What do you get when you put together the city of Las Vegas, one of the gnarliest tracks and thirty-one Grand of cash on the line? Pretty much every Elite pro there is in the sport of BMX. You also get a ton of Super Class riders and almost every photographer/media person that has anything to do with BMX jockying for position.
The Nellis race had been postponed from an earlier date when rain had the track submerged. The track is dug into the ground making it a great receptical for water. Up until just a few days ago the track was definitely not race ready. However, with the hard work of the track volunteers, the track was smooth and fast.
This was a special event as the track themselves had raised an additional ten thousand dollars to add to the pro purse. The payout for the winner of Elite Men on Saturday was two thousand dollars and, with an additional donation, was an incredible three thousand for the main winner on Sunday.
The pro turnout was reminiscent of the "good ol' days" of BMX. You know, when pros were stars and everybody ran to watch the pro motos and mains. That, in a nut shell, was Nellis.
Three of the main contenders for the cash in Nellis went down as the weekend went on. In Saturday's practice. Free Agent's Kyle Bennet went down hard into the lip of the step-up on the first straight. I was shooting right there and actually felt the "thud" as he hit. Kyle checked out for the weekend but I have read an update that he's doing OK.
Haro's Warwick Stevenson also went down in a moto when the brace he uses snagged. He scratched and bruised himself up pretty good. He blew apart his visor when he hit the ground and was doing the Tim Sonner bullet head thing the rest of the weekend. Warwick was looking fast Sunday but just not 100%. Warwick now has an MTV Cribs episode.
           
Check out the press release sent out by Whalen Management:

Whelan Management, Inc. is proud to announce that AA Pro BMX racer, reigning number one UCI World Champion, and Nora Cup winner, Warwick Stevenson, will appear on MTV’s “Cribs” Tuesday, May 3 at 10:30 p.m. (eastern/pacific/check local listings). On every episode of “Cribs,” fans have the chance to visit and tour the homes of their favorite celebrities. Don’t miss the chance to check out Warwick’s crib in Scottsdale, AZ. “This was another great opportunity for Warwick and we were excited that MTV wanted to work with him again,” said Ken Whelan, President of Whelan Management, Inc. “it’s nice to see both Warwick and the sport of BMX racing getting this recognition.” Warwick is supported by: Haro, Ati, Oakley, Maxxis, FSA, ACS, Thor, Answer Products, PowerBar and Kicker.

The third casualty was Redline's Bubba Harris. Bubba seemed to still be having a little trouble adjusting to the NBL gate cadence. He was definitely doing those amazing ride through the pack moves he's known for and even won one of the motos. However, a crash took him out of contention for the Elite main and out of the racing on Sunday. Bubba did bear the pain long enough to win the Elite Open on Saturday. The added strain of riding injured might have been the reason for setting out Sunday though.
Many of the riders were looking good on Saturday and with the NBL's one main system every single one of them were in mix for the win. MCS rider Jonathan "Mosquito" Suarez was pulling hole-shots or at least top three out of the gate consistently. Free Agent's Dale Holmes has been looking extremely strong coming off of a great showing at the ABA national in Texas last weekend. Crupi's Jason Richardson and Christian Becerine were flying all day. Brandon Meadows battled his way into the main and Warwick had cleared the cobwebs out from the earlier crash.
The tensions mounted as the most anticipated pro race in quite a while got ready to bust down the gate. Warwick shot into an early lead with Becerine on his tail. Staats' Mike Day pulled into the third spot. As Stevenson and Becerine went into the third corner they hooked up slightly. It wasn't enough to bring them down but was enough to slow their momentum and Day took advantage and pulled along side. They were three wide as they went down the forth straight. Christian wicked the throttle and shot out into the lead at the end of the straight. Warwick dropped down low in the turn and Day railed it. Becerine was in the lead but Day had gained awesome speed from the line he took in the turn. Mike is known for being an exceptionally skilled rider and he used that skill to pass Becerine in the fifth straight rhythm section for the lead. It was tight through the last corner and down the last straight. People were going crazy cheering for their favorite rider. At the line it was Day with his second Elite Pro win, Becerine with the second and Warwick the third. The race was one of the most exciting and loudly cheered I've seen in a while.
