BMX News is gearing up for the Elite Season Opener this weekend at the USA BMX Gator Nationals in Oldsmar, FL.

All signs point to a massive Elite turn out for the Gators, and as part of Saturday’s race, the UCI North American Continental Championships (Class 3…the most points outside the World Cup series or the World Championships).

We have been getting “we’ll be there” responses from teams and rider from as far North as Maine, and as far West as Washington State on the Amateur side, so we look forward to bringing you two days of rock-solid racing, with awesome action photos and a complete story on both days’ first straight pulls, and last-turn lead changes.

Keep it right here each night for how it all went down, and if you just can’t wait…follow @bmxnow on Twitter for as-they-happen updates from the infield.

Last week, the newly-created Texas BMX Hall Of Fame announced their first class of inductees.

The Lone Star State has an incredibly rich history in the sport, with guys like Gene Roden (ABA Co-Founder), Bernie Anderson (current ABA owner), BA Anderson (ABA CEO), and scores of top riders calling it home.

After a nomination process in October and November, seven riders have been selected as the first inductees:

Albert Delgado – Amarillo Region
Kevin Hull – Austin Region
Don Johle – Dallas Region
Rusty Roberts – Dallas Region
Dee Chipps – Fort Worth Region
Jeff Osmus – Fort Worth Region
Steve Haynes – Lufkin Region

These riders will be officially inducted into Texas Bicycle Motocross Hall of Fame on Saturday, March 17th, 2012 at a ceremony Desoto, Texas. More details regarding the induction ceremony can be found on the organization’s web site, www.texasbmxhof.org.

Congratulations to these most deserving Texans.

Submitted by George Costa

Answer/Rennen rolled into Reno for the first time as a New Factory team for the 2012 USABMX season opener. Even though the much of the team is familiar with one another it was still a great opportunity for some team bonding and breaking in a few new riders…..Literally!

Nine riders made the trip from the all over the USA to Reno to show off our new FLY/Crit Uniform kits while aboard our SSquared frames and Answer Dagger Forks. For many (7/9) riders only six weeks prior were riding totally different frame/fork/parts combos. All adjusted quickly to the ultra stiff/responsive setups that they now are on.

Here is how your favorite riders finished on the weekend

9X/Cru Nate Coyman This freshly turned nine year old was determined more than ever to come to Reno and show everyone what hes got. Back to back main cruiser appearances shows that hes got what it takes to beat most of the older kids that he doesn’t even race at the grands. 

10G/cru Bailey Brannen Bailey wins the toughest Answer/Rennen rider award for crashing in her 10 girls main on Saturday while going for the lead on the second straight, then getting run over by a few other girls…Literally. On Sunday she came came back with a pair of podium finishes in class/cruiser. She never even hinted at being hurt back in the pits. Shes 10 and probably weighs 50lbs soaking wet but shes tough as nails.

12G Abbie Macleod This was Abbies first big west coast race and making 4 out 4 mains I’d say she handled it perfectly fine despite having some personal mechanic issues we’ll see in Oldsmar if she keeps him under contract.

16X Cody Simson Cody was our first casualty of  the season. Coming up from sunny Daytona FL he was ready to handle the 16X class before a unfortunate crash in practice resulted in two broken vertebrae. Hes now on the road to recovery and will be ready in a few months to redeem himself. 

17-27G Shelby Stacy Reno fever struck Shelby quickly as we could see in the pits her losing her voice and getting sick. This didnt stop her from two podium finishes on the weekend.

17-18X Austin Loebe Austin was looking faster than ever on this season opener (hmmm…..Is his IT wheel training working? Or is it cause of his trainer Shawn Diprete? Probably both). Lap after lap on the weekend Austin was out at the front of the pack and in Saturdays main he went from the holeshot to 6th back to 3rd all in two straights. 

28-35X Justin Wike Wikeout was demolishing his class all weekend long in the races which he actually participated in. In 17 and over open Justin showed the youngins whats up when a 29yr old podiums both days.

36-40X/Cru Shawn Diprete Shawn went on to score the only double-double for the team on the weekend, never losing a lap even after his near main miss on Saturday check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNhy81e28zg  (video credit Rob Riofrio). Diprete and Wikeout were out in the parking lot attempting to dead lift parked cars trying to peak before their mains when the new USABMX run format caught them by surprise and Shawn nearly missed his.

A-Pro Max Egdorf Max impressed us all on the weekend in his rookie pro debut. His confidence and ability to get the job done on the track is amazing he’s calm and collected and even found time to mentor many of the new riders on the team throughout the weekend. He finished with a 2nd on Friday and 6th on Sunday but could be found all weekend leading many laps from gate 8. 

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

Download the above image as a 1980×1020 wallpaper for your computer desktop

A great day of racing in Guthrie, Oklahoma today, as Day One of the USA BMX Sooner Nationals took the focus. An even 200 motos, run with high precision, and a track layout that was given the thumbs-up by top stars and novies alike.

