Silver Dollar Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on January 11, 2014 | Comment(s)

January 10, 2014-Reno, NV- USA BMX rolled into "The Biggest Little City in the World" to kick off the 2014 USA BMX National Series as well as stop no.1 of the 2014 USA BMX Pro Series. 

Every year Reno is the place to be in January, at least for BMXers. Home to the Silver Dollar Nationals, this is the race where familiar faces are sporting unfamiliar looks and all of the happenings of the short off-season come out in a tell all weekend. Sponsor switches for many riders left the crowds speculating on which was the best new pick up or what new Rookie Pro would be the first to take home a win. 

More on that later- for now we explore the race action from the Friday night pre-race. Haro~Promax's Rusty Nesvig and Bryce Hocking were both loaded up into the gate for their first ever lap as A-pros. While many of knew of Nesvig turning Pro, it came as quite a surprise that fellow teammate Bryce Hocking would follow suit. To make it on the top of the box they would need to surpass AA-pro Jake Peebles who was on a mission to stop them. In round one it looked as if Nesvig was going to make a statement early, however a collision with Peebles down the second straight would send him into the dirt. It was definitely not the way Rusty planned on starting his Pro debut. Hocking would hold on for the second. Round two rolled in and as the pack was heading into the first turn, Peebles made sure that Nesvig would not get the inside line and after a hard hit, Nesvig once again fell to the ground. Elliot McGrath and Stephen Smith both ended up on the ground with Nesvig as Peebles rode away with another win. That would end the night for Rusty Nesvig and his Pro Debut and while it was a less than ideal debut, teammate Bryce Hocking would bode well in his first Pro racer and come away with a solid second behind Peebles. If tonight was any indication of what we may have in store for the next season, the 2014 Rookie Pro Class will be one for the ages. 

The weekend is still young and tomorrow will bring plenty more news and racing. Be sure to check back here at usabmx.com and the USA BMX Facebook page for all of the latest updates, photos and more from tomorrow. 

SATURDAY:

Day one of the Silver Dollar Nationals turned out to be the biggest season opener ever. With 342 motos, a handful of Rookie Pros and eager amateurs made for a race day filled with thrills and spills. The pits were buzzing with a bountiful amount of riders either switching teams or getting their chance to have full factory support. Just a few of those changes include Jerry Bradford grabbing a couple of the younger riders from the Hyper squad and heading a little north up to Oregon where they joined the Phoenix Factory Racing crew. Speaking of Phoenix, Radro Jaworsky was ready for change and headed over to Redman~Rockstar team for a new challenge while Redman's Reid Austin took off to Phoenix. Seems like a fair trade to me. Be sure to keep an eye out for the Jan/Feb issue of PULL Magazine with all of the latest team changes. 

Qualifying rounds went off without a hitch and we were soon into the home stretch. Kicking off the main events with the Pros had the whole building rumbling! In A-pro the two Rookies of the group, Bryce Hocking and Jeremy Smith, were out to prove themselves and show they belong. Jeremy Smith was looking hot and kept Supercross' Jared Garcia honest. They battled back and forth with Pete Pascual and Bryce Hocking, which made for some very eventful mains. It looked as if Smith was ready to take the top spot in his Rookie debut but a nasty tumble out turn one left the door wide open for Garcia. Garcia would end up taking the win and inching that much closer to becoming AA. Pascual’s consistency gave him a solid second and the two Rookies finished third and fourth with Hocking taking the last podium slot. While Nesvigs Friday night wrecks left him sidelined for the weekend and there are still a few that have not yet made their debut, this years A-pro class looks to be one of the best in years!

Vet Pro also saw a new face make an appearance. Jason Richardson showed up to Reno in a full Phoenix Factory Racing kit and looked to be the spoiler of the class during qualifying. However, the main was quite a different story as both Cristian Becerine who is now riding for the Dale Holmes Racing Chase~Stay Strong team and SE's Javier Colombo turned it up a notch. Becerine made it a clean sweep with three wins in three rounds and secured his first win of the season. The Vet Pro class is shaping up to be much more interesting this year as we get rolling for 2014.

The long awaited arrival of Shanaze Reade was finally over. Reade pulled through on her promise and showed up in Reno ready to compete with the best riders in the world. Reade was ready to come chase the USA BMX title as she felt it was by far the best series in the world with the best tracks and the best competition. Factory GT's Felicia Stancil also made her debut as a Women Pro of the USA BMX National Series and she made a loud statement after taking the Answer Holeshot award and a dominating win in the first main of Saturday. After a very tight battle in main no.2 between the two veteran ladies of the class in Alise Post and Brooke Crain, as well as Reade and Stancil, it was anybody’s to win as they loaded up for their third round. Out of the gate the Rookie Felicia Stancil had a half’s bike lead heading into turn one, but Alise Post used her experience to hold back just a hair and cut under Stancil to hold her far inside and force her to back off. Post turned on the rocket boosters and rolled her way to a solid win while Shanaze Reade pulled a great pass on Haro's Brooke Crain to secure second place with Crain holding on to the overall third.

