Panasonic Open
June 22-25, 2006. Kentucky Expo Center, Louisville, Kentucky. |
| DIRT |
www.dewtour.com: You couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the dirt contest at the Panasonic Open. A rowdy crowd, perfect weather, and unreal action on the course combined to produce an incredible final event. Things got hectic right out of the box as the first five riders pulled flawless runs. Since only the better of their two runs counted, these guys could relax, knowing that they already had a good score in the bag. Chris Gerber, Luke Parslow, Chris Doyle, and Colin Mackay had some problems in their first runs, so they were feeling a lot more pressure going into the second round. Corey Bohan took the lead at the end of round one with multiple-variation 360s in both directions and an opposite 360 whip. Anthony Napolitan pulled a no-handed frontflip, a straight tailwhip, and a 360 whip, and earned a score that fellow finalist Mike Cleveland thought was a little low. Mike wrote “Anthony got robbed” on his shirt and showed it to the camera after his own run, which included a difficult bunnyhop tailwhip off the drop-in. That’s a good example of the camaraderie among these riders; it’s a heated competition, but in the end, most of these guys are just friends and riding buddies, supporting each other even when they’re going for the same prize. The crowd thought they had seen it all after the first round, having witnessed more whips, flips, and spins than you could shake a stick at, which, for those of you who haven’t indulged in a little stick-shaking, is a lot. However, the show was just getting started, and Napolitan decided to turn it up to eleven. His first two jumps matched his first run, but he followed them with a picture-perfect double-tailwhip 360, and is most likely still smiling as you read this. He rocketed into first place, getting the crowd and the other riders hyped up in the process. Indiana’s Chris Gerber was next up, and with a crash in his first run, he knew it was all on the line. The spectators were already on edge after Anthony’s performance, so when Chris landed a double whip and a backflip tailwhip, they went nuts. Luke Parslow was on deck, and anyone who knows Luke knows he’s got the big tricks, and it was all or nothing at this point. Busting big tricks on the first set equals big points, so Luke went for the flipwhip and pulled it clean, following up with a frontflip and a 360 whip. Everyone watching lost their marbles, and Luke bounced into a tie with Anthony for first, moving Bohan to third. Nyquist had gone for a nothing flip in his first run but didn’t get the extension he wanted, so he was determined to pull a perfect second round and get into the top spot. He nailed a double-barspin flip, a double truckdriver, and a barspin no-footed can-can, and moved up to fourth. Since the dropped-run score is used to break ties, twenty-year-old Napolitan came out on top, giving him his first major contest win. Major as in fifteen thousand bucks in his pocket and a head start on everybody else in the chase for the seventy-five grand year-end prize. He actually said he held back on throwing a double whip over the second set, so it looks like he’s headed into Denver with plenty of ammo left. Anthony’s also a threat in the park comp, so 2006 could be a very good year for this rookie from Ohio.
Bart de Jong, mirrabikeco.com, june 2006: Big surprise in Dirt is that 2005 overall Dew champ Ryan Guettler missed the top 12 cut. After a double tailwhip and a front flip over the first two sets, Ryan was going for a new trick where he throws a tailwhip, grabs the seat and then stretches this position with his legs crossed. It looked like he had it but upon landing he did crash and was carried off on a stretcher being ko’d. Ryan got up by the time the prelims were over missing out on some valuable points of stop one. Mirraco’s Michael Cleveland showed he can ride more than park alone by making it to the Dirt finals in this strong field and finished 11th. |
Anthony Napolitan no handed frontflip.
Ryan Guettler.
