Cornhusker Nationals

from Pull Magazine October 2020

DK Gold Cup South Central Championships

USABMX.COM H VOL. 10 / ISS. 9

Factory Supercross’ Mikkel DeVore was haulin’ buns in 16x and found himself on Friday’s podium. Watching the style of this Spokane local reminds us of Connor Fields.

etween the third and fourth straight at Star City BMX there is a small marsh, lined with tall cattails and filled with tadpoles. Tip-toeing along the edge of it on Friday, hundreds of sun-tanning baby frogs leapt out of my way, jumping back into the murky waters. All except for one. His name was Jeremiah - and when he grows up, he plans to be a bullfrog. If you know the song well - he would become a good friend of mine.

As it turns out, Jeremiah is a huge BMX fan - which should be obvious, since he lives in the infield of a BMX track. Like most Lincoln locals, he was just as excited to watch the Cornhusker National, as he is on a Saturday when the Huskers play football. Jeremiah is also a loyal reader of PULL magazine and is up on all of the latest BMX stats and point standings.

words & pics by gOrk

In Amateur boys, four of the current Top-10 Ams were in attendance this weekend, and this baby Bullfrog was stoked to see the continuance of the Ronnie -vs- Cedric Show.“The 14x mains are going to be GREAT! Cade is currently No.3 in Amateur point standings versus former No.1 Am Ronnie Kim, who surprisingly sits No.10 coming into this race,” croaked the lil’ green feller. With not many jumps for Cade to use to his advantage, Box’s Ronnie Kim would end up three-for-three on the flat-out power track. “After this weekend, Ced has beat Ronnie 13 times, compared to Ronnie beating

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Cedric 11 times!” exclaimed Jerry.

Full Tilt’er Cole Frederick, the current No.6-seeded 13x from Minnesota, was also in town - and finally had a new W#1 plate attached to his bars. He too would finish out the weekend with three more wins, holding off LDC’s Chase Buller each time. Our froggy friend was amazed at the huge leads that Cole would have by the first turn. And then there was the Goofball kid who is ranked No.2 in points right now - Missouri outlaw Eli Staton. Full Tilt-Radio has three riders in the Top-6 Amateur Boys point standings right now. Jeremiah did the math - “That’s HALF of the Top-6!” Ol’ Eli did his usual domination on 10x and 9-10 X-Open, doubling-up each day. On Friday, though, Eli had to work hard for the win - nipping Thiaan Hardie right at the stripe by an inch. Could this be the year that the Amateur silver Cup goes to a lil’ dude, I wondered out loud. The bullfrog shook his wartcovered head - “It may be!”

Perhaps one of the best mains of the weekend came in Friday’s 15x, when Daylight’s Dallas Gardner got a little loose in the first turn and sent NAG No.1 Drew Engler flying over the turn and somersaulting down the grassy backside for about 25 feet. While Alpha’s Blaise Pereira would sprint away with an easy win, Engler ran back up the berm, grabbed his Hyper bike and amazingly raced back up to fifth place!

Probably due to location or a presumed lower rider-count, there were only a handful of

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National Girl title-contenders at the Cornhusky’s. Among them all, No.2-seeded (in Girl Cruiser) Isabella Nelson might’ve had the best weekend, with one 20” win in 14 girls and three victories in 13-14 girl cruiser. Ssquared’s Grecia Cristodulo would take home the other two wins in class. No.6 ranked Avery Chartrand only scored a 13girls win once, sharing the podium with Shelby Elder and Brooklyn Van Renselaar. Full Tilt’s Mckenzie Gayheart - sitting in the No.7 spot of points, easily added three more wins to her resume in 17-20. Alpha’s Annalyse Solano - the current leader in Girls Cruiser standings, won 11- 12 cruiser all three days.

As Jeremiah watched from his front porch along the third straight rhythm, he was thrilled to see current Cruiser points leader Ryder Lawrence, in all of his colorful Fox gear, tear up the Star City track. Ryder doubled up on Saturday and won X-Open all three days. Much to all of our surprise, Gordy’s Fast Frankie Stubbs beat Lawrence two out of three days, and the two rippers really put on a show in every main. Fifth-seeded Ace Laack and his new Alpha were hoping to bump themselves up in points, with two wins a day in 9X and 9cruiser. Seven year old Damon Fisher, who is currently sitting in the No.4 spot, scored only one win all weekend in the 7 & Under cruiser class. LDC’s Chase Buller, ranked No.10 right now, was also in Lincoln and won 13cruiser

ROC #1 Champ Solomon Mitchell in 6x.

15x saw a Battle of the Josh’s: Ssquared’s Sterling (#12) and Full Tilt’s Trerise (NAG#3).

Minnesota’s Caden Lloyd makes up for not making the 15x main by scoring some style points.

Venomous Tyler Nelson (NAG#8) led the 17-20 cruiser main twice, and Aaron Blee (#10) kept him honest.

LEFT: 316 Racing’s Sean Delgado and his fellow 14 cruiser cohorts had a hard time catchin’ The Entertainer.

RIGHT: Gordy’s Stubby-one, Fast Frankie, flew in for two 12x wins. Not an easy task to do.

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J&R’s Shelby Elder (#54) leads Isabella Nelson (NAG#3) in 13-14 girl cruiser.

all three days.

By the end of the weekend, the Cornhusker Nationals was deemed another huge success - pulling off another big outdoor event during these crazy times of Covid’ness. All attendees, including our new-found friend Jeremiah, were entertained with some awesome racing and fun times. The Star City BMX staff had gone allout for this event, including the placement of corn stalks and American flags all over the track. All weekend long, the second turn was lined with spectators, who loudly cheered on racers of all ages and skill levels. It was so much fun that Jeremiah broke out in song: “Joy to the World, all the boys and girls now.”

DATA:

Date: August 21-23, 2020

Location: Star City BMX

City/State: Lincoln, NE States Represented: 38 Moto Counter: Fri: 151 Sat: 169 Sun: 162

Kings of Pro Open Jake Peebles (Friday & Saturday) Austin McCain (Sunday)

Team Winners (Bike Shop & Factory):Fri: BMX Sharks & Full Tilt-RadioSat: Black Widow & Full Tilt-RadioSun: BMX Sharks & Full Tilt-Radio

DOUBLES x3 (two wins all 3 days)

ACE LAACK

9 Cruiser & 9X

ELI STATON

9-10 Xopen & 10X

LOLA JONJEVIC