Race coverage article - South Park, PA
http://www.istv.com/news/articles/43/1/Race-coverage-article---South-Park%2C-PA
Jack McDaniel
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By Jack McDaniel
Published on 07/8/2005
I first knew that this year's South Park race would be exciting and interesting when I found out through an email that a good friend of mine, David Meyer, had taken over the track operators duty. Dave told me that he planned a rebuild that would bring the legendary track back to the mystique of being the Gnarliest track in the country.......
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I first knew that this year's South Park race would be exciting and interesting when I found out through an email that a good friend of mine, David Meyer, had taken over the track operators duty. Dave told me that he planned a rebuild that would bring the legendary track back to the mystique of being the Gnarliest track in the country. It had long had that reputation but the last few years have seen the track slowly deteriorate and loose it's edge. That would not be the case this year as the NBL track builders set to bring the excitement back to the famed South Park track.
The South Park race comes at the end of a pretty long list of big races in June/July. On the ABA side you recently had San Bernardino, Roseville, New Mexico and Rockford (a huge race). The NBL schedule included Prunedale, Tanglewood, Long Island and Evansville (a track closely rivaling South Park for it's downhill speed and jumps).
I got into South Park pretty early. I wanted some time to check out the newly rebuilt track so I was there for the all day practice on Thursday. Unfortunately, expected strong weather caused the cancellation of the practice. I was, however, able to check out the recently super-sized jumps. Sure enough, the lips were absolute walls. My brain was going a million miles an hour thinking of all the possible angles to shoot each of the straights. Every one of them had big boosters on them and I knew I'd need plenty of memory and batteries to capture as much as possible.
The first straight had a table at the end of the pavement. Seemed like the riders were getting over that relatively easy. After that though the fun began. The next obstacle was a very lippy double. If you had any speed at all you pretty much had to jump this one. I personally only saw Mikey Day pull manual this thing. After that was a step-up going into the first, paved turn.
The second straight was where I got most of my shots. There was a small double coming out of the turn where there had before been a step-up. The older, faster riders were over-clearing this often. Next you had a larger but still very short double. Again, the older riders and many of the faster groms were over-clearing this one as well. The next double was quite a change. It was longer and had a good amount of vert on the lip. Riders were getting into trouble on this one because they were not hitting backside on the prior jump. They wouldn't have enough momentum and would case this double. That would cause their weight to go forward and over the bars they went. I heard allot of riders complaining about the setup on the second straight. However, I likened it to a video game. There's some games that you just peg the throttle (Motocross Madness comes to mind) and you'd just go as fast as you could without thinking about it at all. Then, there's some games where you had to consider your speed, use the breaks and ride smart (MX Unleashed is more of this type). That's how this second straight was. You couldn't just peg it out of the first turn. You had to think about it - maybe feather the breaks a bit and make sure you got backside on the second double to get the push you needed for the third. Anyway, the last obstacle was the step-up that's been there all along and is great for some "hip into the turn" shots.
The third straight is probably the most talked about as it features the infamous "Pro Double". This is probably the longest double of any sanctioned track. Not only is it long but it's tall (lip is probably 6+ feet tall) and there is absolutely NO middle. There's no landing pad to case on, no middle to roll if you shut it down last second. It's balls out, go for it! Setting up for the double requires getting good backside on the downhill step-up just out of the second turn. This jump had older riders over-clearing it and landing flat bottom and younger riders tagging the landing lip and were white knuckle, eyes wide open as they tried to not go over the bars after getting bucked. The pro double is notorious for breaking parts and causing some good pain in the riders who do not make it. True to form I got a good shot of a set of forks blasting completely apart as the rider 50/50'd the landing. I'd like to point out, as I always do, any shots of product explosion does not refer to the quality of the product. I have seen just about every make of fork and every manufacturer's frame bend, break or explode on this section of the track. Even though the section to the right is referred to as the "Pro Doubles" in fact the section is a decision maker. Amateurs could hit the section if they wanted and pros could elect to take the longer, slower section to the left if they wanted. Most of the pros and many of the top amateurs from say sixteen on up opted for the quicker route. Even Tommy Zula, at thirteen, hit the pros in a semi. Didn't quite clear it as he was in practice though. It's ashamed that Sean "Bobo" Lechner was out with an injury. He was constantly hitting the pro section last year at the age of twelve in his races.
If you'd survived the track thus far the last straight had more in store. It was a steeply lipped rhythm section with many choices of lines. Making it harder to negotiate was the fact that you probably had a good arm pump going from holding on for dear life through the top three sections of the track. However, there weren't allot of problems on this section (relatively - Jeff Marston would probably attest otherwise as he went down on the last straight in practice. Jeff was in lala land for a while and ended up with stitches to his lips and tongue). He went on to help video for the ISTV video crew so thanks to Jeff for helping out even though you were undoubtedly in allot of pain.
I can't talk enough how Haro's Warwick Stevenson amazes me sometimes. During Friday's practice I was out on the track and watched as a hobbling Stevenson came up to check out the pro doubles. I asked how he was as he didn't look to be walking that great. He answered "Fine, just a little limp 'cause I'm not wearing my knee brace". Well, I figured with the UCI worlds coming up and the fact you need to be more than one hundred percent for that event Warwick would take a break. Not Warwick. He grabbed a shovel and started working on filling in a huge hole that had begun developing in the double where many riders were casing hard.
The Elite Men's class featured almost all of the top guns in the sport. Day, Stumpy, DeWilde, Robinson, Romero, Becerine, Richardson, Suarez, Bennett - the list just went on and on. All going insanely fast around the downhill track. Staats riders DeWilde and Day looked great. Day was flowing the rhythm section like nobody else. DeWilde was pulling the first straight constantly.
On Saturday, Stevenson got the pop out of gate two and took the quick lead. However, Day was right there, on his tail and you could see him setting up for a pass on the rhythm section last straight. Turn after turn Day held his line and waited. In the last straight Stevenson rode the left side and Day turned extra hard in the last corner to set up on the right. The extra hard carve cost Day some momentum though and Warwick lengthened his lead. Day was flowing and catching but Stevenson rode well through the section as well and at the finish it was Stevenson even with the last minute bike lunge by Day. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser rounded out the top three for the money on Saturday in Elite.
On Sunday Stevenson would again show his mastery of the Pennsylvania track by winning the first two motos. In the main he again smashed down the gate and took the lead right away. Stumpy would be the one on Sunday to follow closely and look for the pass. However, it wouldn't come as Stevenson held the lead and took the victory for Sunday. Warwick definitely seems to be hitting on all as he prepares for the UCI World Championships in France in a few short weeks.
In Superclass the story still focuses on Hyper's Mike Lundy. Mike made a huge debut in Rockford as he went undefeated for a total of 16 laps around that track to take the wins both days in his pro debut. On to Evansville where he would be tested by the incredible first straight of Revtec/Fox rider Derek Betcher. Again, Mike would wow the crowd by taking the wins both days in Indiana. Now we have a track perfectly suited to Mike's phenomenal bike handling abilities. Mike won his first two motos on Saturday and went into the main with a good head of steam. However, in the main Betcher had the inside gate. Betcher got the snap as the gate went down and I thought Mike would have to find a spot to pass Derek. That wouldn't be easy as Derek has some damn good bike skills himself. However, just as Mike had done in Evansville, he seemed to get an extra crank or two into the corner and from the outside he pulled in front of Betcher. From that point on Mike just continued to pull and by the finish line had a good four bike lengths on the rest of the class.
On Sunday things would mix up a bit as Mike took a fifth in the early morning first moto. Australian rider now living in Arizona Jamie Gray was looking good with first two moto wins. In the main Lundy got a good snap but Jamie's second and third peddles were strong. Gray pulled into the lead for his sponsor Haro. Mike settled back into second and Betcher was in third. Going down the third straight Lundy looked for light on the inside and hit the pro section on the extreme right. Unfortunately he ran out of real estate and had to shut down on landing and move back into the track. Jamie took advantage of the hesitation and pulled the lead to the finish line. I guess we can speculate 'til the end of time if Mike should have taken his chances on the rhythm. Fact is Mike had his first loss but the way I figure it, that's a monkey off his back as well. Focus can be on racing and not on any winning streak.
In practice Redline's Kim Hayashi was studying the pro doubles. She knew there were some good jumpers in the Elite Women's class. Arielle Martin, Sam Cools, Alice Jung and Rachel Smith all had the skills to hit the pro doubles. Kim decided to go ahead and hit them in practice. Unfortunately, the try came up a little short and Kim hit the landing hard. She went down and was slow to get up. Luckily she was not injured to the point of pulling out of the event. Shortly after Kim attempted the jump One's Rachel Smith did the same. She too went down on her first attempt but got up to successfully clear them later.
Saturday Supercross rider Sam Cools got a great gate and shot out into the lead. However, towards the end of the first straight Hayashi, who had won all her prior motos that day, found the power-band and took the lead into the first corner. Kim started pulling a lead and left Sam and MCS's Amanda Geving behind to battle for second place. Down the third straight and through the amateur side Geving took control of the second position. In an interview during the Friday pre-show Samantha had hinted to the fact that her mind is on the UCI Worlds and would most likely play it safe as to not get injured. Whether this had any effect on her speed in the main or not is probably only known by Samantha.
Sunday Kim again dominated her motos and looked good for the win. Deja Vu as Cools got the pop and Hayashi had the high end at the end of the straight to pull the lead. This time another rider would enter the mix though as Staats' Arielle Martin moved into second. Martin was on Hayashi's tail the whole track peddle for peddle. As the two entered the last straight Martin rode the rhythm like her team-mate Mike Day and pulled an amazing pass on Hayashi as the crowd went nuts. Some awesome riding by Martin on the technical section for sure. The finish went Martin, Hayashi and Free Agent's Alice Jung who had powered her way into third.
It's interesting to me how the Pro's smallest rider Donny Robinson flat out owns the larger wheeled cruiser class. Donny won on Saturday and on Sunday went completely undefeated. There were good challenges from Stumpfhauser and Answer's Jerrett Kolich but at the end of both days it was DR's training and fortitude that paid off. Donny had a scare in class on Saturday as he was sitting in his truck chilling as he thought with a fourteen (points from motos) there was no way he'd made it. He was startled as Greg Romero came up pounding on the window stating that he'd made it to the semis. DR quickly got all his stuff together and rushed up to the gate. Well, you really need your mind focused in the Elite class to make it out of semis. DR didn't quite have it together with the last minute rush to the gate and didn't make it. He did get a forth in class on Sunday though.
Elite Masters saw a new member in the form of Dave Bittner in Evansville. Dave won the main on Saturday at the Hoosier nationals. Most riders know that Dave is a South Park local and the owner of South Park Cycles. Dave knows the track inside and out and that wasn't going to make it any easier for the rest of the masters this weekend. It wasn't going to be a cake walk however. Riders coming out of California like GT/Hyundai's Kiyomi Waller, Mongoose rider Eric Rupe, Twentyfour-Seven's Geoff Ssengoba, the always strong Terry Tenette, Phantom/On Trac's David Wray were going to give him a run. You can't think of Masters without thinking of Bill Madden as well. Bill was throwing X-Ups, Flatties, Euros and other crazy stuff over the Pro Section in practice like he was a seventeen year-old kid without a care of physical punishment at all. Dave sent a strong message to the rest of the class on Saturday though by winning his first two motos. He was the man to beat. Try as they did nobody stepped up to the local's challenge as Dave won both days in Masters. One challenge that wasn't to be settled was the call-out from SE's Trent Newkirk for the "Pose Off". Unfortunately, Trent went down hard on Sunday and the contest had to be rescheduled to the Grands in September. Make sure to check for that coverage at the race in Louisville. Trent will have extra time to bulk up.
