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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.