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Bringing

from PULL BMX JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023

by USA BMX

from PULL BMX JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023, page 11

Article from: PULL BMX JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023

2023 USA BMX NATIONAL SCHEDULE

Sqorz timing to USA BMX tracks.

Transponder Location

l Transponder is situated at the bottom of the forks.

l It must be placed vertically in line with the forks.

l Either side of the wheel is fine.

l The cap is usually at the top (numbers are upside down).

l Use 2 x cable ties to ensure the transponder does not fall off.

Note: Transponders are not rechargeable. MYLAPS will replace the transponder free of charge when the battery expires.

MY SQORZ

Shows all times for your transponder from any track in the USA that has Sqorz Timing System. Open my.sqorz.com on a browser on your smartphone.

Enter your transponder number. Sqorz - Home www.sqorz.com

Sqorz transfigures action on the track to powerful data. Feature packed and easy to use software for running BMX training and race events. A fully integrated solution utilising the latest technology and bringing live data to riders, spectators and event organisers via smartphones.

Contact details: Martin Ward martin@eventsoft.com.au cell: +61 414 818 450

Round 1- Oviedo City, F L. Feb 3-4

Round 2- San Diego, Ca. March 17-18

Round 3-Tulsa, OK. April 21-22

Round 4- Woodward, PA. May 19-21

Round 5- Salt Lake City, UT. June 16-17

Round 6- Denver, NC . August 18-19 (Charlotte NC area)

Round 7- Royal Oak, MI. Sept 22-23

The Finals at Woodward West- Oct 20-22

The stage was set, the pits were full, and the 2022 USA BMX National Series’s final laps charged onto the Tulsa track. With a different style of Grands track awaiting racers, to be successful, to be successful, raw power and race craft were needed above all else. While some couldn’t ditch the negativity about the track design, the ones who did found fast laps and end-of-season glory.

The action kicked off HOT, with the pro ranks taking on their final chance to bump their scores going into the Friday Night show. Bar banging and pre-Grands prep shining, the Daudet show was the main story through the ROC as the Frenchman took each lap with a purpose. That purpose? Making history as the first ever 5x USA BMX National No.1 Men Pro. Going five for six in winning laps, the veteran experience is playing perfectly into the #WinWithChase monicker.

As Kennedy and Mclean missed the main event, a certain gold medalist also missed out, leaving only Daudet, Wood, and Sharrah to fight for that last-minute score. To the first turn, Daudet stomped his mark of domination while getting the elbow in front of Mongoose’s Cam Wood into turn one. With Daudet leading the way, Arthur Pilard followed his fellow Frenchman to the podium as Anthony Bucardo battled down the second straight to lock in a bottom step on the podium. With so much action in only a 27.864-second lap, the Men Pro battles were ready to ramp it up again as they prepare for the night show and the 2022 USA BMX National No.1 Title. He was the first man to ever do it, and he does it after a whirlwind year. Coming into the Greatest Race on Earth in the overall four spots, Joris quickly showed his Tulsa dominance taking home the ROC win and the second place at the Friday night Pro Championship Final. Racing for Chase Bicycles and the BMX Racing Group Store, out of Corona, CA, by way of France, your 5x National No.1 Men Pro, JORIS DAUDET.

As the best of the best geared up for their laps, it was all eyes on the World/Defending Champ, the World Cup Queen, and the USA BMX Dominator. While each brought winning laps and bar-banging battles, the USA BMX dominator, Alise Willoughby, took the ROC win.

Throughout the day, Willoughby and Laura Smulders went head to head with first straight battles that tested the raw power each competitor brought to the field. Joining them in their Women Pro power were familiar kits mixing up the points chase. Molly Simpson and Lauren Reynolds caught our eye as two who could make a run at leading

Doubles

LILY ASHLEY

TARIK ASSAGAI

ALEC BOB

LUKE BROOKE-SMITH

LANDON BURIAN

ELIJAH EMERY

ROWDY HOLZER

JAXSON HOWELL

COOPER JACKSON

COLTON KIDD

CID MARTINEZ

JASON NOORDAM

GRAYSON NOVAK

CHRISSY PIPER

DREW POLK

JASON SILVA

JEMMA TOLLEFSON

MARSHALL WARNER

COREY WILLERT

DEREK WIPPRECHT

Double Doubles

DASH LOVELESS

TYLER MCGUIRE

COURTNEY TOMEI

Triples

JEMMA TOLLEFSON the Women Pro main event. Reynolds came out strong in all three rounds. The Answer BMX racer had the track dialed in. Hitting her marks into the semi and onto the main with the third gate pick, she couldn’t avoid the 30’ squeeze from the Canadian Molly Simpson. Getting an elbow in front and moving over to the inside, Simpson locked in behind Willoughby for a wire-to-wire second place in front of Laura Smulders, completing the ROC podium.

