Saturday, August 26

Do Or Die Mentality: The Vans Triple Crown Of BMX

By Scot McElwaney
BMXonline.com

Mountain High Ski Resort

Wrightwood, California

I attended the Panasonic King of Dirt on Saturday so I missed everything that happened at the Triple Crown race that day. The make up race for the Wilmot, Wisconsin race was held on Saturday and the time trials for Sunday?s finals were later that afternoon. The organizers designed the track so that the last stretch could be changed to make things a little different and maybe even a little more difficult for Sunday?s race. I do have to say that upon seeing the track set up it made the King of Dirt look pretty lame. The King of Dirt had two doubles that had about a 15-foot gap from lip to landing, the smallest jump at the Triple Crown was 30-feet, and the racers are hitting them at mach 5 in a semi-controlled state. Personally, I think that jumping contests need to step it up a bit, they just aren?t exciting and I definitely don?t think that they?re keeping up with today?s level of riding. In my opinion I shouldn?t even be able to clear the jumps at a Pro contest, they should be that sick. Hey, hold up a second. How did I get on this subject? We?re talking about a race here.

If you look closely you'll see that there are two different berms. The inside was the fast line. Photo: Mulligan

Actually, the word from everyone in attendance was that we were talking about history here. The finals for the first BMX race series of its kind where the athletes were actually challenged both physically and mentally and where Pros are finally in contention for purses that reflect their hard work and dedication. Hell, where the jumps have fifty-foot gaps and riders are in a do or die mentality the entire race.

On Saturday?s race the Mains ended with Robert DeWilde in first, Chris Sanchez in second and Kevin Tomko in third. That means 12,500 dollars went to Dewilde, and Sanchez and Tomko took home $7,500 and $4,500 respectively.

This put everyone in close contention for the final purse of $40,000. Robbie Miranda and Dewilde both had ten points while Sanchez and Loffredo had eight points going into the third and final race. Whoever made it out of this one with the least amount of dirt on them would take the win. All except for Justin Loffredo who took multiple bad spills on Saturday and was in no shape to race on Sunday, a sprained wrist and a jacked ankle would take out of contention for the title.

On Sunday the tension was pretty high and you could feel the buzz in the air. In fact when you went up to the gate the only sound you could hear was that of the air compressor that drops the gate. The Pros were dead silent, focused in deep concentration.

As the gates dropped it was an all out battle to get the lead because as with many races whoever got the holeshot had the upper hand. Everyone else was banging together and if one racer went down you can bet that a few others were going with him.

As the semis came to a close it was Thomas Allier, Chris Sanchez, Steve Veltman, Robbie Miranda, Neal Wood, Scott Yoquelet, Robert DeWilde, Kyle Bennett making the main. This meant that of the four people in a position to take the series points everyone that had raced was in contention. (Remember that Loffredo was out with injuries.)

Oh yeah, did I mention that whoever won the series took home a $40,000 bonus? Second and third would walk away with $25,000 and $15,000. But as Burt Reynolds said in that classic redneck movie Stroker Ace "Screw second."

Jamie Staff leads the pack over the giant hip at the top of the course. Photo: Mulligan

As the gate lined up, I literally got butterflies in my stomach. Everyone was betting on a different rider and they had even started a pool in the rider?s tent. As the gate dropped about half the field wiped out at the first jump and it was Allier in the lead with Yoquelet on his heels and Neal Wood flying the DK colors in third. As they made it towards the bottom Yoquelet was making a push to move into first until he lost control hitting the landing on the second to last jump. While Wood got tangled up in Scotty?s mess Sanchez zipped by to take second while Veltman and Miranda recovered from the pile up at the top of the course to take third and fourth respectively.

As everyone crossed the line you could hear several people tallying the points out loud to figure out who had the won the series. Only seconds after the final racer crossed the line the word spread that Sanchez had won the year end title and would be taking home the big check. As Sanchez started walking back up the hill to the finish line several Pros rushed down to congratulate him. Jamie Staff picked Chris up on his shoulders and carried him around as the crowd chanted "Sanchez, Sanchez" over and over.

So was it history in the making? Yes, I would definitely have to say that it was. Never before had such a challenging course been designed. Never before had there been an all Pro event of this magnitude. Never before had such a large purse been up for grabs. And never before had there been such a sense of importance placed on a BMX race. This was definitely history in the making.

The only question left is "Will history repeat itself?"

And your series points leaders are.... Photo: Mulligan

2000 Vans Triple Crown of BMX Overall Series Winners

1. Chris Sanchez 16 $40,000
2. Robbie Miranda 14 $25,000
3. Thomas Allier 11 $15,000
4. Robert DeWilde 10
5. Justin Loffredo 8
6. Jamie Staff 6
7. Kevin Tomko 6
8. Steve Veltman 6
9. Travis Turreson 4
10. Kyle Bennett 4
11. Scott Yoquelet 3
12. Brian Schmith 2
13. Neal Wood 2
14. Brandon Meadows 1

Vans Triple Crown of BMX Stop #3 Mountain Dew National Championships

1. Thomas Allier $15,000
2. Chris Sanchez $9,000
3. Steve Veltman $5,000
4. Robbie Miranda $3,500
5. Neal Wood $2,500
6. Scott Yoquelet $1,500
7. Robert DeWilde $600
8. Kyle Bennett $500

Vans Triple Crown of BMX Stop #2 Right Guard Xtreme Sport Pro

1. Robert DeWilde
2. Chris Sanchez
3. Kevin Tomko
4. Kyle Bennett
5. Scott Yoquelet
6. Brandon Meadows
7. Travis Turreson
8. Thomas Allier