2015 Empire Nationals Race Report

Filed under General on July 24, 2015 | Comment(s)

Friday

We're in the home of New York's first state capital city this weekend and it is indeed awesome. We're surrounded by mature green trees, the Catskill Mountains and sheer bluff walls that line the Hudson River. Speaking of the river, the track is located just a few hundred yards from the shoreline. Once inside the park you'll find a track that is built to go fast. If tonights racing is any indicator of what the rest of the weekend holds, we're in for some captivating hot laps. Stay tuned for live action at www.usabmx.com/webcast and on our social media sites for the imagery. 

Saturday

As practice winded down this morning we were graced with the presence of Kingston Mayor, Shayne Gallo. He thanked the Henderson family for their continued dedication to keeping this facility in tip top shape for the area's racer community.

Immediately following the dignitary blessing, the balance bike runners were off. One of the coolest moments was when the heir to the Rennen fortune, Rayce Costa, decided to throw a manual over the last table top in an effort to grab the win. Quite impressive if we say so.


Next up was A-Pro. Even though only 6 guys showed the victory was hotly contested and points were all bogled as they went into their final main. In the end, semi local Max Egdorf took the top honors for Answer Rennen and the big check, The gate flipped Cole Tesar took the second for C-yaa and former New Yorker Mike Caldwell rounded out the podium.

 

A PRO TOTAL RIDERS = 6 GROUPS = 3

• 1MAX EGDORF, ANSWER/RENNEN, GREENVILLE, NY
• 2COLE TESAR, C-YAA FACTORY, HUNTERSVILLE, NC
• 3MIKE CALDWELL, DANCE FACTORY, NAPLES, FL
• 4PAUL FILIPPONE, SHORE CYCLING SPORTS, WALLINGTON, NJ
• 5TJ KEARNS, NORTH COLLINS, NY
• 6MICHAEL HENDERSON, RUBY, NY

"What is Hayden Robinson doing here?" SSquared's 13-year-old giant surprised a bunch of folks as he appeared Saturday morning, fresh of the plane from Belgium. Also making the hop back over the Atlantic was All Tow's David Freeman. Welcome home boys! Hayden would have an epic battle with Maryland's Evan Sinchak in 13-14 Open but came up a little short withe a second. He redeemed himself in 13 Expert with a commanding victory.

13-14 OPEN TOTAL RIDERS = 8 GROUPS = 1

• 1EVAN SINCHAK, C-YAA FACTORY, SEVERN, MD
• 2HAYDEN ROBINSON, SSQUARED BICYCLES, BIG FLATS, NY
• 3VICTOR GELFUSO, BMXUNDERGROUND.COM, RICHFIELD SPRINGS, NY
• 4JEFFREY KETRON, FACTORY POWERS BIKE SHOP/HARO, WINCHESTER, VA
• 5CARTER SCRIBNER, KINGSTON POINT POWERS BIKE SHOP TEAM, AMSTERDAM, NY
• 6HUNTER SENKO, WEST WINFIELD, NY
• 7CARSON SCRIBNER, KINGSTON POINT POWERS BIKE SHOP TEAM, AMSTERDAM, NY

13 EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 28 GROUPS = 5

• 1HAYDEN ROBINSON, SSQUARED BICYCLES, BIG FLATS, NY
• 2DAVID FREEMAN, ALLTOW WRECKING CREW/YESS, BALTIMORE, MD
• 3ERIC JORRAND, TSS RACING, GLEN ALLEN, VA
• 4JAMES HEDGCOCK, FACTORY PURE BICYCLES, HAMILTON, ON
• 5CAMRON MASON, ANSWER/RENNEN, CORNELIUS, NC
• 6GARETT DEW, MORPHINE INDUSTRIES, WELLINGTON, FL
• 7ZACHARY VONBERGEN, FACTORY REDMAN, HANSCOM, MA
• 8ALEX "THUNDER MIDGET" KUEHN, STYLIN, TRUMBULL, CT

One of the more entertaining mains was a showdown between 2 Texans in 15 Expert. Crupi's Colin Whittington shot out to the early lead but the long flowing locs of Triston Judd were closing the gap fast. Colin had a slight lead as they entered turn 2 and Judd tried to make his move but it was a bit premature and he buzzed the back end of the Crupi and high-sided. Whittington went on for the victory.

15 EXPERT TOTAL RIDERS = 21 GROUPS = 4

• 1COLIN WHITTINGTON, FACTORY CRUPI, ARLINGTON, TX
• 2JACOB OLIVER, STANDARD NORTHEAST FACTORY, HOLLIS, NH
• 3TANNER ENGEL, PROFILE RACING, LUTZ, FL
• 4JARRETT BIDDLE, J&R BICYCLES/SPEEDCO, HUNTERSVILLE, NC
• 5JOSEF GERHARTZ, STAR BMX PRODUCTS, WEST ALLIS, WI
• 6KENDAL (GOKU) WONG, ALLTOW WRECKING CREW/YESS, BRADENTON, FL
• 7SETH MICHALOWSKI, DOUBLECROSS BIKES, PLAINFIELD, IL
• 8TRISTON (LIME TIME) JUDD, ALL-STAR RACING/ROCKET FIZZ, SEAGOVILLE, TX

We're hoping to stay dry tomorrow as it looks as if some early showers are being forecast. Stay tuned to the live action at www.usabmx.com/webcast!

