Derby City Nationals 2021 race report

Filed under General on September 13, 2021 | Comment(s)

Labor Day and Louisville go together like peas and carrots. Like frames and forks. Like dirt and fun. The long-time Labor Day tradition, that dates all the way back to many an NBL Grands, never disapoints (even when there's rainy delays) - and this year, the masses came out to slug it out in Lou-ee-vull.

SLUGGER-FEST
The pro series returned to the big hill, for the second-to-last regular-season round. This would be the first time we've seen our Olympians since they've returned from Tokyo. Not surprising, Connor Fields was still re-couping, and to our surprise, Alise Willoughby decided to take a break and have a relaxing labor day on the lake. But we did see a few racers from Tokyo make their return to the USA BMX circuit - including Chase's almost-bronze medalist Joris, South African Olympian Alex Limberg and Team USA women Felicia Stancil and P-Nut Ridenour. This weekend also saw the return of rookie pro Spencer Cole, who has taken his time this time round, to heal up good. 

Another Louisville tradition is the awarding of the custom Louisville Slugger bats - courtesy of the Louisville Sports Commision and the infamous Louisville Slugger bat company that is based downtown (and give daily tours on how their bats are made). In the end, Joris and Felicia added two more bats to their collection, and Vet pros Tyler Brown and Barry Nobles split the bat-count at one each. In the photo abive, from Saturday's Pro podium, it's easy to tell who played Little League and girls softball as youngsters, and who plays tennis. Right? 

WOMEN PRO

• 1 FELICIA STANCIL, SSQUARED, INDIANAPOLIS, IN
• 2 LAUREN REYNOLDS, ANSWER, SAN DIEGO, CA
• 3 ASHLEY VERHAGEN, FULL TILT RADIO, PHOENIX, AZ
• 4 CARLY KANE, DK BICYCLES, GUILFORD, IN
• 5 PAYTON RIDENOUR, POTTSTOWN, PA
• 6 OLIVIA ARMSTRONG, MARIAN UNIVERSITY, BEND, OR
• 7 DALENY VAUGHN, 316 RACING DK BIKES, TUCSON, AZ
• 8 TEIGEN PASCUAL, RIFT TANGENT, GARIBALDI HIGHLANDS, BC

MEN PRO

• 1 JORIS DAUDET, CHASE / IKON /ELEVN, CORONA, CA
• 2 JOSHUA MCLEAN, FULL TILT RADIO, PALM HARBOR, FL
• 3 KAMREN LARSEN, HARO, BAKERSFIELD, CA
• 4 ANDERSON FILHO, SPEEDCO/AVIAN, VARGINHA, MG
• 5 CAMERON WOOD, MONGOOSE, PEORIA, AZ
• 6 JEREMY SMITH, DK BICYCLES/HEMP FUSION CBD, DAYTON, OH
• 7 ALEX LIMBERG, HYPER, PLANO, TX
• 8 CORBEN SHARRAH, DAYLIGHT, TUCSON, AZ

AMATEUR TITLE CHASE

All of the talk in the pit area on Friday was that Ronnie Kim was no longer wearing a blank FLY uniform. The former No.1 Am quickly reunited with one of his original sponors - Redman Racing. This weekend, we'd get to see another anticipated re-match between Ronnie and Cedric Cade, as well as the traditional just-moved-up-an-age Cole Frederick (your current No.1 Am) jumping into Sean Day's age group. Cole always refers to Louisville as a "test race" - to see where he stands against his former team mate, and then works it up from there until they meet up for Grands in November. If you thought last year's title chase was a hot one, just wait until this conclusion of this season!

Both 14 and 15x were loaded with 37 riders (on Saturday), so rider-points would be even for the weekend. While all eyes were focussed on the arch rivals of Day & Frederick and Kim & Ced, one should never count out the other six factors in the hgate with them. For 14x, it was BMX Shark Tru Bailey and Daylighteer Brady O'Neil, putting their name in the hat and giving Sean Day the toughest time, while in 15x it was BlackCrown's Gavin Stazetski who surprised many with a big win over both Ronnie and Cedric. 

14 EXPERT - SATURDAY

• 1 SEAN DAY, FULL TILT RADIO, TACOMA, WA
• 2 TRUE BAILEY, BMX SHARKS, HENDERSON, NV
• 3 BRADY ONEIL, DAYLIGHT CYCLES, HENDERSON, NV
• 4 JUAN ARANGO, W-ELITE, BELLO
• 5 BRYCE BLUMER, FAITH, ISANTI, MN
• 6 KAI LEBLANC, JRBICYCLES.COM/SPEEDCO/AVIAN, ST AUGUSTINE, FL
• 7 JUAN MANOSCA, BAY AREA BMXERS, OAKLAND, CA
• 8 COLE FREDERICK, NEW ULM, MN

15 EXPERT - SATURDAY

• 1 GAVIN STAZETSKI, BLACKCROWN, CHARLEROI, PA
• 2 RONNIE KIM, REDMAN, CORONA, CA
• 3 CEDRIC CADE, BMX SHARKS, LAS VEGAS, NV
• 4 THOMAS MARTINEZ , POWERLITE-DFR BMX, ITAGUI
• 5 COLE ISAACS, BLACK WIDOW, SAINT MICHAEL, MN
• 6 BANYAN HOWELL, ALPHA, BEND, OR
• 7 DRAKE VELADOR, PROFILE, HOLLISTER, CA
• 8 TREYSON DILLON, BLACK WIDOW, ELIZABETH, MN

On Friday and Sunday, it was The Entertainer who scored the victories in 15x.