No Bull in Trumbull

Story By Jim Paiva (with some interjections from MC) Photos By Jim Paiva

A modern day “Ripped Vans Winkle” would be hard-pressed to find a better place than Trumbull BMX take his long nap. The track is an icon for the NBL and the Northeast. 23 years ago, in 1987, Trumbull was host to “War Of the Stars” X. If Ripped had awakened this past weekend to the latest installment to Trumbull’s Constitution Classic, he would have seen some familiar faces in the pits, with East Coast scenesters of yesteryear Ken Aman, Rich Farside, and Crit Plate mogul Mike Rodrigues. Sure there would be some beard scratching sights, like paved turns and clips, but Ripped would adapt.

In Trumbull, weather was an issue from the outset, with Friday’s practice and pre-race being pushed back due to rain. Saturday was a record-breaking scorcher, with temps in the tippy-top double-digits, and 94% relative humidity. You dripped sweat just sitting in the pits. Sunday was better with the max temp only hitting 79. The snack shack made a killing on 30lb bags of ice.

The track is a beaut. Longer than most, a slight downhill first straight starts off with a step-up into a steep tabletop that dumps you into another step into a 90-degree big right hand turn. The second straight features a large step-up that you need to hit smoothly as it sets you up for the two doubles heading into the second turn.

Hit the doubles smooth, and you were set up well for the rest of the race. Come up short, as many did, and they would stop you in your tracks. One of the main questions of the weekend was “Are you jumping the doubles?”

The third straight featured a rhythm section that set you up for the final long straight. Many races came down to the wire and “too close to call” being a common refrain from the tower.

With only one Elite Series race left (Prunedale, CA on August 14-15) before the Elite Finals in Louisville on September 4, Trumbull was a good opportunity to get some final scores in before 2010 is in the history books. As a result, the crowd saw some good pro action in all classes.

On Saturday, Elite Men and Women both had 10 riders. Elite men had household names like Nic Long, here for a rare NBL appearance, Barry Nobles, Tyler Faoro (who, we just learned, is going to be rockin the Profile Factory colors soon–maybe even as soon as the Grands), and Javi Columbo. Nic ended up with the win both days, with Danny C and Matt Kelty getting in for second and third for the Pro Spectacular round. On Sunday, Tyler got there for second, and Kelty repeated in the three slot.

Alaina Henderson was flying high over the doubles all weekend. In the day two Elite Women main, Alaina and Dominique Daniels were side-by-side down the second straight, with 3D on the inside (view photo). As expected, Alaina skied over them, as Dominique kept it on the ground. A situation tailor-made for Dom, really, as she got an extra pedal in and made the most of that muscled-up backside pump that she has the patent on. She led the rest of the way, with Alaina sticking in second, and Madison Pitts gettin in for third. Backing up for a sec, Dom also got the 1-1-1-1 on day one, it was Jamie Lilly for second and Ashley Lynch for the third.

Weston Pope scored twin wins for Dan’s Comp in Super-Ex. Jason Larev was there for second on day one and Allen Currier rounding out the podium. Day two saw Scott McMahon for the Standard Army on the left step, and Matt Beatty on the right.

Masters was pretty thin in Trumbull, with only five riders either day. Spidey Percy Owens seems to have scored a new ride, because he was rockin some fresh threads from the last time we saw him in Nashville. Good news to report back to the new sponsor: Percy grabbed a pair wins. Speaking of sponsors, there is some breaking news in the second slot, as Joey “Gunz” Albright took what will probably be his final laps in the GT uniform. Word is he’ll be replacing Tyler Faoro on the Madera squad, as Tyler moves next door in to the profile tent. Saturday saw Brian Strieby grab third. On Sunday Chris Keller improved by a place, and rounded out the podium.

With moto counts in the 90’s to match the temps, there was plenty of action. As mentioned earlier, Dominique Daniels (Grand Canyon University) was on, scoring perfects both days. 25 others were perfect on the weekend.

Luke Roarty (13-14 Cruiser)
Keith Newell, (30-34 Cruiser)
RC Colon (17-45+ Women Cruiser)
Isabel Diamond (9 Girls)
Kyly Milton (10 Girls)
Abby Mac Leod (11 Girls)
Rochelle Wooding (14 Girls)
Cheyenne Noud (15 Girls)
Angela Therriault (16 Girls)
Arefin Milton (7 Novice)
Ronnie Burwan (8 Novice)
Kenny Parow (14 Novice)
Derek Ellefsen (17-18 Novice)
Eric Yuhas (35-40 Novice)
Gabe Hatem (9 Expert)
Nichoas Cote’ (10 Expert)
Erik Meyer (11 Expert)
Anthony Catlow (12 Expert)
Justin Knapper (13 Expert)
Michael Schneider (16 Expert)
Michael Caldwell (19-25 Expert)
Shawn Di Prete (35-40 Expert)
Michael Schlesinger (11 Rookie)
Jeffrey Badendyck (41+ Novice)
Randy Bitinaitis (41+ Expert)

Nichoas Cote’ (10-11 Open) was more than perfect scoring 3 perfects over the weekend.

Other highlights included 6 Rookie Brady Valliere’s perfect on Sunday, as well as his performance behind the microphone during one of the breaks.

Bummer for NBL spokesmodel, Donna Snow. A crash in the first straight in Saturday’s main left her with a broken wrist and elbow. Less than 24 hours prior, she broke the top 10 in the Miss USA beauty pageant in Chicago. From a beauty pageant to staging…we love the dedication, and hope Donna heals up quick.

