Millenium BMX has some good videos of the mains from the Great Smoky Mountain Expo Center. Check ‘em out!

Spring National – Day 1 Videos

Spring National – Day 2 Videos

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Story: Josh Patton

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Morristown, Tennessee has been having two spectacular Nationals for years now — the Thanksgiving Nationals and the Spring Nationals.  Each year you never really know what to expect as far as turnout or track layout. This year proved that was true. At the past few races that have been in Morristown, the tracks have had a few jumps that just threw off the pace or caused a lot of problems. At this year’s Spring Nationals though the track was fast, low, and smooth. No complaints were heard and everyone seemed to love the track built by BJ Wagner.

Another mind blower was the turnout. On Friday, practice seemed thin and like there wasn’t going to be many motos at all. That all changed when Saturday’s practice came along. Staging was packed full and there were over 100 motos each day.

In true Spring National form, there was a lot of bumping and pushing around the tight track which makes for some of the best racing to watch of the season.

DAY ONE

Elite Open wasn’t too big, no semi or anything, but that doesn’t mean that there weren’t some fast dudes lined up on the gate. Jeff Upshaw and Chase Campbell made their return from injuries. Logan Collins, Matt Beatty, Jon Miller, Jason Larev, Brandon Hodges, Matt Boller and Chris Murphy were a few of the people to watch. With these names and only two motos of Pros, there was some crazy racing action going down. Supercross’s Logan Collins would be the man on top taking Saturday’s main. The training he’s going through at Lindsey Wilson College will help him improve all season long.

In Elite Women, they also had some fast names with the likes of Madison Pitts, Donna Snow, Kyla Reed, Jessica Cartwright and Ashley Ross, who was making an impressive comeback on the track.  Logan Collin’s fellow collegiate teammate, Madison Pitts, would also benefit from the training at Lindsey Wilson by pulling the win on Saturday.

Expert

The Expert class is always filled with hair-raising action. Max Egdorf recently had a birthday and proved that he was by far ready for it in the 19-25x class. During the main Kyle Mcrory had the lead the whole race, but in the last turn Egdorf would try to sneak in under him but just couldn’t do it. Egdorf spun but never hit the ground somehow, and Mcrory would get to roll on to the finish line for a perfect.

In 12x, Antonio Bonessi was running a perfect until Clint Herman took it away from him. Herman would take the win, and Bonessi would get second.

There were a lot of perfects within the Expert classes: Gavin Freewalt in 6/7x, Tyshawn Carr in 9x, Erik Meyer in 10x,  Jarred Johnson in 14x, Victor Behm in 16x, Chase Hines in 17-18x, Thomas Truxell in 26-34x, Chris Meaker in 35-40x and Tony Lehman in 41+x.

Girls

The Girls classes probably had more consistency than any other classes over the weekend.

In 17+ Women, Liz Passwaters had a perfect weekend making her way back to the National scene for the first time since last summer. Other girls who had perfect weekends were Taylor Thomison in 16 Girls, Bethany Kludt in 15 Girls, Teresa Nowdomski in 14 Girls, Carly Jacobs in 9 Girls and Payton Ridenour in 5-7 Girls.

One huge standout was 10-year-old Destiny Broughton. All weekend she was killing the 10 Girls by a half straight to a straight lead. This girl has a very bright future ahead of her.

Novice

In 35-40 Novice Michael Palugi was running a perfect, but that took a turn for the worse during the main. Palugi slammed pretty hard, but didn’t seem to have any serious injuries even though he didn’t race on Sunday. Mark Wheeler would go on to grab the win.

In 8 Novice action Jace Griest would upset Nathan Noe’s 1,1,2 moto finishes and Brewster Vidak’s 1,1,1 moto finishes for  Noe a second, Vidak a third and Griest a first.

Riders who would run perfects in the Novice class were Nathan Halahan in 5 Novice, Christopher McHenery in 6 Novice, Lukas Halahan in 7 Novice, Bryce Easter in 9 Novice, Mikey Hewitt in 10 Novice, Kit Bjerk in 11 Novice, Tyler Frix in 12 Novice, Jesse Tschudy in 17-18 Novice, Geoffrey Fryer in 19-25 Novice and Mike Jolly in 41+ Novice.

Rookie

In 12 Rookie Tyler Fitch would take a perfect, but not without a lot of pressure from Jordan Gleasure.

6 Rookie had to have one of the closest races all day between Jack Brown and Joseph Steele. The best part about this is that they take a few seconds longer to do a lap then the Elite. So when the two reached the finish line Brown would be latterly, a few inches in front of Steele. It is always fun to watch the young ones race and the parents going crazy on the sidelines.