Dirt final results: 1.Anthony Napolitan 2.Luke Parslow 3.Corey Bohan 4.Ryan Nyquist 5.Chris Gerber 6.TJ Lavin 7.Cameron White 8.Allan Cooke 9.Colin Mackay 10.James Foster 11.Michael Cleveland 12.Chris Doyle |
| PARK |
www.dewtour.com: The first BMX Final of the Panasonic Open went down on Friday night in front of a packed crowd rife with anticipation. Spectators started grabbing seats two hours before the start of the event, eager to see if Ryan Guettler could defend his title, or if first-place qualifier Morgan Wade would shut everybody down again. There would be plenty of action - along with a little drama - to keep the crowd happy. When the house lights went down for rider intros, Diogo Canina was off the course with a mechanical problem bad enough to render his back wheel useless. A handful of riders huddled around his bike frantically searching for a fix until sport organizer Dennis McCoy offered his own wheel. Diogo completed the switch seconds before the start of his first run, and his nervous energy caused him to case a quarter-to-spine transfer, sending him face-first into the ground. He redeemed himself on his second run with a double tailwhip and a big 360 step-down drop-in to improve on his first-run score. Alistair Whitton played to the crowd, hamming it up before knocking out big turndown flips, 360 lookbacks over the box backwards, and an awesome 180 up the big step-up. Allan Cooke was in the middle of a solid run until he missed catching a no-hander to barspin over the channel, landing off-kilter, and sliding out. Ryan Nyquist had a crash in each of his runs, but battled back with killer moves, like an alley-oop double-barspin over the channel, as well as multiple variations over the box backwards. Josh Harrington broke out a barspin to fufanu on the second-story sub and cannonballs over the hitching post. Morgan Wade couldn’t fire out the same intense run that got him the top qualifying spot, but kept the crowd entertained with crazy antics and his signature “raditude” tailwhips, staring out into the crowd in mid-air. It was obvious he was having a lot of fun. The top four riders were all business, however. Coming in fourth was Dave Mirra, who, despite having huge tricks like high alley-oop whips over the channel and a smooth 720 over the box, clearly wasn’t happy about not being able to piece together the run that he wanted. Third place went to newcomer Daniel Dhers. He packed both runs with tricks, and his no-footed can-can 360 to late tailwhip surprised everybody. In his first run, Ryan Guettler topped his qualifying performance, showing the fire that carried him through last year’s series. Wallride flairs, frontflips, and precision execution put him in first place, where he sat until Scotty Cranmer’s second run. Many people have been anticipating big wins from Scotty; with a win at the Dew Tour Finals in Orlando last year, a win at a Las Vegas comp shortly after, and a win here in Louisville, it appears that the kid has a streak on his hands. Double-whips on the big step-up gap. Effortless whips on the way back down. Frontflips. Double-tailwhip 360s. An uncanny ability to come off the box landing with his weight totally wrong and still go straight into a crisp wallride to whip. Will Cranmer take the cup this year? He’s certainly off to a good start. |
Chris Doyle.
Park final results: 1.Scotty Cranmer 2.Ryan Guettler 3.Daniel Dhers 4.Dave Mirra 5.Josh Harrington 6.Alistar Whitton 7.Allan Cooke 8.Diogo Canina 9.Morgan Wade 10.Gary Young 11.Ryan Nyquist 12.David Dillewaard |
| VERT |
| www.dewtour.com: The Vert Final closed out the BMX events at the Panasonic Open with a handful of new tricks and plenty of funny dialogue between the riders. Jamie Bestwick and his English countryman Simon Tabron passed barbs back and forth, playfully arguing over who had been the first to do an alley-oop no-handed 540, a ridiculously hard trick Simon had pulled in his first run. The whole comp had a light-hearted air to it, in stark contrast to some of the dead-serious vert contests of the past. Dennis McCoy got hearty laughs from all of the riders in attendance when he zipped off the side of the 80-foot-wide ramp, an unintentional move he was famous for at vert contests throughout the ‘90s. Luckily, he emerged unscathed to watch the replays of his high 540 and flair over the channel. John Parker suffered a more serious crash and had to be helped off the ramp, but he recovered quickly. Most of the other vert riders were looking forward to