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Nashville, TN —- Elite Series —- Music City BMX —- July 10-11

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Story: Greg Davis

Photos: Kris Randall, klicksbykris.com

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Nashville is world renowned as the capitol of Country Music, and it’s rapidly becoming the headquarters of Christian Contemporary Music, so it’s ironic that the rebuild of Nashville’s BMX track flat-out ROCKED. The second half of the track has had a major redesign. Out of the gate, it’s a long downhill run to the roller. The backside of the roller seems to drop away and shoot the riders toward the long tabletop jump at perhaps 35 miles an hour. After the long table, there’s a big step into the first turn. Down the second straight is a pair of decent-sized doubles to a step-double into the third turn. The last two straights are rhythm, some of which is pretty deep. The surface of the track was smooth and nearly as hard as concrete.

The facilities are topnotch, too. There’s ample parking, a campground, and a lake next door. There’s also nearby mountain bike trails.

Nashville has a long history of going big. In the 1980s, they hosted the Murray World Cup, with track designs years and years ahead of its time. This year, however, I heard many people singing the praises of this great track. I needed to find out more, so I tracked down one of Nashville’s co-track directors, Brian Hill.

“I’m very excited about the turnout,” he said. “Big thanks go out to the parent-volunteers doing the rebuild and getting this national going.”

“It’s a great track,” I said.

“It’s a great sport,” Hill said.

SATURDAY

41 & Over Expert

Since this was a Pro Spectacular race, the race action took off with the older expert classes. In 41 and over Expert, the competition was tough. Forget about Madden Football. 41 Expert was all about Madden BMX. Wild Bill Madden boosted almost everything. He looked to be unstoppable in the motos, but Aubrey Jacobson stayed on him and pulled him one moto through the rhythm. Madden’s fellow Floridian, Tony Lehman entered the main with all wins, so it looked to be a great main. Out of the gate and down the first straight, Madden, Lehman and Gerardi shot out together. Pinched, Jacobson had to play catch up. Madden shot over the step with a comfortable lead, so the race seemed for second. Lehman went down, leaving the race for second between Gerardi and Mitchell, but Jacobson hadn’t given up. He pulled Mitchell, but ran out of track and didn’t get Gerardi.

35-40 Expert

In the 35-40 Expert class, Announcer Extraordinaire, Weird Al Roybal, couldn’t ride. The airline lost his bikes—both of them. He said he was content to announce, but I’d have been bummed, if I came more than halfway across the country and my bikes ended up somewhere thousands of miles away. In the race, Gomez looked to be headed toward another perfect, but a boggle in the third moto was all John Miller needed to capture a win in the third round. In the main, Gomez was back on track and led, pretty much start to finish. Lutz challenged Miller for second, but Miller held on.

26-34 Expert

Frank “the Tank” Hoskins, of the Addison team, again dominated the first moto, but William “Petey” Peters snuck by him in the second moto. The other moto looked just has hotly contested, with Truxell and Segal dicing it up. In the main, Hoskins shot out into the lead, but not by as much as he’s used to. In the rhythm, Hoskins slipped a little, and Peters nearly pulled even, but Hoskins got back on it quickly and Truxell slid by Peters in the rhythm for the second.

19-25 Expert

19-25 Expert was stacked and packed. The semis were burley. Tall Jon Jackson, on his custom Standard with a 22 inch top tube, got caught up in a crash in the 3^rd turn. While he was down, another racer ran over him and Jackson’s forehead got slashed. He needed something like 16 stitches. When top eight finally headed into the main, it looked to be a tight race. Watts, Lucas, Ramsey, Woodruff, and Dyke had moto wins. Utz had all wins and looked to be the man to beat in the main. The gate slammed down, and the 19-25 Experts shot down the first straight almost in unison. By the first corner, Utz had the lead, but the pack swarmed just behind. Utz stayed on it for the win. Behind him, Woodruff, Ramsey, Lucas, Robinson, Watts, Dyke, and Curtiss followed closely behind.

