Buckeye Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on August 09, 2013 | Comment(s)

Toledo, OH (August 9-11, 2013)

FRIDAY

USA BMX rolled into Toledo, OH for the 2013 Buckeye Nationals and with 55 motos to kick things off for the weekend, it was a sure sign that the racing was going to be great. While some racers decided to head out west for the Southwest Nationals, those who joined us in Toledo were ready to rock! 

Jr. Devo was one of the best groups of the night with their two racks. Fresh off a trip to New Zealand, Antonio Bonessi was back in action on U.S. soil and would not be denied a win. After battling it out with some tough competition in the likes of Tyler Petty and Ethan Kennedy, Bonessi ran away with the overall win while Petty and Kennedy would finish in second and third respectively. 

11X was another standout class with a locked and loaded gate for the main event with some tough fights through qualifying it was sure to be awesome! Out of the gate and down the hill it was a bar to bar over the first step-up between James Hedgcock (Factory Pure Bicycles), Chris Hanny (Powers Bike Shop), and Dylan Descamps (Strange Motion~Kicker). It looked to be anyone’s race heading into the first turn but Hedgcock lit the boost igniters and took off out of the corner. Hedgcock would go on for the win and after some more tough bar bangin' action, Hanny would take second and Descamps for three. 

The pre-race was a great night and Speedway BMX looks primed and ready for this weekends national event. Check back tomorrow for the latest images and updates on both the USA BMX Facebook page as well as usabmx.com! 

SATURDAY:

174 was the moto count for day one of the Buckeye Nationals here in Toledo, OH. While our friends were in Tucson enjoying the nice air conditioned indoors, all of the attendees in Toledo were enjoying the beautiful mid 70's weather! 

Practice went down and all of the riders in attendance were looking super fast. One unique feature at Speedway BMX is their enormous rhythm section! Starting out of turn two, riders are faced with over 250 feet of rhythm. It was very clear that this was going to be a make it or break it section for the weekend as some riders had no issues with the section while others ran into stamina issues. 

For the A pro class, Factory Yess' Nick Fox and Morphine Industries Brandon McCoy were in a fierce fight for the overall win. All three rounds had these two going back and forth but in the end, it would be the New Zealand native, Nick Fox who would take the win while Brandon McCoy would settle for the deuce. Fox has been on fire during his time taking the American tour and hopefully it will give him the drive to become a regular on the USA BMX series!

In the Jr. Devo show, Justin "The Juice" Richmond recently made his appearance and did not disappoint. He would not lose a single round and in the end would take home the win while Benjamin Roberts and Dodge "D-Money" Munson would finish two and three.

13 girls was quite possibly one of most exciting races of the day. These chicks were going at it all the way to the line. Abigail Miller, Alex Rinehart, and Maria Kratz were the ones to watch and down the first straight it was a bit of surprise that they all were able to keep it on two wheels. Miller and Rinehart battled out of turn one but it would be Miller who came out on top and left the other seven girls in the dust. Rinehart and Kratz threw some elbows in the final corner and Rinehart would get the second place finish with Kratz on the three.

For the Experts, if you were wearing an Ssquared jersey, there was no doubt you could be seen out front. In the case of 15, 16, and 17-18 year olds, there were 3 wins and a second place finish. After nabbing the win in Jr. Devo, Justin Richmond picked up another win along with his fellow team shredders Tyler Zinzow and Tyler Whitfield who would also pick up the win for their classes. Brandon "Big B" Ceslok would shuffle in right behind Whitfield for the two and overall, that would leave the Ssqaured crew sitting pretty in the factory team standings for the day. 

With wonderful weather and only a few drops of rain from Mother Nature, Day one of the Buckeye Nationals here in Toledo, OH turned out to be a great success! Hopefully the weather will stick around for day two as the action continues here at Speedway BMX. Be sure to check the USA BMX website and Facebook for updates throughout the day! 

SUNDAY:

Arriving at the Speedway BMX in Toledo on Sunday morning was awesome as the sunrise lit up the pristine double V-shaped track like a golden star. Yesterday saw a lot of mains decided in the rhythm section and many thought today would be much of the same.

In the last couple of months, we have seen New Zealand’s Nick Fox take on the USA BMX Summer Tour and he definitely planted his flag in the U.S. by dominating the class during his stay. Fox has accumulated 10 wins with only a handful of seconds and one, fourth place finish. Once again, Fox would dominate the day while Factory Star BMX's Tony Favate grabbed an impressive second place finish and Aussie Derrick Mellish taking the final spot on the podium. Rumor is that Fox will be headed back to his homeland for a couple of weeks but has plans to make his AA pro debut in Louisville at the end of the month. Welcome to the big leagues Mr. Fox!

