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Jared Graves was the infield favorite for the Reno win, as of the third round on Saturday at the season opener. Of course, we now know that the infield swamis were incorrect that day. But it put Graves back on the radar coming out of Reno, and riding on in to a dusty town of cattle ranches and rodeo clowns, known as Guthrie, Oklahoma (cue “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” soundtrack).

Saturday, Graves got as close as one can get without being the top-stepper himself, with a second to Stumpy. Sunday was no day of rest for this Aussie, as he dispensed with the motos efficiently, and set his sites on the one-lap dash for the cash. In the main, the above photo foreshadows the finishing order from right-to-left…as early as the first jump. No dramatic turns in this main, but still plenty of action and RPMs being laid down by the fastest eight guys in BMX galaxy on January 25, 2010.

If the elite and pro classes were salsa, the AAs would have been be “zesty,” on Sunday, while the Jr. Men would be “muy caliente!” Guthrie must have been a bit of a bummer for Northerner Tory Nyhaug. Though he, himself, had plenty of caliente going on in his own right throughout the weekend, the tumble gods had his number in both Saturday and Sunday’s main events, making him less than the “way up in the mix” finisher he always is. In fact, two of the three smiling faces on Saturday’s Jr. Men podium returned for an encore on Sunday, with Elliot McGrath and Tommy Zula, for a second and third, respectively on Sunday (it was the other way on Saturday). The Con-Man, Connor Fields kept traction in the action in the first turn, and delivered another Jr. Men victory for the Free Agent faction (the first was on Saturday in Reno).

Keeping with the salsa analogy, the combined Jr. Women/ Elite Women class on Sunday would be the interesting mild. Six laps into her new Intense sponsorship, and anticipated comeback, Arielle Martin went down in the second straight, in the first round on Sunday. It looked pretty bad at first, as she was down for a good 10 mins while honest-to-goodness paramedics were called to the infield to make sure she was well tended to. A backboard ride off the infield did not calm the nerves of all her friends and fans, and she was soon taken to an area hospital for a scan of one stripe or another. By sundown, word came down that she received some stitches to close a gash on her chin, but all else was right down the middle with her condition. No word on how long she’ll be out, if at all…but we’ll check with her and bring you a follow-up in “Latest Dirt.”

Other than the hand-over-mouth concern we all had for Ari on SUnday, the racing was solid, but similar in flavor to Saturday, with Dom Daniels racking up another win. This time, it was Ashley Verhagen on the “Camera-Left” two-step and Alise Post staying consistently in one podium position or another for the third.

It has been a fairly long 72 hours, 23 of it having been spent in a car (as many of you can relate). The BMXNEWS alarm clock has been hammered into a fine example of urban recycling, but we will have more on Guthrie after the Tylenol PM wears off sometime Monday, so check back.

Meanwhile, we did put the time (and recently purchased MacBook car adaptor) to good use on the return trip, and got all photos edited and prepped by the time we hit Rolla, MO.

Thus, the Sunday Photo Gallery for your viewing pleasure.

Download the mega-size version of the above image

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A total of 176 motos on Saturday was one moto off from the total Mike Fields postulated in his Friday night post on Vintage. Saturday’s racing was solid, and the competition was strong in most classes. Seems a lot of people are still getting used to how what we used to understand as pro is now somewhere in-between (lots of head scratching on how, for example, Corben Sharrah can win Jr. Men and get second in A Pro at the same time. Forget how massive an accomplishment that it, in and of itself). With 27 riders in AA/Elite Men, GHP colors were flying out front all day as Randy Stumpfhauser rock & rolled his #1 plate to the lead. In the main, it was Randy with the win, followed by Jared Graves and Sam Willoughby (both of whom raised the dander of the UCI commissaire by no-showing the Elite Men podium). In Elite women, the Jr. Women class didn’t make, so the ladies were combined in to one 11-rider class on Saturday. There, it was Dom Daniels pretty much unchallenged all day, with Alise Post and Ashley Verhagen in for place and show, respectively. Arielle Martin made her return to the National scene in her Intense uniform (though not the final, final version, which currently in a UPS truck somewhere in the Oklahoma hinterland).

Kind of a sketchy day for BMXNEWS technologically. First, had all three camera batteries run down to zero, as the pro mains were in the gate. Thus, no main photos today (but got some great stuff from first round, so did not sweat it too bad). Then, had a scare for a few hours as the official BMXNEWS iPhone went missing. We had images of a friendly custodian at the Lazy E strolling out of the local pawn shop counting their newfound riches, after discovering it on one of the bleachers. But, not the case. It was strictly a case of a too-old camera bag’s lining swallowing it whole.

