News was operating in “primitive” mode this weekend, with no solid Internet access available…hence the reason Friday’s photos are just showing up on the site on Monday evening.

But, we think the wait will have been worth it when you check out the Friday Photo Gallery. Some great action shots in there, that will put you right in the mix.

We are going to get all three galleries posted first, then will whip up an all-inclusive re-cap of the full-weekend’s happenings. Look for the Day Two and Day Three galleries on Tuesday, along with the recap.

View Day One Gallery Now

Above: Redline’s Denzel Stein muscles up a win in Elite Men on Day One.

With all the megawattage being thrown off by the Chula Vista SX, the racing needed to be especially strong on the “National” track, where the ABA US Open National was underway. And it did not disappoint. With 200 motos on Saturday, and a few less on Sunday, the competition in the age classes was as thick as its going to get until we all hit Tulsa town on turkey day. News ended up at the track both days, but only shooting first round on Sunday. A confluence of SX prep on Saturday and the beckoning of Airport security lines at SAN on S-U-N made full coverage a tough do.

So, delight in 99 frames which tell the story quite well. And if you feel compelled to piece together a story, feel free to send it in and we’ll post it.

US Open National Photo Gallery

Additional Resources

GO211 Videos of the US Open Nationals

US Open Nationals Results, via ABABMX.COM

Words by Mike Carruth, via BMXNEWS.COM
Rad Canyon BMX. It’s rad. It’s in a canyon. And it is ALL BMX. A more fitting moniker could not be bestowed, unless going back to the day they found a name for a chunky spread made from peanuts.

Though the Great Salt Lake Nationals are always a popular stop on the ABA National tour, this year held a little something special for the Elites– the designation as the 2010 UCI North American Continental Championships. As noted in a previous report, unlike other championships, where champions are crowned and titles bestowed, this one was really more about the points, offering Class 3 UCI points (the highest points awarded at any North American race, save for the Class 2 Chula Vista Supercross, which is part of the World Cup series).

Saturday’s race topped out at a respectable 189 motos, run with drill-team efficiency (we were out of the parking lot in five hours flat). Highlights include Dominique Daniels showing up in her new Grand Canyon University jersey (not to mention aboard one of Toby Henderson’s “Speed” frames), foreshadowing a full-ride BMX scholarship to the Arizona school (more on that tomorrow).

Tony Hoffman scored his first A Pro win on Saturday, besting the likes of Jake Peebles and local hero Mitch Ropelato. Saturday’s Category 3 UCI points would not find a home in the USA for the top three spots, as Maris Strombergs took home a win for Latvia, and Sam Willoughby and Khalen Young grabbed the second and third podium spots, respectively, for Australia. Don’t get us wrong, we’re big fans of all three—and the Saturday main was off the hook, with Maris getting Sam at the line by less a wheel (watch for the actual finishline-cam image in our Wednesday Race Report). Junior Women had a class on Saturday, and Dom Daniels brought her new colors to the top of the podium. Alise Post won every lap on Saturday, and USA got the full-pull UCI podium points among the gals, with Arielle Martin and Ashley Verhagen rounding out the podium

Oh, we could go on and on…and will in our full report, posted this Wednesday.

But, the Interstate awaits, and it is a haul and a half to the next stop on our mini-tour: Nashville, TN for the NBL Music City Nationals this weekend.

Meanwhile, check out the following SLC resources to temporarily quench that thirst for knowledge:

BMXNOW Twitter Updates from SLC. Just for a little “appetizer” portion of what went down.

Results posted on ABABMX.COM

And, of course, the BMXNOW photo galleries. Saturday is posted now. The Sunday Gallery will be posted Wednesday.

The Jr. Devo gates held what is sure to be some of Team USA’s most promising talent for the 2016 games in…(as a Chicagoan, still pains me to say it)…Rio.

Felicia Stancil owned the weekend in the girls class, with a matched set of 1-1-1-1s The real action was in the second-third battle, as semi-local gal Samantha Brown (above, middle) and the pride of Stompin Stu’s stomping grounds, Norco, CA’s own Shay Glynn (above, right), did a spirited 2-3, 3-2 back & forth on Saturday (with Shay getting the third round deuce, and Kansan Adrian Sanders getting the tre). Shay took twos across the board on Sunday, until the main when “Sam Wow” came back to stalk Shay to the final inches and grab the left step on the podium. Sam’s performance was especially noteworthy, considering she seemed to have a bit of trouble in the gate, just before the cadence started.