For those of you who know Answer~Ssquared's Justin "The Juice" Richmond, than you would most likely agree that he is one of the rising stars in the country. Every time this kid hits the track, he usually puts on a clinic in bike skills and speed. It took everything Antonio Bonessi and Ethan Kennedy had to catch "The Juice" but Richmond was just too much for them and the rest of the Jr. Devo crew to handle. Richmond led the pack all the way around the track and would double up his Jr. Devo wins for the weekend that also worked out well with his double in 15X.

Last chance Sunday was in full swing as the cruisers hit the track and they gave spectators some of the best 24" racing seen all year. Almost every group that hit the track had multiple lead changes and it started with the 8 year olds. Out of the gate, Full Tilt Bike Co's Reed Larson had the holeshot and was looking fast heading into turn two. Too bad he left the door cracked and Maxx Davis from Motor City BMX would slide in taking over the lead. The loss of speed would push Larson back to third but he was able to recover and come back for an overall second.

Next on the list of awesome cruiser races was 17-20 cruiser. Alan Struna was in a great battle with fellow Answer~Ssquared teammate Brandon "Big-B" Ceslok. Struna and Ceslok fought all the down the first straight but Struna would have the edge from the outside lanes and pick up the holeshot. Down the rhythm they went with Ceslok in hot pursuit but it looked as if it was too little too late but once they reappeared from the blind last corner, Ceslok kicked it up a notch and cranked past Struna on the inside for the overall win. 

The ladies were putting it all on the line just as much as the guys. The stand out race was in the 17-20 class with Dan’s Comp's Samantha Brown, Factory Star BMX's Heather Collman, and Time 2 Shine's Ashton Raum. Like Saturday, Samantha Brown had the lead heading down burly second straight but she got caught once again and would fall back behind Heather Collman. Collman would then begin to pull away from the pack as Brown and Raum fought for second and third. In the end, Collman would get the win, Brown for two and Raum for three.

With most of the action in the books for day 2 at the Buckeye Nationals, it was time for the Experts to hit the track. After having an outstanding weekend, Nema~Ssquared's J.T. Lepore looked poised for one last win to cap things off, unfortunately he would get caught up in a pile up down the first straight and that would end his weekend. This would leave the door open for little Will Walker from Skyland, NC and he took full advantage by picking up the win. 

11X hotshot and hometown hero, Spencer Cole, had a dominating weekend by picking up another double for the year. This little man can shred with the best of them and with the support from DK he has a very bright future. I am sensing one of my early pics for the Summer Olympics in 2020!

Now one of the best expert battles was in the 17-18 year old main event. With some big names such as Tyler Whitfield, Kody Wong and Brandon Ceslok, it was sure to be a great race. Gate slammed down and over the first step-up they all went. Wong would get pinched up which would cause a colossal wipe out launching him and his bike up and over the double into turn one. Whitfield would lead the field out of turn one but would blow a clip and fall back to third. However, T Whit was back in second and chasing down Jarred Johnson like a wolf looking for a meal. Around turn three and through the off camber section Whitfield would go for the inside line but the opening was not quite large enough which would cause him to fly off the track and end his day. However, that slowed Johnson down enough that Ceslok hit the turbo boost and would take the overall win at the line. Later on, we found out that Kody Wong ended up with a broken collarbone from his wreck. Get well soon KW! 

The last fireworks of the day came in the 19-27X class when they hit turn one. Another local boy, Extreme Team's Jeremy Smith was looking fast but Profile's Chandler Denton was just as quick and had the inside line. They locked together in turn one and unfortunately for the both of them, they had to force eject as they launched off the top and down the backside. When we caught up with Denton after the races, he reassured us that the move was unintentional. With those two down for the count, Dakota Cody would take the overall with Struna in second and Murphy in third. 

As the last gate crossed the line, Dan’s Comp helped close things out with an epic t-shirt toss. They launched over 250 of those bad boys and it almost caused riots! On behalf of the whole entire staff here at USA BMX, a huge thank you to all of the staff and volunteers at Speedway BMX for playing host to such a wonderful event. Thanks to everyone who came out, we will see you in Louisville! 

Check out all of the weekends results here:

http://usabmx.com/site/bmx_races/35452/results?past_only=1&section_id=25