Watch for more from Guthrie on MONDAY, as we make the overnight drive back to HQ. Meanwhile, check out the Saturday photo gallery!

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Today marked the first national of the 2010 ABA Season. An impressive turnout of 279 motos provided elements of chance and skill, bells, whistles, wins, losses and excitement exceeding that of casino downtown.

It was also the first event that implemented the ABA’s new criteria and class breakdowns for the Pro/Elite Classes. Strange, though it may have been, to see Dom and Alise racing different classes, and having the reigning National Number One Pro Woman riding down-ticket in the Junior class, we photogs were bracing for only seeing the pros once in the mains, versus the customary three times we’re used to at ABA Pro races (Due to the UCI tie-in, only one main will be run for the Elite and Junior classes).

After a collection of consistent showings in the motos, quarters and semis, Bubba Harris saw the promised land in the first turn of the AA Pro Main Event. Arturs Matisens, Kyle Bennett and Cristian Becerine were all casualties of Arturs’ front wheel washout…and that’s where Bubba made the move that would put him atop the podium for the first time since his ankle injury sidelined him in the spring of 2008. Donny Robinson and Jared Graves were there for the two and three spots, respectively.

Elite Women was owned, in full, by Alise Post on Saturday. The main saw Post, Ashley Verhagen and Amanda Geving (who put up a serious challenge for second in the last turn, but ran out of track in the end) get to the podium.

Jr. Men Brought Connor Fields to the front in the main, confounding Tory Nyhaug and Corben Sharrah (who was showboatin’ than new white #1 on a black background).

Jr. Women went back and forth in the motos, but it was Dom in the main, follwed by Brooke Crain and Talyor Wolcott (who was a little hard to spot at first, minus her IPOT uniform—one of the 2010 changeups in Reno).

We’ll have more commentary on Saturday’s race, and reports on Sunday after the final gate drops tomorrow.

Meanwhile, checkout the 172 photo gallery from Saturday.

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The final day of the 2009 NBL Christmas Classic brought some serious heat to an otherwise cold Louisville day. With 191 motos on the docket, the first and second rounds were done by about 1:30. And while most of the same suspects were doing their “TCB” dance on day three of this Presidents Cup/Christmas Classic weekend, there were just fewer of them today. The day looked to be vanilla all the way, til the mains brought the mix-ins.

And the first main of the day was a fitting opener for the off-the-hook racing that would follow. Above, you’ll see Tommy Opincar, Domingos Lammoglia and Tim Dinger closer than a Siamese mariachi band in turn one while Jason Carnes hits the clear track on the inside. Seconds after the shutter snapped, Opincar was (somehow) clear and Domingos was on the ground with Joey Albright (who is eclipsed by the trio in the shot, but is right off Dinger’s right shoulder) coming to an abrupt stop via his neck. Uggggleee. All in all everyone was OK, save for the dashed hopes of a main not finished. Final results went Carnes, Opincar and Brian Strieby, making his return to the podium (sort of*) after a long dry spell.

Elite is always a boost to the blood pressure, and today was no exception. Barry Nobles had Lane 1, and eyes on some pocket money for his upcoming trip to Oz. First turn action had Nobles in the lead with Day one winner, Javi Columbo close in. The pro section would, again, swallow up a trio looking to tangle for what Barry was leaving behind him, as Latvian Arturs Matisons, DKer Josh Smith and Matt Kelty all thundered to the ground. Final order at the stripe was Nobles, Columbo and Josh Meyers, making his second Elite podium in as many outings since turning up yesterday.

Amanda Geving was the only gal in the house to jump the decidedly-slower pro section in a moto (didn’t matter, as she was handily in the lead, but it was a major league crowd-pleaser). The big question was “would she, or wouldn’t she?” in the main. Well Jamie Lilly was welded to her chainstay out of the first turn so, by decision time, it had to be “Left.” Jamie caught and overtook Amanda, then it was a battle again down the third straight, with Jamie by a bike or two. Amanda’s final move, in the last turn, could have been goop or glory. Unfortunately, for her, this time it was goop…and she ended up dusting off as Jamie dusted on to the finish for the win. Madison Pitts for second and Carley Young from PA escaped the dust up in turn three to take the third spot.

