Recap and Photos: 2017 Music City Nats

Our annual trip to Nashville is one we look forward to all year long. It has all the boxes checked for making long-lasting memories for riders, parents, sponsors and media-folk.

A legendary track, modernized in both shaping and racing surface; a picturesque park setting, with on-site camping right by the water; staff who are all tried-and-true BMXers, and also posessed of that special Southern Hospitality to make us all feel as welcome as-can-be. And, of course, one of the best photo angles in all of USA BMX into the first turn. I actually had to monitor my shooting there, else I may have come away with 250 shots of the same angle.

This was the first three-day national of 2017, set after some other races in the region (Atlanta and Minnesota), and before the Summer onslaught. In eyeballing the results, we noticed a lot of hotshoes held-off on racing Open at this one. Maybe that is a factor of the expense of three days of age class racing, or maybe it’s something else—hard to say.

Moto-count wise, the three days posted 211, 255 and 221 on the boards (fence). That’s smack-dab in the BMX News “sweet spot” of 200-250 for a national, that gets you out of the parking lot early enough to not have to eat gas station roller grill hot dogs for dinner, and get enough sleep to lay down the ponies in prime fashion the next day. Nothing worse than chasing a sleep deficit when you need to be at your best.

This was the sixth stop of the 2017 USA BMX Pro Series. Elite turnout was kinda-thin, with 9 and 10 for the Women and 16 for the men, both days. Again, placement on the calendar may have played a role, with the race happening just-after the back-to-back UCI World Cup races in Europe, a big Pro-Am in Canada this weekend, a few injuries keeping riders home, and some “intangible” factors. A-Pro had 19 and 17, and Vet had nine both days.

Still, all the top-class action was pulse-quickening, and brought fans to the fenceline to cheer for their faves. It was awesome to see five of the Dutch National team make an appearance; the USA BMX crowd doesn’t get to see them all that often, and they really added some spice to the proverbial soup.

TOP PHOTO: Joris Daudet has the heat for a three-peat in the USA BMX title chase. He has declared his intention to get there and, from this mid-season view, it’s lookin pretty good for him to get there, with a double-up in Nashville.

Weather or Not
If you have been to the Music City Nationals more than once, you know that it almost-always rains at least one of the days. The track leadership took a big step in 2016, and skim-coated the track—which allows for racing in all-kinds of weather.

For the 2017 installment, Friday was picture-perfect. Clear blue skies and temps in the low to mid 80s (with a heaping-helping of hometown humidity). Saturday started out a bit sketchy, but cleared up for a while, with intermittant sprinkles, that let-loose just as the pro mains were starting up (which were a the start of the amateur semis). Most of the Saturday mains were run under ominous conditions and some downpours. Sunday was dreary, and treated the crowd to showers out of nowhere, then sun, then more gloom.

Photo Recap
Below are some prime picks of our pics from the race. Those who know News, know we don’t usually shoot in the rain (scarred for life after one particular race where the lens on our Nikon looked like a fishbowl, with half-height water). We got a full-spread on Friday, and a few frames on Saturday. Check the links below for free mid-res image downloads, via PhotosArePosted.com.

The fastest (non SX) first straight in USA BMX Racing. The Music City crew had the track groomed to perfection for the national. Last year’s rebuild has settled-in nicely, and the skim-coat racing surface made for non-stop, no-slop race action, even when the skies got drippy throughout Saturday and Sunday’s event.

Orange Crush! Five members of the Dutch National Team touched down in the Music City for two days of American-style mixin-it-up. As fate would have it, all-five are in this first-round rack on Friday. Twan van Gendt up front, with Niek Kimmann (313), Dave van der Burg (192), Jelle van Gorkom and Niels Bensink in the mix.

Brayden Vititow won the Throdwn “Factory For a Weekend” contest by creating a video promoting his local track (Black Mountain BMX), and earning the most likes, shares and views of all entries. Brayden got the full-factory treatment, as promised, with a brand new Throdwn bike, factory uniform, and all the trimmings. News will have a video recap of his experience next week, so keep an eye out for that. Meanwhile, check out his video (link will open in a new window).

Richie Dey rocked the Profile Racing ride to 17-20 Cruiser wins on Friday and Sunday, and main event appearances all three days, including a second in 17-18x on Friday.

Jason Carnes had the Berm Academy rig in Nashville, which served as a central pit for many of the pros, as it has for most of the pro races this year. Hard to say if he is telling a knee-slapping, laugh-until-you-cry story from the road here, or if some of the plentiful Music City no-see-ums are mounting an attack.

Olijuwon Davis loves what he does and does what he loves. Top of the Pro Open class on Friday, then an A-Pro win on Saturday. Cameron Moore turned an impressive lap in Sunday’s main event to book the win, with Cole Tesar in second and OD in third.

Robert Raymonde is tougher than a bull driving a Sherman tank. He had a bad wreck last month and was in the hospital for several days, had surgery, and after about three weeks of recovery, flew from So Cal to Nashville to make all three mains in 51-55 Cruiser. Good to see you back on the track, Rob!