But where was the defending champ? With gate eight, Stancil was stuck on the outside down the first straight. Staying wide into turn one left her to battle through the pack, and while doing so, a door opened into turn two. However, that door quickly shut mid-air, forcing her to check up and live to fight on in the big show on Friday.

With two hands up, that’s how many times “The Beast” Alise Willoughby has crossed the Grand Nationals finish line a champion. Undoubtedly the best to ever do it, Willoughby battles through early and late-season injury to lock in her 10th USA BMX Women Pro Title and did it by putting down a clean sweep in the total point main events. The Minnesota native and SoCal training legend is once again your USA BMX National No.1 Women Pro.

But now it’s time for the fan favorite, the class that wows and excites the crowd on those early race mornings, Vet Pro. With the current points leader taking his final day of RnR before the big show, the rest of the Vet Pro field was ready to battle it out from the jump. Early on in rounds, the top dogs of the day were beginning to emerge.

With Emilio Falla, Alan Hudson, Jeff Upshaw, Cal Strickland, and Tyler Brown all locking in some impressive low scores, it was The Captain,

Nic Long, that had the fan’ hearts as he battled back for a second and third-round win after a misstep down the first straight in round one. But wait, there’s more. In both the quarters and semi, he got caught up in crashes leaving him to battle from a dead stop. Making it on, with a line grabbing fourth in quarters, his day was over in semis due to a turn two pile up.

Looking at the Vet Pro main, we might see some beef brewing. As the pack charged to the first turn, inside to outside, it went Falla, Hudson, and Strickland, with Upshaw tucking into the four spot. After a back wheel spin out from Falla allowed Hudson to make the pass, Falla was in defense mode down the fourth straight. Giving Upshaw a little love over the set-up jump, Big Jeff returned the favor into turn four with a cross jump to steal Falla’s line and secure the two spot behind “Hot Pants” Hudson. While he was only 20 days out from his crash at a Pro/Am, the BMX world was unsure if he would even be able to race, but the Alabama Slamma wouldn’t a “small” setback stifle his night. Dominating from the first gate drop on Friday, Barry Nobles took charge and monopolized all the way to the main stage. Doing it for Chase Bicycles, the Alabama man, Barry Nobles, is your 2022 USA BMX National No.1 Vet Pro.

The pros may have brought the crowds into the Friday night show, but the Sunday night crowd was there for the pure and raw excitement of the USA BMX amateur action.

From two rounds of 957 motos, 1/16th, 1/8th, quarters, and semis, the final eight racers in our 126 main events immerge from behind the curtain to lock and load into the glory of the 2022 Grand Nationals. Before we get into the title classes, let’s look at the Mixed Open and Open laps that presented themselves as the bar-banging appetizers for the night.

Charging out of the gate for the first mixed open main of the night, the young guns of 6 & under mixed open went five wide into turn one and only. With only a sin gle available spot on top, the fast Nathan Larsen survived the inside squeeze to take the wire-towire win. The racers in the following race were unable to survive the squeeze when gate sevens Oklahoma native, Dash Loveless, shot out like a cannon in 7-8 Mixed Open. With a strong charge coming from Peyton Spanel on the second-place spot, the Okie was able to fend off the LSG colors as he lunged to the win at the line. As our friend Jim Riley likes to say, the 15-16 Mixed Open class was in a BigTime Hurry as Lily Greenough went out front and stayed there, similar to the hard-charging 13-14 Open class with Luke Brooke-Smith stretching his lead from the moment he hit the 30 foot.

The Open classes wrapped up, and the first silver cup was on the line. For Sean Carvajal’s LDC, the shining one, Diamond Lily Ashley took the pressure title and the first to do it on Chilao Yoshimura Pedals. With the NAT 1 plate out of contention, the Women’s Cruiser classes charged for the glory and their fight for the NAG 1 plate on the line. For 13-14 and 1516 Girls Cruiser coming down the main event finish, Taylor Rungatis and Danica Anderson didn’t disappoint as they both made the pass for the win and the NAG 1 plate. The cruiser dominators continued to show out as the age and speed grew. Dominators like Casey Allen from Desoto, who fended off the pack down the first straight, and

Chrissy Piper, who took some time away from the High Five BMX page to lead their laps from start to finish. The final women’s cruiser race was about to drop for the 2023 season, and all eyes were on the big battle between Donna Gatz and Mama Margie Kaminski. Gatz getting off to an early lead in and out of turns one and two, the New York racer of Kaminski wasn’t going down without a fight. Making up two bike lengths down the fourth straight, the inside move from Kaminski put Gatz into high-low mode, where she took back the lead over the final table for the 56 & Over Women’s Cruiser Class.