Though this year’s installment is not a Pro Series race, we have some names in the house this weekend that will make an awesome AA main in a year or two.

A full race report will be coming your way on Monday, with the Sunday Photo Gallery. But before lights out tonight, we wanted to get you the Saturday photo gallery, which has some awesome shots inside, if we do say so ourselves.

Check Out the Saturday Gallery Now

Don’t forget to check back Monday afternoon for the weekend’s report, and our Sunday Gallery.

During our trip to the US Olympic Training Center/Chula Vista earlier this month, we were privileged to shoot individual headshots of all the riders taking part in the Elite Camp. We thought you’d enjoy seeing some of your favorite riders suited up in their Team USA Jerseys.

We are saving the goof-around outtakes for a more opportune time

Check Out The Photo Gallery Now

A major contingent of Elite “Team USA” BMX Supercross talent flew in to the US Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA last week for the first Elite Development camp of 2012. BMXNEWS.COM was granted exclusive access to shoot some action during one of the training sessions.

We clipped the set down to the 49 best shots of the session, and are bringing them to you as soon as we got them dialed in. It was an amazing day for shooting in San Diego, and the riders were definitely in the zone.

The camp included 19 athletes in all, but Joey Bradford and David Herman had other commitments for the photo session timeframe. And Nic Long, Felicia Stancil and Tyler Brown posted early injuries and could not ride. We wish them a speedy recovery!

Other stars out of orbit this camp; Connor Fields and Alise Post were out of the country and Mike Day and Corben Sharrah were out of town on GT biz. We vowed to catch them on-course next time.

Click Here to View the Gallery

A big thanks to: Mike King, Andrea Smith and James Herrera at USA Cycling for letting us peek into their day. Team USA is readying some amazing talent for London, and this glimpse into their routine gives us a special kind of pride as Americans. Equal thanks goes to Amanda Carr, Amanda Geving, Arielle Martin, Barry Nobles, Brooke Crain, Dani George, Donny Robinson, Jared Garcia, Jason Rogers, Josh Meyers, Kory Cook, Tyler Faoro and Weston Pope for their style and willingness to “do that again!”

—Mike Carruth

Above: Barry Nobles gets it done on the second straight aboard his new DK scoot.

USA BMX announced today that there would be some tweaks made to the practice schedule, beginning with the USA BMX Sooner Nationals in Guthrie, OK this weekend.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Chula Vista, Louisville and Disney Cup will be run under a separate, three-day practice schedule. That information will be released by USA BMX very soon, and BMX News will bring it to you when it is released

Download a Printer-Friendly PDF Version

Star Products, out of Wisconsin, has been making some moves into the market since their debut at the 2011 ABA Midwest Nationals in Rockford. A cool logo, and some US-Made product gave their industry profile a nice little push at the race. Recently, some chatter about a forthcoming frame has been on the BMX News radar scope.

Tonight, via Facebook, the company announced that they have purchased the inventory and frame design of Rockford-based RPM Products.

Company rep, Bryan Dickerson told News that they would be making both aluminum and chromoly versions of the new Star Products frame, and would be coming to market with the line before April. Here’s a peek at the sizes:

The chromoly line will be larger sizes, with a 20-inch in 21″, 21.5″ and 22″ top tube lengths and cruisers in 21.5″ and 22″ TT.

Their aluminum offerings will be broader, with a Mini (17.75″), Junior (18.75″), Expert (19.75″), Pro (20.75″), Pro XL (21.25″), Pro XXL (21.75″) and “King” at 22.25″ Top tube lengths in the 20-inch. They will also do aluminum cruisers in Junior (18.75″), Expert (19.75″), Pro (21.5″) and Pro XL in 22″ top tube length.

Target price point for the hardware (all US-made) will be around $400. The chromoly prototype will be at next week’s USA BMX Sooner Nationals in Guthrie, OK. Word is that the RPM inventory acquired in today’s transaction will be stickered with the Star Products graphics.

Dickerson noted that Star Products is rider-owned and operated with over 40 years of BMX experience. More info soon on their website at www.starproductsbmx.com. BMX News will update this story as new details arise.

As for RPM, we put out an inquiry to them today, but no word back before we posted. The Facebook announcement by Star Products said that RPM was going in a “different direction,” so we’ll update that part of the story as well.

On January 5, Judge John P. Bessey of the Franklin, OH Court of Common Pleas approved a motion that clears the way for the Court-Appointed Receiver to pay out $257,901.71 in settlement of 225 claims against the National Bicycle League.

BMX News reported, on November 21, that the Receiver had arrived at a figure of 38 cents on the dollar to settle the $674,147.10 in claims that had been made from tracks, riders and other vendors of the NBL. There was a court-mandated period of time for objections to be filed (which none were), and the January 5 action was the conclusion of this process.

Download the final disbursement spreadsheet.

Sources tell us that, in cases like this, disbursement checks could go out in 30-60 days (though that is not an official number).

Aside from the final report from the receiver which is, more or less, a matter of procedure, this action should mark the final chapter in the dissolution of the NBL.