Slammin Sooner Sunday

With six weeks off between the Grands and the first races of the year, it’s easy to forget how long a workday can be, when a 12-hour commute is tacked on to the end of it. The final gate dropped at 1:54PM today, and here it is 3:33AM, and we’re already home (after sampling the truck stop board of fare in three states).

Tales from the road notwithstanding, News used the time wisely–to edit and prep the photos from Sunday’s ABA Sooner Nationals. A total of 94 shots from today, adding to the 214 we posted yesterday, makes for a well-rounded weekend of gettin around.

KJ Romero (above) was the BMOC this weekend, acing all six A Pro motos, and both main event laps with carefree care (if that makes any sense at 3:40AM). OK, enough writing tonight…before we are tempted to go “all the way” and write the story in a language which tomorrow will reveal itself as a cross between Aramaic and Hood Latin.

Check Out the Saturday Photos

Check Out the Sunday Photos

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Rains, Planes and Automobiles

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!

SLC Sunday Photo Gallery Posted

OK, sports fans. Next time anyone hears me saying that I am “up for a road trip,” please help me drill down on that a bit. Sure, there is a tinge of romance to being out on the open road, wind in your hair, etc. But once the 2:30AM reality sets in, it becomes a real drag. So, I’m definitely not saying “no more road trips,” by any means…but the whole sleeping-in-the-car-in-a-rest-area thing, while an easy do at 18 yrs old, is not much fun at 40+.

As you all know, I like to have my photo galleries posted on the day of the race, when at all possible. So, posting this one three days after the fact is a real annoyance. But, I think you will find, as I did, that it was worth the wait.

2010 Great Salt Lake Nationals Photo Galleries

Saturday Photo Gallery

Sunday Photo Gallery

—Mike Carruth

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