Speaking of "Bulking Up", I'm sure you've all heard there was a surprise drug test given at the race in Pennsylvania. Well, I don't have all the details on what exactly went on but from what I'd heard late Sunday all of the tests were thrown out or not completed due to a contamination in one of the specimen containers. We'll have to check with the NBL for an official statement as to what exactly went on there.
This track definitely separates the rest of the amateurs from the simply amazing amateurs. This was never more apparent than in the eight expert class. Hyper's Jacob Abbe was unquestionably the most daring, if not skilled, rider out there. Jacob was boosting the entire second straight like he had helium in his tires. He was easily gaining 10 to 15 feet of altitude up and above the lips of the third set of doubles which are already 4 to 5 feet high. The crowd was in awe as the little menehune bounced effortlessly down the second straight. Jacob easily dominated his class without loosing a single moto.
While maybe not as flashy, Jarred Reuter was undefeated in every lap of his nine year old class and cruiser races. In and interesting note Jarred's little bro Grant also did not loose a single six expert lap. Whatever those Reuter boys are doing or eating over there in Massachusetts, it's working.
The riders from small to young proved some just had whatever it took to handle this technically demanding and super fast course. Hyper's Anthony Derosa is known for his jumping capabilities (hence the "Mini-Mirra" nickname) and he went across the board in the ten expert and cruiser class. Phantom/On Trac's Billy Russell can also throw it out in the air and is huge for his size. That helped him to an almost perfect weekend. The only mar was a second in his third moto on Saturday in eleven expert and cruiser. Twelve year-old Brandon Murphy came into South Park being capped out. Brandon was under no stress and was riding for fun. Brandon must have had allot of fun on the track as his record was spotless in his expert and cruiser races. Brandon rides for Bill Madden's Xtrskn and Supercross Factory team.
We started mixing it up a bit starting with the thirteen year-olds. Tommy Zula is an awesome jumper and has some great skills. However, Phantom/On Trac's big guy Elliot McGrath showed up in PA. Add in Hyper's Doug Hayes and Kovachi's local boy Mark Dolan and you've got many riders with a chance at a win. Hayes pulled it off in every main except for the class race on Saturday as the big guy McGrath took the win.
About at the fourteen year-old class you started getting the ams jumping the pros. Hyper's Ben Kubalak was throwing tire grabs over the pros in practice so I knew that would be a given he'd do them in races. FLY sponsored Andy Wright was the only rider in Ben's class giving him any challenge at all.
I'm going to skip the fifteen expert class 'cause quite honestly I'm just sick of writing how dominating Bradford's been for the last like year. Geez Joey - let's mix it up a bit and stop training or something. Seriously, this is getting real old - (Mr. B - I hope you get the sarcasm in that last bit).
Sixteen expert class. Hmm, well let's just say this was arguably the most "volatile" class of the weekend. I know you've all probably read about, heard about, speculated about or in some way know about the extracurricular activities involving riders in this class on Sunday. I am not going to go into it as I did not see anything after the race and have not heard any official statement on any part of the events that took place. Sufficed to say that there are plenty of strong willed and ultra-competitive riders in this class and tempers are sure to erupt at some point.
Seventeen expert was an exciting race on Saturday. Sun Ringle's Jeff Upshaw is an "always watch" race and he was going into the main with perfects in his motos. MCS's recently recovered (from a bad arm break) Phil Delizia also ran the board in his motos. Upshaw came out on top in the main on Saturday. That would be the way they ran in sixteen open as well.
In thirty-five and over expert Kelley Kelley put in a perfect. He also won the thirty-five to thirty-nine cruiser class on Saturday. Even though he had perfects in the motos on Sunday in cruiser it was Mike Nathanson who would take the win that day.
In closing I'd like to answer some of the critics of the track saying it is "too hard", "too technical" and even dangerous. Fact is the track takes skill and thought to ride. I would LOVE to see South Park become a "Pro/Expert Only" national event. That would be quite a spectacle and event. Will that ever happen knowing that there wouldn't be as many sign up dollars coming out of the event? Probably not - but it's a great thing to think about. Memories of that great event Brian Fell facilitated down in Orlando a couple years ago comes to mind. It's real simple - if you can't jump DON'T come to South Park (at least not to race). Or at least get really good at hitting your breaks before jumps so that you can delicately roll over them.
I'd like to thank the extraordinarily awesome locals at South Park. You can tell the parents, kids and volunteers there in Pittsburgh realize they have something special. I'd also like to commend David Meyer for having the fortitude to bring South Park back to the legendary status it once had. The status of a brutally gnarly track that puts the "MX" back in "BMX"!
The South Park race comes at the end of a pretty long list of big races in June/July. On the ABA side you recently had San Bernardino, Roseville, New Mexico and Rockford (a huge race). The NBL schedule included Prunedale, Tanglewood, Long Island and Evansville (a track closely rivaling South Park for it's downhill speed and jumps).
I got into South Park pretty early. I wanted some time to check out the newly rebuilt track so I was there for the all day practice on Thursday. Unfortunately, expected strong weather caused the cancellation of the practice. I was, however, able to check out the recently super-sized jumps. Sure enough, the lips were absolute walls. My brain was going a million miles an hour thinking of all the possible angles to shoot each of the straights. Every one of them had big boosters on them and I knew I'd need plenty of memory and batteries to capture as much as possible.
The first straight had a table at the end of the pavement. Seemed like the riders were getting over that relatively easy. After that though the fun began. The next obstacle was a very lippy double. If you had any speed at all you pretty much had to jump this one. I personally only saw Mikey Day pull manual this thing. After that was a step-up going into the first, paved turn.
The second straight was where I got most of my shots. There was a small double coming out of the turn where there had before been a step-up. The older, faster riders were over-clearing this often. Next you had a larger but still very short double. Again, the older riders and many of the faster groms were over-clearing this one as well. The next double was quite a change. It was longer and had a good amount of vert on the lip. Riders were getting into trouble on this one because they were not hitting backside on the prior jump. They wouldn't have enough momentum and would case this double. That would cause their weight to go forward and over the bars they went. I heard allot of riders complaining about the setup on the second straight. However, I likened it to a video game. There's some games that you just peg the throttle (Motocross Madness comes to mind) and you'd just go as fast as you could without thinking about it at all. Then, there's some games where you had to consider your speed, use the breaks and ride smart (MX Unleashed is more of this type). That's how this second straight was. You couldn't just peg it out of the first turn. You had to think about it - maybe feather the breaks a bit and make sure you got backside on the second double to get the push you needed for the third. Anyway, the last obstacle was the step-up that's been there all along and is great for some "hip into the turn" shots.
The third straight is probably the most talked about as it features the infamous "Pro Double". This is probably the longest double of any sanctioned track. Not only is it long but it's tall (lip is probably 6+ feet tall) and there is absolutely NO middle. There's no landing pad to case on, no middle to roll if you shut it down last second. It's balls out, go for it! Setting up for the double requires getting good backside on the downhill step-up just out of the second turn. This jump had older riders over-clearing it and landing flat bottom and younger riders tagging the landing lip and were white knuckle, eyes wide open as they tried to not go over the bars after getting bucked. The pro double is notorious for breaking parts and causing some good pain in the riders who do not make it. True to form I got a good shot of a set of forks blasting completely apart as the rider 50/50'd the landing. I'd like to point out, as I always do, any shots of product explosion does not refer to the quality of the product. I have seen just about every make of fork and every manufacturer's frame bend, break or explode on this section of the track. Even though the section to the right is referred to as the "Pro Doubles" in fact the section is a decision maker. Amateurs could hit the section if they wanted and pros could elect to take the longer, slower section to the left if they wanted. Most of the pros and many of the top amateurs from say sixteen on up opted for the quicker route. Even Tommy Zula, at thirteen, hit the pros in a semi. Didn't quite clear it as he was in practice though. It's ashamed that Sean "Bobo" Lechner was out with an injury. He was constantly hitting the pro section last year at the age of twelve in his races.
If you'd survived the track thus far the last straight had more in store. It was a steeply lipped rhythm section with many choices of lines. Making it harder to negotiate was the fact that you probably had a good arm pump going from holding on for dear life through the top three sections of the track. However, there weren't allot of problems on this section (relatively - Jeff Marston would probably attest otherwise as he went down on the last straight in practice. Jeff was in lala land for a while and ended up with stitches to his lips and tongue). He went on to help video for the ISTV video crew so thanks to Jeff for helping out even though you were undoubtedly in allot of pain.
I can't talk enough how Haro's Warwick Stevenson amazes me sometimes. During Friday's practice I was out on the track and watched as a hobbling Stevenson came up to check out the pro doubles. I asked how he was as he didn't look to be walking that great. He answered "Fine, just a little limp 'cause I'm not wearing my knee brace". Well, I figured with the UCI worlds coming up and the fact you need to be more than one hundred percent for that event Warwick would take a break. Not Warwick. He grabbed a shovel and started working on filling in a huge hole that had begun developing in the double where many riders were casing hard.
The Elite Men's class featured almost all of the top guns in the sport. Day, Stumpy, DeWilde, Robinson, Romero, Becerine, Richardson, Suarez, Bennett - the list just went on and on. All going insanely fast around the downhill track. Staats riders DeWilde and Day looked great. Day was flowing the rhythm section like nobody else. DeWilde was pulling the first straight constantly.
On Saturday, Stevenson got the pop out of gate two and took the quick lead. However, Day was right there, on his tail and you could see him setting up for a pass on the rhythm section last straight. Turn after turn Day held his line and waited. In the last straight Stevenson rode the left side and Day turned extra hard in the last corner to set up on the right. The extra hard carve cost Day some momentum though and Warwick lengthened his lead. Day was flowing and catching but Stevenson rode well through the section as well and at the finish it was Stevenson even with the last minute bike lunge by Day. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser rounded out the top three for the money on Saturday in Elite.
On Sunday Stevenson would again show his mastery of the Pennsylvania track by winning the first two motos. In the main he again smashed down the gate and took the lead right away. Stumpy would be the one on Sunday to follow closely and look for the pass. However, it wouldn't come as Stevenson held the lead and took the victory for Sunday. Warwick definitely seems to be hitting on all as he prepares for the UCI World Championships in France in a few short weeks.
In Superclass the story still focuses on Hyper's Mike Lundy. Mike made a huge debut in Rockford as he went undefeated for a total of 16 laps around that track to take the wins both days in his pro debut. On to Evansville where he would be tested by the incredible first straight of Revtec/Fox rider Derek Betcher. Again, Mike would wow the crowd by taking the wins both days in Indiana. Now we have a track perfectly suited to Mike's phenomenal bike handling abilities. Mike won his first two motos on Saturday and went into the main with a good head of steam. However, in the main Betcher had the inside gate. Betcher got the snap as the gate went down and I thought Mike would have to find a spot to pass Derek. That wouldn't be easy as Derek has some damn good bike skills himself. However, just as Mike had done in Evansville, he seemed to get an extra crank or two into the corner and from the outside he pulled in front of Betcher. From that point on Mike just continued to pull and by the finish line had a good four bike lengths on the rest of the class.
