Bluegrass Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on February 07, 2014 | Comment(s)

February 7, 2014-Louisville, KY- The USA BMX big rig rumbled into Louisville, KY for the third stop of the 2014 USA BMX National Series. 

FRIDAY:

Despite the frigid temperatures outside, Freedom Hall was rockin' during the 110 moto Friday night pre-race. Unlike last years Bluegrass Nationals, racers and attendees did not have to bear the chilling temps to hit up the vendors or lock up their bikes. Everything from sign ups and race wear to vendors and bike lock will be inside for the weekend and it has had an immediate impact on the overall feel of the event. To top it off, all 23-box suites have been sold out for the remainder of the weekend. After spending a little bit of time in one of them earlier today, they can definitely make your stay at Freedom Hall just a little bit more comfortable. 

One of the most anticipated aspects of this event was the new dirt that was brought in and the USA BMX track crew has been working around the clock in order to make it race ready. Their is no doubt that the harsh winter and excessive amounts of moisture have hindered the integrity of this prime dirt, but no matter how it effects the track, everyone has to race on the same course. And as always, our track crew will be doing everything in their power to make sure this years Bluegrass Nationals track is ready to provide some awesome early season action. 

When the A pro class lined up in the gate for the first round of the Friday night pre-race, it came as quite a surprise to see Maliek Byndloss make his Rookie Pro debut. Most all of us were expecting him to make that jump in Oldsmar during the Gator Nationals but obviously he was ready to go NOW! Byndloss laid the hammer down early and owned the night by taking home his very first win as a Professional BMX racer. However, if he plans to repeat his performance tonight, it will be substantially more difficult since he must overcome riders such as Brandon Elmore, Bryce Hocking and Kristian Cooper, who are also in attendance. 

Now the question remains, what will the moto count be for tomorrow? Last year, day one of the Bluegrass Nationals saw more than 280 action packed motos. Will we beat that number this year? Based on the amount of bikes in the lock up area, it would behoove me to think that there will be more than last years amount. Nonetheless, tomorrows racing will be extremely competitive and something you will not want to miss. Be sure to check out usabmx.com/webcast for the live audio coverage from the event, as well as the Bluegrass Nationals Race Report for the daily review of tomorrow’s event. 

SATURDAY:

Coming into day one of the Bluegrass Nationals, it was still unknown what kind of moto count we could expect. Would it be bigger than last year? What about smaller? The final tally was 273 motos, which came up just short of last years 286. However, given the weather conditions that the East coast is currently facing, this was a big win for all that came to participate. Solid moto count means solid rider count, which in turn will most likely produce solid racing. There was no doubt in my mind the racing would be awesome and there was not a spectator in the house who left disappointed.

When the doors were locked on Friday night, the USA BMX track crew had put in overtime in order to mend less than stellar track conditions. While the layout and obstacle options were spot on, Mother Nature proved once again why she reigns supreme as the amazing new dirt suffered the frozen elements, which kept it from completely drying, even after it had been placed inside the building for just over a week prior to the build. Luckily when you have the best track builders in the world, it was just a short session with the heavy machinery roller to get the track ready to rock come race time.

After the traditional opening ceremonies at any great event held in Louisville (complete with the Official Bugler of the Kentucky Derby, Steve Buttleman), the Jr. Devo class fired off day number one with authority.

Crupi’s Colin Whittington has shown miles of improvement over the last few months and his recent performances in the Jr. Devo class continue to back up any statements about this kid being here to stay. In order for him to pull of the overall win, Whittington would need to beat out other young stars like Ponton Cary, Qishan Johnson and Austin Rogers. That is some stiff competition, but it did not seem to daze Colin as he laid down the law in order to come away with a well deserved win. Redman~Rockstar’s Austin Rogers also had big hopes and found himself in the mix all day, but unfortunately came up just short to finish off in second while Cary and Johnson took home third and fourth in that order.