Super-Ex brought the same three from day one to the podium, but in a slightly different order. Today, it was CJ McGuire who got out and got down for the wire to wire win. Tyler Faoro grabbed second check and Logan Collins brought home right-step honors (well, right-step to the camera).

Some heavy duty, hand-over-mouth, wrecks wreaked havoc on the Am class mains, most notably 14x. Maliek Byndloss was in command of the pack as he was throughout the weekend (having never lost a moto or main, in all three days). Hernon Santillon from Assassins For Hire was trying to make it a diamond-perfect-minus-one, but got de-rhythmed in the section and went down HARD just prior to entering turn three. Moments later, Tyler Whitfield found the soft stuff at the top of the turn and went down as well, but was up and back in the clips real quick like. Hernon was another story. Down for at least 10 mins, and carried off on a backboard. We have not heard word of his condition as of this writing. Hopefully, he’ll be back at it real soon.

Look for more coverage from the weekend on BMXNEWS.COM, after this wagon train pulls out and heads North. Til then, check out the Day Two Photo Gallery.

*Strieby made the podium, but missed the actual ceremony.

The SE Racing colors of Javier Columbo were flying fast and steady in the Elite Men class on Day one of the 2009 NBL Christmas Classic. Javi lead the main event from wire to wire, avoiding some fairly groundshaking carnage in the transition from pro section to second turn (where Andres Jimenez, Barry Nobles and Matt Kelty got together). A big BMXNOW congrats to Josh Meyers who, in his Elite debut, squeaked a podium position over Josh Smith by a knobby.

The ladies also had a newcomer to the ranks, as Crystal Kalogris got her pro card, but missed the podium in an exciting main event that had Jamie Lilly layin down the ponies to hold off Amanda Geving and Madison Pitts, who rolled in for second and third, respectively.

Super ex served up a super-size helping of action, as Tyler Faoro made it two for two in the Derby City, foiling, again, his shadow CJ McGuire and Logan Collins (who blew a tire minutes before the gate dropped. Friends, family and innocent bystanders all jumped in to get the tube changed with time to spare, and sent Logan out with a fresh and firm back tire to round out the podium.

We’ll save the first for last this time in saying that Masters class is packing the fenceline these days, with genuine fans for genuine heroes. Joey Albright took his new GT rig to the lead and got to the stripe first, with Domingos Lammoglia in J&R duds in second and Morphine madman, Tim Dinger, in third.

Our sister site, BMXNEWS.COM will have more from Louisville on Tuesday. Until then, check out the Monday Photo Gallery

The noisemakers, hootin, hollerin and cowbellin’ were in full effect today as the NBL Presidents Cup kicked off the traditional triple-header weekend. Though sometimes tough to pick out in their state jerseys, the stars shined through in the 190 moto conflagration to bring a day of high-octane BMX Racing. Elite Open had 7/8 of a rack, and Tyler Faoro pulled off an impressive upset on CJ McGuire, snatching a perfect from CJ’s clutches in the main and posting the top-class top spot (though the top five spots in Elite Open went to Florida, so they pretty much had a lock on the top-class bragging rights). Four Florida ladies also passed the line as a quad-pack, with Amanda Geving piloting her new MCS to a perfect. Speaking of Florida, above, check Maliek Byndloss, fresh off a week at the Junior Dev Camp in Chula Vista to score 12, count ‘em a perfect dozen (class, cruiser and open), first place laps on the day. More from Louisville on Monday but, as the Eastern time zone is catching up with us quickly, we need to make a beeline for bedtime.

Check out the photo gallery from the Presidents Cup

Olijuwon Davis of seems to be adapting just fine to his new Haro hardware—he was flying at the FPC.

A great day of racing turned out some top talent from as far away as Arkansas and Missouri. Felicia Stancil handily dispensed with the girls class competition. The guys, were a little more contentious with a battle between Tommy Zula and Olijuwon Davis. Tommy won the FPC last year, where OD never really got the chance to challenge, as he unclipped in the gate.

In this year’s main, Zula was in lane one, Suited up in the snappy new 2010 DK colors, and Davis rockin the Morphine Black and Pink as his neighbor in lane two. The bets were down and so was the gate. Zula got a fairly healthy holeshot, and the pack made it through the often-treacherous first turn. Zula zoomed into and out of turn two, with Davis a bike or two back. Turn three would spell the end of Tommy’s hopes for a repeat, as his backwheel broke loose and he spun into the ground. OD was close enough that he almost ran Tommy over, but avoided the undoing and went the rest of the way for the win.

