ABA Winternationals – Results and Standings

The American Bicycle Association hosted the Winter Nationals this past weekend, March, 6-8 in Phoenix, AZ.

What you say about Black Mountain BMX that hasn’t been said before? That is a hard one for sure. How about Olympians, Gold medals, world famous dirt jumpers, television, and media! I can say this though, this weekend ‘s event was excellent to say the least. The riders, families, fans, and industry up in full force to an amazing 265 motos! Even world famous dirt jumpers like Cory “Nasty” Nastazio and Ryan Guettler showed showed up at Black Mountain BMX to try their hand at BMX RACING. BMX PLUS! editor Ben Crockett even went back to his roots and raced it out on the world famous Black Mountain BMX track!

The sun was out in full force, the weather was a perfect mid-70′s temp, and the track and facility were dialed in better then ever, The track was sooooo smooth you could almost eat off it! Thanks to ABA BMX track builder Billy Allen for working his magic on the rebuild this year. Also the Black Mountain crew getting the place in tip-top shape as always. Word with the fans was this was the best they had ever seen the track and they were pumped to be there.

The racing at the Winter National event was INTENSE! A stacked international field in the AA PRO – Elite ranks was just INSANE! There was an incredible 57 riders in the ELITE class on Saturday and there have been record turn outs in the premier class this season and the fans, industry and media are just blown away!

With 2009 being the debut of UCI Continental events with ABA BMX racing, the buzz is all around, and the buzz was bigger then ever this weekend. UCI’s own Johan Lindstrom and Tom Ritz were even made the trip to Phoenix, AZ. to check out their first Black Mountain experience. There was lots of media on hand and many of the sports top athletes from around the world were at Black Mountain BMX to take a shot at getting some much needed points towards the UCI ranking and ABA BMX titles.

The fourth UCI event of the 2009 season was dominated by Olympic Gold medalist, World Champion, and Free Agent’s own Maris Strombergs. Maris won lap after lap on the world famous Black Mountain BMX and has truly “arrived” here on the USA circuit. The man on a mission this season is Olympic Silver medalist Mike Day. Mike Day has made just about every main this season on his trusty GT steed. Mike kept Maris honest all the way to the finish line stripe. Kyle Bennett made another trip to the UCI podium with a very impressive 3rd for the day. Kyle has made tons of mains this season as well and looks to be as solid as ever. With an amazing 57 Elite Men on hand making the main is a impressive in it’s own right. Talking with several of the top dogs about this weekend, many said it was the hardest they had ever seen the class! STACKED, STACKED, STACKED is all I can say!!

Jr. Elite saw Redline’s Denzel Stein lay the law down with the HUGE win. Denzel was sportin’ a newly designed USAC National Champs jersey for the event. Formula’s Sam Willoughby was back on the gas as well. Sam is the defending World Champ and was coming off a big win in Oldsmar, FLA. Sam kept things very interesting for Denzel and they race it out hard with Sam coming in a close 2nd for the day. Canada’s super fast and Redline’s Tory Nyhaug was the man to bring home the 3rd place podium spot at Black Mountain BMX. This class is pretty stacked as well and you can get a glimpse into the future of our sport by watching these guys. These kids KNOW how to race!

Elite Women went down like this, RaceplaceBMX and BAWLS Guarana rider Stephanie Barragan took the HUGE win for the event. Redman’s Amanda Geving had a great showing nailing down the 2nd. Amanda’s got mad skills and the Fla. native looks to be a top contender for the podium at each round. SX’s Crystal Hime took the 3rd and last podium spot. Crystal took some time off and has been back and racing really well. I expect to see Crystal on top the podium very soon.