17-18 Expert

17-18 Expert was just as stacked and just as packed and chocked full of talent as 19-25. Four racers hit the main with perfect motos, Standard’s Adcock and SE’s Hines both looked incredible, as did Kipp, Sherbno, and Loebe. The main looked to be perhaps the fastest of the day. Hines popped out of the gate and by the step was slightly ahead. Just into the third straight rhythm, something happened and Hines ejected and his bike went tumbling into the infield. Adcock shot by and grabbed the win. I caught up with one of the racers in the pack in the main. Geoffrey Banser put it this way. “I saw everything pretty well from 6^th,” he said. “Chase Hines was winning, and I think his handlebars broke, and he crashed. (Jarrod) Adcock took it in from there.”

16 Expert

Announcer extraordinaire, Tim Huff, might have said it best. “Posey with a Shelby James-sized lead.” That’s just what happened in the 16 Expert main. Posey shot into the first turn in the lead and widened it from there.

15 Expert

In the 15 Expert main, two Dayton boys headed into the main undefeated—Jeremy Smith and Jacob Hootman. Although Smith looked hard to beat, by the first corner, the pack pinched him and he was stuck mid-pack. Hootman won, with Hart, and Simson in there for second and third.

14 Expert

World #1, Cole Tesar, looked poised to win it all in 14 Expert, but a mistake in the main was all DK’s “Doc” Johnson needed, and he grabbed the win. Hardy, Beverlin, Murray, Bradner, Barnard, and Tesar finished behind “Doc.”

13 Expert

At Nashville, 13 Expert was incredible and very evenly matched. Headed into the main, Noah Reeves, Tyler Wagner, and Eric Schmidt all had multiple moto wins. In the main, however, it was the Cincinnati kid, Tyler Wagner with the holeshot. He held off Reeves and Schmidt for the win.

12 Expert

12 Expert was nearly as big as 13 and just as steeped in talent. Three guys entered the main with all wins in their motos. The semis weeded out all but the top eight, and when the gate dropped, Cameron Moore shot to the front, with Tennessean Nick Connelly right there. Moore crossed the line in front, with Connelly, Nenno, Palasota, Acord, Wyatt, Burns, and Culbertson following.

11 Expert

When the 11 Experts were on the track, spectators heard one name more than the others: Coleman Habib. He dominated his motos. In the other moto, Deters, Davis, and Gagnon diced it up, each grabbing one moto win a piece. In the main, Habib fought off Deters and Davis for the win. Behind Habib, it looked like this: Deters, Davis, Dey, Gagnon, Seibert, and Campbell.

Tyshawn Carr in 10 Expert and Grant Green in 9 Expert both dominated, scoring perfects. Dylan Shipley went into the 8 Expert main with all ones, even a one on his plate. When he went down, Ethan Tyler took up the lead and kept it. Hometown hero, Zachary Jacobs owned the 6-7 Expert class, winning every lap.

NOVICE

One of the most competitive and evenly matched Novice classes was the combined 26-34, 35-40 Novice class. Jeffery Holtz headed into the main with 3 moto wins. Rickey White had 2, and Linarelli had 1. In the main, however, Mark Davis grabbed the holeshot. “In my main, someone I don’t know, won it,” Rickey White said, later. “I got a fair gate, and I ended up 2^nd.” They finished like this: Davis, White, Wick, Holtz, Linarelli (all the way from San Diego), Swain, Uhrig, and Jones.

CRUISER

The big bikes had big competition at Nashville.

One of the 50 and over Cruiser riders received an award. They gave Phares Parsons an award in the shape of a guitar. He’s the official oldest active racer in the NBL national circuit at 76 years young. Later in the day, he approached me and asked if I could shoot a pic of him catching air over the table. Now, that’s how 76 should be! Most of the guys in his class were probably a couple of decades younger, but Parsons didn’t care. He finished 5^th each time, but he did so with a big smile on his face. In the main, James Rempkowski was a Robinson sandwich, between Anthony Robinson in 1^st and Michael Robinson in 3^rd. John Silnes and Phares Parson followed.