I love the addition of the Elite Masters series. BMX is getting to the point where the "Old School" riders aren't much slower than their contemporaries. It's also great for nostalgia buffs. We had a main that consisted of Terry Tennette, Domingos Lamoglia, David Wray, Darrin Mitchell, Eric Rupe, Jason Carnes and Todd Lyons and Renato Silva. Saturday would be all Redman/Yamaha Darrin Mitchell. Darrin popped out of the gate into the lead and never looked back. Mongoose's Eric Rupe and Redline's Jason Carnes stayed close enough to keep Darrin honest but there were never any real challenges to his lead.
The speculation in Super Class was mostly between local boy Derek Betcher and Phantom/On Trac's powerhouse Mike Moeller. Most comments I did hear were in Betcher's favor. Even though Moeller is getting pretty "Swole", Betcher has some unbelievable first straight pull at Nellis. The gate dropped and Betcher actually didn't get that great of a gate. However, he reached down for that pull and found it. The NOS kicked in and Betcher flew out into the lead. Moeller was in the mix but it was Answer/Everguard rider Danny Caluag that rode up to Derek's back tire. The whole race Caluag shadowed first place Betcher. Derek had the track down though and took the win convincingly. Caluag got the second and Redman rider Andre Ellison, who'd passed Moeller earlier in the race, for the third.
There was some trash talking going on earlier in the day when Mike and Derek interviewed with ISTV's Cathy Rankin. Make sure to check out the interviews for Saturday to see who got the last crack in.
In Elite Women the race all day was between Supercross rider Samantha Cools and Redline's Kim Hayashi. Staats' Arielle Martin is looking extremely strong and Clayborn's Krystal Hyme was flying as well. However, out of the gate in the main it was Hayashi with the snap and Cools riding along side in a close second. The two women are equally skilled and both are physically strong. The deciding point of the race, I feel, came when Hayashi boosted the step-up into the first corner and Cools rolled it. The extra push Kim got down the backside propelled her into a healthy lead. Samantha gave a great last straight dash for the lead but it was Hayashi with the win and Cools with the second.
Well, Vegas is a betting town and when I asked NBL's Jeff Sack who his money was on for Sunday he told me "Pohlkamp or Stumpy". Well, Jeff would have least made his money back as one of the riders mentioned pulled out the win.
Pohlkamp, looking very Darth Vader-ish in his black Fox outfit got a great gate right along with Revtec's main man Greg Romero. However, Pohlkamp got a little sideways in the air on the first straight and bonked into Romero. Becerine would again pull into the lead with Stumpy on his tail. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser wanted that three grand and he pulled an incredible pass in the second turn to take the lead from Becerine. Stumpy took off from that point and the race went Stumpy, Colombo and Becerine.
Randy was also unbeatable in the Elite Cruiser class. He won both days.
In the Vet class it would be the "Masters" of the Masters class battling for the lead. Mongoose/Hyundai's Eric Rupe got a great pop out of the gate. Redline's Jason Carnes pulled into second. Carnes wanted that money bad though and swooped Rupe in the third corner. Dave Wray had a great line in the rhythm and passed Rupe momentarily. Rupe got it back though and went on for the second behind "C-Money" Carnes with the win.
Super Class on Sunday was totally dominated by Answer/Everguard's Danny Caluag. Danny was on a mission and completed it successfully. In the main Danny rode start to finish in the lead. Moeller had a chance to put him over the turn in the forth turn but kept it squeaky clean and rode a great race for a second. The win, however, would go to Caluag (pronounced like "Pollywog" but with a "C" according to Danny).
Elite Women would be a carbon copy of Saturday's race with Hayashi taking the double on the weekend and Cools with the second. I have to give Samantha props for riding extremely strong on Saturday and again on Sunday after a hard head-butt to the ground when she fell in the third turn. They sure make 'em tough up there in Canada ey?