ABA National #1 Ladies PRO, Dominique Daniels keeps her streak alive and makes it four in a row for the top UCI podium spot. Dom has been an unstoppable force this season so far. All the other ladies are keeping her honest and making her work for each and every podium. 2nd went to the pride of Redline and Minnesota, Alise Post. Alise is getting back in the swing of racing after talking some time off for her gymnastics and is looking really good on her new Redline. Expect to see Alise on top the podium very, very soon. 3rd went to rookie PRO sensation, Ashley Verhagen. Ashley rides for Team Inseino out of Simi Valley, CA. Ashley is still making the adjustment to the PRO class and is getting better at every event. She’s ready for the top spot on the podium!

ABA BMX PRO points day one saw 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist, Hyper Bicycles, Donny Robinson take his 2nd win of the season. Donny’s made a bunch of mains this season proving to be very consistent, but this weekend it all clicked for him despite losing a chain in the first of three main events! 2nd place went to none other then the powerhouse named Maris Strombergs. Maris was gracious enough to bring his actual Olympic GOLD medal to the event and did a HUGE autograph session with the fans. The fans were allowed to touch his GOLD medal! This was no replica either. It was the REAL DEAL. Maris gained a ton of new fans at Phoenix for sure. 3rd went to the unsponsored Jason Rogers. I know I’ve said this a few times, but somebody needs to pick this kid up and fast! Jason has made many mains this season and has to be to have main the most mains for guy wearing jeans ad T-shirt to race. All you team managers out there take note of this guy!

It was a SUPER STACKED field at the Winter Nationals and there where a lot of heavy hitters on the side lines watching. Taking with many of the riders Super Nationals/UCI/USAC National Championship weekend looks to be the next big event around the corner and there are a lot of hungry guys looking to make their first podium of the season.

On the Ladies side once again defending Champ, Dominique Daniels took the top honors in the class. Not much else I can say about Dominique except she’s super fast! Two Time ABA Ladies PRO CHamp, Alise Post was all over Dominique this weekend and looks to have plans to grab her #1 plate back this season. These two ladies really put on a great show for the fans. Once again Ashley Verhagen made the podium with a solid ride. Ashley is helping step things up in the ladies PRO ranks and proved the new crop of ladies PRO are legit.

As usual the Vet Pro class was on fire this weekend. The VET PRO class has become a who’s who in BMX titles of the past. Names like John Purse, Dale Holmes, Greg Romero, Jason Carnes, Kenth Fallen, Eric Rupe, and so on , and so on. One of the sports all-time greats GHP’s John “The Jackal” Purse nailed down yet another 1st on Saturday and a 3rd on Sunday on his quest for the ABA BMX VET Title. Saturday saw defending Champ, Kenth Fallen bring home 2nd and Sunday saw the always consistant Chad Street bring home the 2nd as well. “Coach G” Greg Romero was on the gas in Phoenix as well. Greg took some time away from being a super trainer to jump back on his bike and put his money where his mouth is. Coach G was a solid podium maker on Saturday with a 3rd place finish for the day. Sunday was a new day and Greg powered his may to his first win of the season. Greg is always on the gas when he comes to play and you can never count out “Coach G” for the win in the VET ranks!

PRO Cruiser win went to two-time ABA BMX PRO Cruiser Champ Danny “Easy Money” Caluag. Danny been the man to beat the last few years in the Cruiser ranks and looks to be back on top of the heap after Phoenix.Crupi’s Tyler Brown continues on his quest for an ABA BMX title by nailing down the 2nd for the day. Tyler is a main stay on the PRO Cruiser podium and doesn’t look to be giving up one of the top three spots any time soon. 3rd went to Phoenix local Joe Sowers. Joe’s been on the come back trail and has a new ride with team Misbeehavin. Joe had the home town fans on their feets for this main event for sure!

GO211.com has tons of videos posted from the ABA BMX Gator National weekend!

Check it out at: http://www.go211.com/u/abawinternationals2009

The ABA would like to thank all the participants, families, teams, sponsors, and BMX industry for helping make the ABA BMX Winter Nationals event such a huge success!