Erin “Too Sweet” Moore would have won the distance award, had there been one, making her sixth FPC, all the way from Arkansas. Instead, she raced well and ended up in the two slot behind Felicia. Demetrius Reynolds scooted in for second on the guys side.

Last year’s winner, Savannah Lahr, was in Addison colors, and rounded out the podium in third. Tony Call looked really solid all day long, and some felt he was way in contention for the top spot.

WINNERS PHOTO

Felicia Stancil and Olijuwon Davis hold up their prizes for winning the 2009 Future Pro Challenge. Joining them are Dexter Pritchard (Left) of Dragon Wheels and Gene Benninger, FPC Organizer.

Check out the Sunday Photo Gallery.

Also posted are images from Saturday’s Young Guns Shootout

It was all down to the math in the final AA pro main at the final race of the year. It was a Stumpy sandwich for the two Free Agent contenders. In gate one was the 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist, 2009 NBL Pro Champ, and ABA points leader, Maris Strombergs. In gate three, it was the always-hot,-but-recently-volcanic personage of Kyle Bennett. And in gate two was the guy who stood six points from winning what many consider the most coveted Pro title in BMX Racing (excluding the Olympics, which isn’t a pro title, so…).

The shot out of the gate and to the first jump was one of those moments you live in slow motion. There was a brief time, after the first jump, when Randy was as far back as fourth place, with Bennett, Strombergs and Denzel Stein taking the three lead positions. Into the first turn, however, Stumpy swooped to the low side, and came up in second out of the first turn. After that, it was pretty much follow the leader in the top three spots as they came through the pro section and into the last straight. The place was unglued by then, wondering how the math would work out, and who would take the $15,000 year-end prize, the cup, a whole bunch of JBL-Harman audio gear, and the right to run the skinny digit for the next 365.

In the end, it was Stumpfhauser as 2009 champ, by 40 points, with Bennett and Strombergs for two and three, respectively. Kyle won the award of the day, with Randy and Maris in two and three, respectively.

Check back to BMXNOW.COM for more on the Vet and Girl Pro titles, as well as the other 2009 ABA National titles by Wednesday morning.

Photo Galleries

Saturday Gallery

Sunday Gallery

Just when everyone thought the ABA title chase would involve the same two players as the NBL hunt a couple months back, Stumpy and Maris are joined by Kyle Bennett in the quest for the what is widely considered the most coveted title in BMX Racing, save for the Olympics. At Disney, Kyle improvised, adapted and overcame much to take home two of three possible overall wins (and who knows, he may have taken all three, except he did not race Saturday’s UCI Continental Series Opener—some say in order to rest up for a full-force attack on Sunday).

The above shot is from the first turn in the third AA Pro Main on Sunday. Though not perfectly framed, it does offer a “thousand words” type description of how Sunday…indeed the weekend…went for those pictured. Kyle steering clear of carnage (first on Friday Night, then on Sunday)…KY Riding with soul and on the bleeding edge (as sideways as he appears in the shot, he stayed on two wheels and went on to a second-overall for Sunday, matching Saturday’s finish), Maris getting jammed up in traffic and Sam riding fast, but on the edge—of the track. Moments after this was snapped Maris (who is already well on his way to the dirt, if you look at the position of his body as relates to the bike) went down, in full, putting the hurt on his right leg. Many in the infield were worried that this might be a season-ending injury, as happened to Nic Long on Friday Night (more on that later). Thankfully, 24 hours after the crash, Maris is reported to be sore, but looking good for a return to the clips in a couple days.

Check out the Photo Gallery From Sunday’s Race, and watch BMXNEWS.COM for more on the Disney Cup in the coming days.

The first stop on the 2010 UCI BMX North America Continental Series proved a fine accomplishment for Free Agent, as Connor Fields and Cristian Becerine dispensed with the Junior and Elite Mens main events, respectively. Friday podium topper Dominique Daniels piloted her Avent to the win in Elite Women. Andres Holguin raced well on Friday, but did not make the main…but turned the tables on Saturday to win the main, followed by Purse, Fallen and Murray.

More words on the Disney Cup next week, but check out the Saturday Image Gallery…and check back Sunday for the third gallery for the Disney Cup Weekend.