Saturday’s Jr. Devo Boys saw Rock & Roll Cole Tesar sittin with a 3-2-2 going into the main, but SHAZAM! flopped an ace on the river with a textbook trip, and bested the field by a two-second margin. Dylan Cooley cruised in for second and Jordan McMullen worked the mojo for a third. That was pretty much how the race came off the first jump, and finished at the line. On Sunday, Cole was out with a seized up neck, and local hero Tyler Whitfield joined the fray, leaving his cruiser in the trailer. The main was a fence-grabber, as Cooley took the early lead into the first turn, but Tyler crazy-glued his tires to the inside line to make the swoop and stretched out an impressive lead by the stripe. Final order: Whitfield, Cooley, and Luke Roarty out of Maryland.

GIRLS

In 11 Girls, first-round transfers Paige “The Pest” Norton and Shelby Fuller-Larsen put down a 1-2, respectively, and second round transfers Ashley Cooley and Tarah Wagner hooked up a good lap to capture third and fourth on Saturday. Norton was back on the top step for Sunday, with Awesome Ashley stepping it up for a second, and Mallory Otto improving her Saturday seventh to a third on day two. The Jr. Devo pace seemed to bode well for Adrian Sanders, as she topped 13G both days. Hard to question that the heavy comp with the fastest ladies in the land brings out a better showing in class.

True, as well for 14G, as Shay Glynn (above) topped the class both days. In Saturday’s 14G main, Samantha Brown entered the first turn in second, but tangled with Hannah Tavenner and neither would see turn two, after a fairly-dramatic pull of the ejector lever into the infield. Day one was Shay, Heather Collman and Mikenna Koth. On day two, all stayed on two wheels, and Shay put down a great lap, protecting her flank, against a hard-charging Brown. Koth was positioned well in third for most of the race, but ended up getting passed by Heather Collman for the third. Shay and Sam battled heavy to the stripe, but in the end, Glynn got her Profile jersey into the proverbial endzone ahead of the Young Guns-mounted Brown.

15G saw Fly’n Felicia handily dispense with the pack on Saturday, with Kristin Bob and Courtney Purcell rounding out the podium. Sunday saw a changeup, as Stancil and Bob battled down the first straight. Felicia was on the inside, and had a knobby on Bob, but the two got together midway down the first straight, and Felicia’s Phantom-OnTrac went off-track and took her out of the race (depriving Felicia of a “Double Triple” for the weekend). Kristen came unclipped in the clash, as Courtney Purcell took the lead, but Bob got back in the pedals and made it from fourth in the first turn to second at the stripe. Megan “The Major” Pritchard hooked up the third.

In other Girls-class highlights, Dani George and Victoria Hopperdietzel did a turnabout, with “The Grasshopper” Hopperdietzel getting the high-hardware on Saturday and George grabbing it on Sunday. 17-27G had Samantha Bretheim leveling a Napa Valley Crush on the class both days.

CRUISER

The cruiser clash was in full effect as early as the first gate-drop with the 8-Under main on Saturday, as the Smooth E, Corbin Essman took the lead. Local hotshoe “Super” Cooper Sheldon went into the first turn in fourth, and put on a clinic to work his way into the two slot by the exit of the second turn on Saturday. Final order on day one was Essman, Sheldon and Nathan Davids. Sunday’s main was the Smooth-show all over again with Essman grabbing the wire to wire win. Sheldon had the second from gate-to-stripe and it was Andres Papajohn in the three slot.

Action-wise, 12 Cruiser had not much in the way of high drama or back-n-forth battles. What IS significant is the substantial service visited upon the class by local zoomer, Justin Richmond. The Juice won every rack all weekend long, and went wholly unchallenged in both cruiser mains. Now that we’re talking about it, he scored a coveted “double-triple” at the Rock, taking home the top spot in 11-12 Open, 12C, and 12x both days. We saw Justin goofin in the pits on Saturday, not long after a first round transfer in three classes. Just another day at the office…next case!

The hometown Snap Factory team locked up 14,15,16 cruiser on Saturday, with wins by Brandon Ceslok, Tyler Whitfield and Alan Struna (above). As noted earlier, Tyler left the big bike parked for Sunday and raced Jr. Devo instead, but his aforementioned mates carried on the tradition, and took 14C and the combined 15-16C on day two.

