Blackjack Nationals Photo Gallery & Race Report

Filed under General on August 31, 2013 | Comment(s)

Hmmmm ...what to do on Labor Day weekend? A camping trip to Yosemite is out of the question, with the massive fire ablaze and smoking out most of northern California. Then, tickets and passes to the Burning Man festival in Nevada are limited (plus, it's a huge, crowded dustbowl anyway - from what we're told). Down in the valley, there's the Gold Rush Days in Sacramento, and tonight there's Uncle Ted wango-tango'ing live at the Silver Legacy. Then of course - there's the Reno tradition; the USA BMX Silver Dollar Nationals at the Livestock & Events Center!
      There shouldn't be any question as to where to go. (And tonights mains should get over in time for anybody wanting to go see The Nudge'.) Over 200 motos-worth of BMXers and their families agreed, and as they arrived in Reno they were greeted by a fun and slightly different track to challenge them. With a wide, sweeping first turn and a dog-legged 2nd straight that ends with a giant triple that launches you in to the second turn, and then followed by a sweet rhythm section and burly, carved-out last turn, this years' Blackjacks track got great reviews from riders of all ages. 
      With three days of racing - in which the scores will be added to a rider's Best-6 nationals scores, the race for a Western Divisional Final jersey will be as hot and possibly more heated than the blazing wild fire in Yosemite.

FRIDAY HIGHLIGHTS:
Let's talk girls; being as so often, we're accused by parents of not even knowing they exist. Believe us - we do. And like always, we don't have to wait for the girls classes to watch the excitement. In 11-12 mixed open, the class is chock full of fast girls who'll show the 11 and 12 year old novs and inters how it's done. Between Redman's Jordy Scott, Haro~Promax's Jaydin Wenck, Phoenix's Molly Hunter and J&R's Leinani Peralta, any of these four girls are known to dominate their race. For Friday, Jammin' Jordy took the Mixed win, and hoped to carry on the streak to class. In 12 girls, Scott had the hold off the hard-chargin' Sumiko Yuki and her Vendetta bike. It was a tight race all the way to the line, and Scott scored her second win of the day. With a chance at a triple - something she is no stranger to, Scott and Yuki again went at it in girl cruiser, but this time the Vendetta~Elite rider snapped hard and held off the rockstar from Redman.

In what may perhaps be called one of the best mains of the night, the 15-16 girls were putting on a show. Yess' Drew Mechielsen and Phoenix factory's Kelsey VanOgle were neck to neck all the way down the first straightaway, and were bangin' bars through the first turn. Kelsey, the defending National No.1 in Girls Cruiser, has her sights set this year on a Girl No.1, and came out of turn one with a slight advantage over Drew. But the crafty Canuck wasn't a'boot to let Kelsey off that easy, and as they flew over the triples in to turn two, Mechielsen swooped to the inside and came in for the picture perfect swoop to get in front of Kelsey and take over the lead. VanOgle's momentum slowed down a bit but she did everythingin her might to try getting back the lead. Drew held Kells off and took the important win. With this new combined age group, the 15-16 girls are once again in the hunt for hte No1 Girls title and it'll be highly contested this November when the Grands rolls around. 

SATURDAY STORY:
With three groups of A-pros, Redline's Josh Klatman had some pretty good comp - most of it coming from the likes of Jeremy Rommel, Travis Ohrazda and Vendetta's Pete Pascaul. But the Hebrew Hammer wasn't to be touched today in the final three A-pro races of his career. There was no questionwho won. With a 1-1-1 score, it was easy to add up the results and with $350 each day for the win, Klatty was now $200 over the move-up rate and was now officially double-A. 

Another rider we've been keeping on eye on for setting or breaking new records is "Almost Famous" Leyna Jones. With two triples earlier this year in Utah, and then two more triples in Tucson, we were interested to see if she could keep up the streak. Was there any doubt? On Friday, she again took the wins in Mixed Open, Girls and Girl Cruiser ...and Saturday was the same ol' story. Leyna knows how to handle the pressure and she's got the confidence to know that right now she is unbeatable. The question now is whether she can make it five consecutive triples in a row on Sunday? 

SUNDAY FINALE':