On Sunday things would mix up a bit as Mike took a fifth in the early morning first moto. Australian rider now living in Arizona Jamie Gray was looking good with first two moto wins. In the main Lundy got a good snap but Jamie's second and third peddles were strong. Gray pulled into the lead for his sponsor Haro. Mike settled back into second and Betcher was in third. Going down the third straight Lundy looked for light on the inside and hit the pro section on the extreme right. Unfortunately he ran out of real estate and had to shut down on landing and move back into the track. Jamie took advantage of the hesitation and pulled the lead to the finish line. I guess we can speculate 'til the end of time if Mike should have taken his chances on the rhythm. Fact is Mike had his first loss but the way I figure it, that's a monkey off his back as well. Focus can be on racing and not on any winning streak.
In practice Redline's Kim Hayashi was studying the pro doubles. She knew there were some good jumpers in the Elite Women's class. Arielle Martin, Sam Cools, Alice Jung and Rachel Smith all had the skills to hit the pro doubles. Kim decided to go ahead and hit them in practice. Unfortunately, the try came up a little short and Kim hit the landing hard. She went down and was slow to get up. Luckily she was not injured to the point of pulling out of the event. Shortly after Kim attempted the jump One's Rachel Smith did the same. She too went down on her first attempt but got up to successfully clear them later.
Saturday Supercross rider Sam Cools got a great gate and shot out into the lead. However, towards the end of the first straight Hayashi, who had won all her prior motos that day, found the power-band and took the lead into the first corner. Kim started pulling a lead and left Sam and MCS's Amanda Geving behind to battle for second place. Down the third straight and through the amateur side Geving took control of the second position. In an interview during the Friday pre-show Samantha had hinted to the fact that her mind is on the UCI Worlds and would most likely play it safe as to not get injured. Whether this had any effect on her speed in the main or not is probably only known by Samantha.
Sunday Kim again dominated her motos and looked good for the win. Deja Vu as Cools got the pop and Hayashi had the high end at the end of the straight to pull the lead. This time another rider would enter the mix though as Staats' Arielle Martin moved into second. Martin was on Hayashi's tail the whole track peddle for peddle. As the two entered the last straight Martin rode the rhythm like her team-mate Mike Day and pulled an amazing pass on Hayashi as the crowd went nuts. Some awesome riding by Martin on the technical section for sure. The finish went Martin, Hayashi and Free Agent's Alice Jung who had powered her way into third.
It's interesting to me how the Pro's smallest rider Donny Robinson flat out owns the larger wheeled cruiser class. Donny won on Saturday and on Sunday went completely undefeated. There were good challenges from Stumpfhauser and Answer's Jerrett Kolich but at the end of both days it was DR's training and fortitude that paid off. Donny had a scare in class on Saturday as he was sitting in his truck chilling as he thought with a fourteen (points from motos) there was no way he'd made it. He was startled as Greg Romero came up pounding on the window stating that he'd made it to the semis. DR quickly got all his stuff together and rushed up to the gate. Well, you really need your mind focused in the Elite class to make it out of semis. DR didn't quite have it together with the last minute rush to the gate and didn't make it. He did get a forth in class on Sunday though.
Elite Masters saw a new member in the form of Dave Bittner in Evansville. Dave won the main on Saturday at the Hoosier nationals. Most riders know that Dave is a South Park local and the owner of South Park Cycles. Dave knows the track inside and out and that wasn't going to make it any easier for the rest of the masters this weekend. It wasn't going to be a cake walk however. Riders coming out of California like GT/Hyundai's Kiyomi Waller, Mongoose rider Eric Rupe, Twentyfour-Seven's Geoff Ssengoba, the always strong Terry Tenette, Phantom/On Trac's David Wray were going to give him a run. You can't think of Masters without thinking of Bill Madden as well. Bill was throwing X-Ups, Flatties, Euros and other crazy stuff over the Pro Section in practice like he was a seventeen year-old kid without a care of physical punishment at all. Dave sent a strong message to the rest of the class on Saturday though by winning his first two motos. He was the man to beat. Try as they did nobody stepped up to the local's challenge as Dave won both days in Masters. One challenge that wasn't to be settled was the call-out from SE's Trent Newkirk for the "Pose Off". Unfortunately, Trent went down hard on Sunday and the contest had to be rescheduled to the Grands in September. Make sure to check for that coverage at the race in Louisville. Trent will have extra time to bulk up.
Speaking of "Bulking Up", I'm sure you've all heard there was a surprise drug test given at the race in Pennsylvania. Well, I don't have all the details on what exactly went on but from what I'd heard late Sunday all of the tests were thrown out or not completed due to a contamination in one of the specimen containers. We'll have to check with the NBL for an official statement as to what exactly went on there.
This track definitely separates the rest of the amateurs from the simply amazing amateurs. This was never more apparent than in the eight expert class. Hyper's Jacob Abbe was unquestionably the most daring, if not skilled, rider out there. Jacob was boosting the entire second straight like he had helium in his tires. He was easily gaining 10 to 15 feet of altitude up and above the lips of the third set of doubles which are already 4 to 5 feet high. The crowd was in awe as the little menehune bounced effortlessly down the second straight. Jacob easily dominated his class without loosing a single moto.
While maybe not as flashy, Jarred Reuter was undefeated in every lap of his nine year old class and cruiser races. In and interesting note Jarred's little bro Grant also did not loose a single six expert lap. Whatever those Reuter boys are doing or eating over there in Massachusetts, it's working.
The riders from small to young proved some just had whatever it took to handle this technically demanding and super fast course. Hyper's Anthony Derosa is known for his jumping capabilities (hence the "Mini-Mirra" nickname) and he went across the board in the ten expert and cruiser class. Phantom/On Trac's Billy Russell can also throw it out in the air and is huge for his size. That helped him to an almost perfect weekend. The only mar was a second in his third moto on Saturday in eleven expert and cruiser. Twelve year-old Brandon Murphy came into South Park being capped out. Brandon was under no stress and was riding for fun. Brandon must have had allot of fun on the track as his record was spotless in his expert and cruiser races. Brandon rides for Bill Madden's Xtrskn and Supercross Factory team.
We started mixing it up a bit starting with the thirteen year-olds. Tommy Zula is an awesome jumper and has some great skills. However, Phantom/On Trac's big guy Elliot McGrath showed up in PA. Add in Hyper's Doug Hayes and Kovachi's local boy Mark Dolan and you've got many riders with a chance at a win. Hayes pulled it off in every main except for the class race on Saturday as the big guy McGrath took the win.
About at the fourteen year-old class you started getting the ams jumping the pros. Hyper's Ben Kubalak was throwing tire grabs over the pros in practice so I knew that would be a given he'd do them in races. FLY sponsored Andy Wright was the only rider in Ben's class giving him any challenge at all.
I'm going to skip the fifteen expert class 'cause quite honestly I'm just sick of writing how dominating Bradford's been for the last like year. Geez Joey - let's mix it up a bit and stop training or something. Seriously, this is getting real old - (Mr. B - I hope you get the sarcasm in that last bit).
Sixteen expert class. Hmm, well let's just say this was arguably the most "volatile" class of the weekend. I know you've all probably read about, heard about, speculated about or in some way know about the extracurricular activities involving riders in this class on Sunday. I am not going to go into it as I did not see anything after the race and have not heard any official statement on any part of the events that took place. Sufficed to say that there are plenty of strong willed and ultra-competitive riders in this class and tempers are sure to erupt at some point.
Seventeen expert was an exciting race on Saturday. Sun Ringle's Jeff Upshaw is an "always watch" race and he was going into the main with perfects in his motos. MCS's recently recovered (from a bad arm break) Phil Delizia also ran the board in his motos. Upshaw came out on top in the main on Saturday. That would be the way they ran in sixteen open as well.
In thirty-five and over expert Kelley Kelley put in a perfect. He also won the thirty-five to thirty-nine cruiser class on Saturday. Even though he had perfects in the motos on Sunday in cruiser it was Mike Nathanson who would take the win that day.
In closing I'd like to answer some of the critics of the track saying it is "too hard", "too technical" and even dangerous. Fact is the track takes skill and thought to ride. I would LOVE to see South Park become a "Pro/Expert Only" national event. That would be quite a spectacle and event. Will that ever happen knowing that there wouldn't be as many sign up dollars coming out of the event? Probably not - but it's a great thing to think about. Memories of that great event Brian Fell facilitated down in Orlando a couple years ago comes to mind. It's real simple - if you can't jump DON'T come to South Park (at least not to race). Or at least get really good at hitting your breaks before jumps so that you can delicately roll over them.
I'd like to thank the extraordinarily awesome locals at South Park. You can tell the parents, kids and volunteers there in Pittsburgh realize they have something special. I'd also like to commend David Meyer for having the fortitude to bring South Park back to the legendary status it once had. The status of a brutally gnarly track that puts the "MX" back in "BMX"!
Full Article
Full layout E-Zine coming soon!
ABA All Star National and World Championship
I'll start off this article with my take on the idea of the ABA "World Championships". If you read any of the message boards you might have heard this race referred to as the "Forlds" (Fake Worlds). I'll be honest and admit that I even have used the phrase, mainly because it just sounds funny. I think most dual sanction BMXers realize that the time honored and UCI acknowledged World Championship is the one being held in France this year. The crucial words there are "dual sanction". Fact is that's currently a minority of the overall BMXers in America. So, having stated the above and also considering that the sanctions do not work together and barely even acknowledge each other's existence, why shouldn't the ABA hold their own world championship?
You cannot go to the UCI Worlds if you currently only belong to the ABA. If you're from America you have to belong to the NBL. So, what option does that leave for the riders who, by personal, economical, or regional choice only ride ABA sanctioned events? The ABA World Championships. The ABA does not claim these to be UCI, USA Cycling or any other type of championships. They claim them to be the "ABA World Championships" and that's exactly what they are. Ok, so since this is an ABA based event how can it be considered a "World" event? The ABA opens up the race to ANY sanctioned rider. NBL, CCA, UCI - any other country's and/or region's sanction. So, if the ABA World Championships aren't attended by any other country's or sanction's riders it's no fault of the ABA. You do NOT have to be an ABA member to participate nor do you have to qualify by attending any ABA event. You simply show up and see what you can do against some of the best the United States has to offer. Anyway, that's my own personal take on that whole thing. Now, for the race itself...
The weather - MAN, was it hot - and windy. The track is basically built in a large pit-like area so that it resembles a huge, earth parabolic reflector. It was crazy hot during Friday's All Star National. In the afternoon, around two p.m. or so, the wind would start to pick up and really start blowing. On Thursday during the all day practice I saw more than one of the EZ-Ups by the starting hill take off. Poor little Cameron Lowery was sitting under one of them but he knew his less than a buck weight wouldn't have kept them from going anywhere. Well, luckily Friday would be the worst of it and the temp slowly mediated during the rest of the weekend. The races, however, remained hot throughout the whole weekend. The epic battle between Bubba and Mikey Day was testament to the fact nobody was taking this as anything less than an important title to have.
Friday's All Star National
The pro mains started with the girl's pro on Friday. In the first main Brew/ProMax rider Chantel Blanchet had one heck of a pop out of the gate. However, by the end of the first straight some great horsepower and excellent pedal-manual skills gave Redline's Kim Hayashi the lead. Kim kept pulling the comp from that point on as Staats' Arielle Martin pushed up into second and MCS's "fille de merveille" Amanda Geving in third.
Main two of the girl's pro class Hayashi would leave no doubt as she flew from the middle of the gate. Vendetta's Stephanie Higgins gave chase and did challenge on the inside of the first turn but lost momentum by going so low and Kim continued to pull the class as she did last moto. Geving got the second this time and Martin the third this round.