BNA Air Traffic Control had to be alerted for this flyby. Markwane Billingsley and Kamren Larsen getting “Blue Angels” close into turn one. Larsen had a great weekend in the Music City, with three wins in 17-18 Expert.

Peter Choat ruled 12x at the Music City Nats, with aces-across all three days. Full Tilt was lookin good on the track, as a whole in Nashville, with a team sheet shut-out in the hotly-contested Factory Team category. That is a pretty-tough-do, indeed. The team was well-rested between rounds, in the posh new trailer they pulled in to town. Glass doors, air conditioning, and on-board video gaming.

Elite Women had nine riders on Friday and 10 on Saturday. A pleasing performance by this pair on Saturday. Keely Kortman (472) and Shealen Reno (10), in that order behind the double-up of Alise Post. On Friday, Dani George and Heather Collman joined Alise on the podium.

Speaking of Alise, she skipped the UCI SX races in Europe earlier this month, and kept it low-flame until Nashville, where she lit it up in a big way, and scored twin-wins on the weekend. But props have to go out to Dani George for getting the Answer Holeshot award on Friday, with a turn one move that put her in the lead at just-the-right-time.

Bobby Dellert is getting used to his 2017 Ssquared ride just-fine. He laid down some great laps in Nashville, and topped 16x on Saturday. Backing up to Friday, he was down the order a bit, with a fifth, but come Sunday, he was locked in to a second place finish, behind the National #1 Amateur, Throdwn’s Jesse Welch. The Phenom split the wins on Friday/Sunday.

After Atlanta, Tyler Smith traded in his Haro/Promax kit for a new one of the Factory Answer flavor. He made two out of three 19-27x mains in Nashville. Billy Russell was the man to beat in the class this weekend, though, with aces-across all three mains. He was going so fast, we didn’t even get a photo of him. Well done, Billy!

If you know your history on pro number plates, you know they sometimes slip some inside jokes into the mix, along with the standard fare of sponsor logos. Alise Post was rockin “Broski” on hers in Nashville. And just as we started to track her down to find out what it all meant, we happened upon the Promax pit setup, where we spied a sweet counter display, featuring the Silver Medalist…well…on display.

Here’s what Alise told News about the new sponsor:

After years of working with JBL Audio, I recently moved forward with another audio company in Broski Sound. This is a smaller company with lower-end options of headphones, and I think it’s a great fit for both me and the BMX market. All of the headphones are wireless which is great for training, and I think the affordability of them make them an awesome option for really anyone, but especially kids traveling all over and running around the track. They’re quality and function meet our needs.

I met the owner of Broski through Chula Vista BMX. His son races out there and he also sponsors Tyler Brown’s 316 Racing team. It’s cool working with them because they’re motivated in their industry but are also big fans of BMX and have really taken it on board and are supporting it.

I’m honored they wanted to work with me and put my face on their packaging, to promote me, their brand, and the entire sport of BMX to the outside world, through their headphones. I’m a big fan of “support those who support you,” and I look forward to a long future with Broski Sound.

Alise is on-point with her assessment; we saw some $20 bills in the hands of AP11 fans waving at the Promax pit peeps, who then referred them over to a tent by concessions, where they were being sold. More to come on the product in the coming weeks.

On The Way Out
We had a solid seven-hour drive, back to the 312 to ponder the weekend in Nashville. It really was a great trip, that lived up to the anticipation. The pit vibe was chill, and we had a lot of time to talk BMX with friends. The Rock Hill Worlds are high on everyone’s mind right now–whether training for the race, or parents making their preps to make it a trip to remember.

Our next race will be the 2017 USA BMX Midwest Nationals in Rockford–which is equally anticipated here at the BMX News Global Command Center, since it is at one of our local tracks.

As we sign it off, check out the photo galleries, linked below.

—Mike Carruth

Links

2017 Music City Nationals Friday Photos

2017 Music City Nationals Saturday Photos

Letter: Where Was Alise in Papendal/Zolder?

I watched the Papendal and Zolder SX races on YouTube, and did not see Alise Post. Why wasn’t she there? Did she get hurt?

AS, Midwest

Thanks for writing AS! We are big AP11 fans ourselves, and had a head-scratch moment over not seeing Alise on the moto sheets in Papendal, when we sat down with our popcorn at 9 in the morning.

We reached out to Alise after receiving your letter, and here’s what she said:

It was a late decision between myself and USA Cycling for me to pull out of Papendal (editors note: and, by extension, Zolder).

I love that race and would’ve loved to be there, but during the lead up a lot of things came up at home and with so many moving parts it just wouldn’t have been fair to expect myself to go there and perform. We all agree that it’s almost more important to be 100% mentally prepared than physically for these events to get results and stay healthy, so I chose that being supportive to Sam and getting home life in order as the priority for this period of time.