5 & under Rookie had a huge class, 22 to be exact. When it came to the main Bailey Smith would beat Blake Vance and Smith would score a perfect in one of the largest classes at the race.

Men’s Cruiser

The 13-14 Cruiser class may have been small, but Tyler Wagner’s lead was huge. He would still the perfect with room to spare.

In the 15-16 Cruiser class Dan Tritz took the win, but the race to watch was the battle for second. Layne Gainer and Brandon Lowery would duke it out down the last straight. Gainer had just a bit more speed and would grab the second place spot by just a hair, and Lowery would settle for third.

Dugan Neil dominated all weekend long in the 45-49 Cruiser class grabbing a double perfect for the weekend. No offense to Dugan, but it’s hard to believe that a man in his late 40’s can make a bike go that fast, very impressive racing from Dugan Neil.

In 35-39 Cruiser Dan Hurley took advantage of the simple track layout and powered his way around it for a perfect weekend. As well as Cody Oliver in 8 & under Cruiser, Erik Meyer in 9-10 Cruiser, Chase Hines in 17-24 Cruiser, Tony Spencer in 25-29 Cruiser and Randy Bitinaitis in 40-44 Cruiser.

Ladies Cruiser

In 45 and over Ladies Cruiser, Shayne Robinson and Patty Gonzales didn’t have to race each other until the main. When the gate dropped they were neck and neck the whole race Robinson would pull off the win by just a few inches.

DAY TWO

Sunday had a lot of the same finishes as Saturday did. However there was still plenty of close racing action to be seen.

Elite

The Elite racing was once again amazing on Sunday. Elite Open saw a different winner though; Matt Beatty would pull off the win, while Logan Collins would finish in a close second.

Elite Women’s winner stayed the same with Madison Pitts taking yet another first home with her.

Expert

On Sunday in 19-25x Max Egdorf was out to get the win after his slide out on Saturday. Again in the main it was Egdorf and Kyle Mcrory one and two. Egdorf would grab the win by a few inches and Mcrory would get second.

In 17-18x the winner would also change. Austin Loebe would take Chase Hines perfect weekend away and take home a win for the Rennen/Intense team.

14x had a fun race to watch. Jarred Johnson won on Saturday but was sitting in second behind Dylan Cooley on Sunday. Johnson tried to get under him in the second turn but Johnson’s front tire hit Cooley’s back causing Johnson to get squirrelly and drop to fourth; Cooley would take a perfect home for the day.

Girls

The Girls finishes were also about like Saturday’s finishes. Most of the same riders got perfects, along with a few different one’s who came through and snagged the perfect for Sunday.

Novice

Zach Shafer perfected the 16 Novice class on Sunday, Shafer was racing great and if he keeps it up he should be ready to progress on to the expert class by next season.

Angel Colon looked amazingly smooth in the 13 Novice class. He would race into the first place spot in the main and also grab a perfect for the day.

In the always crazy 35-40 Novice action Rickey White would come through on day two and take a perfect home with him.

Rookie

In 8 Rookie Terry Laird would grab a perfect, but that didn’t grab my attention as much as the two brothers that are battling it out for the fourth place spot. I noticed that Brady Holda and Brandon Holda had identical bike (at least from where I was watching they looked like it) and they were neck and neck all the way to the line. It was a fun race to watch, plus them being brothers makes it even cooler. Brady would inch out his brother to get fourth.

In the massive 5 & under Rookie, Blake Vance would claim the throne Sunday and Saturday’s winner Bailey Smith would sit in second to finish the race.

12 Rookie had a change up in the winner. Tyler Fitch had won on Saturday, and he was about to win on Sunday as well. However, coming down the last straight Jordan Gleasure would pass Fitch and take home the victory.

Men’s Cruiser

In Men’s Cruiser the results were about the same as Saturday’s. One change up was in 15-16 Cruiser. Layne Gainer had got a second on Saturday and Dan Tritz had taken the first. On day two it would be Gainer too take home the win and Tritz would get the third spot. While Heath Hart would come up to finish in the second place position.

Ladies Cruiser

Ladies Cruiser was about the same as on Saturday, except for the 40-44/45+ Women’s Cruiser class. On day one Shayne Robinson would take the win by a hair in front of Patty Gonzales. Sunday was the opposite of that. Gonzales would outdo Robinson by just a hair giving the spectators one of the most exciting races of the day.

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help with the race and to the NBL staff who put on a great race. With another great Morristown race in the books, we can’t wait until the next trip to the Great Smoky Mountain Expo Center!