Rider ABA BMX PRO wins after Winter Nationals -

AA PRO
Mike Day – GT Bicycles – 2

Donny Robinson – Hyper Bicycles – 2
Joey Bradford – GT Bicycles – 1
Kyle Bennett – Free Agent – 1

Woman’s PRO
Dominique Daniels – 8
Stephanie Barragan – 1

PRO CRUISER
Barry Nobles – Clayborn Bicycles – 3

Danny Caluag – BAWLS/Intense – 2
Tyler Brown – Crupi – 1

VET PRO
John Purse – GHP – 6
Kenth Fallen – Supercross – 2
Dale Holmes – Free Agent – 1

Greg “Coach G” Romero – Sun Bru – 1

2009 Pro Standing through Winter Nationals

AA PRO

1

MIKE DAY

1001

2

KYLE BENNETT

911

3

DONNY ROBINSON

877

4

JOEY BRADFORD

681

5

MARIS STROMBERGS

590

6

KHALEN YOUNG

511

7

JASON ROGERS

497

8

DANNY CALUAG

423

9

TYLER BROWN

423

10

BARRY NOBLES

401

11

JAVIER COLOMBO

394

12

RANDY STUMPFHAUSER

381

13

DENZEL STEIN

363

14

DAVID HERMAN

343

15

TRAVIS OHRAZDA

340

16

CRISTIAN BECERINE

329

17

JARRETT KOLICH

234

18

STEVEN CISAR

204

19

MARC WILLERS

196

20

KYLE CUSHMAN

180

21

DEREK SIPKOI

176

22

MICHAEL LARSON

174

23

MIKE BRABANT

170

24

PHIL DELIZIA

142

25

JOE SOWERS

141

26

KEITH GRINE

141

27

KARL CLARK

130

28

BUBBA HARRIS

129

29

JIM BROWN

113

30

ALEXIS VERGARA

105

31

SAM WILLOUGHBY

103

32

AKIFUMI SAKAMOTO

97

33

DEREK BETCHER

77

34

MARTIN SCHERPEN

77

35

SEAN STORMS

77

36

ROBERT DE WILDE

76

37

MATT POHLKAMP

73

38

ALAN HUDSON

71

39

DEAK BROWN

71

40

MICHAEL HUGHES

71

41

KRIS FOX

70

42

YVAN LAPRAZ

67

43

JOSH SMITH

50

44

ANDRES JIMENEZ

37

45

ALEX CAMERON

36

46

JOSH OIE

36

47

MIKE MOELLER

36

48

NATE BERKHEIMER

36

49

AARON JOHNSON

34

50

ARNAUD DUBOIS

27

51

JOEY BERTHIAUME

27

52

JEFF UPSHAW

23

WOMEN PRO

1

DOMINIQUE DANIELS

1434

2

STEPHANIE BARRAGAN

704

3

BROOKE CRAIN

703

4

ALISE POST

650

5

ARIELLE MARTIN

512

6

ASHLEY VERHAGAN

475

7

TAYLOR WOLCOTT

365

8

KRYSTAL HIME

335

9

AMANDA GEVING

267

10

COURTNEY TOMEI

146

11

SAMANTHA COOLS

86

12

AFTON SCHRIMPF

66

13

TERRA NICHOLS

55

14

KAILA SWEENEY

53

15

DANIELE BRISSON

51

16

MADISON PITTS

51

17

REGULA RUNGE

43

18

BRITTANY BATES

42

19

CASSIE BUSHNELL

42

20

KYLA REED

31

21

ILENE VANEGAS

29

22

MISSY HARTLEY

28

23

CHRISTIAN COSSEY

26

24

RACHAEL LUNA

16

25

ROSEMARY ADAMS

16

26

CARLEY YOUNG

11

26

MICHELLE GUTHRIE

11

PRO CRUISER

1

DANNY CALUAG

1251

2

TYLER BROWN

1171

3

BARRY NOBLES

1111

4

JOE SOWERS

556

5

BILLY ANDERSON

356

6

ERIC RUPE

251

7

MATT BAISLEY

244

8

ADAM TREADWELL

186

11

JOSHUA MEYERS