36-40 Cruiser is always one to watch, and the Rockford installment was no different. Last we saw Rusty Dial, he was suited up all different like. At the Rock, he was decked in Free Agent threads head to toe, and goin WAY fast. Saturday’s main had him leading…well…pretty much from the “llll” in “watch the lights.” Still, MCS-mounted Raul Gomez was not giving him an easy time of it—until an apparent wardrobe malfunction/unclippage sent him into an abrupt and unfortunate (for Tae Thomas) left turn, taking out both himself and Thomas. Doran Bradshaw kept Rusty honest, and kept the Morphine flowing fast, right to the stripe for a Saturday second. Sunday shuffled the deck, with Gomez gettin gone from the get-go for a win (top). Robert Riofrio had a good hold on second… so the Three-abreast battle down the last straight was for third, between Dial (who came unclipped in turn two), Bradshaw (who battled back from seventh in the first turn) and Hoosier Billy Knies. Come to think of it, that’s how it ended up.

Todd Parry is a one-man “Monster of the Midway.” He’s rockin’ the true-blue SE factory duds, and keepin TL very happy, with double cruiser wins in Roseville and now bringing that stuff over to Rockford for a double-double (and not the kind you get at In-N-Out Burger, which we don’t have in Illinois anyway). George Goodall kept the Redline colors flying fast and in the front, with an early lead in both mains, but TP got the smooth inside line (turn one on Saturday, turn two on Sunday) and snatched the lead from the Gorgeous one. Parry and Goodall with the 1-2 both days. On Saturday, a down-to-the-wire throwdown for third between Randy Bitinaitis and John “CornFed” Noerenberg. It was Noerenberg upon review. In Sunday’s main, Noerenberg had the third by a margin, and the battle was for fourth between Bitinaitis and Hector Mendez (Randy got it).

14-16 Girl Cruiser came out with Felicia Stancil scoring the win both days. On Saturday, it was a battle to the stripe between Victoria Hopperdietzel and Crankin Carly Dyar. The grasshopper got it on Saturday, and Carly made tracks on Sunday for the deuce.

Always great to see mid-schooler, Melanie Cline doin her thing in the 31-35GC class. She served it up cold to a couple twentysomethings on Saturday for a win, but Sunday would see Megan “High Maintenance” Hughes switching places with Melanie. On the weekend, it was Cline and Hughes for the 1-2, 2-1 respectively.

Pro Cruiser was stuck in Xerox mode, with Barry Nobles, Danny C and Jason Carne$ racking up identical scores both days (in that order). You say there is not much excitement in Pro Cruiser? Wait til the grands. I think these guys are going to race for Pink Slips or something. In addition to that black number 1 plate, that is. Word round the campfire is that we may see Nic Long suit up for some big bike bar bangin as part of his Haro deal (though unconfirmed).

CLASS

Even the puniest of pedal pushers were puttin down the ponies in RFD. Saturday’s 6X main saw a hefty holeshot by Aiden “A Bomb” Leaks, which lasted him to the last turn when, after making up a ton of real estate in the rhythm, Ethan “The Bull” Moore gave Aiden the horns and stampeded by with a last straight pass to take the win. Not so bueno for “el Toro” on day two, as a tangle in the early part of the first straight put him out of the action. Leaks grabbed the Sunday win with Alex Thrasher in second.

7X gives us a precious chance to do some braggin. BMXNEWS Test Force Ace, Gavin “The G-Man” Freewalt had a supreme weekend with a pair of “three second lead,” wire-to-wire main wins. The first round of Sunday’s 7-8 Open was also a “News Pride” moment, as the G-Man put the melt on “Ice Trey” Maeker’s lead in the first turn and grabbed a moto win from the eventual 8x winner. Great job Gav! Those “News” colors look mighty fine up front! Back to 7X for a moment, it was Willie “Maze” Hayes and Kegan Perlberg for the second and third, respectively both days.

10X had some ooh and ah to it in Rockford, with a hearty tussle between Tyshawn Carr, Colin Whittington and John Jilbert. In Saturday’s main, Jilbert did the top tube tango in the first straight, and ended up fourth at the stripe. Carr handled all comp with poise and apparent ease. Kyle Rittenhouse with a second and Whittington for the third. On Sunday, it was Whittington with the holeshot, but Jilbert jammed on it and by the end of the first turn had it in the bag. Final order: Jilbert, Whittington and Daylen Pendley.

Walker Finch owned 13x, with an impressive pair of laps which were good enough that, even as long-winded as we tend to be, leave no further reason for comment. Props to his #2, Alden Volle for a 2-2 punch and Zachary Tossett for a 3-3.