Sam Willoughby continued his dominance after tearing up the AA class once again. The class proved that it pays to be out front in our sport after the first two rounds showcased two pile ups with riders being sent over turn one. While Willoughby cruised with ease all three rounds and picking up the overall, Donny Robinson proved once again that although he is one of the veterans of the class, he can still teach the kids a thing or two. Robinson held the outside during the carnage in round one and would power away to a solid second place finish after connecting with Riley Stair. Much of the same happened in the next round and the third round locked in Robinson to take the overall second for the day with some of his best riding of the weekend.

SUNDAY:

If I were to ever put a title on the last day of a National, it would most likely be along the lines of "Any given Sunday." Sure this may be a little cliché but the matter of the fact is that at every National, Sunday is the make it or break it day and the riders will usually leave it all on the track. Gutsier moves and more aggression really make a Sunday what it is. You can surely expect to see some jaw dropping race action and in the eye of a racer, winning at all costs is a must. 

Supercross' Jared Garcia was once again in a tight battle with the two Rookies Jeremy Smith and Bryce Hocking. After the first two rounds of the A pro main event it seemed as if Extreme Team's Smith was going to pull off his first win as a Professional BMX racer. His riding was nearly flawless until the final round where a mistake would send him off the track and cross the line in last. So close but yet so far. While the win was not meant for Sunday, Smith and Hocking both showed that they are two new Pros that should not be taken lightly. For Garcia, he is now that much closer to jumping in with the AA ranks. A double here in Reno and a handful of races to go, it should not be long until he is right in there with Willoughby and company. 

The Vet Pros once again put on a fantastic show and with some new faces in the class, things seem to be a bit more mixed up than the usual. The first round of qualifying was not what Dan's Comp's Matt Pohlkamp had expected when he had a rough landing into turn one that would leave him watching from the stands for the remainder of the day. When we spoke with Matt, he was upbeat and said this minor setback would not leave him out of the next Vet Pro race. Fast forward to the main event and Cristian Becerine’s new Chase must feel great because he once again had no issues in securing the top podium spot to give him the early advantage in the Vet Pro title chase. Javier Colombo was keeping him honest and took the close second while Alexis Vergara continues to impress with a solid overall third. 

Personally for me, I have had more fun watching the Women's Pro class than any other class. Not only this weekend but also at Grands back in November. The class has seen a surge in new participants that have really pushed a new vibrancy into the class. Factory GT's Felicia Stancil, Hyper's Shealen Reno, Supercross' Elke Vanhoof and Shanaze Reade have all made things very interesting. Going into the final main, it was a toss up on who was going to take the win. Just like the previous day, Stancil, Post, and Reade were all in position to pick up a win and once the gate dropped it was a sprint to the line. Stancil looked to be in prime position to pick up her first win in the class but once again she became swallowed by the pack, which would leave her settling for third. Not a bad way to start out your career as a Pro seeing as how she was able to secure the Answer Holeshot award BOTH days in her Rookie debut. It was now a battle of wills between Reade and Post. Post held the lead while Reade was on the prowl. Post remained perfect with the rest of the track and that would give her the bike length she needed to just edge out Reade for the win. This weekend proved that the Women's Pro class could be better this year than any other. With almost a dozen ladies that could win on any day of week, the title chase is going to be painfully exciting the rest of the year.

If there was only one question that has remained unanswered for quite some time it would be, who will be the rider that will dethrone Sam "I am" Willoughby. The Aussie has been untouchable for the past year. Minus a couple of hiccups in 2013, Sam was nearly unstoppable and had the title virtually secured heading into the Grands. He is trying for a three-peat this year and a fourth overall USA BMX No.1 AA Pro title which would put him with names such as Ellis and Pistol Pete. Willoughby would win two out of the three mains since Tangent's Riley Stair pulled him down the last straight for the win in the third main. Sam is well on his way to be the unified G.O.A.T strictly based on his performance over the past year and from the looks of it, he plans on continuing to dominate the class for the foreseeable future.

The season kickoff in Reno was one for the record books, not only in moto count but also the amount of great racing action. The air was electric and it was evident that many of the riders could not wait to get the first National underway. Amateurs like Patrick Coo, Ryan Zinzow, Kelsey Van Ogle, Anna Johnson, Danica Anderson, Roman Jaworsky and Kevin Pauls were able to pull of some very big double wins. The talent of the current amateurs considering their ages is mind boggling to say the least. I for one cannot wait to continue the 2014 USA BMX National Series when we roll into Tulsa, OK for the Sooner Nationals on January 24th. Thank you to all of the families that helped us create the largest season opener ever! We will see you in Tulsa.