(Copy Courtesy of BMXNEWS.COM)
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