We were, as-always, glad to see Justin and Momma Posey at the Rock. 16X is a hot class, with plenty of guys looking for the lead. Jon Jon Rapp is off Syndicate, and just built up a new Intense to rock along with his new Young Guns Jersey. Alan “The Big Kahuna” Struna who, as we reported earlier, took home a pair of cruiser wins at his home track, was also a major factor in the “salty 16″ class. These dudes are gunfighter serious and many have the Olympic rings screenprinted on their bedroom ceilings–and will long after the next Gold medal is awarded. This weekend the top step did the Saturday/Sunday swap between Posey and Struna, respectively, with each getting the respective second. Damian Cherepko got the Saturday third, and Dan Birmingham took the tre on Sunday.

To attempt a narrative on how thoroughly Connor Fields cleaned up in 17-18 Expert, we would need to invent new-improved words for massive, colossal and/or titanic. Guys like Austin Loebe and Jacob Sherbno are double-F-Fast, no doubt. But the ConMan (now “Bugsy??”) had a whole ‘nother gear this weekend and plucked a pair of plum wins from the ABA trophy tree (saver stamps probably, but it did’t flow as well). Saturday, it was Loebe for the second and Sherbno for the third, while Sunday saw Colby Landin out of AZ with the second, and Sherbno repeat in third. Sunday’s main is definitely worth watching on Go211, as the cameraman was having a tough time keeping Connor and Colby in the same shot.

Per usual, 19-27x was one of the biggest classes of the weekend, with 39 riders on Saturday and 35 on Sunday. That meant quarterfinals, and at least two additional opportunities to get squeezed off the track, or detonate in some remote stretch of the rhythm section.
Come main time, it was Josh Study with the pop, and a good lead into the first turn. Unsure if Josh’s front wheel broke loose as he railed through bermzilla, but the bottom line was that his bottom was on the ground in turn one. That got Olijuwan Davis a little off-kilter, and he made it back into the clips in time to avoid a major ball up just before turn two. In the end, it was always-on-the-radar Rennen/Intense flier Max Egdorf with the win on Saturday, with Ben Kubalak in second and OD in third. On Sunday, Study got the better of Bermzilla and escaped clean. Davis grabbed the second and Brandon Elmore scored an impressive third.

In the final race of the weekend, we already talked about how TP brought home a double-double for SE with a win in 41-45 Cruiser, and 41-Over Expert. But the main had some exciting moments both days. In the Saturday Main, Parry and Goodall got to it quick with the 1-2 lead. In the third slot, we had local oldschool hero, Frank Nuccio and an even higher-wattage star in the fourth spot, in the person of Hall of Famer, Eddy King. That was in turn two. It stayed that way until the last turn, where something must have popped King Edward’s bubble, as he ended up with a snowman. Final order on day one was Parry, Goodall, Nuccio and Bitinaitis. Same for Sunday, but a switcheroo in the 3-4.

Within 90 minutes of TP crossing the line, Searls Park was getting back to looking like a nature preserve again, rather than the BMX Woodstock it turns into during the Midwest nationals (meant in the most positive and affectionate way). BMXNEWS was back at the Rock the following morning at 8:30 for a photo shoot and, while you could still hear the faint echo of gate drops and Jim Riley’s PA horseplay, the circus had, most certainly, cleared out of town. A thousand clipped zip ties were scattered about, the droppings of what was, 24-hours before, a bustling vendor row. An abandoned EZ-up stood twisted in the distance, contorted in such a way that it could have easily been passed off as lawn sculpture. Track Operator Jake Karau motored around the grounds with purpose, working to get his baby back to its normal pristine condition. But still, as over as Rockford 2010 now was…it was an easy peck at the iPhone to set up the countdown for Rockford 2011. 357 days, and counting!

—Mike Carruth
June 25, 2010

If you have not checked out the full
Sunday Photo Gallery yet, go do that now.

The 2010 ABA Spring Nationals brings the first ABA Pro/UCI race in over a month. The talk in thousands of households nationwide, today revolves around getting ready for a road trip, or flight to ABQ. BMXNEWS especially adores when local media, be it print, radio or TV, latches on to the excitement that BMX Racing will bring to their community, by way of a national BMX Race. TV KRQE filed this report tonight on their evening news, then via YouTube.

Watch Now

BMXNEWS salutes the Duke City BMX crew, and looks forward to more from the Spring nationals as the week unfolds.