In the third and final girl pro main the wind had kicked in fully. This was demonstrated by the usually rock solid Martin actually falling over in gate eight as the gate fell. Hayashi took off again but Martin quickly re-clipped and was determined to get back in the race. Geving was in second and if she stayed there would take the overall second. Hayashi was in a commanding lead and not much was going to take that away. Martin had worked up into third by the second turn. Geving bonked the first jump coming out of that turn and Martin took full advantage. In turn three she swooped Geving and Amanda went off the track. Martin got the overall and Geving's unfortunate off track excursion loaded on the points giving the overall third to Higgins.
In vet pro, Redman/Yamaha's Darrin Mitchell blasted the gate in main one. However, Supercross rider Todd "TP" Parry is a man on a mission. Parry swooped Mitchell in turn thrree and took the win. Main two there was no questions. Parry pushed the gate down and took off from mid-gate. Redline's Jason Carnes stayed with Parry but could not catch TP. Main three Mitchell had a great pop from gate eight. However, his front tire came down from the first roller a little off. That little bobble was enough to give the opening to Parry. Todd took the lead and didn't look back. Carnes again came up for the second and with that the overall second and TP took the win and Darrin held the points together enough for the overall third.
A pro is getting stacked. The amount of talent in that class is probably hard to match in any recent times. Challenge/Intense rider Josh Oie must be finally training. He came out of the gate AA style in the first of three mains. He lead the class start to finish. Revtec's Derek Betcher was on Josh but it was Brew/ProMax rider Aaron Johnson that came up to challenge at the end of the lap. It was Oie with the win.
Second moto Oie again flew from the gate. Betcher settled into second and Johnson into third. In turn two Johnson railed up high and passed Betcher. Johnson continued to pull as he rode the second to last straight a little smoother than Josh and pulled a clean pass in the last turn. Oie gave all he could to battle back but Johnson took the second moto win.
Third moto Redman/Yamaha's Andre Ellison wanted to prove he's been training as well. Earlier on Thursday he'd been explaining to Mike that he'd been training. As I walked past I heard Andre exclaiming to Mike "Look how Buff I am!". Anyway, he got a great gate. However, Johnson was out of gate one and had the inside and a check to win. Aaron did just that as he pulled away into the lead and took the overall with two main wins. Oie got the overall second and Betcher took the overall third.
Contrary to what some people thought, almost all of the AA's showed up for this weekend's race. Many had thought that they'd already be in France for the UCI's. However, there was just enough time to make this weekend's race before taking their flights for Europe. At the level the AA's are riding at it's interesting to watch as certain riders hit their peak. You can literally notice when they are "on" and "off". One of the riders who is definitely "on" now and proves it with each succeeding race is Staats' Mike Day. First main on Friday Bubba had troubles on the gate and the pack left him behind. I'm not sure if that would have mattered though as Mike Day was on fire and pulled the class into the first turn. However, the experienced professional John Purse riding for Mongoose was right there and looking to add another national win to his stack. Mike kept the speed up though and won the first main. John got the second barely keeping off a last minute boost by Avent/Fly's powerhouse Donny Robinson.
Second main was visions of more to come as Day and Harris lined up next to each other on the gate. Harris got a strong pop and took the lead. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser, always in the mix, set himself into second and Day was in third. Day pulled a classic swoop on Randy in the third corner and set himself up for the shot at Bubba. As Harris and Day went down the fifth straight the crowd grew increasingly louder as Day pulled up and on the inside of Harris. In the last corner Day low/highed Harris and took the lead. Bubba kicked it into high gear to get the lead back but the last straight didn't have the room and the pass held for Day.
Third main looked to be a repeat of main two as Day settled into second behind Harris through the second half of the track. However, with the first round bobble by Harris, Day didn't have to get any higher than where he was and safely took the second with no shot at the lead. He did take the overall with that third round second though.
Day had his first ABA AA pro win and a ton of momentum going into the World Championship the following two days. Harris got the second overall and with some great, consistent riding Crupi's Jason Richardson added up the points for a third overall.
Due to the length of the article I'll have to keep the amateur side extremely short. I do want to point out a race that sticks clearly in my mind though. That was the fourteen expert race between Phantom/On Trac's Jake Trevino and Hyper/Tangent's Ben Kubalak. Now it is no secret at all that these two teams love to take each other on. The rivalry is pretty intense. It was great to see an absolutely cleanly fought race between Ben and Jake. These two kids proved not only their skill but their integrity as they went back and forth. Jake would pass Ben, Ben would pass Jake. Never a bump or pimp. Just straight out great riding and excellent racing. I was in the announcing tower as the two battled and heard more than one other person exclaim that that had to be one of the best races he'd ever seen. Ben ended up with the win. Both riders can be extremely proud though of putting on a great show of skill and sportsmanship as well.
How about the "brothers Morley"? Trevor took the fourteen cruiser main while his older brother Ryan took the twenty-one to twenty-five cruiser class for their sponsor Brat Pack.
A few other standouts on Friday. Phantom/OnTrac's Chris Blevins - this kid is incredible and usually unbeatable. I say usually - check out what happened in the semis on Sunday. Team member Shelbi Long boostin' the step-up into the first corner - awesome! Answer's Jared Garcia is unstoppable. Sean "Swifty" O'Gorman handily won the thirty-six to forty cruiser class and handed in his vet pro papers for the next day's events.
ABA World Championship
Girl Pro Worlds - Hayashi would love to bring the ABA World title with her to France to go for an unprecedented unification. However, the title is equally important to all seven other women on the gate. Kim pops the gate. However, instead of her usual large lead by the first turn Arielle Martin and Amanda Geving are elbow to elbow with her. The battle continues to the second turn and down the third straight. Kim and Arielle hook up going into the third, paved turn and the two strong girl pro riders go down hard. Geving avoids the carnage and goes on for the win. Looking back it takes quite a while for both Martin and Hayashi to get back up.
Second moto Martin is nowhere to be found on the gate. Hayashi is there but as the gate goes down you can see her give a strong first snap but after that the power is just not there. Blanchet takes the lead and Geving is close behind. Geving flows down the second straight with the determination and skill the Florida native is well known for and takes the lead and on to the win.
Third maub looses another rider as Redline's flagship girl pro Kim Hayashi cannot make the gate. Geving takes the snap and this time it is TLD/Mini Frenzy's Courtney Tomei who will run with her down the second straight. Again, Geving takes the lead and holds it to the win. The winner and ABA World Champion Girl Pro would be MCS's Amanda Geving. I bet if Kim would have any choice to give the title to it would have been Amanda.
Well, I'd love to make the vet pro race all dramatic but fact is Todd Parry came out of the gate each and every moto like he was shot from a cannon. The only thing close to Todd was his permanently attached ball cap desperately dangling from his back hip holding on for dear life as Todd turns on the nitrous. Todd was going so freakin' fast he easily cleared the triple step-down on the second straight against the wind. Ok, D-Mitch took the last main but that's due to Todd basically shutting down 'cause nobody was even close in points. No reason to battle and possibly give the last turn some of your skin when you have it locked up. I had the pleasure of getting a couple shots of Todd's family this weekend. That little girl is one of the cutest things on the planet. Congrat's Todd - you've got a great vet pro career going and for sure a great family.
Ok, so for the A Pro main you're thinking "Oie was flyin' yesterday - Johnson was super strong and took the win - Betcher's first straight is powerful - Lundy's winning streak is still on in the ABA". Well, guess what - Johnson wasn't even on the gate. He didn't make it. Gate drops and BAM - Answer's Danny Caluag pulls himself a big ass hole-shot. Betcher is right there though as is Oie and Japaneese rider Sakamoto. The four fly down the second straight. Oie boosts the triple step-down and next thing you know there's a cloud of dust and the pack is going down. Caluag, Betcher, Ellison and Sakamoto survive. The first main goes in the books exactly that way.
Second main Betcher gets one of his great starts but Ellison apparently has been working out and beats DB to the first turn. Lundy is right there too as the three go through the first turn in a strike fighter like "V" shape. Betcher is stuck on the outside and Lundy pulls into second as they come out of the second turn. Hyper's Mike Lundy pulls up along side Ellison and goes for a pass in the final turn. However, Andre shows Mike just enough elbow and hip to keep Mike in the second spot across the line.
Third moto Lundy pulls into his bag of riding skills and even with a mediocre start peddles everything down the first straight and into the lead. From that point Mike just pulls as Caluag, who has low points, settles into second. The pair went one, two and Caluag took the overall win with his great finish in round one sealing the win.
You couldn't have set up the AA Pro battle any better than in the first moto. Day was in gate one and Harris was in gate eight. It was a main contender sandwich. A top player bookend. The emphasis during the introductions were even based on this fact. It seemed unfair to the six in-between. However, you just couldn't deny the fact that Day and Harris are on top of their game right now. The gate dropped and Harris whicked the throttle. Bubba blasted into the lead with Day in tow. The two went this way for the rest of the track as if the middle section meant nothing. Everyone was waiting for the last turn where Day had it dialed. Harris was on the outside of the fifth straight leading into the last turn almost daring Mike to go inside and take his best shot. Mike indulged and flew to the inside. Day carved the turn and went low and going out of the last turn gave Harris a slight elbow. It was a little too light as Bubba lost no momentum and powered out of the corner and kept the lead to win round one.
Next moto fate would have Bubba and Day right next to each other in gate two and three. Bubba on the inside got the snap and again flew into the lead. Day was in second and just as it seemed the middle of the track would again be a nuisance to wait out for the last turn, Day goes for the pass in turn three and makes it stick. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. Bubba wins the first moto and Day the second - setting up the perfect situation for the third main. Well, that was what we all thought until Bubba hits the last straight and decides he'd really rather not deal with a textbook drama. Harris didn't miss a peddle down the last straight and powered past Day for the second round win. Bubba had two points and Day had four. Day would have to beat Harris by more than one rider next main.
Third main the two would again find themselves placed together on the middle of the gate. Bubba grabbed the holeshot again and this time there'd be no drama. Day was right there but found himself stuck on the outside each and every turn. There was no room or opportunity for the pass and Day settled for the overall second as Harris took the ABA World Championship for the AA Pro class.
So, the amateurs - how could you do any of them justice without talking about each and every class that ended up with a great ABA World Champ? Well, you can't - so I won't try. I'm sure Dan, the ABA site and the BMXer will do an excellent job of giving all the deserving kids their props.
Here's my best shot at giving some props some of the stand-outs (won two or more classes) at the ABA Worlds. Taking the six and under and six boy's class was E.J. Pasowicz riding for BMX Hex - Avent. Jacobe Abbe's legend precedes him. He won seven - eight open and eight boys. A funny story about Jacob is the emails I've gotten from the UK saying that the photo I got of him in South Park was "fake" and that it was done so in order to intimidate European riders - WHAT ?? Redman's Lain Van Ogle won nine-ten open and ten boys after a recent return from a bad injury in Roseville. Jared Garcia took the eleven-twelve open and twelve boys titles - I earlier stated that he was unbeatable. Well, ConMan Connor Fields looks to be back at full strength taking the twelve cruiser title. Joey Bradford took the fifteen cruiser and boys title for Mongoose and X Balm (I love that stuff). Phantom/On Trac's Joseph (big twin brother to Sean Gaiian) Szurek took the seventeen to twenty-four open and nineteen to twenty-seven boys class. Scott Simmons won the twenty-five and over open and twenty-six to thirty cruiser classes. Kirk Chrisco won the thirty-six to forty cruiser and thirty-six and over boys (can you really call that boys?) classes for his Brew/ProMax sponsor.