seeing John’s new tricks, and he delivered a few, including an alley-oop downside tailwhip and a nothing (no-hander no-footer). His crash came on a body varial, which he pulled recently for the first time at Camp Woodward. It didn’t work out so well in Louisville, but his first run was good enough to keep him in fifth. The crowd gave big cheers to Chad Kagy, who blasted huge airs and amazing tricks. A barspin to tailwhip early in his first run set the pace, followed by a rarely-seen superman seatgrab barspin. Kagy also dropped two of the best tricks of the day in his second run, a scissor-kick superman seatgrab and a flatspin 540 tailwhip. He ended up just off the podium in fourth. Third went to Kevin Robinson who lost his bike on a barspin early in his first run, but returned with a big 540 over the channel, no-handed flairs (regular and opposite), and a complicated switch-hand one-footed 540. He dropped in well after his time was up and attempted a 540 whip, a big new move for him. Hopefully he’ll get them dialed by the time he gets to Denver for round two. Jamie Bestwick, who won four of the five stops last year (he missed the first stop here in Louisville), had just started riding again after surgery on his neck, so everyone figured he’d just roll in for a few points to avoid the risk of additional injury. He held back a little, but for Jamie that means multiple flair variations (downside-whip, no-handers, and an opposite fastplant version) and big 540s. How many other riders can run at 75% and still get second place? Just before finals, Simon Tabron hung up on an alley-oop 540 and pounded himself into the flatbottom. He somehow came back from that to an amazing performance, earning his first Dew Tour win. Loads of 540 variations and a 900 capped off a clean run, giving him the opportunity to play around with some goofy one-footers in his second run, putting an end to a fun day on the big ramp. Look for the vert posse to be back in action in Denver next month, chasing Simon for a shot at the Dew Cup. |
1.Simon Tabron
2.Jamie Bestwick
3.Kevin Robinson
4.Chad Kagy
5.John Parker
6.Jimmy Walker
7.Dennis McCoy
8.Tom Stober
9.Jay Eggleston
10.Tom Haugen
11.Mike Mancuso
12.Dave Mirra |
BEST TRICK |
| www.dewtour.com: The Dew Action Sports Tour, the only season-long professional multi-sport tour in action sports, announced the winner of the PlayStation® Trick of the Week Award from the Panasonic Open in Louisville, KY. Voting began after competition in Louisville ended on Sunday, June 25. Fans were able to watch video clips of the top five tricks and vote for their favorite one online at www.dewactionsportstour.com until Sunday, July 2. Fans selected Ryan Nyquist as the PlayStation® Trick of the Week winner after he performed a barspin no-footed can-can during the BMX Dirt Finals. Nyquist finished the contest in fourth place and is one of the top competitors in the Dew Cup BMX Dirt competition. “I’m really excited to win! The barspin no-footed can-can is something I’ve been working on for a while. I’m also excited to be in the running for trick of the year," said Nyquist. Nyquist faced stiff competition for the PlayStation® Trick of the Week Award. Daniel Dhers completed a 360 no-footed can-can tailwhip during the BMX Park Finals. Top BMX Vert rider Chad Kagy was also up for the Trick of the Week after flawlessly including a flatspin 540 tailwhip during the BMX Vert Finals. Freestyle Motocross winner Nate Adams was nominated after executing a backflip cordova, which helped seal his first place victory. Ryan Sheckler’s 270 into a backlip fakie during the Skateboard Park Finals helped lead him to a first place finish at the Panasonic Open. In the end, the online participants chose Nyquist’s trick as the best. Nyquist wins $5,000 and his trick will compete for the PlayStation® Trick of the Year versus all the other Trick of the Week winners from other Dew Action Sports Tour events, including the upcoming Right Guard Open in Denver (July 13-16). Online polls open at midnight on the last day of each event. Fans will vote for the PlayStation® Trick of the Year winner from the four Trick of the Week winners. Polls will be open throughout the week of October’s PlayStation® Pro, taking place at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, FL, October 12-15. The winner will be announced during the Dew Action Sports Tour NBC broadcast on Sunday, October 15. The winning athlete will take home $10,000 in cash as well as other PlayStation® prizes. |