The pro ranks were roughly the same composition as on day one, with Dennison Smith and Logan Collins doing battle, ultimately ending up first and second, as on day one… though Logan did mount a pulse-quickening assault into the last turn of the main. Still, Sun Brü’s favorite son held the lead, and made off with twin pro wins for the weekend.

The Junior Development classes were also in redux mode, with Jordan Miranda and Samantha Brown serving a beat down to their comp for the second day running, and bringing home double-first place points to California and Indiana, respectively.

Though plenty exciting to see the pros lay down the ponies, the carbon copy results doesn’t give us much room to write. Thus, we turn to classes like 6 expert, where Ethan “The Bull” Moore was going from last place to second in the first round, after a bad start (Ultimate finish for the day: first). Or 15 expert, where Tyler Whitfield got called for a 30-foot rule violation, and invited to make a rare second round appearance (more on 15x in a minute).

Come main time, 7 expert provided some needed chills and thrills. “Zach Attack” Jacobs came out of the first straight, and onto the crossover in the lead, but had Saturday’s winner, Cooper Sheldon stalking the lead in second, then third. Into the last turn, Zach had held the lead, and put his first ABA National Expert Win in the books. Sheldon ended up on the ground after a last turn washout, and ended the weekend on a 1-8 split.

Change also came to 10x today, when Justin Hendley handled Tyshawn Carr for a win. The 19-27x class also had some dynamic racing on Sunday, with Seth Utz besting Brandon Elmore and John Anderson, who had the first two podium spots on Saturday.

But it was the 15x main that was the oxygen-needed race of the day. Snap Factory teammates, Tyler Whitfield and Alan Struna battle regularly on the track, at least for some of the year (when not on the track, they are friendly competitors in throwing Yahtzee in the trailer). The two threw down in a big way for Sunday’s main, with Struna having the slight edge going into the last turn. Tyler hopped and heaved his manual magic down the last straight, and the finish was close…realy close. The scorer called the race for struna, but it went to the video. Under the proverbial hood, it was told to us that the race was a virtual tie. So, what happens then? Well, if you’ve listened at your riders meeting, you’d know that the call of the scorer is final if the video cannot determine a winner. Thus, Alan Struna took home the highest hardware this day (Whitfield got it on Saturday).

Check out Sunday’s Dothan Photo Gallery

With 29 hours spent in the car, 1720 miles in the rearview, and 400 photos clicked off, the 2010 Wiregrass Nationals is part of BMX History. The ABA has had a great result out of their first national in the State of Alabama, and has pulled up stakes for Albuquerque. The next race we’ll be bringing you is the ABA Midwest Nationals in Rockford, IL over Father’s Day weekend.

Day Two Race Results

It is said that the most prepared for adverse weather are the ones who deal with it most. That’s probably why a few snowflakes in Dallas paralyze the city for a day or two, while Minnesotans believe any amount below the roofline is “nooo big deal.” The ABA has tons of experience in facing a stormy Mother Nature, come race day—and this experience is expanded in what seems like annual installments at the So Cal Nationals.

BMXNEWS decided to hit Oldsmar this month instead of Chula Vista, so we are relying on our network of tipsters and Tweeters for the 411.

Looks like 161 motos today, which is a way-solid number, considering the talk throughout the week about staying away due to the impending inclement weather. The weather has been pretty wet throughout Friday, and into Saturday…but there have been dry periods, and even patches of sun from time to time.

ABA made the predictable, and very welcomed (by most) call to go with one moto transfer (as they did last year in Lake Perris), and the first gate dropped about 2:45PM Pacific Time. As of that time, there was more threatening weather offshore, but they were going to try and get the race in (well, actually, since the first gate dropped, the race is “official” so any action hereafter would be a postponement). Rain looks like it will be in the picture til about Noon or 1PM tomorrow.

The A Pro class was well populated, with Sharrah, Cook and Peebles taking rack one. Stair, Cushman, Langland took the second rack, and Morris, Miller and Lee the Flea in the third rack in the first round.

The track is reported as “decent” with some soft spots where the tarps may have missed. And getting to staging is “marshy.”

A couple results from the mains:

A Pro: Sharrah, Cook, Cushman, Miller

USAC Jr. Devo Girls: George, Glynn

USAC Jr. Devo Boys: Nesvig, Miranda

BMXNEWS will post some highlights from Sunday’s race on Tuesday afternoon

Thanks to Bill Ryan from Supercross BMX for the photo and contributing to this report.

Meanwhile, Check out the Friday Photo Gallery