Of course there's plenty of single class winners that deserve mention but again, I'm sure they'll get props in the BMXer and on web sites all around. I simply don't have the room or the energy to talk about each and every one of them.
Ending I can only say that the race was incredible and exciting. We can only hope for a day when the sanction's battles are productive and while they may never work together hand in hand maybe they'll someday work together for the betterment of the sport. Wouldn't it be great to get to the point where there is a unified World Champion or even an ABA vs. NBL championship done in cooperation of each sanction and with healthy rivalry? I, for one, believe in the need of both sanctions. I also believe that there CAN be a healthy rivalry. We're a ways from that now. So, for now we have the UCI and the ABA World Championships. Each deserving in their own right. Each with importance and credibility.
Congratulations to all the 2005 ABA World Champions!
I'll start off this article with my take on the idea of the ABA "World Championships". If you read any of the message boards you might have heard this race referred to as the "Forlds" (Fake Worlds). I'll be honest and admit that I even have used the phrase, mainly because it just sounds funny. I think most dual sanction BMXers realize that the time honored and UCI acknowledged World Championship is the one being held in France this year. The crucial words there are "dual sanction". Fact is that's currently a minority of the overall BMXers in America. So, having stated the above and also considering that the sanctions do not work together and barely even acknowledge each other's existence, why shouldn't the ABA hold their own world championship?
You cannot go to the UCI Worlds if you currently only belong to the ABA. If you're from America you have to belong to the NBL. So, what option does that leave for the riders who, by personal, economical, or regional choice only ride ABA sanctioned events? The ABA World Championships. The ABA does not claim these to be UCI, USA Cycling or any other type of championships. They claim them to be the "ABA World Championships" and that's exactly what they are. Ok, so since this is an ABA based event how can it be considered a "World" event? The ABA opens up the race to ANY sanctioned rider. NBL, CCA, UCI - any other country's and/or region's sanction. So, if the ABA World Championships aren't attended by any other country's or sanction's riders it's no fault of the ABA. You do NOT have to be an ABA member to participate nor do you have to qualify by attending any ABA event. You simply show up and see what you can do against some of the best the United States has to offer. Anyway, that's my own personal take on that whole thing. Now, for the race itself...
The weather - MAN, was it hot - and windy. The track is basically built in a large pit-like area so that it resembles a huge, earth parabolic reflector. It was crazy hot during Friday's All Star National. In the afternoon, around two p.m. or so, the wind would start to pick up and really start blowing. On Thursday during the all day practice I saw more than one of the EZ-Ups by the starting hill take off. Poor little Cameron Lowery was sitting under one of them but he knew his less than a buck weight wouldn't have kept them from going anywhere. Well, luckily Friday would be the worst of it and the temp slowly mediated during the rest of the weekend. The races, however, remained hot throughout the whole weekend. The epic battle between Bubba and Mikey Day was testament to the fact nobody was taking this as anything less than an important title to have.
Friday's All Star National
The pro mains started with the girl's pro on Friday. In the first main Brew/ProMax rider Chantel Blanchet had one heck of a pop out of the gate. However, by the end of the first straight some great horsepower and excellent pedal-manual skills gave Redline's Kim Hayashi the lead. Kim kept pulling the comp from that point on as Staats' Arielle Martin pushed up into second and MCS's "fille de merveille" Amanda Geving in third.
Main two of the girl's pro class Hayashi would leave no doubt as she flew from the middle of the gate. Vendetta's Stephanie Higgins gave chase and did challenge on the inside of the first turn but lost momentum by going so low and Kim continued to pull the class as she did last moto. Geving got the second this time and Martin the third this round.
In the third and final girl pro main the wind had kicked in fully. This was demonstrated by the usually rock solid Martin actually falling over in gate eight as the gate fell. Hayashi took off again but Martin quickly re-clipped and was determined to get back in the race. Geving was in second and if she stayed there would take the overall second. Hayashi was in a commanding lead and not much was going to take that away. Martin had worked up into third by the second turn. Geving bonked the first jump coming out of that turn and Martin took full advantage. In turn three she swooped Geving and Amanda went off the track. Martin got the overall and Geving's unfortunate off track excursion loaded on the points giving the overall third to Higgins.
In vet pro, Redman/Yamaha's Darrin Mitchell blasted the gate in main one. However, Supercross rider Todd "TP" Parry is a man on a mission. Parry swooped Mitchell in turn thrree and took the win. Main two there was no questions. Parry pushed the gate down and took off from mid-gate. Redline's Jason Carnes stayed with Parry but could not catch TP. Main three Mitchell had a great pop from gate eight. However, his front tire came down from the first roller a little off. That little bobble was enough to give the opening to Parry. Todd took the lead and didn't look back. Carnes again came up for the second and with that the overall second and TP took the win and Darrin held the points together enough for the overall third.
A pro is getting stacked. The amount of talent in that class is probably hard to match in any recent times. Challenge/Intense rider Josh Oie must be finally training. He came out of the gate AA style in the first of three mains. He lead the class start to finish. Revtec's Derek Betcher was on Josh but it was Brew/ProMax rider Aaron Johnson that came up to challenge at the end of the lap. It was Oie with the win.
Second moto Oie again flew from the gate. Betcher settled into second and Johnson into third. In turn two Johnson railed up high and passed Betcher. Johnson continued to pull as he rode the second to last straight a little smoother than Josh and pulled a clean pass in the last turn. Oie gave all he could to battle back but Johnson took the second moto win.
Third moto Redman/Yamaha's Andre Ellison wanted to prove he's been training as well. Earlier on Thursday he'd been explaining to Mike that he'd been training. As I walked past I heard Andre exclaiming to Mike "Look how Buff I am!". Anyway, he got a great gate. However, Johnson was out of gate one and had the inside and a check to win. Aaron did just that as he pulled away into the lead and took the overall with two main wins. Oie got the overall second and Betcher took the overall third.
Contrary to what some people thought, almost all of the AA's showed up for this weekend's race. Many had thought that they'd already be in France for the UCI's. However, there was just enough time to make this weekend's race before taking their flights for Europe. At the level the AA's are riding at it's interesting to watch as certain riders hit their peak. You can literally notice when they are "on" and "off". One of the riders who is definitely "on" now and proves it with each succeeding race is Staats' Mike Day. First main on Friday Bubba had troubles on the gate and the pack left him behind. I'm not sure if that would have mattered though as Mike Day was on fire and pulled the class into the first turn. However, the experienced professional John Purse riding for Mongoose was right there and looking to add another national win to his stack. Mike kept the speed up though and won the first main. John got the second barely keeping off a last minute boost by Avent/Fly's powerhouse Donny Robinson.
Second main was visions of more to come as Day and Harris lined up next to each other on the gate. Harris got a strong pop and took the lead. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser, always in the mix, set himself into second and Day was in third. Day pulled a classic swoop on Randy in the third corner and set himself up for the shot at Bubba. As Harris and Day went down the fifth straight the crowd grew increasingly louder as Day pulled up and on the inside of Harris. In the last corner Day low/highed Harris and took the lead. Bubba kicked it into high gear to get the lead back but the last straight didn't have the room and the pass held for Day.
Third main looked to be a repeat of main two as Day settled into second behind Harris through the second half of the track. However, with the first round bobble by Harris, Day didn't have to get any higher than where he was and safely took the second with no shot at the lead. He did take the overall with that third round second though.
Day had his first ABA AA pro win and a ton of momentum going into the World Championship the following two days. Harris got the second overall and with some great, consistent riding Crupi's Jason Richardson added up the points for a third overall.
Due to the length of the article I'll have to keep the amateur side extremely short. I do want to point out a race that sticks clearly in my mind though. That was the fourteen expert race between Phantom/On Trac's Jake Trevino and Hyper/Tangent's Ben Kubalak. Now it is no secret at all that these two teams love to take each other on. The rivalry is pretty intense. It was great to see an absolutely cleanly fought race between Ben and Jake. These two kids proved not only their skill but their integrity as they went back and forth. Jake would pass Ben, Ben would pass Jake. Never a bump or pimp. Just straight out great riding and excellent racing. I was in the announcing tower as the two battled and heard more than one other person exclaim that that had to be one of the best races he'd ever seen. Ben ended up with the win. Both riders can be extremely proud though of putting on a great show of skill and sportsmanship as well.
How about the "brothers Morley"? Trevor took the fourteen cruiser main while his older brother Ryan took the twenty-one to twenty-five cruiser class for their sponsor Brat Pack.
A few other standouts on Friday. Phantom/OnTrac's Chris Blevins - this kid is incredible and usually unbeatable. I say usually - check out what happened in the semis on Sunday. Team member Shelbi Long boostin' the step-up into the first corner - awesome! Answer's Jared Garcia is unstoppable. Sean "Swifty" O'Gorman handily won the thirty-six to forty cruiser class and handed in his vet pro papers for the next day's events.
ABA World Championship
Girl Pro Worlds - Hayashi would love to bring the ABA World title with her to France to go for an unprecedented unification. However, the title is equally important to all seven other women on the gate. Kim pops the gate. However, instead of her usual large lead by the first turn Arielle Martin and Amanda Geving are elbow to elbow with her. The battle continues to the second turn and down the third straight. Kim and Arielle hook up going into the third, paved turn and the two strong girl pro riders go down hard. Geving avoids the carnage and goes on for the win. Looking back it takes quite a while for both Martin and Hayashi to get back up.
Second moto Martin is nowhere to be found on the gate. Hayashi is there but as the gate goes down you can see her give a strong first snap but after that the power is just not there. Blanchet takes the lead and Geving is close behind. Geving flows down the second straight with the determination and skill the Florida native is well known for and takes the lead and on to the win.
Third maub looses another rider as Redline's flagship girl pro Kim Hayashi cannot make the gate. Geving takes the snap and this time it is TLD/Mini Frenzy's Courtney Tomei who will run with her down the second straight. Again, Geving takes the lead and holds it to the win. The winner and ABA World Champion Girl Pro would be MCS's Amanda Geving. I bet if Kim would have any choice to give the title to it would have been Amanda.
Well, I'd love to make the vet pro race all dramatic but fact is Todd Parry came out of the gate each and every moto like he was shot from a cannon. The only thing close to Todd was his permanently attached ball cap desperately dangling from his back hip holding on for dear life as Todd turns on the nitrous. Todd was going so freakin' fast he easily cleared the triple step-down on the second straight against the wind. Ok, D-Mitch took the last main but that's due to Todd basically shutting down 'cause nobody was even close in points. No reason to battle and possibly give the last turn some of your skin when you have it locked up. I had the pleasure of getting a couple shots of Todd's family this weekend. That little girl is one of the cutest things on the planet. Congrat's Todd - you've got a great vet pro career going and for sure a great family.
Ok, so for the A Pro main you're thinking "Oie was flyin' yesterday - Johnson was super strong and took the win - Betcher's first straight is powerful - Lundy's winning streak is still on in the ABA". Well, guess what - Johnson wasn't even on the gate. He didn't make it. Gate drops and BAM - Answer's Danny Caluag pulls himself a big ass hole-shot. Betcher is right there though as is Oie and Japaneese rider Sakamoto. The four fly down the second straight. Oie boosts the triple step-down and next thing you know there's a cloud of dust and the pack is going down. Caluag, Betcher, Ellison and Sakamoto survive. The first main goes in the books exactly that way.
Second main Betcher gets one of his great starts but Ellison apparently has been working out and beats DB to the first turn. Lundy is right there too as the three go through the first turn in a strike fighter like "V" shape. Betcher is stuck on the outside and Lundy pulls into second as they come out of the second turn. Hyper's Mike Lundy pulls up along side Ellison and goes for a pass in the final turn. However, Andre shows Mike just enough elbow and hip to keep Mike in the second spot across the line.
