Great Northwest nationals race report

Filed under General on April 10, 2016 | Comment(s)

Thousands of BMX racers, fans and family converged on the Dechutes County Fairgrounds for the annual Great Northwest Nationals, and they were all in for plenty of fun and some ferociously fast racing!

The USA BMX build-crw - with many of them based in Oregon, always put together an incredibly fun and fast track in Redmond, and this year was no different. And if you asked many of the riders, they might even tel you that this year's track was one of the best so far. 

Kicking off with the Pros, Tangent-Rift's Jacob Abbe looked to be the one to beat after becoming the King of Friday Night. But on Saturday, Kuwahara's Alan Hudson - amazingly in his 12th year as a pro, was able to hold off Abbe to score the Day 1 win. 

A PRO

• 1ALAN HUDSON, KUWAHARA, PHOENIX, AZ
• 2JACOB ABBE,  RIFT-TANGENT, EL CAJON, CA
• 3KEITH ANDERSON, ALPHA  TEAM, RENO, NV
• 4KRISTIAN COOPER, REDMOND, OR
• 5KEITH GRINE, ALPHA FACTORY, SIMI VALLEY, CA
• 6HUNTER McGILL, PURE FACTORY/ONYX, NANAIMO, BC
• 7KEVIN SHANKEL, MOTIVE POWER/FLY/TANGENT, STOCKTON, CA
• 8PETE PASCUAL, TEAM CALCULATED, STOCKTON, CA

When you come to talking about Northwest BMX, there are plenty of BMX legends who have left their mark on the NW scene. From Gary Ellis (4-time No.1 Pro) to Clarence "Earthquake" Perry, to the legendary Hall of Famer Oregonian Darrell Young. One of the true NW legends when it comes to long-term, non-stop racing is "Pee Wee" Brent Lee. At one time (and perhaps even to this day), Brent held (or holds) the record for Most Points in a Lifetime. This weekend i Oregon, the former Factory Powerlite racer returned - now in the 36-40 class, and showed that he hasn't slowed down in old age. In fact, he seemed just as fast as the last time we saw him. ...and, wouldn't you know it? He was still running the traditional, no-visor NW look that he's become famous for. Go Bulletheads!   

36-40 CRUISER

• 1BRENT LEE, BMXTC, UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA
• 2JON MCCOY, BONNEY LAKE, WA
• 3JAYSON HALE, BOISE, ID
• 4JAY DURAN, BALLISTIC BMX, OMAK, WA
• 5DANNY ASHBROOK, HESPERIA BMX / GHP, HESPERIA, CA
• 6JACK DEYOUNG, G.H.Y BIKES, SEATTLE, WA
• 7ROBERT GARDNER, TEAM CALCULATED, SAN JOSE, CA
• 8JAY RHODES, WEST COAST BMXERS, CRECSENT CITY, CA

In the girls classes, perhaps one of the toughest age classes of them all has to be the 13 year olds. The unsponsored Lexis Colby (attention Team Managers - LOOKING for one of the fastest girls out there?!) is usually the one to best, but there's always Answer~Rennen's Leyna Jones and Canadian national Champion "Ultra-Violet" Cejalvo, among the plenty of quick 13 girls out there. All we were missing was Skittles! On Saturday, it quite a battle all day long between Colby, Jones and Cejalvo - but in the end, it was Arizona's Colby scoring the Day 1 victory.   

13 GIRLS

• 1LEXIS COLBY, NONE, PEORIA, AZ
• 2LEYNA JONES, ANSWER/RENNEN, OXNARD, CA
• 3"ULTRA" VIOLET CEJALVO, YESS BMX, SURREY, BC
• 4BRENNA BRADY, KUWAHARA, YUBA CITY, CA
• 5MCKENNA MERTEN, JAMUL, CA
• 6FAITH WILLDEN, LOOKING, PLEASANT GROVE, UT
• 7AMYA (THE RAVENATOR) RAVEN, RPM AUTO GLASS, VALLEJO, CA
• 8HALLE PELLAND, MT VERNON, WA

Then, of course, being Oregon - you can only expect that the 2-time National No.1 Girl Crusier racer Olivia Armstrong would be out to defend her home-turf here in Redmond. Leading up to this event, Olivia had been working the media circuit hard, putting in a few interviews leading up to the weekend's action. Would she double-double? Does a bear poop in the Oregon woods? You bet. 

In the Am ranks, another rider who has been on fire as of late, and is also at the top of th list for any team manager who is looking to pick up an ultra-fast older am, is B.J. Ensley. he was on fire in Texas last weekend, and he kept up the streak in Oregon. Word has it that there are a few factory scouts out there already looking at him and some who might already be courting him. We expect, as this rate, that he won't be unsponsored for too long.  

17-18 EXPERT

• 1BRIAN ENSEY, BELLA VISTA, CA
• 2MICHAEL BOYLE, DAYLIGHT CYCLES, BOISE, ID
• 3SANTIAGO ZAPATA, ITAGUI BMX - COLOMBIA, MEDELLIN
• 4JACOB HALEY, BIG TOOL TANGENT, CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA
• 5ETHAN ALVEY, KUWAHARA, LAYTON, UT
• 6MONROE HUTTON, KUWAHARA CANADA, LANGLEY, BC
• 7CALEB WALL, VENDETTA/ELITE BICYCLES, AMARILLO, TX
• 8ZAC HAYMOND,  FREE AGENT, WEST JORDAN, UT