Winter Nationals Race Report & Pics

Filed under General on February 20, 2015 | Comment(s)

The 2015 Pro series officially kicked off in Phoenix - as the first Elite rounds took front stage on Friday night,at Black Mountain BMX. This all-new format, and the new USA BMX pro pay-raise, was a welcomed one for many - especially the pros.
         Turnout was huge - with 152 motos and over 50 riders in Elite Men (53 to be exact) and 21 Elite women. That would put the 1st place prize money at $3,500 for the winner of the mens and give a hefty $1,750 to the gals. The only question was - WHO would win it?!

         Throughout the qualifying rounds, there were 3 main standouts - yet only one of them would find his way to the 8-man finale'. Dan's Comp rider Justin Posey was looking REALLY strong, all day long - and his 1-1-1 in the motos was having plenty of people predicting a Posey podium, for sure. Redline's Sam Willoughby - as always, was looking to be the man to beat, and was also seen out front of every qualifier. Chase's Connor Fields rounded out the list of fast-cats for the night, and definintely looked to be a factor in the final. 
As we said - only one of those three would survive the night and move up in to the big show.
        For Posey, though, his night wound end earlier than it should've when he was late to the gate for his quarter-main. After a few calls in staging and a short wait, lanes were picked without him and the 7 other guys loaded in the gate without him. It was not how anybody wanted to see his night end - and you can bet your life savings on it that he'll probably be the first one in staging at every Pro race the rest of this year.  
        For Willoughby, his troubles came in the semi, when he and the Con-man were neck to neck down the super-fast first straight, and it looks as if Sam was starting to put the lean on Fields as they flew toward turn-one. Connor then went for the inside line and Sam, obviously off balance, slammed the dirt and took about 4 or 5 guys with him. It was mass carnage in the corner, and the the fortunate survivors were Fields, Cisar, Cook and Tucson's favorite son - Corben Sharrah. They would meet up with Long, Rommell, Gonzalo and France's rising star Amidou Mir. 
         Disapointed - Sam limped off the track. Reports from the pits was that he ripped off a finger nail in the wreckage and will be back hungrier than ever on Saturday. 
         Yes, Fields wound up in the big show and Vegas bookies back in his hometown had the odds in his favor. Long, with a pretty sweet handlebar mustache going in his favor, is always one of those guys you never want to count out. Winning here in Black Mountain is one of Nick's traditions. With the always loud and boisterious Tucson crowd behind him, Sharrah was another guy to keep a sharp eye on, as he too, always does well here at Black Mountain.

         The main fired off like a retro-rocket and it was Connor Fields and his Chase bike straight to the front, with unprecidented power. The Haro twins of Long and Sharah, were hot on his tail but never close enough to make anything happen. For most of the guys, it was a race for 2nd place - as the 2012 U.S. Olympian won it wire to wire to kick off his season right.

Results went like this: 

ELITE MEN
1 CONNOR FIELDS, CHASE - NV   $3,500
2 NIC LONG, HARO - CA
3 CORBEN SHARRAH, HARO - AZ
4 AMIDOU MIR, - FRANCE
5 KORY COOK, PROMAX - CA
6 JEREMY ROMMEL, SUPERCROSS - CA
7 GONZALO MOLINA, - ARGENTINA
8 STEVEN CISAR, NEMA~BOMBSHELL - CA

In the Elite Women class, there was one - and only one, gal who was racing at an entirely different leval than the rest. That lady would be your current National No.1 Pro Woman - Alise Post. Whether it was in practice, motos, semi's or the main - Post was on fire and looked nearly untouchable.
Haro's Brooke Crain came closest to her 2012 Olympic team mate a few times - but couldn't make enything stick and kept her streak of 2nd place score to Alise's wins - including in the main. 
With plenty of new Rookie girls in the mix this year - including Carlie Ferree, Kelsey VanOgle, Mika Shaw and Rachel Mydock, all of the spectators and USA BMX staffers were expecting to see a new face on the podium tonight ..and, in a way, they were right. Only thing is - it wasn't a new Rookie face - but an International superstar from Belgium named Elke VanHoof. 

Results went like this: 
ELITE WOMEN
1 ALISE POST, REDLINE - MN            $1,750
2 BROOKE CRAIN, HARO - CA
3 ELKE VANHOOF, TVE SPORT - BELGIUM
4 CARLIE FERREE, HARO-PROMAX - CA
5 AMANDA CARR, J&R BICYCLES - FL
6 FELICIA STANCIL, GT BICYCLES - IL
7 MARIANA DIAZ, BUENOS AIRES
8 DANI GEORGE, CHASE/ DHR - CA

What a way to kick off the 2015 Pro season!
We saw some major upsets, we witnessed some rookie mistakes and some intense bar-to-bar, elbow-bangin' BMX action throughout the night. ...and then there was the Pro class, as well.  Indeed, the amateirs were on it just as much as the pros, and this is one Friday night pre-race to go in the history books!
 