World #1, Felicia Stancil, boosted big air into the corner each time, but a crash in the second moto kept her from her perfect. The race seemed for 2^nd between Sierra Siebenlist and Brittany Hansel. In the main, Hansel edged out Siebenlist, Carrie Strange, and Gina Gilbert.

J-Lack (James Lackey) explained the 40-44 Cruiser class this way. “I was stuck in lane 8,” he said. “Chris Kennedy, Bill Madden, and Trevor Brown tied out of the gate. They went three wide. Behind them, Lehman and Pringle battled, and I wanted to pass, but I was out of gas.” The lone Canadian in the class, Trevor Brown, managed to pull Madden for the win. Brown came all the way from Vancouver, so this win was extra special for him, especially against former pro Madden.

I caught up with Tommy Riggle and Jim Hill in the parking lot and asked them about the super quick 35-39 Cruiser class. “Raul (Gomez) passed me going 30 miles per hour,” Riggle said. “After he (Gomez) slipped on the gate,” Hill said. “Went passed Jim and me like we were going backwards,” Riggle said. Hill passed Riggle down the second straight. Pfieffer and Miller diced it up for the lead, and Gomez tried to play catch up. Miller crashed hard over the second double in the second straight, and Gomez slid into 2^nd, trying hard to track down Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer held him off and it finished like this: Pfeiffer, Gomez, Hill, Riggle, Wade, Brandenburg, and Miller.

Strider, the no-pedal pre-bike, is a new sponsor of the NBL. To celebrate, after the Saturday race, they had a Strider race on the last straight. If you haven’t checked these things out, you need to. ( http://www.stridersports.com/ ) These are better than training wheels. They teach balance. It’s the perfect partnership for the NBL. My own toddler, the Z-Man, has one. Elite Pro, Josh Smith, has a son, who recently was able to ride a bike without training wheels at 2 1//2 and he credits his son’s Strider for helping.

Unfortunately, as the amateur races and the Strider race ended, the rain started. The decision was made to cover the track and postpone the Pro-Spectacular until the next day.

SUNDAY

Elite Men

The big show, the Elite Men, looked to be an incredible race. In the motos, David, the Hermanator, Herman, looked awesome, winning every lap. Josh Meyers had two moto wins and Tyler Faoro also had one. Former World Champ, Javier Colombo, had the track dial. Michael Kapes recently returned to BMX and made his main. You can’t ever count out Afro Bob (wearing a bright—really, really bright yellow Redline uniform) or Free Agent’s Cristian Becerine. Then there’s Upshaw. In pro warm ups, he manualed through the last three straights, reminding me of how he used to be called the Rubber Band Man. He can manual almost anything. Big surprises included Caluag and Nobles not making the main. Those two fly!

They picked gates based on their moto finishes and Herman picked first. Meyers picked an outside gate. When the gate slammed down, they shot down the first straight. Into the first corner, Meyers had a slight lead on Herman, and came out of the turn in a close second. Behind them, the pack jockeyed for position.  Faoro came out of the turn on Herman, but Herman held him off. Going into the first turn, the pack pinched Upshaw. He came out of the turn in 8^th, but picked off a rider each straight—something that is insanely tough to do in Elite. By the last straight, he had manualed into 5^th and was about to pass Colombo, when he ran out of track. When the dust settled, it was: Meyers, The Hermanator, Faoro, Colombo, Upshaw, Kapes, DeWilde, and Becerine.  Meyers said, “I had second lane choice. I’d been winning from lane 8, so I like the outside. My goal was to get to the first turn first, and that’s pretty much how it went down.”

Super-Ex

The Super-Ex was deep with talent. They had big burley semis. They shot out of the gate and hit the first turn like a big wall men and metal, almost completely even, aside from CJ McGuire. CJ hit the corner a little ahead and right down the middle. Out of the first turn, Pope came out in second. CJ’s lead was big, but Pope narrowed it with each straight. By the line, Pope had nearly caught CJ, but Pope ran out of track. At the line, it went: McGuire, Pope, Hudson, Culbreth, Smith, Beatty, Collins, and Britt.