167

12

GAVIN LUBBE

129

13

WILLY SUAREZ

89

14

JOE MATHIS

87

15

KEITH GRINE

39

16

KENTH FALLEN

38

17

KYLA REED

37

18

EDWARD OLSON

28

19

DOMINGOS LAMMOGLIA

10

20

CAMERON DAVIS

9
VET PRO

1

JOHN PURSE

2324

2

DALE HOLMES

1279

3

KENTH FALLEN

1182

4

CHAD STREET

1142

5

GREG ROMERO

1012

6

ERIC RUPE

534

7

DAVID BITTNER

509

8

WILL MURRAY

502

9

TIM DINGER

345

10

ROBERT HARRIS

272

11

TODD PARRY

272

12

PERCY OWENS

240

13

JASON SILVA

195

14

DOMINGOS LAMMOGLIA

194

15

TOMMY OPINCAR

130

16

ANDRES HOLGUIN

120

17

ERIC DYER

114

18

BILLY ROSS

112

19

JEREMIAH OLIVER

110

20

PAUL CALDWELL

110

21

RONALD WILLIAMS

99

22

PAUL BROWN

97

23

DOUG CROWELL

95

24

CODY SMART

82

25

RAY HUDSON

74

26

MIKE ACOSTA

67

27

MARK NUNLEY

62

28

JAMES REED

50

29

KEVIN TOMKO

50

30

TOMMY BOARD

50

31

GARY MASON

40

32

GEOFREY SSENGOBA

40

33

MIKE CASAS

40

34

PHIL POTOSNAK

40

35

CAMERON DAVIS

35

36

SCOTT MORELAND

35

37

COREY FOWLER

32

38

JADE MCPHERSON

32

39

JASON ALSTATT

32

40

DREW DOWNEY

25

41

JOE MCCARTY

25

42

MIKE GUL

18

43

EFRIAM MIRANDA

17

44

RICK LOWRY

17

A PRO

1

COREY REID

584

3

KRISTAPS KONRADS

397

4

THOMAS FERNANDEZ

365

5

JOSH MEYERS

251

6

MATT TISCHLER

213

7

JONATHAN WOODMANSEE

207

8

JORDAN SEWARD

198

9

VANCE WEISENDANGER

196

10

TYLER FAORO

190

11

DALE CUSHMAN

189

12

JELLE VAN GORKOM

182

13

GAVIN LUBBE

174

14

MATT BAISLEY

170

15

TOMMY BELLEW

162

16

BILLY ANDERSON

160

17

JESSE LANGLAND

159

18

MICHAEL HENDERSON

159

19

JEFFREY KALAPACA

151

20

ROY WINKELMAN

148

21

MATT KELTY

146

22

JASON MORRIS

136

23

MASAHIRO SAMPEI

124

24

JUSTIN MCLINTOCK

123

25

BRANDON PANUCCIO

120

ABA BMX would like to thank all the 2009 National Series sponsors: Dan’s Comp (www.danscomp.com ) BAWLS Guarana (www.bawls.com ) Bawlstyle (www.bawlstyle.com ) Redline Bicycles-(www.redlinebicycles.com ) FLY Racing-(www.flyracingbmx.com ) Intense BMX-(www.intensebmx.com ) T.H.E. (www.bmxthe.com ) Tioga-(www.tiogausa.com ) Tangent-(www.tangentproducts.com ) GO211.com (www.go211.com ) Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex (www.disneysports.com ) Sponsorhouse-(www.sponsorhouse.com ) ABABMXRACERS- (www.ababmxracers.com )

Without their support, we couldn`t make the 2009 ABA racing season such a huge success. Support the sponsors that support ABA BMX racing.

Tags: ABA, American Bicycle Association, Black Mountain BMX, danny robinson, Maris Strombergs, mike day, Winternationals