The A pro class was full of dynamite throughout the entire day. Maliek Byndloss was making his Rookie Pro debut and wanted to tack on another win after his Friday night barnburner, but a slew of other just as talented professionals were shooting for the exact same goal. The semis saw enough carnage that there were some surprising names missing out on the main event. Among those names, rookie pro Brandon Elmore, who had been looking great all weekend got caught in the pack and missed out on the main event gate drop. Also the cover boy from Missouri, Jake Sherbno was another rider who seemed to be on point all day, until he got 5^th in the semi. Once the main events came around, it became immediately harder. Heading over the first obstacle, Byndloss would get held tight to the outside and on this track; that makes it hard to win. After settling for a fourth place, it became a battle between him and fellow rookie, Bryce Hocking. Going into the main, Hocking had a two-point advantage over Byndloss; it was his to lose. When their third main event dropped, Maliek shot out like a cannon and Hocking was left in the back to fight through a swarm of other top pros. Hocking’s valiant efforts would not be enough to hold back the hard charging Byndloss, thus giving Maliek Byndloss his very first National win as an A pro. It will be an interesting mix if we can add Elmore and Sherbno into the mix along with Smith, Byndloss and Hocking. Will Byndloss be able to do the same as Elmore did just two weeks ago in Oklahoma? We will find out tomorrow!

In the amateur ranks, there were a couple of expert classes that left spectators gnawing their fingertips off from the excitement. One of those was 12x, DK’s Spencer Cole and Redman~Rockstar’s Roman Jaworsky were giving it everything they had. It looked as if Jaworsky had the power advantage to pull away from Cole, but it only took one well placed front wheel and the inside line to run Jaworsky up turn one and take the lead. But Jaworsky was quick to counter and reeled in Cole like a 3 pound bass, making a text book sweep pass in turn two. Cole made one last push in turn three, but quickly ran out of real estate. After the hard fought battle, Jaworsky reigned supreme for the day. There is no doubt these two will come in tomorrow and pick up right where they left off.

The other stand out expert race was the teammate battle between Ssquared~Answer’s Justin Richmond and Ryan Zinzow. Both of these riders have world-class talent and speed capable of catching their own tires on fire. Heading into turn one, they were bar-to-bar and not giving an inch, until Zinzow had an issue that would launch him off the track and onto the dirt. Richmond did not let that get into his mind, as he would continue on for the win. Luckily Zinzow did not appear to have any serious injuries and as long as everything checks out, we should see these two teammates go at it again all over tomorrow.

Day one was in the books and the track crew once again compiled a new plan to help the conditions for day two of the Bluegrass Nationals. With electric fire heaters aiding in wicking the moisture out of the track, the track should be a bit less rutted as we work on ending the weekend on a high note. Stay tuned all day tomorrow for the live audio feed, as well as the daily race report providing everything you need to know!

SUNDAY:

Most everyone can agree that fingers were crossed leading into day two of the Bluegrass Nationals. With the given track conditions, it was a mystery if the heater fix would resolve the spongy conditions. Pro warm up fired off and it was immediately evident that the heaters were a success. While they did not make the conditions ideal, the track was much fast than the previous two days. Of course with a fast track comes faster racing and that is what everyone in attendance was excited to witness.

Qualifying rounds came and went about as fast as the speed of sound. In just under three hours, we were well into the quarters, semis and then the main events. The action got much more intense as the faster conditions mixed with other slower areas provided spectators the closest racing of the weekend.

The A pro class became the most discombobulated three rounds of main events that I have seen in a while. In the first round, Maliek Byndloss seem to have the holeshot locked up but after getting to close for comfort with the rest of the group he would lose a clip and struggle to retain his position. This carnage put two other riders on the ground and a final turn battle that pushed Byndloss backwards and Answer~Rennen’s Max Egdorf squeezed in for the win. More carnage pursued in the second round and the points became so jumbled that it was a wonder who would end up with the overall win. It seemed like Egdorf already had it on lock if he could finish strong in the final main. Maliek was close, but would need to beat Max by at least three spots to take over the win. When the gate dropped Maliek put himself in a great position by leading out of turn one. Phoenix Factory Racing’s Kristian Cooper tried to throw himself into the pack but would end up going airborne and into the dirt. That kid could just not stay off the ground and ended his weekend with a less than desirable result. Byndloss did lose a pedal in the turn and got shoved back into third. While he was able to hold on with that finish, Egdorf avoided the landmines to secure a fourth place finish. At the end of the day, Egdorf took the overall, Byndloss placed second and Corey Ross out of Portage, IN made a solid showing, taking the final step on the box.