Third moto Lundy pulls into his bag of riding skills and even with a mediocre start peddles everything down the first straight and into the lead. From that point Mike just pulls as Caluag, who has low points, settles into second. The pair went one, two and Caluag took the overall win with his great finish in round one sealing the win.
You couldn't have set up the AA Pro battle any better than in the first moto. Day was in gate one and Harris was in gate eight. It was a main contender sandwich. A top player bookend. The emphasis during the introductions were even based on this fact. It seemed unfair to the six in-between. However, you just couldn't deny the fact that Day and Harris are on top of their game right now. The gate dropped and Harris whicked the throttle. Bubba blasted into the lead with Day in tow. The two went this way for the rest of the track as if the middle section meant nothing. Everyone was waiting for the last turn where Day had it dialed. Harris was on the outside of the fifth straight leading into the last turn almost daring Mike to go inside and take his best shot. Mike indulged and flew to the inside. Day carved the turn and went low and going out of the last turn gave Harris a slight elbow. It was a little too light as Bubba lost no momentum and powered out of the corner and kept the lead to win round one.
Next moto fate would have Bubba and Day right next to each other in gate two and three. Bubba on the inside got the snap and again flew into the lead. Day was in second and just as it seemed the middle of the track would again be a nuisance to wait out for the last turn, Day goes for the pass in turn three and makes it stick. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. Bubba wins the first moto and Day the second - setting up the perfect situation for the third main. Well, that was what we all thought until Bubba hits the last straight and decides he'd really rather not deal with a textbook drama. Harris didn't miss a peddle down the last straight and powered past Day for the second round win. Bubba had two points and Day had four. Day would have to beat Harris by more than one rider next main.
Third main the two would again find themselves placed together on the middle of the gate. Bubba grabbed the holeshot again and this time there'd be no drama. Day was right there but found himself stuck on the outside each and every turn. There was no room or opportunity for the pass and Day settled for the overall second as Harris took the ABA World Championship for the AA Pro class.
So, the amateurs - how could you do any of them justice without talking about each and every class that ended up with a great ABA World Champ? Well, you can't - so I won't try. I'm sure Dan, the ABA site and the BMXer will do an excellent job of giving all the deserving kids their props.
Here's my best shot at giving some props some of the stand-outs (won two or more classes) at the ABA Worlds. Taking the six and under and six boy's class was E.J. Pasowicz riding for BMX Hex - Avent. Jacobe Abbe's legend precedes him. He won seven - eight open and eight boys. A funny story about Jacob is the emails I've gotten from the UK saying that the photo I got of him in South Park was "fake" and that it was done so in order to intimidate European riders - WHAT ?? Redman's Lain Van Ogle won nine-ten open and ten boys after a recent return from a bad injury in Roseville. Jared Garcia took the eleven-twelve open and twelve boys titles - I earlier stated that he was unbeatable. Well, ConMan Connor Fields looks to be back at full strength taking the twelve cruiser title. Joey Bradford took the fifteen cruiser and boys title for Mongoose and X Balm (I love that stuff). Phantom/On Trac's Joseph (big twin brother to Sean Gaiian) Szurek took the seventeen to twenty-four open and nineteen to twenty-seven boys class. Scott Simmons won the twenty-five and over open and twenty-six to thirty cruiser classes. Kirk Chrisco won the thirty-six to forty cruiser and thirty-six and over boys (can you really call that boys?) classes for his Brew/ProMax sponsor.
Of course there's plenty of single class winners that deserve mention but again, I'm sure they'll get props in the BMXer and on web sites all around. I simply don't have the room or the energy to talk about each and every one of them.
Ending I can only say that the race was incredible and exciting. We can only hope for a day when the sanction's battles are productive and while they may never work together hand in hand maybe they'll someday work together for the betterment of the sport. Wouldn't it be great to get to the point where there is a unified World Champion or even an ABA vs. NBL championship done in cooperation of each sanction and with healthy rivalry? I, for one, believe in the need of both sanctions. I also believe that there CAN be a healthy rivalry. We're a ways from that now. So, for now we have the UCI and the ABA World Championships. Each deserving in their own right. Each with importance and credibility.
Congratulations to all the 2005 ABA World Champions!
Full Article
Full layout E-Zine coming soon!
ABA All Star National and World Championship
I'll start off this article with my take on the idea of the ABA "World Championships". If you read any of the message boards you might have heard this race referred to as the "Forlds" (Fake Worlds). I'll be honest and admit that I even have used the phrase, mainly because it just sounds funny. I think most dual sanction BMXers realize that the time honored and UCI acknowledged World Championship is the one being held in France this year. The crucial words there are "dual sanction". Fact is that's currently a minority of the overall BMXers in America. So, having stated the above and also considering that the sanctions do not work together and barely even acknowledge each other's existence, why shouldn't the ABA hold their own world championship?
You cannot go to the UCI Worlds if you currently only belong to the ABA. If you're from America you have to belong to the NBL. So, what option does that leave for the riders who, by personal, economical, or regional choice only ride ABA sanctioned events? The ABA World Championships. The ABA does not claim these to be UCI, USA Cycling or any other type of championships. They claim them to be the "ABA World Championships" and that's exactly what they are. Ok, so since this is an ABA based event how can it be considered a "World" event? The ABA opens up the race to ANY sanctioned rider. NBL, CCA, UCI - any other country's and/or region's sanction. So, if the ABA World Championships aren't attended by any other country's or sanction's riders it's no fault of the ABA. You do NOT have to be an ABA member to participate nor do you have to qualify by attending any ABA event. You simply show up and see what you can do against some of the best the United States has to offer. Anyway, that's my own personal take on that whole thing. Now, for the race itself...
The weather - MAN, was it hot - and windy. The track is basically built in a large pit-like area so that it resembles a huge, earth parabolic reflector. It was crazy hot during Friday's All Star National. In the afternoon, around two p.m. or so, the wind would start to pick up and really start blowing. On Thursday during the all day practice I saw more than one of the EZ-Ups by the starting hill take off. Poor little Cameron Lowery was sitting under one of them but he knew his less than a buck weight wouldn't have kept them from going anywhere. Well, luckily Friday would be the worst of it and the temp slowly mediated during the rest of the weekend. The races, however, remained hot throughout the whole weekend. The epic battle between Bubba and Mikey Day was testament to the fact nobody was taking this as anything less than an important title to have.
Friday's All Star National
The pro mains started with the girl's pro on Friday. In the first main Brew/ProMax rider Chantel Blanchet had one heck of a pop out of the gate. However, by the end of the first straight some great horsepower and excellent pedal-manual skills gave Redline's Kim Hayashi the lead. Kim kept pulling the comp from that point on as Staats' Arielle Martin pushed up into second and MCS's "fille de merveille" Amanda Geving in third.
Main two of the girl's pro class Hayashi would leave no doubt as she flew from the middle of the gate. Vendetta's Stephanie Higgins gave chase and did challenge on the inside of the first turn but lost momentum by going so low and Kim continued to pull the class as she did last moto. Geving got the second this time and Martin the third this round.
In the third and final girl pro main the wind had kicked in fully. This was demonstrated by the usually rock solid Martin actually falling over in gate eight as the gate fell. Hayashi took off again but Martin quickly re-clipped and was determined to get back in the race. Geving was in second and if she stayed there would take the overall second. Hayashi was in a commanding lead and not much was going to take that away. Martin had worked up into third by the second turn. Geving bonked the first jump coming out of that turn and Martin took full advantage. In turn three she swooped Geving and Amanda went off the track. Martin got the overall and Geving's unfortunate off track excursion loaded on the points giving the overall third to Higgins.
In vet pro, Redman/Yamaha's Darrin Mitchell blasted the gate in main one. However, Supercross rider Todd "TP" Parry is a man on a mission. Parry swooped Mitchell in turn thrree and took the win. Main two there was no questions. Parry pushed the gate down and took off from mid-gate. Redline's Jason Carnes stayed with Parry but could not catch TP. Main three Mitchell had a great pop from gate eight. However, his front tire came down from the first roller a little off. That little bobble was enough to give the opening to Parry. Todd took the lead and didn't look back. Carnes again came up for the second and with that the overall second and TP took the win and Darrin held the points together enough for the overall third.
A pro is getting stacked. The amount of talent in that class is probably hard to match in any recent times. Challenge/Intense rider Josh Oie must be finally training. He came out of the gate AA style in the first of three mains. He lead the class start to finish. Revtec's Derek Betcher was on Josh but it was Brew/ProMax rider Aaron Johnson that came up to challenge at the end of the lap. It was Oie with the win.
Second moto Oie again flew from the gate. Betcher settled into second and Johnson into third. In turn two Johnson railed up high and passed Betcher. Johnson continued to pull as he rode the second to last straight a little smoother than Josh and pulled a clean pass in the last turn. Oie gave all he could to battle back but Johnson took the second moto win.
Third moto Redman/Yamaha's Andre Ellison wanted to prove he's been training as well. Earlier on Thursday he'd been explaining to Mike that he'd been training. As I walked past I heard Andre exclaiming to Mike "Look how Buff I am!". Anyway, he got a great gate. However, Johnson was out of gate one and had the inside and a check to win. Aaron did just that as he pulled away into the lead and took the overall with two main wins. Oie got the overall second and Betcher took the overall third.
Contrary to what some people thought, almost all of the AA's showed up for this weekend's race. Many had thought that they'd already be in France for the UCI's. However, there was just enough time to make this weekend's race before taking their flights for Europe. At the level the AA's are riding at it's interesting to watch as certain riders hit their peak. You can literally notice when they are "on" and "off". One of the riders who is definitely "on" now and proves it with each succeeding race is Staats' Mike Day. First main on Friday Bubba had troubles on the gate and the pack left him behind. I'm not sure if that would have mattered though as Mike Day was on fire and pulled the class into the first turn. However, the experienced professional John Purse riding for Mongoose was right there and looking to add another national win to his stack. Mike kept the speed up though and won the first main. John got the second barely keeping off a last minute boost by Avent/Fly's powerhouse Donny Robinson.
Second main was visions of more to come as Day and Harris lined up next to each other on the gate. Harris got a strong pop and took the lead. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser, always in the mix, set himself into second and Day was in third. Day pulled a classic swoop on Randy in the third corner and set himself up for the shot at Bubba. As Harris and Day went down the fifth straight the crowd grew increasingly louder as Day pulled up and on the inside of Harris. In the last corner Day low/highed Harris and took the lead. Bubba kicked it into high gear to get the lead back but the last straight didn't have the room and the pass held for Day.
Third main looked to be a repeat of main two as Day settled into second behind Harris through the second half of the track. However, with the first round bobble by Harris, Day didn't have to get any higher than where he was and safely took the second with no shot at the lead. He did take the overall with that third round second though.
Day had his first ABA AA pro win and a ton of momentum going into the World Championship the following two days. Harris got the second overall and with some great, consistent riding Crupi's Jason Richardson added up the points for a third overall.
Due to the length of the article I'll have to keep the amateur side extremely short. I do want to point out a race that sticks clearly in my mind though. That was the fourteen expert race between Phantom/On Trac's Jake Trevino and Hyper/Tangent's Ben Kubalak. Now it is no secret at all that these two teams love to take each other on. The rivalry is pretty intense. It was great to see an absolutely cleanly fought race between Ben and Jake. These two kids proved not only their skill but their integrity as they went back and forth. Jake would pass Ben, Ben would pass Jake. Never a bump or pimp. Just straight out great riding and excellent racing. I was in the announcing tower as the two battled and heard more than one other person exclaim that that had to be one of the best races he'd ever seen. Ben ended up with the win. Both riders can be extremely proud though of putting on a great show of skill and sportsmanship as well.
