2018 Summer Nationals race report

Filed under General on July 01, 2018 | Comment(s)

Roseville, California is located just outside of the State Capitol city of Sacramento. Since the 80’s, Oak Creek BMX and their longtime, loyal TO’s Bruce and Linda Minton, have been serving up multiple generations of BMXers some of the tastiest BMX racing you’ll ever see.

The legacy and lore of Roseville has as much to do with the NorCal legends who have called this place home, as it does with the track itself. National Champions from Kenny May, Bryan Ruest or Brandon Meadows originally put this place on the map. Then we have today’s top superstars, such as Tyler Caciola, the Elliott family and the Grindle clan keeping up the Roseville tradition of talent. Tangent, NorCal-Next Gen and Elite-Vendetta also call Oak Creek their hometrack ...and the list goes on and on. 

It had been nine years since the last Roseville National, and the track under-went a overhaul to make it USA BMX National-worthy. Surrounded by giant oak trees, the atmosphere in the pits was great - despite sweltering heat all weekend. Between the competition and the track, the high-temps would also play a big factor in the racing outcome.

The action never stopped during the three days of non-stop thrills and spills. 

This was the one and only split weekend for USA BMX, with East Coasters opting for Connecticut - but many teams, such as Answer-Rennen, sent out a small but potent roster. Between Montellano, Crain, Hammond and Gehrke they’d take the Factory win two out of three.

Factory Alpha and WiaWis riders were tough to beat and constantly seen out front - along with local boys Rift-Tangent. Nic Adams owned things in 15x, as much as Jacob Abbe did in 21-25x. 

But by far, the most edge-of-your-seat excitement took place in the 17-20 mains each day. On Friday, Hammond took the win, while on Sunday, he’d scope out the backside of the last berm. 

On Saturday, it was Mr.June, our Pull magazine coverboy Anthony Bucardo, out to the front and looking unstoppable. It’s wins like this that will come in handy in November, when the No.1 title chase winds down. On Saturday, it looked like he’d make it two in a row until Jackson Elliott’s move-of-the-Century (see this issue’s SNAP page). But despite getting swooped, Anthony remained calm and made a clean pass to score another win. This is by far, the most fun class to watch right now! 

17-20 EXPERT

• 1 ANTHONY BUCARDO, ALPHA, CANYON COUNTRY, CA
• 2 JACKSON ELLIOTT, NORCAL NEXT GENERATION, GRANITE BAY, CA
• 3 KYE AFFOO, FULL TILT, WARNER, QLD
• 4 NOAH RAMOS, HARO/US DEVELOPMENT, MEADOW VISTA, CA
• 5 MONROE HUTTON, FACTORY DOUBLECROSS, LANGLEY, BC
• 6 NATHAN CONNELLY, BIG TOOL, SACRAMENTO, CA
• 7 DUSTIN HAMMOND, ANSWER RENNEN, COLUMBIA, KY
• 8 NICK ELLIOTT, NORCAL NEXT GENERATION, GRANITE BAY, CA

In the girls ranks, the 15-16 gals really put on a show, with an impressive turnout. Gayheart, DeSantis, Jones, Cejalvo and Padilla were present and accounted for, but it was WiaWis’ Jaycie Sinclair winning three-for-three at the Summer Nats. Could there be another No.1 title in her near future?!

15-16 GIRLS

• 1 JAYCIE SINCLAIR, WIAWIS/LSG, SPRING, TX
• 2 VIOLET CEJALVO, DOUBLECROSS, SURREY, BC
• 3 MCKENZIE GAYHEART, THRODWN, FORT WHITE, FL
• 4 SIERRA ALTENDORF, BALLISTIC BMX, EVERETT, WA
• 5 GRACE PADILLA, BAY AREA BMXERS, BUELLTON, CA
• 6 BRENNA BRADY, EXTREME TEAM, YUBA CITY, CA
• 7 MADELYNN DESANTIS, HARO/US DEVO, SIMI VALLEY, CA
• 8 LEYNA JONES, FULL TILT, OXNARD, CA

The 17-20 class was also as hot as the weekend weather; if not more so. On Friday, Gordy’s Hannah Miller scored three impressive wins ahead of Addie Finch and Sumiko Yuki. That could very well make Hannah the M.I.R. (Most Improved Racer) of the weekend.

Cruiser-wise, Elite’s local ripper - Jimmy Nelson, was out to defend his hometurf in 46-50. Up against the likes of Dave Archibald and his team manager Eric Dyer,”The Bus Driver” had his foot to the floor the whole weekend. If his calculations are correct, those wins in Roseville could push him into the lead for National No.1 Cruiser. As of this writing, he is only 27 points away from numero uno.  

Along with the national, another ol’ Roseville tradition was the Vinatge BMX show and swap. With super cool BMX’ing Dinosaur awards from MJT Designs, over 35 hardcore collectors brought out nearly 80 old school bikes to compete in the seven categories. Former Bassett factory rider Mark Darcy wound up taking four of the Dino’s with him, including Best of Show.  

With so many fast locals, the Oak Creek crew wound up with some impressive scores. NorCal-Next Gen team manager Rick Lowry was among those who wanted to win every lap - and practically did, scoring two wins out of three attempts. 

Tangent’eer Breanna Winter, in 13girls, was another local who was on fire.

The triumphant return to Roseville was a huge success, and the Placer Valley CVB did a great job in hyping up this event before and during - including a professional video showing proof of the economic impact of holding this race in their town. They had the media out in force each day and really made it happen. It really was great to be back!