The amateur main events were extremely competitive and there were quite a few tight showdowns as well as some completely dominating performances. Jordan Scott from the Redman tribe proved why she deserves her National No.1 girl cruiser title. She picked up wins both days with outstanding performances. To go with that, National No.1 Girl, Kelsey Van Ogle, dominated the 15-16 girls class. Noelle Vidak and Elida Beeman helped keep her honest but nonetheless it was a solid performance from Van Ogle that helps her solidify her spot as one of the most dominant female races of her time.

Another great performance from the ladies was Doublecross’ Mika Shaw. There were some very tense moments between her and Profile’s Shayona Glynn. The funny thing is Shaw was a sleeper last year and really exploded after the USAC Championships in Nashville, TN. With the potential that Shaw brings to the table, it will be interesting to see how she fares for the remainder of the season.

In the expert ranks, some nail-biting races were run. The first battle, which I hope continues for as long as possible, was between Patrick Coo and Jack Kelly. These two were back and forth all weekend, just like they were in Reno. Kelly made an awesome pass in turn one, but Coo pulled him down the second straight like he had a hidden turbo booster under his seat. Kelly made it interesting in the final turn but was unable to make the move stick, giving Coo the win. This is one rivalry that I hope continues for as long as possible. These two have given the spectators some of the best side-by-side racing of the year thus far.

When it comes to racing, sportsmanship is a huge factor in how a rider is viewed. Really, it is like that in any sport. DK’s Spencer Cole showed some of the most outstanding sportsmanship I have seen in quite some time after his day two dogfight with Roman Jaworsky. As I mentioned earlier, Jaworsky pulled away with the win on day one but day two was very different. These two were bangin’ bars heading into turn two when Jaworsky ran out of room and ejected, ending his day with a very rough landing. Cole would go on for the win, but as soon as he crossed the line, he dropped his bike, jumped the fence and ran over to check on his fellow competitor. When Jaworsky got up, Cole and him shared a one-armed man hug to assure things were cool. It was a very heart-warming moment simply due to the level of sportsmanship that was demonstrated between these two twelve-year-old experts. My hat goes off to both you for having such great camaraderie in such an aggressive sport.

In quite possibly the toughest amateur class in BMX, 19-27x, it is never easy to pull of a double win in a weekend. That was not the case for Doublecross’ Kenneth Gustafson, who was able to accomplish that feet this weekend. He got the holeshot and never looked back. 510 Bay Area’s Brandon Cato and Extreme Team’s Robby Patterson were hot on his tail only to both end up taking dirt samples coming out of turn two. Gustafson has definitely stepped his game up for 2014 and if he can continue winning, he could very easily put himself in contention for the 2014 National No.1 Amateur title.

Three other guys were also on top of their game this weekend. Full Tilt’s Adam Welter, Answer~Rennen’s David Maltezos and Profile’s Jon Pringle all completed double wins as well. Welter has been on a tear since picking up a Grands double, securing his NAG 1 plate on BOTH bikes. Maltezos recently made the jump over to the Answer~Rennen crew and it has already paid dividends. He looks extremely comfortable on the bike and hopefully this new ride will give him the opportunity to have another awesome year. Jon Pringle also looked fantastic this weekend. He is always in the hunt and killed it in the newly added 46&Over expert class.

The Bluegrass Nationals turned out to be one great event. Even with all of the hiccups and interesting track conditions, the racing action did not suffer. In many ways, having a rutted out BMX track was pretty awesome. It brought back a bit of old school feel and true BICYCLE MOTOCROSS style, even closed the gaps making for tighter races. On behalf of USA BMX, we would like to thank all of those that made the trip to Louisville and help us put on such a wonderful event. We truly appreciate our loyal membership base and always try to give them the best experience at any event they attend. That being said, we hope to see you in two short weeks right back here in Louisville for the 2014 USA BMX Summit. If you cannot make that event, we will see you at the Cajun Nationals in Monroe, LA for stop No.4 of the USA BMX National series!