No one knows what the next 20 years will bring, but chances are, if you find yourself CT in July 2030, we’ll see you in Trumbull.
Check out the 2010 NBL Constitution Classic Photo Gallery

NBL Results Page

Pro Results: Day Two Of NBL Dixieland

We are men of few words today, as everyone collapsed their EZ-Ups and beat feat to the Interstate or Airport. BMXNEWS Special Operative, Stuart Harrison sent us the following results, encoded in a can of alphabet soup:

Elite Men
——————-
Maris Strombergs
Danny Caluag
Josh Meyers

Elite Women
——————
Dominique Daniels
Amanda Geving
Alaina Henderson

SuperEx
——————
C.J. McGuire
Logan Collins
Harrison Brit

Masters
——————
Joey Albright
Tim Dinger
Vinny Moreira

NBL Does Dixieland

Lexington, SC was the setting when the NBL Dixieland Nationals jumped off today with 81 motos (92, including the evening Pro Show) of fun and excitement, East Coast style. Details are still coming in, but we wanted to get you some early results filtering in from BMXNEWS operatives and VintageBMX.com forum members.

Elite Men was won by Maris Strombergs (above, in the lead), followed by Josh Meyers, Robert DeWilde and Barry Nobles.

Percy Owens won Masters, and C.J. McGuire won Super Ex. On the Elite Women side of the house, it was Dom Daniels, Amanda Geving and Alaina Henderson.

A big thanks to Stuart Harrison from HRP Designs for the photo, and the 4-1-1. KILLER shot, Stu!

NBL Southern Charm Nats Set McDonough Ablaze

After hitting town Friday Night, there was talk about whether or not this one would actually happen. Some people turned around and left, upon seeing several inches of snow on the track Friday night (it was a fairly daunting sight which, upon seeing it, made people wonder aloud: “HOW, on Earth is this going to be possible?”).

Saturday, practice was delayed till 12 Noon, which was smart move by the NBL, as there were still some icy spots on the roads leading to the track. Upon arrival at Sandy Ridge BMX, we saw the now-uncovered-and-snow-free track being worked by a battalion of volunteers with rakes, brooms, shovels and, yes, gas cans.

The valleys between most of the jumps were wet, and in an effort to dry them out, they decided to pour diesel fuel in those spots and light it up. Add some hay to the mix, and the heat from the fire dries the racing surface. While the net result was far from butter-smooth, the process did an adequate job of prepping the track.

The first gate of practice dropped at 2:05PM, to what many riders called “soft” conditions, but considering what could have been, I believe that all were happy to be out riding, and the track crew and volunteers did a very impressive job and should be applauded.

After one practice session each for 15 & over and 14 & under, it was time to go racing—68 motos of NBL racing action.

Elite open featured nine riders, with a couple of Masters Class riders joining in the fun. But the day belonged to John Miller of Addison Bikes, with Fred Lintz pulling the 2nd, after recently turning pro in December.

Those with Expert perfects from day one included, Tony Lehman, Chris Meaker, Petey Peters, Bakari Hassan, Seth Utz, Geoffrey Banser, Damien Cherepko, Antonio Bonessi, Coleman Habib, Warren Large, and Dylan Shipley.

The ladies perfects were Aryanna Wilfork, Kendra Stoddard (coming off a big injury and sporting her new HRPdesigns Factory jersey for the first time), Carly Jacobs, and Melody Large.

The big bikes were fast and furious, and dominated by the perfect rides of Jim Rempkowski, Anthony Robinson, Shayne Robinson, Tony Lehman, Samantha Brungart, Tony Spencer, Nathan Grant, Tyler Heinrich, and Ryan Ellefsen.

Sunday had the same moto count— at 68 racks, run two-moto-transfer, as on Saturday. Hats off to the NBL for trying to give the most bang for the buck, given the conditions. The time of day, the temperature and the safety of those driving to and from the track had to be considered, and two-moto was the most logical choice.

Day Two saw many of the same names on the top step with the expert perfects belonging to Leham, Meaker, Peters, Dimitrie Dyke, Menardo Simon II, Banser, Cherepko, Kavin Bradner, Bonessi, Richey Dey, Grant Green, Shipley, and Ezra Poole.

Sunday perfects for the ladies included Taylor Thomison, Christina Harvey, Emily Grice, Jacobs, and Large.

On cruiser it was more of the same with Rempkowski, Jeff Tapscott, Robinson, Lehman, Melissa Woodruff, Mike Powers, Grant, Brungart, and Gabriel Barwick.

The Elite open had nine riders on Saturday and 10 on Sunday, as Jason Larev jumped into the mix. As noted above, the top money went to John Miller of Addison Bikes, with twin wins. Day one saw newcomer, Fred Lintz pull the 2nd and Masters rider Jason Sherrill pick up the three spot, followed by Jason Carne$, Matt Lindley, Josh Smith, Tremain Johnson, and Chris Norberg.

On day two, Josh Smith crossed the line behind Miller, followed by Lintz slipping a spot into third. The rest of the field went: Carne$, Jason LaRev, Justin Travis, Sherrill, and Lindley.

Overall, Mother Nature threw a big, icy curve ball at this race. It is amazing that a race even occurred, after 6” of snow, the freezing temps, and the abundance of mud and water runoff that flowed around and through the pits all weekend. A lot of people missed this race because of travel fears and honestly, I cannot blame them, but that did not dampen the racing of those who did attend. The conditions were the same for all that chose to race, and any trophies won were well-deserved. Had this race been held under good conditions I believe it would have been hailed as one of the best races of the year, but now it will be hailed as the “snow race”.

Stuart Harrison
BMXNews Cub Reporter