7 minute read
LAS VEGAS NATIONALS
Vegas short-track racing always gets tight in the last corner, as these 8x’s can attest to.
Cedric crashed and burned two seconds after this shot.
photos & story by G-MO
Can you believe that we were finally back in Vegas? It seems like so long ago that we were this pumped to witness some Vegas short track racing. A few weeks prior to this weekend, rumors of a 500 moto national began to flair up. While we didn’t quite get there or even set the all-time record, this was the largest BMX race ever held in Sin City. With 1,810 riders on Saturday, we did however set the all time regular-season participant record. Make no mistake about it - there were a BUNCH of racers and families in attendance.
The big news of the weekend was that former National No.1 Ama-
teur Ronnie Kim and Box Components had just parted ways. Ronnie joins the current National No.1 Amateur, Cole Frederick, as a privateer. Will anyone swoon these heavyweights to suit up for their squads for the remainder of 2021? On the track, we saw a surprise winner in the Pro Open class. Bay Area’s Brandon Cato came out of retirement to put down what had to be the fastest first straight of the weekend, and took top honors. Driven Cycling Academy’s Jeff Upshaw tried to give Cato some brotherly love in the last turn but went down in the process. This opened the door for Patrick Coo and Alan Hudson to step onto the box. Also making a triumphant return to the national scene were the heirs to the Daylight Cycles throne - Levi and Dr. Hannah Huvard. Levi’s been busy for the past few seasons with his band, Social Distance, and skiing a bunch of powdery runs in the Colorado mountains. Dr. Hannah has been hitting the books for quite some time and is now a postdoctoral researcher at New Mexico State University. Both still know how to ride their bikes, with Levi making the 15-16 Open, 15 cruiser and 15X mains, while Dr. Hannah made the podium in 31-35 women cruiser on the two days that she raced. Quite impressive!
Elbows always come into play in Vegas’ sharp turns. Bay Area’s Jose Lim (31) leads a lap of 46-50 Inters. He’d finish up just off the podium with a fourth on day two.
James Tatom-Scharer (GC#2) gets the inside advantage over Madisyn Watson.
Full Tilt’s Brody Cole (NAG#1) grabbed a second on Friday night in the 17-20X main.
The 51-55 Cruiser mains were led by Vegas local and Captain of Team Skinny-dudes, Eric Sweets, but Mark Nunley somehow managed to pull the exact same last turn high-low on Sweets every time, snatching away the victory. This also happened in the final lap of the weekend - 51 & Over Expert. All year long, we have been waiting to see J&R’s Alexis Alden and Answer’s Danica Anderson face off in 14 Expert Girls ...and this, finally, was it. But, to our surprise, the day was owned by Vegas local Savannah Stokes. Hyper’s newest recruit left no doubt that she has arrived as a serious contender for the skinny digit in the class, with wins on days one and two. Unfortunately, Alden went down in two of the three mains but still managed a second place on day two. The Lil’ Avalanche would go 2-3-1 for the weekend. We can’t wait to see this class at Grands when World champ Nicole Foronda joins the party. Maya “The Warrior Princess” Gadbois has been on fire in the 8 Girls class
Ironman’s Steven Oliver-Paur put it all together on Sunday in 14 Inter, scoring the big win.
J&R’s Lian Auyon gets low for the final turn while Alpha’s Ace Laack gets his drift on.
as of late, and continued her winning ways on the first two days in Vegas. If she can snag a few more wins, she too will be up for that elusive NAG Championship. But watch out for Impact’s Zoe Barnes, who pulled off the big win on Sunday. It’s been a while since we’ve seen track awareness like Jacob Colwell exhibited in 6X. Alpha’s youngest star made a move in the last turn on Sunday that caused the entire arena to go crazy. No matter where he’s at on the track, he’s looking for the lead by the finish line. It’s almost inevitable that someone goes over a turn at some point during Vegas’ main events, and this year, it happened on the final day, in the 1516 girls class. Napa Valley Pull’s Kira Boustead was going bar to bar with Rift’s Breanna Winter out of the first turn, and neither of them wanted to give an inch. They ended up locking arms going into turn two, and unable to turn, they’d both rode straight up and over the turn. This opened the door for Breanna’s Tangent team
Rift’s 13X Ryder Santos is due for a big win.