As much as we would have loved to see another sky-ride into the first turn in Papendal (above), we have to applaud Alise’s decision to put family first.

The good news is that she is said to be enroute to Nashville, for the next round of the 2017 USA BMX Pro Series. We hope you’ll be listening to the webcast as she gets it done!

Top Photo: News regards this as one of the best BMX Racing photos of all-time, but do not know who actually snapped it.

Winner of Throdwn “Factory For a Weekend”

The local track is where it’s at this summer! Over the past several weeks, BMXers from across the country created videos to promote their local track as part of the Throdwn “Factory For a Weekend” contest.

Starting on April 21, contestants worked hard to promote their videos to friends, family and others in the BMX community. The video with the most likes, shares and views, added together, on May 5 at 11:59 Central Time would be the winner, and become “Factory For a Weekend” at the 2017 Music City Nationals in Nashville.

Before announcing the name of the winner, all the contestants need a high-five on creating their video and promoting their local track.

Of all the videos entered, the one by 13-year old Brayden Vititow of Mesa, AZ promoting Black Mountain BMX, captured the most likes, shares and views, with a total score of 73,365. Ryan Nester of Wyoming, MI was second with 67,531.

Braydon told News the following about his experience in the “Factory For a Weekend” contest:

On making the video
A friend from the track, Clive Christopher edited the video for me. He did it all on his iPhone and my step-dad used a Go Pro to get the track footage.

On people’s reaction to the video
The response was overwhelming! I was really surprised by it. I thought it was pretty cool to have some of the big names in BMX — Josh Banuelos, Bryce Batten, Tyler Brown and others sharing and liking it.

On finding out he won
Waiting for the notification was tough, I’m glad I didn’t have any tests in school on Monday! I was at home when the phone rang, and it was (Throdwn President) Charlie Jahnke saying “Congratulations buddy, you won the Factory For A Weekend Contest.” I don’t remember much after that.

A big congrats to Brayden and, again, to all contestants who entered videos.

Here is Brayden’s winning video:

Now the fun part starts: watching Brayden as he begins his “Factory For a Weekend” transformation. Plane tickets have been purchased and hotel reserved. His Throdwn Factory-Replica bike will be sized and built-up, as will his Factory Throdwn uniform—all waiting for him to arrive in Nashville, ahead of the three-day Music City Nationals.

Keep an eye on throdwn.com, and their Facebook page for the latest leading up to the big day.

Links

Throdwn Website

Promote Your Track – Be “Factory for a Weekend”

By almost any measure, local BMX Racing in the United States could use a boost. Whether that comes from non-BMXers being introduced to the sport for the first time, or fellow BMXers calling their buddies back to the local track for a taste of the good ol days…it all helps.

BMXers need to get-about talking-up their local track to anyone and everyone who will listen. THAT is how you get people motivated to air-up the tires and air-out the doubles.

Throdwn BMX is out this week with a contest that encourages BMXers from coast to coast to do just-that. Their “Factory for a Weekend” contest calls on riders and BMX families to create a one-to-two minute video promoting their local track–talking about why it’s a special place, or the most fun, or the best scene, etc.

The video with the most likes, shares and views (added together) on May 5 wins the contest, and a prize package worth over $5,000.

The prize package includes being “Factory for a Weekend” at the 2017 Music City Nationals. Here is a listing of the prizes includes, as pinched from the Throdwn website:

What’s in the Prize Package:

– Two Round-Trip airline tickets to Nashville, arriving on May 25
– Four nights in a Nashville-area hotel
– Round-trip airport transportation
– A Throdwn Factory-replica bike, decked out with Box Components, and dialed in by Dan’s Comp
– Throdwn pitwear for you and your guest
– Throdwn Factory uniform, including a Troy Lee Designs D3 carbon helmet
– Meals with the team for you and your guest
– Full-factory treatment the whole weekend
– More goodies we may add between now and the end of the contest

We’re definitely excited to see how this goes. So many people spout-off online about “we gotta promote the local program.” Now, you can be one of the people who DO something about it, and actually get out there and promote.

Here’s an example video by Factory Throdwn brothers Hayden and Ty Beadle:

On the entry page, they told it true:

Local racing isn’t just for locals. True factory stars support their local program, and rep their sponsors to the people they see every week, when they’re not out doing it at the nationals. Join with Throdwn to get your local track the publicity it deserves, and enjoy the rewards of your hard work, promoting your local scene.

Props to Dan’s Comp and Box Components for joining in to make the contest a big success.

Entering the contest requires you to fill out registration form, then Throdwn is going to mail you an entry package–like in the actual mail. We’re told that package will have an iron-on inside which you will apply to a blank black t-shirt. You’ll wear that shirt when you shoot the video promoting your local track.

Check out the link below to enter the contest, and learn about what to do next.

If you can’t pick up a rake, pick up a camera.

—Mike Carruth

Links

Throdwn Factory for a Weekend Info and Entry page