Masters

The Masters is a crowd favorite, and one of my personal favorites. This Masters’ main looked particularly good. It had two World plates and two top-ten national plates on the gate. In pro practice, Tommy 2X4 Board and Brian Strieby were busting big flat tabletops over the step into the first corner. Spiderman Percy Owens looked incredibly smooth (as usual). Albright had incredible pull, but also had a hard crash in one of the motos left him a little dazed. He recovered and was back in action by the main.  Needless to say, the fence line was packed with spectators, as they waited for the gate to drop. Owens holeshotted, but by the first turn the pack was on him. Rennen’s Will Murray said, “Percy and Albright came out even down the first straight with me, and Opincar in tow. Down the second straight, Percy pulled away and Joey got a little loose. I passed Joey down the third straight for second and he slowed down and Tome charged hard into the last turn. He hit my rear wheel trying to make an inside move from 4th to 2nd but went down as Dinger high-lowed. I stayed up, Tome went down, Dinger high-lowed into 3rd, and Sherrill fell into Tome. Percy ran away with it.”

Elite Women

The Elite Women rode incredibly at Nashville. Many jumped the first straight better than some of the top male experts. These ladies really push the Elite Women into a whole new level.  Going into the main, Keely Kortman had a pair of moto wins. National champion, Dominique Daniels had a pair of moto wins. Ashley Kneram and Ashley Lynch each won motos. Dominique Daniels rocketed down the first straight and into the first turn with a good lead. Daniels held on for the win. Behind her Kortman and Henderson rounded out the top three. Back in 6^th, Pitts charged Lilly at the line, but couldn’t get by. It went, Daniels, Kortman, Henderson, Kneram, Lilly, Pitts, Barragan, and Lynch.

40-44 Cruiser

Bill Madden rode great all weekend. I caught up with him and he told me about his 40-44 Cruiser main. “I was the meat of the Kennedy-Brown sandwich,” he said. “I laid down what minimal ponies my skinny legs had and dove down in the corner. Brown has more ponies, but I made it stick.” Trevor Brown said, “Nashville is the best track in the USA (he’s from Vancouver). It’s fun and fast. I’m happy with a second, but I wish I had the first.”

16-29 Open Wheels

Chase Hines won both the 16-29 Open Wheels and the 17-18 Expert class—two of the fastest amateur classes out there. I asked him about his class main. “Class main was pretty stacked, as all of the 17-18 expert mains are,” he said. “Luckily I had a pretty good gate, my first couple of pedals were strong, and I got to the first turn first on my PK Ripper. After that, the rest of the track was really smooth, so I knew I just had to keep focused and hopefully stay ahead of everyone else.” He did, and behind him Loebe, Adcock, Grant, Cody, Lajoie, Banser, and Kipp followed. Standard’s Adcock said, “Everything went pretty good. It was a tough class for the weekend. I got caught up in a weird spot. There are some fast dudes here. I got 3^rd today and 1^st yesterday.”

ROOKIE

The Rookie classes are always fun to watch. Some notable Rookie perfects included: Matthew Bledsoe in 5 and under, Liam Jones in 6, Jordan Johnson in 7, Megan Woodruff in 10, Jordan Webb in 11, Kollian Bryant in 13, John Spencer in 14, Bradley Spalding in 15, and Travis young in 16/17 and over.

I caught up with two of my favorite announcers, after the race—Tim Huff and NorCal Al Roybal. Since they watched more races than anyone at Nashville, I asked them for their favorite race of the weekend.

Al: “40-44 Cruiser. Madden, Kennedy, and Brown always battling.”

Huff: “I liked watching Elite, watching Kapes make the main after being out for 2 years. I’m stoked he made his first main back.”

There were far too many great races to give them all justice. The track was challenging and crazy fast. Don’t believe me? See for yourself by making plans to get to Nashville next year. I hope to see you there.