caluag (Intense/Bawls)
2009 ABA National Number One Amateur: Corben Sharrah (Redman/Rockstar)
2009 ABA National Number One Girl: Jordan Nopens (VRP/Bike Alley)
2009 ABA National Number One Cruiser: George Goodall (Redline Factory)
2009 ABA National Number One Girl Cruiser: Carly Dyar (Team Inseino Racing)
2009 ABA National Number One Trophy Team: Holeshot/Elite
2009 ABA National Number One Bike Shop Team: VRP Bike Alley
2009 ABA National Number One Factory Team: Intense/Phantom/OnTrac

Check out the Awards Ceremony Photo Gallery on PhotosArePosted.com

2009 ABA Grands – Sunday

Sunday brought the third round of motos, the qualifying rounds and the main events. All ABA titles were on the line going in, with not one “lock” in the house. BMXNOW was on duty at the stroke of eight Sunday morning to get the third round of pros, and a few select am classes. The competition was so thick that even some that you’d never see after the first round were waking up early to get their transfer slot.

Check out the Sunday Photo Gallery on PhotosArePosted.com

Randy Rocks Tulsa Town and Takes 2009 ABA Title

The battle for 2009 ABA Number One Pro title was a three-way throwdown that ended as if written by the best Hollywood screenwriters. After a contentious weekend of racing from the first gate on Friday, it all came down to the final 40 feet, of the final AA lap of the day.

Going in to the three-round pro main event, six points separated Maris and Randy (who had 2403 and 2397, respectively), while Kyle had 2274. Thus, between Stumpy and Maris, whomever beat the other in the overall would win, and Kyle had to beat the winner of that lot by at least one place to best them in the title chase.

The first two pro mains threw the deck in the air, with Stumpy out of the top three in the first round (which came in Strombergs, Stein, Willoughby with Bennett in fourth), and Maris with a seventh in the second round (finished Bennett, Stumpy, Willoughby). The final main would decide the overall and, with it, the title.

At the first jump, it was Strombergs with the inside, Randy about a half a bike back next to him, and Kyle about a half a wheel ahead of Maris shooting through the middle (which is the way they came out of the gate).

In the end, they came across the line Bennett, Stumpy, Strombergs, which is ironically how the overall for the day went as well. And because kyle did not beat the other two by at least one place, it went to Randy.

Quite aside from the fact that he said as much, this would have been among the best weekends of anyone’s life—-getting the “Golden Crank” honors as Pro of the Year on Friday Night, and the winning the title in such a grand way on Sunday night. This situation was somewhat reversed a few months ago when Maris was the one holding the big check after a down-to-the-wire points win for the 2009 NBL Pro title.

Randy’s acceptance speech was very eloquent, as he thanked his family, sponsors, fans and the Good Lord above. We are anxious to see him gate up with the Skinny digit on his bike in a mere 39 days when the 2010 ABA series gets started in Reno on January 9.

Photo Galleries

Friday Gallery

Saturday Gallery

Sunday Gallery

2009 ABA Grands Track Taking Shape

One of the most anticipated moments of any ABA Grands is that first time you walk through the pits, past the ABA Trailer, past the bleachers and see, for the first time— as if in a shimmering valley after a long trek through the desert—the track for the first time. This year, BMXNEWS heightens that anticipation by bringing you the actual layout sketch that ABA track builder Billy Allen and his team are using to create the 2009 edition.

Unlike any Grands track we’ve seen, the 2009 model boasts a fresh-in-every-sense-of-the-word config, with a loooonng first straight, and an exciting third straight that looks more like the runway configuration at nearby TUL (Tulsa International Airport) than any BMX track we’ve ever seen. No doubt there will be some serious air time on THESE runways, come next Friday when the first gate drops. This spy photo came in late Tuesday night with limited explanation…but we can surmise that the farthest left straightaways are pro section (whether decision-maker or Male/Female routes, we do not yet know). The “outer drive” then crosses the inner route twice on its approach to the last turn. Here, it seems like a decisionmaker is presented for the final bolt to the finish.

The layout sketch, obviously, shows no obstacles in place, but there is little doubt that Billy and his boys will be bringing the same innovation and freshness to that part of the equation as is evident in the “bones” of the design.

Stay close to BMXNEWS.COM for as-they-happen updates on the ABA Grands Track Progress…and, starting Tuesday, November 24, with our coverage of the 2009 ABA Grand National here on News, with photo coverage on our sister site, BMXNOW.COM…and, as always, the broad-spectrum discussion on VintageBMX.com.

Thanks to Shannon at ABA for smuggling the microfilm out.