Quad City Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on July 17, 2015 | Comment(s)

Words and Images by Jason McGuire

This is the first time I have made it out to East Moline BMX Speedway, and right off the bat the track sits around some great scenery. Nestled just off the highway, the track is surrounded by lush green grass and a thick grove of trees just off of the last straightaway. The first thing you see is the giant tower at the starting hill which gives sweeping views of the entire facility when looking out of its top deck. The track though, like many places, is what really sets this place off. 

East Moline BMX Speedway is certainly all about speed, with a big open first straight that is all about getting up to top speed by the top you reach the first turn. With a great viewing area by the gate, spectators have the best seats in the house when watching riders tackle the second straight. One thing I noticed is this track is pretty technical with the third straight packing a lot of deep obstacles one right after the other. Many riders were trying pretty hard to find the best ways in getting through it without sacrificing speed. The locals seemed to shine as they handled it with little stress. 

The track is in great condition after some rain earlier in the week. The pre-race was fantastic and with sunshine in the forecast, this should be a great weekend for summer time BMX racing on the USA BMX National series tour. We will have all of the live coverage for you through all of our social media channels from East Moline. As always, check back here tomorrow night for the complete race report and photo gallery from day one of the USA BMX Quad City Nationals. 

SATURDAY:

Day one of the Quad City Nationals kicked off with perfect weather and a group of balance bike riders ready to rip down the last straightaway. After kicking their way to some trophies, qualifying rounds for the 152 moto race were underway. All throughout qualifying the riders were burning tires as hard as they could with hopes of not finding themselves in the second round. One of the areas that caused the most problems was the first turn. The turns here can be tricky as they do not have a lot of bowl to them and they are certainly not very tall. Mix that with a lot of speed, your momentum can easily cause you to fall off your line – even with the gritty blacktop trying to hold you in place. Eventually, everyone was controlling their speeds quite well in turn one and two, ceasing most of the original issues. 

After qualifying had wrapped up we were set to go for the main events. With warm temps and high humidity, (about 62%) racers were eager to get finished and find some cooler temps. Pros were lined up in the gate and the main battle fell on Ssquared Bicycles's Tyler Whitfield and Hayden Fletcher along with Doublecross' Olijuwon Davis. After two rounds of wins, Whitfield was looking good and made it happen again for the third main event. Fletcher and Davis were constantly battling back and forth, but in the end it was Whitfield with the win, Davis in second and Fletcher for third. A Ssquared sandwich if you will. These three will be back on the gate tomorrow and ready to rock it out once again for the fans. 

When it came to the amateur championship classes, girls cruiser was first on deck. The favorite of the day for us had to be 13-14 Girls Cruiser. These ladies were pushing each other hard to come out with a final victor, but it was Star BMX Products rider Stephani Morin who would beat out the other girls in the class for the win. Moris has been putting in a ton of work this year and we have seen some solid improvements in her riding. The Illinois local has the talent to do it again tomorrow, now we will wait and see if she can do just that. 

In the guy's cruiser class, Hostile Elite's Layne Rowell stepped up big in 9 Cruiser. Layne has been another young gun that has stepped up in 2015, but he really shined today in East Moline. The Texan was just in Vegas and came straight here to keep up the momentum, which based off of his solid win today was definitely the right choice. He will be a threat over the next few months as we near the Grands. With some solid scores still lurking, Layne could easily sneak in the back door for a NAG #1 spoiler. For now, this win will shoot him into the top ten.

Back to the girls we go and Ssquared Bicycles rider Jamie Windholz showed how she is capable of riding at every single national. There have been a few times this year where we have seen her ride and it did not seem like it was 100%, but she left no doubt today as she left the competition in the dust. Windholz could be the next girl to turn pro in the somewhat near future, and she will need to continue riding at this level to make it happen. Nonetheless, she has a bright future and has the potential to make it on the next level. 

Over the last two races, the 11 Expert class had a rider who has been around for a while but hasn't really broken out to shine big time. Now Henry Chudzik from Homerglen, IL has taken his Dance Factory Racing ride to some solid wins the last two events – one coming during today's main event. Chudzik has really exploded onto the scene and he is improving with each event. When you don't think he is there, bam he is out front and taking charge of the show. He will definitely be a wild card for the rest of the year and the entire 11 Expert class should be concerned as we enter the second part of the season. 

Day one of the 2015 Quad City Nationals is in the books and we are all set to kick off day two at 8 a.m. central time tomorrow morning. Be sure to check us out on Facebook and all of our other social media outlets throughout the day for updates, and as always we will have the weekend recap right here tomorrow night. 

SUNDAY:

8 a.m. Sunday morning and the pro class was loaded into the gate and ready to rock and roll! With one less than a full gate, they opted to run the first lap for gate choice and the next three as their main rounds. After Tyle Whitfield took the boys to class yesterday, the teacher Olijuwon Davis knew it was time for the really school session to be in. By the time the third round rolled up, after the open mains, Whitfield tried to piece together a comeback but was unsuccessful. His win in the final round was not enough to top Davis, who would take the overall win. In the end, we saw the same podium as yesterday except Whitfield moved to second while his teammate Hayden Fletcher pocketed another third. 

The local riders, like usual, had a big advantage on this technically demanding track. Strange Motion Kicker rider and local Lilly Campbell absolutely crushed the weekend with a strong double-double (with cheese). Both the 11-12 Girls Cruiser class and the 11 Girls class were under her full command as the competition followed her lines all the way around. This girl continues to impress us with her skill level and ability to adapt quite well to any track she is faced with. Don't be surprised if you see this girl chasing National #1 titles in a few years. 

One of the most impressive racers of the weekend was Venom~Blackcrown's Jack Plummer. The 14-year-old from Edina, Minnesota was absolutely on fire all weekend long. It did not matter whether it was his cruiser or class bike, the young man absolutely killed it. After two big cruiser wins he grabbed the class win on Saturday and had a heavy side-by-side battle with Aram Schwinn in today's class main for the win. Schwinn got the edge, but nonetheless it was a solid second to wrap up an impressive weekend. 

When it comes to team battles, your female team riders can play a big part. Full Tilt's banned of beauties grabbed some big wins in their prospective classes. First up was 5 & Under girl Callie Voigt, next was Madison Peckham in the 9 Girls class, followed by Alexis Newark in the 14 rider 13 Girls class. Last, but certainly not least, was Cassidy Crotty who took the honors in 15-16 Girls. Ask any of the top team managers and they will tell you having a solid girl or girls on your team is worth its weight in gold, especially on a day like today when almost all of them win! 

Did you hear that train roll through earlier today? The East Moline BMX Speedway certainly did after Dan's Comp's Spencer "Coletrain" Cole barreled through the track with lightning speeds in the 13 Expert main event. The multi-talented sports star can do much more than kill it on a soccer field, he is pretty solid on a BMX track as well. Cole dominated the class all weekend long with a strong double. Dan's Comp just picked him up this year after many years with DK, and they have to be loving how well this kid has performed over the past year. 

The Quad City Nationals came to a close with some fantastic racing on day two of the event. East Moline BMX Speedway and their entire staff went above and beyond to make sure everyone in attendance was well taken care of and minus the difficult turns, all talk was good in regards to the track. A huge shout out and thank you to everyone who joined us this weekend and we certainly hope you will come out and join us next weekend for the Golden State Nationals on the west coast or the Empire State Nationals on the east. For now, keep the rubber side down and we will see you at the races!