As Powerlite’s 16x Micah Binder gets gone, Mayhem’s Angel Plata starts breakdancing.
Somebody grab an extinguisher- BMX Shark Kaiden Ireland was ON FIRE in Sin City.
Comin’ in hot!
mate, “Rah-Rah” Romero, who carved her way to victory. It felt great to be back in Vegas after such a long hiatus. The South Point venue is a must visit not only for teams and riders looking for large national scores, but also for families that want a great national experience, combined with some grown-up fun. While some folks love the short track and others, not so much, no one can deny that the energy levels found inside the South Point arena are unmatched on the regular season circuit. Ask anyone, it is truly one of the best races of the year!
You know that Alpha’s Jacob Colwell means business when his tongue is out!
The WiFi was strong in the South Point Arena!
DETAILS
Date: July 16 - 18, 2021 Location: South Point Casino City/State: Las Vegas, NV
States Represented: 35 Countries Represented: 3
Moto Counter
Friday 414 Saturday 417 Sunday 371 Las Vegas Team Winners
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Bike Shop: Bay Area BMXers Factory: Answer
Doubles x 3 (Two Wins on three days)
MELISSA BRAY 41-45 W Cru & 41 Women GUADALUPE PALACIOS 11-12 M Open & 11 Girl
Doubles x 2 (Two Wins on two days)
CAMERON BRAMER 17-20 Cruiser & Expert JACOB COLWELL 6under Open & 6 Expert COURTNEY TOMEI 31-35 W Cru & 31-40 Women BROOKE WALSKI 10under G Cru & 10 Girls
Doubles (Two Wins on one day)
MAYA GADBOIS 8 Mixed & 8 Girls EIAN GIBSON 11 Cruiser & 11 Expert ALEX HAYWARD 6 & Under Mixed Open & 6 Inter MICHAEL MECHAM 31 & Over Mixed Open & 36-40 Inter JIM NELSON 46-50 Expert & 46-50 Cruiser GRAYSON NOVAK 7 & Under Cruiser & 7 Expert MARK NUNLEY 51-55 Cruiser & 51+ Expert JAYDEN PENNINGTON 9-10 Mixed & 10 Inter KNOX PERKINS 9 Cruiser & 9 Expert SOPHIA RODRIGUEZ 11-12 G Cru & 12 Girls DESERAE ROMERO 15-16 G Cru & 15-16 Girls GREYSON SNEED 8 Cruiser & 8 Expert CHRIS SUTTON 36-40 Cruiser & 36-40 Expert ANDREW WUENSCHEL 11-12 Open & 12 Expert
Trifectas - won their class all three days
LEXIE ALEJANDRE 21-30 Women Cruiser DANICA ANDERSON 13-14 Girls Cruiser ERIC BACA 41-45 Expert ELIDA BEEMAN 21-30 Women SEAN DAY 14 Expert JACKSON ELLIOTT 21-25 Cruiser COLE FREDERICK 13 Expert MACI FRY 6 Girls Expert MCKENZIE GAYHEART 17-20 Women DEVIN GOSNELL 13 Cruiser ANGELA HALE 36-40 Women Cruiser DUSTIN HAMMOND 21-25 Expert CODY HARRIS 31-35 Cruiser JAKE KINNEY 17-20 Novice ALEXANDER MARTIN 7 Intermediate MCKENNA MERTEN 17-20 Women Cruiser JACOB MOELLER 11 Intermediate TYLER PARTEN 15 Intermediate ERIC RUPE 56-60 Cruiser NATHAN SHIFFLET 13 Intermediate SAUL SUAREZ 7 Novice REBEKAH THREATT 46-50 Women Cruiser JACOB TRUJILLO 16 Expert