S-A, T-U-R, D-A-Y, NIGHT.  S-A, T-U-R, D-A-Y, NIGHT  

major players in the Am classes and NAG chases were out to make it to the big show. There weren't too many upsets, and allof the usual susupects filled the final 8-slots for some action-packed main events.
         For those familiar with the Saguaro-filled desert - once the sun goes down, the chilliness begins - which made all of the East Coast riders feel at home. But these mains were about to heat things up at Black Mountain!

BMX BROTHERHOOD
The younger expert classes were kickin' bootie in the desert darkness, and race after race, they were keeping the crowd on their feet. And while we're all brothers-in-BMX, some brother combos are beginning to stand out amongst the rest - the Gunderson Bros. (sponsored by LDC out of Chandler, AZ), and the ripe-for-the-picking York Bros from Livermore, CA.. 

9 EXPERT 

• 1 RONNIE KIM, HARO/PROMAX, CA
• 2 NOAH MIGUEL, BLOODLINE RACING, TX
• 3 TYLER GRIGSBY, VENDETTA/ELITE BICYCLES, CA
• 4 DYLAN NIEMEYER, REDMAN DEVO, AZ
• 5 JAKE GOODWIN, HARO/PROMAX, CA
• 6 JACK (THE LIL RIPPER) PARKIN, HARO/PROMAX, TX
• 7 LUKE OCONNOR, LDC CHALLENGE ELITE, AZ
• 8 CHANDLER GUNDERSON, FACTORY LDC, AZ

In 9 and 10, we would have the flyin' Gunderson Brothers, while the York's wwould be rippin' it up in 10 and 11x. Earlier in the semi's, older bro Chase - of the Gundy-clan, was stylin' it up down the jump-infested second straightaway, whippin' it like he was Chad Reed at the Atlanta SX. Last year, at the Winters, both Gundy brothers had an incredible race - and we were expecting to see the same this time around. 
However - in 9x, it was Ronnie Kim, in his new haro~Promax duds, who grabbed the holeshot and had Miguel and Grigsby in code-3 pursuit. The younger Gunderson - Chandler, had some bad luck with a ball-up and would cross the line in 8th. The bad luck continued with the Gundy's in 10x, as Chase came up short on the big ste-up and was seen doing an impromptu Superman air to a splat-landing. This was not a good day for the LDC brothers, but Sunday would be a different day.   

In 10 and 11 expert, it was looking like it'd be a back-to-back win spree by the infamous York Brothers. First up, Justin scored the 10x win by holding off the hard-chargin' Peter Choat - who is now doin' it for Full Tilt Bike Co., out of Minnesota. 
Next up in 11x, older York bro Brandon was doin' pretty much the same and up until the final turn, it was going to be another York brother domination - but suddenly - down the rhythm section, Bay Area BMXer Coby Witen put on a move and left York not where to go except in to a haybale, and within mille seconds, Brandon was plastered in the last turn, as the rest of the 11x's flew past. 

10 EXPERT

• 1 JUSTIN YORK, NONE, CA
• 2 PETER CHOAT, FULL TILT BIKE CO, CA
• 3 (STEELER) NATE ROMERO, RIFT/TANGENT, CA
• 4 MASON LAVIGNE, DOUBLE CROSS CALIFORNIA, CA
• 5 JACOB TRUJILLO, LDC CHALLENGE ELITE, CA
• 6 RYAN GOODWIN, HARO/PROMAX, CA
• 7 CHASE GUNDERSON, LDC, AZ
• 8 JACK BAKKEN, FACTORY CRUPI, CO

11 EXPERT

• 1 ETHAN MOORE, LDC CHALLENGE ELITE, AZ
• 2 COBY WITTEN, BAY AREA BMXERS, CA
• 3 CHASE WARNOCK, DAD, YUMA, AZ
• 4 OWEN  DAVIS, REVELOTION SUPERCROSS/FLY, CA
• 5 CADEL PETROCIK, PAPAWHEELIE/BOMBSQUAD, CA
• 6 ROBERT BARRERAS, BELLFLOWER BIKES , CA
• 7 BRANDON CRAIN, ANSWER/RENNEN, CA
• 8 BRANDON YORK, NONE, CA 

THE PRO SHOW
For the Elites - this would be the 2nd and final day of action, and go down in history as the 2nd race in the 2015 Pro Championship series. After a bad night the prior evening, everybody was expecting both Sam Willoughby and Justin Posey to come back with a vengeance. 