How about the "brothers Morley"? Trevor took the fourteen cruiser main while his older brother Ryan took the twenty-one to twenty-five cruiser class for their sponsor Brat Pack.
A few other standouts on Friday. Phantom/OnTrac's Chris Blevins - this kid is incredible and usually unbeatable. I say usually - check out what happened in the semis on Sunday. Team member Shelbi Long boostin' the step-up into the first corner - awesome! Answer's Jared Garcia is unstoppable. Sean "Swifty" O'Gorman handily won the thirty-six to forty cruiser class and handed in his vet pro papers for the next day's events.
ABA World Championship
Girl Pro Worlds - Hayashi would love to bring the ABA World title with her to France to go for an unprecedented unification. However, the title is equally important to all seven other women on the gate. Kim pops the gate. However, instead of her usual large lead by the first turn Arielle Martin and Amanda Geving are elbow to elbow with her. The battle continues to the second turn and down the third straight. Kim and Arielle hook up going into the third, paved turn and the two strong girl pro riders go down hard. Geving avoids the carnage and goes on for the win. Looking back it takes quite a while for both Martin and Hayashi to get back up.
Second moto Martin is nowhere to be found on the gate. Hayashi is there but as the gate goes down you can see her give a strong first snap but after that the power is just not there. Blanchet takes the lead and Geving is close behind. Geving flows down the second straight with the determination and skill the Florida native is well known for and takes the lead and on to the win.
Third maub looses another rider as Redline's flagship girl pro Kim Hayashi cannot make the gate. Geving takes the snap and this time it is TLD/Mini Frenzy's Courtney Tomei who will run with her down the second straight. Again, Geving takes the lead and holds it to the win. The winner and ABA World Champion Girl Pro would be MCS's Amanda Geving. I bet if Kim would have any choice to give the title to it would have been Amanda.
Well, I'd love to make the vet pro race all dramatic but fact is Todd Parry came out of the gate each and every moto like he was shot from a cannon. The only thing close to Todd was his permanently attached ball cap desperately dangling from his back hip holding on for dear life as Todd turns on the nitrous. Todd was going so freakin' fast he easily cleared the triple step-down on the second straight against the wind. Ok, D-Mitch took the last main but that's due to Todd basically shutting down 'cause nobody was even close in points. No reason to battle and possibly give the last turn some of your skin when you have it locked up. I had the pleasure of getting a couple shots of Todd's family this weekend. That little girl is one of the cutest things on the planet. Congrat's Todd - you've got a great vet pro career going and for sure a great family.
Ok, so for the A Pro main you're thinking "Oie was flyin' yesterday - Johnson was super strong and took the win - Betcher's first straight is powerful - Lundy's winning streak is still on in the ABA". Well, guess what - Johnson wasn't even on the gate. He didn't make it. Gate drops and BAM - Answer's Danny Caluag pulls himself a big ass hole-shot. Betcher is right there though as is Oie and Japaneese rider Sakamoto. The four fly down the second straight. Oie boosts the triple step-down and next thing you know there's a cloud of dust and the pack is going down. Caluag, Betcher, Ellison and Sakamoto survive. The first main goes in the books exactly that way.
Second main Betcher gets one of his great starts but Ellison apparently has been working out and beats DB to the first turn. Lundy is right there too as the three go through the first turn in a strike fighter like "V" shape. Betcher is stuck on the outside and Lundy pulls into second as they come out of the second turn. Hyper's Mike Lundy pulls up along side Ellison and goes for a pass in the final turn. However, Andre shows Mike just enough elbow and hip to keep Mike in the second spot across the line.
Third moto Lundy pulls into his bag of riding skills and even with a mediocre start peddles everything down the first straight and into the lead. From that point Mike just pulls as Caluag, who has low points, settles into second. The pair went one, two and Caluag took the overall win with his great finish in round one sealing the win.
You couldn't have set up the AA Pro battle any better than in the first moto. Day was in gate one and Harris was in gate eight. It was a main contender sandwich. A top player bookend. The emphasis during the introductions were even based on this fact. It seemed unfair to the six in-between. However, you just couldn't deny the fact that Day and Harris are on top of their game right now. The gate dropped and Harris whicked the throttle. Bubba blasted into the lead with Day in tow. The two went this way for the rest of the track as if the middle section meant nothing. Everyone was waiting for the last turn where Day had it dialed. Harris was on the outside of the fifth straight leading into the last turn almost daring Mike to go inside and take his best shot. Mike indulged and flew to the inside. Day carved the turn and went low and going out of the last turn gave Harris a slight elbow. It was a little too light as Bubba lost no momentum and powered out of the corner and kept the lead to win round one.
Next moto fate would have Bubba and Day right next to each other in gate two and three. Bubba on the inside got the snap and again flew into the lead. Day was in second and just as it seemed the middle of the track would again be a nuisance to wait out for the last turn, Day goes for the pass in turn three and makes it stick. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. Bubba wins the first moto and Day the second - setting up the perfect situation for the third main. Well, that was what we all thought until Bubba hits the last straight and decides he'd really rather not deal with a textbook drama. Harris didn't miss a peddle down the last straight and powered past Day for the second round win. Bubba had two points and Day had four. Day would have to beat Harris by more than one rider next main.
Third main the two would again find themselves placed together on the middle of the gate. Bubba grabbed the holeshot again and this time there'd be no drama. Day was right there but found himself stuck on the outside each and every turn. There was no room or opportunity for the pass and Day settled for the overall second as Harris took the ABA World Championship for the AA Pro class.
So, the amateurs - how could you do any of them justice without talking about each and every class that ended up with a great ABA World Champ? Well, you can't - so I won't try. I'm sure Dan, the ABA site and the BMXer will do an excellent job of giving all the deserving kids their props.
Here's my best shot at giving some props some of the stand-outs (won two or more classes) at the ABA Worlds. Taking the six and under and six boy's class was E.J. Pasowicz riding for BMX Hex - Avent. Jacobe Abbe's legend precedes him. He won seven - eight open and eight boys. A funny story about Jacob is the emails I've gotten from the UK saying that the photo I got of him in South Park was "fake" and that it was done so in order to intimidate European riders - WHAT ?? Redman's Lain Van Ogle won nine-ten open and ten boys after a recent return from a bad injury in Roseville. Jared Garcia took the eleven-twelve open and twelve boys titles - I earlier stated that he was unbeatable. Well, ConMan Connor Fields looks to be back at full strength taking the twelve cruiser title. Joey Bradford took the fifteen cruiser and boys title for Mongoose and X Balm (I love that stuff). Phantom/On Trac's Joseph (big twin brother to Sean Gaiian) Szurek took the seventeen to twenty-four open and nineteen to twenty-seven boys class. Scott Simmons won the twenty-five and over open and twenty-six to thirty cruiser classes. Kirk Chrisco won the thirty-six to forty cruiser and thirty-six and over boys (can you really call that boys?) classes for his Brew/ProMax sponsor.
Of course there's plenty of single class winners that deserve mention but again, I'm sure they'll get props in the BMXer and on web sites all around. I simply don't have the room or the energy to talk about each and every one of them.
Ending I can only say that the race was incredible and exciting. We can only hope for a day when the sanction's battles are productive and while they may never work together hand in hand maybe they'll someday work together for the betterment of the sport. Wouldn't it be great to get to the point where there is a unified World Champion or even an ABA vs. NBL championship done in cooperation of each sanction and with healthy rivalry? I, for one, believe in the need of both sanctions. I also believe that there CAN be a healthy rivalry. We're a ways from that now. So, for now we have the UCI and the ABA World Championships. Each deserving in their own right. Each with importance and credibility.
Congratulations to all the 2005 ABA World Champions!
I'll start off this article with my take on the idea of the ABA "World Championships". If you read any of the message boards you might have heard this race referred to as the "Forlds" (Fake Worlds). I'll be honest and admit that I even have used the phrase, mainly because it just sounds funny. I think most dual sanction BMXers realize that the time honored and UCI acknowledged World Championship is the one being held in France this year. The crucial words there are "dual sanction". Fact is that's currently a minority of the overall BMXers in America. So, having stated the above and also considering that the sanctions do not work together and barely even acknowledge each other's existence, why shouldn't the ABA hold their own world championship?
You cannot go to the UCI Worlds if you currently only belong to the ABA. If you're from America you have to belong to the NBL. So, what option does that leave for the riders who, by personal, economical, or regional choice only ride ABA sanctioned events? The ABA World Championships. The ABA does not claim these to be UCI, USA Cycling or any other type of championships. They claim them to be the "ABA World Championships" and that's exactly what they are. Ok, so since this is an ABA based event how can it be considered a "World" event? The ABA opens up the race to ANY sanctioned rider. NBL, CCA, UCI - any other country's and/or region's sanction. So, if the ABA World Championships aren't attended by any other country's or sanction's riders it's no fault of the ABA. You do NOT have to be an ABA member to participate nor do you have to qualify by attending any ABA event. You simply show up and see what you can do against some of the best the United States has to offer. Anyway, that's my own personal take on that whole thing. Now, for the race itself...
The weather - MAN, was it hot - and windy. The track is basically built in a large pit-like area so that it resembles a huge, earth parabolic reflector. It was crazy hot during Friday's All Star National. In the afternoon, around two p.m. or so, the wind would start to pick up and really start blowing. On Thursday during the all day practice I saw more than one of the EZ-Ups by the starting hill take off. Poor little Cameron Lowery was sitting under one of them but he knew his less than a buck weight wouldn't have kept them from going anywhere. Well, luckily Friday would be the worst of it and the temp slowly mediated during the rest of the weekend. The races, however, remained hot throughout the whole weekend. The epic battle between Bubba and Mikey Day was testament to the fact nobody was taking this as anything less than an important title to have.
Friday's All Star National
The pro mains started with the girl's pro on Friday. In the first main Brew/ProMax rider Chantel Blanchet had one heck of a pop out of the gate. However, by the end of the first straight some great horsepower and excellent pedal-manual skills gave Redline's Kim Hayashi the lead. Kim kept pulling the comp from that point on as Staats' Arielle Martin pushed up into second and MCS's "fille de merveille" Amanda Geving in third.
Main two of the girl's pro class Hayashi would leave no doubt as she flew from the middle of the gate. Vendetta's Stephanie Higgins gave chase and did challenge on the inside of the first turn but lost momentum by going so low and Kim continued to pull the class as she did last moto. Geving got the second this time and Martin the third this round.
In the third and final girl pro main the wind had kicked in fully. This was demonstrated by the usually rock solid Martin actually falling over in gate eight as the gate fell. Hayashi took off again but Martin quickly re-clipped and was determined to get back in the race. Geving was in second and if she stayed there would take the overall second. Hayashi was in a commanding lead and not much was going to take that away. Martin had worked up into third by the second turn. Geving bonked the first jump coming out of that turn and Martin took full advantage. In turn three she swooped Geving and Amanda went off the track. Martin got the overall and Geving's unfortunate off track excursion loaded on the points giving the overall third to Higgins.