Sunday 

Is that rain?.....already? The local weather folks didn't call for rain until the afternoon but here it was falling from the sky at 5am. Luckily Mike Henderson and his track crew covered the track in the wee hours of the morning and kept the majority of the surface in prime condition. As the rain continued to fall, the start time for the day was delayed until 9am and a 1 moto transfer was announced. The only exceptions were 9 rider classes and total points races. 

Even the A pros elected to go to a 1 lap for all the marbles format. The gate slapped down and Cole Tesar found his way out front on the dampened track and took the big check. Day one winner Max Egdorf grabbed the two spot and local Mike Henderson snuck in for the third.

A PRO TOTAL RIDERS = 6 GROUPS = 3

• 1COLE TESAR, C-YAA FACTORY, HUNTERSVILLE, NC
• 2MAX EGDORF, ANSWER/RENNEN, GREENVILLE, NY
• 3MICHAEL HENDERSON, RUBY, NY
• 4TJ KEARNS, NORTH COLLINS, NY
• 5MIKE CALDWELL, DANCE FACTORY, NAPLES, FL
• 6PAUL FILIPPONE, SHORE CYCLING SPORTS, WALLINGTON, NJ

After a few heartbreaks in qualifying the sun came out and main events were underway. Rhode Island's Danica Bailey came to win this weekend and she did it 4 times. Twice in 7-8 Mixed Open and twice in 8 Girls.  Her brother Tyler also double-doubled in 9 Cruiser and Expert. We met up with their father after the conclusion of the race and he said that the privateers have had multiple sponsorship offers but they're waiting for the right one. Team managers we're hope you're reading this.

41-45 Cruiser was a battle between Shawn Diprete and Drew Gustafson. Drew made a tremendous move in the first turn and came under Diprete but the former National #1 was just too strong and accelerated on the exit and never looked back.

in 51-55 Cruiser Renato "sittin' on chrome" Pistolesi almost lost it out front, all by himself over the little table out of turn one. He narrowly escaped by making a last second adjustment and would go on to win. We've given him the moniker "Sittin" on Chrome" due to his spotless tow truck that he had parked next to his pit. It is by far the cleanest ones we've ever laid eyes on.  

6 Intermediate went three wide down the second straight and looked to be a battle all the way to the line but leader Travis Mancuso didn't come all the way from Maryland to get a second. He took his machine on to victory for the day.

6 INTERMEDIATE TOTAL RIDERS = 8 GROUPS = 1

• 1TRAVIS MANCUSO, KID DYNAMITE MARYLAND, SYKESVILLE, MD
• 2COREY BROWN, PASADENA, MD
• 3LANDEN OXFORD, HUDSON VALLEY ROLLING THUNDER, WALLKILL, NY
• 4TYLER MEYERS, ELIMINATOR/MEYERS BIKE SHOP, FT EDWARD, NY
• 5GRIFFIN GRAY, EGG HARBOR TWP, NJ
• 6ERIC TACTI, HV THUNDER, KINGSTON, NY
• 7STEVEN ADAMS, EGG HARBOR TWP, NJ

Jumping up to 8 Intermediate we find Kaos rider Nick Maillard out front but has some serious pressure coming down the third straight from Kyle Hayden. Hayden goes a bit too far inside of the last turn, clips the tuff block and goes down to the ground. Meanwhile, Max Marshall is putting in some powerful cranks behind the leader and exits the last turn with way more speed than Nick. Max blows by the leader and captures the main event win.

8 INTERMEDIATE TOTAL RIDERS = 9 GROUPS = 2

• 1MAX MARSHALL, HUDSON VALLEY ROLLING TH, WALLKILL, NY
• 2NICK MAILLARD, KAOS BMX HARO, FAIRLESS HILLS, PA
• 3BRANDON HOULE, WESTFIELD, MA
• 4CONNOR OKEEFE, ELIMINATOR/MEYERS BIKE SHOP, ALBANY, NY
• 5DYLAN MCDONALD, BLOT OUT GRAPHICS, ROCKY POINT, NY
• 6PEYTON DOERING, EDGEWOOD, MD
• 7KEVIN KELLEHER, VERNON, CT
• 8KYLE HAYDEN, TUCKAHOE BIKE SHOP, FRANKLINVILLE, NJ

There are some pretty fast BMXers from Minnesota (including the current #1 Woman Pro) and Star Products' Jennifer Mettler is one of them. The 12 year old part time road bike racer came east to NY and dominated every lap that she was in, including racing 13-14 Mixed Open today. We were quite impressed and you should be too! Whatever size wheels this young lady ultimately decides to ride in the future, you can best believe she'll be out front.

We weren't able to catch up with the parents of 6 Expert Mason Cotter but he was running what has to be one of the largest chainrings that we've seen in quite some time. If you know what he's running hit us up on our Facebook page as we're genuinely curious. Oh and he won on it both days.

One of the most impressie performances on the weekend was from 12 Expert Bryce Rose. This young Marylander came on to the national scene last year by grabbing a NAG 5 plate in cruiser and looks to add a top ten plate in class come November. With come from behind wins both days he's definitely shown that he has the heart of a champion. Keep your eyes on this kid!

A 46 & Over Expert win by Don Beals capped off some intense racing in New York. After speaking with a few of the parents that brought their kids out all the way from California (where there was another national happening) we were told that it wasn't about the track, its difficulty or even about scoring some points but about the experience of something different that brought them out East. We wholeheartedly agree as those memories can't be replaced. Ride on.