There was a great team turnout in Nellis. Redman/Yamaha's Mike Redman brought the gang, the trailer, two full sized team tents and a huge cooling fan to the race. This is the first NBL event that Redman/Yamaha has set up camp at. One of the standouts for Redman was Minnesota's Joey Berthiaume. That kid is getting huge and has always been fast. Great thing is Joey isn't too "Factory" to still play around in practice (after he gets the track down of course). Joey was throwing one handed X-ups all over the place. Joey also won 16 Expert on Sunday so you know he wasn't in Vegas to just play.
Answer/Everguard also brought out a huge contingent. From their littlest Menehune to the big dog Kirk Chrisco who remained perfect the whole weekend (and did it with style in class and cruiser) the blue and red jerseys were all over the place. Mike Brabant with his new "Derek Betcher" look hairdo went perfect all weekend; Kris "Fabio" Fox was the only one in 16 Expert that could better Berthiaume; Travis Ohrazda won 14 Expert on Sunday with a self proclaimed "Broken Butt"; Jared Garcia is an absolute monster in 12 Expert; Fierro dominating 16-17 cruiser; It went on and on. I have to say a big "Get Well" to Shayona Glynn who went down hard on Saturday.
One of the things I mentioned in an earlier article (Tampa) was the skill differences from NBL to ABA. I've been approached by a couple people that didn't quite read my full statement and thought I referred to NBL riders as being "better" riders. If you'll go back and read that article I said nothing of the sort. I simply stated that NBL riders learn to jump at an earlier age and have an advantage in that area earlier in their racing career. I also pointed out the different ABA skill set and also that the differences grow smaller as they get older and to the expert level. A perfect example of this is Supercross rider Alex Jones. At a young age of nine, Alex has worked his way to the expert level. Nellis was Alex's first NBL race and honestly he had a little challenge adjusting. He even took a digger on Saturday and wasn't happy at all. However, as experts will do, he adjusted and went on not only to win both mains (class and cruiser) on Saturday but doubled up again on Sunday. Alex is the perfect example that BMX is BMX and at the expert level all bets are off.
The groms were battling it out just as intense as the pros. A great feud in 8 Expert was between Hyper's Jacob Abbe and Alden Volle on his Vendetta ride. They traded wins on Saturday and Sunday with Volle getting the win on Saturday and Abbe with the win on Sunday. You'll have to check out Abbe's winners interview as he proceeds to beat up on Matt "The Mohican" Hendershot with the help of an accomplice.
My "Rides like a seasoned pro" award goes out to both Chris Blevins (7 Expert) and Maliek Byndloss (10 Expert). It still amazes me how kids this young have the skills they have.
Gotta wish a "Happy Birthday" to Welham Bike's Ely South. Ely killed it in 13 Expert winning by pretty much the whole last straight. He also does some of the best bar humps in the business (if there was a bar hump business I guess). He also shares his birthday with ISTV video guy Rich Montalvo.
Speaking of bar humps and other aerial stylings, I have to call out Jeremy Rommel for winning 12 cruiser both days and saying he's "too shy" to do an interview with either of our interviewers. Come on Jeremy, even at 12 you have to understand the importance of getting over your shyness to do an interview with Cathy Rankin!
Check out the statistics in the girl's classes. With the exception of 14-15 on Saturday and 11-12 on Sunday, everybody perfected across the board. First place finishes by the winners in all motos. Phantom/On Trac rider Shelbi Long got off her surf board in San Diego to win the 13 girls class. I have to have a talk with Shelbi about interviews as well. Christine Miller came down from Canada to dominate the Junior Women. Little Raelyn Abbinanti, Amy Ruelas and Lauren Whisler did the same in the 6-7, 8 and 9 year-old girls respectively. Katie West went across the board in 14 girls. Looks like the girls have their work to do to catch up to the dominant riders in the amateur female classes. Studying the example of riders like Hyme, Martin, Hayashi, Cools, etc. I'm sure that will soon be a different case.
Well, everybody had a great time in Nellis and with the added purse, the pro turnout was where it should be. The excitement level was where it should be. The audience participation was where it should be. I hope this is the bringing in of a new era where the professional athletes in the sport of BMX get not only the recognition they deserve but the awards as well. Without either, the sport is going to struggle to progress and grow.
I'll see everybody in San Bernardino next weekend.
Jack