In vet pro, Redman/Yamaha's Darrin Mitchell blasted the gate in main one. However, Supercross rider Todd "TP" Parry is a man on a mission. Parry swooped Mitchell in turn thrree and took the win. Main two there was no questions. Parry pushed the gate down and took off from mid-gate. Redline's Jason Carnes stayed with Parry but could not catch TP. Main three Mitchell had a great pop from gate eight. However, his front tire came down from the first roller a little off. That little bobble was enough to give the opening to Parry. Todd took the lead and didn't look back. Carnes again came up for the second and with that the overall second and TP took the win and Darrin held the points together enough for the overall third.
A pro is getting stacked. The amount of talent in that class is probably hard to match in any recent times. Challenge/Intense rider Josh Oie must be finally training. He came out of the gate AA style in the first of three mains. He lead the class start to finish. Revtec's Derek Betcher was on Josh but it was Brew/ProMax rider Aaron Johnson that came up to challenge at the end of the lap. It was Oie with the win.
Second moto Oie again flew from the gate. Betcher settled into second and Johnson into third. In turn two Johnson railed up high and passed Betcher. Johnson continued to pull as he rode the second to last straight a little smoother than Josh and pulled a clean pass in the last turn. Oie gave all he could to battle back but Johnson took the second moto win.
Third moto Redman/Yamaha's Andre Ellison wanted to prove he's been training as well. Earlier on Thursday he'd been explaining to Mike that he'd been training. As I walked past I heard Andre exclaiming to Mike "Look how Buff I am!". Anyway, he got a great gate. However, Johnson was out of gate one and had the inside and a check to win. Aaron did just that as he pulled away into the lead and took the overall with two main wins. Oie got the overall second and Betcher took the overall third.
Contrary to what some people thought, almost all of the AA's showed up for this weekend's race. Many had thought that they'd already be in France for the UCI's. However, there was just enough time to make this weekend's race before taking their flights for Europe. At the level the AA's are riding at it's interesting to watch as certain riders hit their peak. You can literally notice when they are "on" and "off". One of the riders who is definitely "on" now and proves it with each succeeding race is Staats' Mike Day. First main on Friday Bubba had troubles on the gate and the pack left him behind. I'm not sure if that would have mattered though as Mike Day was on fire and pulled the class into the first turn. However, the experienced professional John Purse riding for Mongoose was right there and looking to add another national win to his stack. Mike kept the speed up though and won the first main. John got the second barely keeping off a last minute boost by Avent/Fly's powerhouse Donny Robinson.
Second main was visions of more to come as Day and Harris lined up next to each other on the gate. Harris got a strong pop and took the lead. GT/Hyundai's Randy Stumpfhauser, always in the mix, set himself into second and Day was in third. Day pulled a classic swoop on Randy in the third corner and set himself up for the shot at Bubba. As Harris and Day went down the fifth straight the crowd grew increasingly louder as Day pulled up and on the inside of Harris. In the last corner Day low/highed Harris and took the lead. Bubba kicked it into high gear to get the lead back but the last straight didn't have the room and the pass held for Day.
Third main looked to be a repeat of main two as Day settled into second behind Harris through the second half of the track. However, with the first round bobble by Harris, Day didn't have to get any higher than where he was and safely took the second with no shot at the lead. He did take the overall with that third round second though.
Day had his first ABA AA pro win and a ton of momentum going into the World Championship the following two days. Harris got the second overall and with some great, consistent riding Crupi's Jason Richardson added up the points for a third overall.
Due to the length of the article I'll have to keep the amateur side extremely short. I do want to point out a race that sticks clearly in my mind though. That was the fourteen expert race between Phantom/On Trac's Jake Trevino and Hyper/Tangent's Ben Kubalak. Now it is no secret at all that these two teams love to take each other on. The rivalry is pretty intense. It was great to see an absolutely cleanly fought race between Ben and Jake. These two kids proved not only their skill but their integrity as they went back and forth. Jake would pass Ben, Ben would pass Jake. Never a bump or pimp. Just straight out great riding and excellent racing. I was in the announcing tower as the two battled and heard more than one other person exclaim that that had to be one of the best races he'd ever seen. Ben ended up with the win. Both riders can be extremely proud though of putting on a great show of skill and sportsmanship as well.
How about the "brothers Morley"? Trevor took the fourteen cruiser main while his older brother Ryan took the twenty-one to twenty-five cruiser class for their sponsor Brat Pack.
A few other standouts on Friday. Phantom/OnTrac's Chris Blevins - this kid is incredible and usually unbeatable. I say usually - check out what happened in the semis on Sunday. Team member Shelbi Long boostin' the step-up into the first corner - awesome! Answer's Jared Garcia is unstoppable. Sean "Swifty" O'Gorman handily won the thirty-six to forty cruiser class and handed in his vet pro papers for the next day's events.
ABA World Championship
Girl Pro Worlds - Hayashi would love to bring the ABA World title with her to France to go for an unprecedented unification. However, the title is equally important to all seven other women on the gate. Kim pops the gate. However, instead of her usual large lead by the first turn Arielle Martin and Amanda Geving are elbow to elbow with her. The battle continues to the second turn and down the third straight. Kim and Arielle hook up going into the third, paved turn and the two strong girl pro riders go down hard. Geving avoids the carnage and goes on for the win. Looking back it takes quite a while for both Martin and Hayashi to get back up.
Second moto Martin is nowhere to be found on the gate. Hayashi is there but as the gate goes down you can see her give a strong first snap but after that the power is just not there. Blanchet takes the lead and Geving is close behind. Geving flows down the second straight with the determination and skill the Florida native is well known for and takes the lead and on to the win.
Third maub looses another rider as Redline's flagship girl pro Kim Hayashi cannot make the gate. Geving takes the snap and this time it is TLD/Mini Frenzy's Courtney Tomei who will run with her down the second straight. Again, Geving takes the lead and holds it to the win. The winner and ABA World Champion Girl Pro would be MCS's Amanda Geving. I bet if Kim would have any choice to give the title to it would have been Amanda.
Well, I'd love to make the vet pro race all dramatic but fact is Todd Parry came out of the gate each and every moto like he was shot from a cannon. The only thing close to Todd was his permanently attached ball cap desperately dangling from his back hip holding on for dear life as Todd turns on the nitrous. Todd was going so freakin' fast he easily cleared the triple step-down on the second straight against the wind. Ok, D-Mitch took the last main but that's due to Todd basically shutting down 'cause nobody was even close in points. No reason to battle and possibly give the last turn some of your skin when you have it locked up. I had the pleasure of getting a couple shots of Todd's family this weekend. That little girl is one of the cutest things on the planet. Congrat's Todd - you've got a great vet pro career going and for sure a great family.
Ok, so for the A Pro main you're thinking "Oie was flyin' yesterday - Johnson was super strong and took the win - Betcher's first straight is powerful - Lundy's winning streak is still on in the ABA". Well, guess what - Johnson wasn't even on the gate. He didn't make it. Gate drops and BAM - Answer's Danny Caluag pulls himself a big ass hole-shot. Betcher is right there though as is Oie and Japaneese rider Sakamoto. The four fly down the second straight. Oie boosts the triple step-down and next thing you know there's a cloud of dust and the pack is going down. Caluag, Betcher, Ellison and Sakamoto survive. The first main goes in the books exactly that way.
Second main Betcher gets one of his great starts but Ellison apparently has been working out and beats DB to the first turn. Lundy is right there too as the three go through the first turn in a strike fighter like "V" shape. Betcher is stuck on the outside and Lundy pulls into second as they come out of the second turn. Hyper's Mike Lundy pulls up along side Ellison and goes for a pass in the final turn. However, Andre shows Mike just enough elbow and hip to keep Mike in the second spot across the line.
Third moto Lundy pulls into his bag of riding skills and even with a mediocre start peddles everything down the first straight and into the lead. From that point Mike just pulls as Caluag, who has low points, settles into second. The pair went one, two and Caluag took the overall win with his great finish in round one sealing the win.
You couldn't have set up the AA Pro battle any better than in the first moto. Day was in gate one and Harris was in gate eight. It was a main contender sandwich. A top player bookend. The emphasis during the introductions were even based on this fact. It seemed unfair to the six in-between. However, you just couldn't deny the fact that Day and Harris are on top of their game right now. The gate dropped and Harris whicked the throttle. Bubba blasted into the lead with Day in tow. The two went this way for the rest of the track as if the middle section meant nothing. Everyone was waiting for the last turn where Day had it dialed. Harris was on the outside of the fifth straight leading into the last turn almost daring Mike to go inside and take his best shot. Mike indulged and flew to the inside. Day carved the turn and went low and going out of the last turn gave Harris a slight elbow. It was a little too light as Bubba lost no momentum and powered out of the corner and kept the lead to win round one.
Next moto fate would have Bubba and Day right next to each other in gate two and three. Bubba on the inside got the snap and again flew into the lead. Day was in second and just as it seemed the middle of the track would again be a nuisance to wait out for the last turn, Day goes for the pass in turn three and makes it stick. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. Bubba wins the first moto and Day the second - setting up the perfect situation for the third main. Well, that was what we all thought until Bubba hits the last straight and decides he'd really rather not deal with a textbook drama. Harris didn't miss a peddle down the last straight and powered past Day for the second round win. Bubba had two points and Day had four. Day would have to beat Harris by more than one rider next main.
Third main the two would again find themselves placed together on the middle of the gate. Bubba grabbed the holeshot again and this time there'd be no drama. Day was right there but found himself stuck on the outside each and every turn. There was no room or opportunity for the pass and Day settled for the overall second as Harris took the ABA World Championship for the AA Pro class.
So, the amateurs - how could you do any of them justice without talking about each and every class that ended up with a great ABA World Champ? Well, you can't - so I won't try. I'm sure Dan, the ABA site and the BMXer will do an excellent job of giving all the deserving kids their props.
Here's my best shot at giving some props some of the stand-outs (won two or more classes) at the ABA Worlds. Taking the six and under and six boy's class was E.J. Pasowicz riding for BMX Hex - Avent. Jacobe Abbe's legend precedes him. He won seven - eight open and eight boys. A funny story about Jacob is the emails I've gotten from the UK saying that the photo I got of him in South Park was "fake" and that it was done so in order to intimidate European riders - WHAT ?? Redman's Lain Van Ogle won nine-ten open and ten boys after a recent return from a bad injury in Roseville. Jared Garcia took the eleven-twelve open and twelve boys titles - I earlier stated that he was unbeatable. Well, ConMan Connor Fields looks to be back at full strength taking the twelve cruiser title. Joey Bradford took the fifteen cruiser and boys title for Mongoose and X Balm (I love that stuff). Phantom/On Trac's Joseph (big twin brother to Sean Gaiian) Szurek took the seventeen to twenty-four open and nineteen to twenty-seven boys class. Scott Simmons won the twenty-five and over open and twenty-six to thirty cruiser classes. Kirk Chrisco won the thirty-six to forty cruiser and thirty-six and over boys (can you really call that boys?) classes for his Brew/ProMax sponsor.
Of course there's plenty of single class winners that deserve mention but again, I'm sure they'll get props in the BMXer and on web sites all around. I simply don't have the room or the energy to talk about each and every one of them.
Ending I can only say that the race was incredible and exciting. We can only hope for a day when the sanction's battles are productive and while they may never work together hand in hand maybe they'll someday work together for the betterment of the sport. Wouldn't it be great to get to the point where there is a unified World Champion or even an ABA vs. NBL championship done in cooperation of each sanction and with healthy rivalry? I, for one, believe in the need of both sanctions. I also believe that there CAN be a healthy rivalry. We're a ways from that now. So, for now we have the UCI and the ABA World Championships. Each deserving in their own right. Each with importance and credibility.
Congratulations to all the 2005 ABA World Champions!