Another class and another title chase begin. The boy’s cruiser chase was all about the young guns in 2022, with one YOUNG gun standing out from the rest. J&R Bicycles’ Cody Young locked up the title chase quickly, as he shot out of the gate with 2021 Cruiser champ Greyson Sneed to his outside and the Fulltilt ride further down the line to his inside. With red and white leading the pack, the grey kit of Howell was giving up no room for mistake as they charged to the line. The legs stopped spinning, and the brake pads squealed as Punta Gorda’s own Cody Young won the day and the year with the Cruiser title. As the gates continued to drop and the battles continued, a few races were seared into our minds. No, not the near miss between Ryder Robinett and Wahley on the inside of turn three, but the outstanding performance from Cash Strickland in that same 14 Cruiser main event. Outpowering some heavy hitters down the first straight, Strickland was cool, calm, and collected as he stretched out his lead in the clean air. With a little more bar-to-bar action, the 17-20 cruiser class was rocked by the BMX Shark out of the middle. Coming out of gate four, Aaron Blee used the middle lane expressway to rail around the first turn and into a pull position through the rest of the track. Racing out of Grand Junction, Colorado, we’re excited to see this kid’s future. Jumping a few races down the shoots to the 36-40 Cruiser class, the gate-wide battle turned into a one-man show as the pack was left to scramble in the second turn missing Tarik Assagai out front. The dive low by Brandon Kintzler may have ended in the dirt, but you can’t blame a guy for trying in the STACKED 36-40 Cruiser class. On to the final cruiser lap of the season, Hall of Famers, AAs in the heyday, and hard chargers in 2022, the 61& Over class brought the power with a Woody v. Tuni showdown. A decade-long battle saw Woodruff out front with the big man of Henry gaining speed fast. A tight final turn and a wheel buzz kept Woody out front, and the battle to continue into the 2023 season.

If anything gets the crowd to its feet, you know it will be the Grindle call out with the #GirlsClub on deck. Making an impact early on in the Expert Girl main events was The Princess Isabella Smith. With a hard charger from gate to winner’s circle, Smith fought off the late race effort from Remy The Rockstar

Sessa to lock up the win for her hometown of Henderson, NV. From one winning Princess to the next, Kira Vescuso took on the 8-yearolds with an impressive pointsleading lap. While Stella Rodriguez ended the chance for a triple Princess win by making the late race move into turn four, the sole racer to triple at the Grands was about to hit the track. In a heated battle down the first straight, Jemma Tollefson found herself tucked behind the Clayborn ride of Vida De Vira. Taking notes from the race before, Tollefson found the open door down low in turn four to complete the triple and leave Tulsa with some big-time hardware. But the biggest hardware of the night was still up for grabs, and it all came down to the defending champ and the future rookie pro, Ava Corley and Breanna Winter. The year-long hunt came down to Ava with BA’s voice saying that now legendary phrase. With anything less than a victory, Winter would have a shot, but in true defending champ fashion, Corley wrapped it up right then and there. In what seemed like a slow-motion sequence, that ominous, “With a win and only a win,” phrase played over top until Corley made the move. An eruption of cheers filled the arena as the BMX Shark led the battle-heavy class, and they only grew as Corley rounded the final turn for the finish line. With the Title secured tightly in Corley’s arms, the Rockstar/Rift/Tangent ride of Winter knew this next lap wasn’t for a title; it was for her. Trailing through the track’s first half, Winter found the race line to the front and powered the outside lane to the 17-20 Expert Women win. As the ladies charged on, the back-toback wins began to be completed. All in a row, Devin Murphy, Courtney Tomei, and Chrissy Piper laid down their speed to cap off their 2022 season.

With 19 mains remaining of the 2022 season, 152 racers loading into the gate, and only one National title to be earned, the action was destined for the history books. From Jaxson Howell getting redemption with a big 9 Expert win to Santiago Figueroa Bernier bringing the 11 Expert back to the North for

Quebec, the action was just beginning to heat up. With constant updates from BA, the title chase came down to not a win but a podium. For the first time since our BMX history experts can remember, the Amateur National title was crowned to the third-place racer. Playing it smart, knowing he had made the necessary moves throughout the year, Drew Polk has never been so excited for a third place, but at the 2022 Grand Nationals, he turned that third into a silver cup and stamped his place in the history books. As Grindle’s final remarks thanked the racers, workers, and fans for a great season, the legends of 51 & over experts got prepped to close out the night. The class dominator, Renato Silva, and one of the youngsters of the class, Chris Kennedy, lined up side by side to battle through the track with the Trackside ride in tow. With the Blackcrown BMX ride taking the top spot, followed by Silva on the two, these experienced riders put the perfect cap on an excellent season of BMX racing. Until January 2023.