DEW ACTION SPORTS TOUR - TOYOTA CHALLENGE/UCI RACE
By Jack McDaniel
Will and I checked in at the Dew Action Sports Tour and immediately headed over to the UCI Supercross arena. We were stoked with what we saw. There was the massive, RAD Hell Track style starting gate I'm sure everybody had seen. More importantly, there is a BMX track. Not a one line, downhill lane that thins out the riders into a single file line but an actual corner pimpin' BMX track.
Those of you who'd been to the Ohio Christmas Classic will find the berm jump pleasantly familiar. This track is awesome and will provide a great mixture of speed, corner moves and what was always meant to be the main ingredient in BMX -  AIR!!
Track builder Tom Ritz(enthaller) told Will and I that Mike Day was killin' it (Mikey qualified first). He said Bubba and DeWilde were looking great as well but Day just seemed to have it going on. Tom said the European riders were also getting the track dialed for the last week. One took a wild ride over the first turn in the time trials but was not hurt.
Towards the end of the time trials (and through the rest of the day) the wind picked up and outside events had to be delayed. When we went up to the starting gate it was a challenge just to stand up there. Lets hope it stays a little calmer for the qualifiers and main tomorrow.
This shot does not do justice to how high (and scary to get to) the starting hill really is:

Here is what awaits you if you don't make it over the first jump. Plenty of padding for the unfortunate:

Will got some great insight into the building of the track and even some thoughts on possible Olympic layouts from Tom Ritz - NBL/UCI Track builder:

Well, we didn't get there in time for the time trials. I did talk to Jerry Landrum on the way out so I'm sure he'll have some great shots from that up soon.
After checking out the BMX race area we went over to the dirt jump section close to the track. Unfortunately, the wind was crazy so they delayed the practice section I was hoping to shoot. So, it was indoor to the HP Pavillion and the BMX Vert. Here are some shots from the finals:
 

Check back for updates from this great event.




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