Winter Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on March 14, 2014 | Comment(s)

FRIDAY

Despite the threat of rain, tonight’s pre race went off without a hitch. Black Mountain definitely lived up to its legendary smoothness and is sporting a new 4-turn layout. The long 4^th straight rhythm will surly be where a lot of action goes down over the weekend. Tonight’s main events kicked off with some bar banging in the Jr. Devo Class. Haro~Promax’s Kevin Pauls and Statts’ Jason Boyle tangled just before turn 1. Kevin escaped and Boyle ended up off the pedals. This allowed Elf Factory’s Chrystofer Davis to swoop in and take the 2^nd. The A-Pro class is always an interesting mix on Friday nights with AA’s often showing up to take the cash. AA Jacob Peebles did just that but almost got passed by GT’s Tyler Brown going into the third turn. The 117 moto event wrapped up promptly at 8 pm and everyone was off to their favorite local restaurants to grab some grub and get ready for Day 1 of the 2014 Winter Nationals. The big question looms, how big will it be? Tune in live tomorrow at www.usabmx.com/webcast to find out!

Saturday

Today's race started out looking awesome with aqua blue skies and 292 motos. Somewhere in the early afternoon Mother Nature decided to turn on her fans. The wind increased in intensity steadily throughout the day and was gusting near 40 miles per hour by the last main event crossed the line. There were 29 hungry A Pros in attendance but only one would go undefeated for the day. That man was Haro~Promax's Rusty Nesvig. The rookie absolutely dominated the field and didn’t lose a lap all day. Factory Xtreme's Jeremy Smith and Local boy Colby Landin were there to keep him honest and rounded out the podium.
           

In the Am ranks there were a bunch of hot shoes getting the job done. New Zealander Rico Bearman came away with a double in the 9-10 and 10 expert classes. Redman has another top contender on his squad in him. One of his fellow countrymen was also in attendance and we're not taking about Marc Willers. 14x Maynard Peel (World #3) is riding for Phoenix Pro Cycles and nearly got himself a win in the wind. He and Kevin Pauls had an epic drag race down Black Mountain's super smooth first straight. Pauls was barely able to hold off the hard charging kiwi and take the victory. 

One of the most spectacular races of the day went down in the 17-18x class. Tangent's Jacob Abbe found the front of the pack quickly but Redline's Collin Hudson was in hot pursuit. As they exited the third turn and hit the long rhythm section, Abbe found himself getting sandwiched in between Hudson and Haro~Promax's Andrew Townsend. Collin would pass him on the inside and Andrew would go by on the outside. Mark down Hudson for the win.
 

The ladies also were out to add to their national point totals today. 7 year old Katja Shriver is definitely following in her older sisters footsteps and brought home the big trophy in 7 Girls. 11 Girls saw the almost famous one, Leyna Jones pick up her first win of the year. Anna Johnson came out from Texas to get an early start to her quest for NAG 1 in 13 girls. Local Rachel Mydock has been training like crazy over the past few month and it definitely showed in the 17-20 girls class. She did Bill and the gang at Supercross proud.

The big bikes were rollin as well. Hostile’s Aram Schwinn had a little mishap in the 13x semi but crushed it on the 24. He looks primed for a NAG 1 repeat.  510 Bay Area’s team pits went wild when Kenny Cross reached the front of the pack in 14 cruiser. “Chico Swerve” held on for the victory in NorCal style. We’re not sure what happened to Layne Gainers last sponsor but he looked super fast in his plain wrapped Fly kit in 17-20 cruiser. He may be one of the biggest free agents on the circuit right now. Two of the major players in the 41-45 group met in one of the most anticipated main events of the evening. National #1 cruiser Shawn Diprete, who is now doing it from Factory Black Crown and Privateer David Archibald were arm locked entering the first turn. Archie got there just a smidgen quicker and would go on to win. I’m sure there will be more fireworks from these two on day 2.

That’s it from the windy city tonight. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. 

Sunday

The weather was superb for today’s festivities. With the wind subsiding we were bound to see even better race action and the race fans weren’t disappointed. The results in A-Pro prove that consistency is key and despite Day 1 winner Rusty Nesvig only losing 1 lap in the mains (finished 7^th) that was enough to keep him from the overall victory. Supercross’ Jared Garcia would take top honors on the day and Travis Ohrazda came in third despite sporting some Huck Finn inspired rolled up pants.

8 girls actually had some bar banging action in the first turn. SSquared’s Jaslin Jones gave Redline Challenge star Grace Stevenson a little love tap that created just enough separation for her to squeeze by. Great racing by those two young ladies all weekend long.  Defending National #1 Girl Cruiser Jordan Scott also was victorious on the smaller wheels as well. She went undefeated all weekend and tripled both days.

 The rematch was on in 41-45 cruiser and we knew from yesterday’s clash in the first turn that we were in for a show.  Diprite was coming out of gate 7 and Archie out of gate 5. Despite a slight bonk on the step-up out of the gate by Archibald, they were near dead even by the end of the straightaway. As they neared the USA BMX tough blocks on the inside of turn 1, contact was made and the laws of physics took over. Both riders crashed to the ground in a spectacular fashion. Elite Bicycles head honcho Eric Dyar promptly came around the carnage and scooped up the win.

Its not often that we see 11x Jack Kelly get 2^nd place but Phoenix rider Patrick Coo made sure of that on Sunday. Kelly went for a last turn move but it didn’t work out in his favor.

14x looked like a single line affair when all of a sudden the invisible turn monster in 2 attacked Sully Finch’s front tire. Kiwi Maynard was in the wrong place at the wrong time, ran over Sully and went over the turn. Turn monsters are dangerous.

19-27x @CrandonBato was on the gas out front for the 510 Bay Area BMXers when he got a little loose in the rhythm section and had a high-speed loop out. Layne Gainer was able to avoid Cato and his sled and take the win.

The rough outing continued for the Bay Area team as 46 and over expert Eric Sweets left a bit too much room open on the inside of turn 3 and Madera’s TP Todd Perry came right on in. Perry probably outweighs Sweets by a good 60 pounds and it showed. Sweets hit the dirt along with half of the main event and TP rode off to victory.

The Winters once again lived up to its illustrious history and provided some of the years best racing action to date. With the 2014 national season now rolling full force, the race for the cups is on. Some will emerge as contenders, but who?