           From here on out - for the next 18 months or so, theese USA BMX pro races - with UCi points on the line, will be extremely important since they will determine which country's get a ticket to the Olympics, and which riders will make the list as their country's Olympic hpoefuls. This explains why we witnessed such a variety of International riders from all over the globe. France, Brazil, Italy, and Argentina were in Phoenix hoping to get a jump on the UCi points scale. Of them all, Brazil would have to come out as the most impressive - seeing their 2012 Olympian - Renato Rezende, making it to the Elite Mens final.

            For Sam, he wasn't about to watch from the sidelines again - and blasted in to the big show. Posey, however, got stuck in traffic and just like Jason Carne$' twitter-name, took "5th in the semi."  It was expected that Connor Fields would be a contender and be able to make it 2-for-2 with another all-USA podium. 

After introducing each main-maker in the traditional pro rollout -where the place erupted for local hero Corben Sharrah, the final 8 were locked and loaded for the 1-lap, no crap main event. With Sam on the inside, Field and his teammate Daudet in the middle and Garcia and Rezende on the outside, the gate slammed down and these future Olympic hopefuls went from zero to 30 in record-time. The Chase twins - Fields and Daudet had killer starts, but by the first obstacle, France's Amidou Mir bumped Doudet, who then bumped Fields - and that was just enough to give Willougby and Anthony Dean the freedom they wanted to lay down their power. To the first turn, it was Dean - grabbing the $250 Answer Holeshot money - and looking strong to score his first big win of the year. But Willoughy was right there, stalking his prey, waiting to pounce like a cheetah.
     Down the rhythm-infested fourth straightaway, Sam was setting up Dean for a move, as Box Components Jared Garcia was holding down 3rd place - trying to position himself to take advanate of any opportunity that might arise. In the final turn, Sam went for the swoop and stole the lead from Dean - and Garcia, with the quick reaction-time of a Ninja, raced Dean to the stripe for the 2-spot, and narrowly nabbed the 2nd. Pure Excitement!   ...and exactly what you'd expect from the fastest BMXers on the planet.   

MEN ELITE

• 1 SAM WILLOUGHBY, REDLINE, CA
• 2 JARED GARCIA, BOX COMPONENTS /DK,CA
• 3 ANTHONY DEAN, CHASE/DHR, NZ
• 4 RENATO REZENDE, BRAZIL
• 5 JORIS DAUDET, CHASE BMX, CA
• 6 CORBEN SHARRAH, AZ
• 7 CONNOR FIELDS, CHASE, NV
• 8 AMIDOU MIR, FRANCE

Meanwhile, in the fastest ladies class - Alise Post, with her grand parents watching from the sidelines, as out to start yet another win-streak for this brand new season. Stoked to see that the women were finally given an equal pay-scale as the men for 2015, and with a tough class of 21 of the fastest female BMXers on the planet - it could be a good payday for the girl from St. Cloud.
         The big shocker was seeing Felicia Stancil not make the cut in the semi, after Profile's Shayona Glynn held her off for that precious 4th place spot in the semi. Rookei girls Carlie Ferree and kelsey VanOgle were also in the big show - and we'd all get to witness if they had what it takes to step up to Post and Crain's level of racing. Once the gate popped, it was all Post and Crain - the wiley veterans of the Women Pro class - in a race all their own. The two 2012 Olympians would easily take the top 2 slots - same as Friday night, and it was all a race for 3rd place behind them. Reno and her Hyper were impressive, but just could quite catch the Haro-Promax ride of Ferree - who was last year's NAG-5 Challenge winner. For the girl from Victorville, it would be a historical firs-time for her to stand on the pro podium with the two girls she has looked up to for all these years.   

WOMEN ELITE

• 1 ALISE POST, REDLINE, MN
• 2 BROOKE CRAIN, HARO, CA   >>>
• 3 CARLIE FERREE, HARO-PROMAX, CA
• 4 SHEALEN RENO, HYPER, TX
• 5 ELKE VANHOOF, TVE SPORT, BELGIUM
• 6 DANI GEORGE, CHASE/ DHR, CA
• 7 SHAYONA GLYNN, PROFILE RACING, CA
• 8 KELSEY VAN OGLE, FACTORY STAATS/CIARI, WA

In the Vet ranks, the boys were going for 3-mains (along with A-pros), while some were hoping for just one. In the end, SE Javier Colombo would have the consistency of a No.1 Vet champ to get the job done. Pohlkamp - the King of TV commercials, would score the 2-spot.

VET PRO

• 1 JAVIER COLOMBO, SE RACING,, CA
• 2 MATT POHLKAMP, DAN'S COMP, CA
• 3 NICHOLAS ARSCHOOT, FL
• 4 CRISTIAN BECERINE, SSQUARED,, CA
• 5 STEPHEN LARRALDE, ROCKSTAR/ANSWER/DK, CA
• 6 JASON SILVA,, AZ
• 7 JASON RICHARDSON, GT, CA
• 8 LARRY DARDINI, ANSWER/SSQUARED/D STAR, FL