| July 17-20: Right Guard Open - Cleveland, Ohio. | |
| DIRT | |
| PRELIMS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: Tim "Fuzzy" Hall and his team of course builders changed things up a bit here in Cleveland for the Right Guard Open, throwing a massive S-berm into the mix to give the riders an extra challenge. Of course, the Dew Tour Dirt competitors passed the test with flying colors, dropping tricks into the berm before tearing through it to annihilate the remaining three jumps. Brandon Dosch was looking great throughout practice and he kept it going in the Prelim with huge superman tailwhips and a double downside tailwhip 360, driving himself into that last qualifying position in ninth (Tour points leaders Ryan Nyquist, Cameron White, and James Foster were already pre-qualified for the 12-man Final). Australian powerhouse Luke Parslow was next up in eighth, throwing his wild-ass flip whips mid-rhythm, topped with big frontflips. Anthony Napolitan crashed in run one so he put it all on the line in run two with a sick truckdriver to tailwhip, paired with his trademark no-handed frontflip. Dennis Enarson turned in two great runs featuring flip whips and a double tailwhip 360, and he's got more on tap for Friday's Final. Rob Darden was also consistent throughout both runs, spinning mid-rhythm 720s and a killer truckdriver to turndown for fifth. The all-around Aussie Steven McCann followed up his Prelim win in Vert earlier today with a fourth in the Dirt Prelim tonight. Solid 360 tricks and a no-handed to turndown 720 over the last set put him there, and he still has Park Prelims to ride tomorrow (before the Dirt Final). Where does this guy get his energy? The top three was a wild group, with Ryan Guettler coming in third. He did two 720s, two 360s, and a tailwhip in his first run, and he's packing variations of all of those moves for the Final. Nate Berkheimer laid waste to the course with two high-energy runs. He flipped off the roll-in and did a solid turndown 360, backflip, and frontflip in run one, and then stepped up his game in run two with a crazy superman to late tailwhip. By the way, Nate is a full-on pro BMX racer; he just rides dirt jump contests for fun. Corey Bohan came out on top of the Dirt Prelim, just as he did last month in Baltimore. Dirt jumping's style hound dropped a 360 lookback, a clean nothing, and an opposite truckdriver in run one, and it was all he needed to lock in on number one. He took advantage of that in his second run, going for a rare 180 over the final jump, attempting to land fakie. The jumps at this stop are a little shorter than normal, so he actually overshot the landing a little and couldn't stick it, but it was still awesome. Nyquist, White, and Foster will step into the mix for tomorrow's Final, upping the ante in an already heated game. It's a critical time to post up big points in the chase for the Dew Cup, so the Friday night Dirt show in Cleveland is definitely the place to be. Dirt Qualifying results (Top 9 Move To Finals): 1.Corey Bohan 2.Nate Berkheimer 3.Ryan Guettler 4.Steve McCann 5.Rob Darden 6.Dennis Enarson 7.Anthony Napolitan 8.Luke Parslow 9.Brandon Dosch 10.Josh Hult 11.Diogo Canina 12.Jeremiah Smith 13.Chris Gerber 14.Cory Nastazio 15.Allan Cooke 16.Joey Marks 17.TJ Ellis 18.Scott Wirch 19.Adam Aloise 20.Jaie Toohey 21.Brian Hunt 22.Colin Mackay 23.Kevin Kiraly 24.Ricardo Laguna 25.Ricky Moseley 26.Kyle O’hara 27.Morgan Wade FINALS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: The first of the BMX Final events to go down in Cleveland took place on the Dirt course on Friday, and it tightened up the Dew Cup race, setting the stage for a heated event next month in Portland. Cameron White took the victory, and with it he tied Ryan Nyquist in overall Tour points, so the two closely matched riders who traded jabs on the 2007 Tour look to be going head-to-head once again in 2008. Some of the highlights of tonight's Final include: --James Foster's barspin to tailwhip and his windshield wiper, the tailwhip to tailwhip back. Unfortunately, Foster crashed on a practice run before round three; he had already had a nasty crash earlier today in the Park Prelim, so he decided to skip his third run and rest up for Sunday's Park Final. --Corey Bohan did his own barspins to tailwhips, along with a tech opposite 360 whip. He went for the same 180 to fakie over the last set that he tried in the Prelim, but he couldn't stick the landing. --Rob Darden squeezed six tricks out of the course, throwing bunnyhop barspins into the roll-in to start his runs. He also hit mid-rhythm 720s, a double truck, and a truckdriver to turndown. --Luke Parslow knocked out a double backflip on the middle set, but he couldn't keep his momentum going through the rest of the course. He had already landed perfect flip whips and a frontflip tabletop, though. --Dennis Enarson shot from 11th to fourth after his third run (eventually settling in fifth after Steve McCann's run), which was packed with hard moves like a flip whip, barspin to no-hander, and a double tailwhip 360. He also pulled a triple whip in run two. --Steven McCann pulled no-handed 720s in all three runs, two of them to turndown. He's well on his way to hammering out top-ten finishes in all three Dew Tour BMX disciplines. --Ryan Nyquist nailed some major moves but couldn't repeat the victory he earned in Baltimore last month. He pulled his powerball (double barspin cannonball), a double barspin backflip, and a brand-new downside tailwhip 360, but wiped out on a mid-rhythm barspin 720 in his last run. --Ryan Guettler charged back onto the Dew Tour Dirt podium in second, throwing back-to-back 720s topped with a frontflip in his second run. He pumped up the crowd before his third run, rewarding them with a 1080 on the middle set. He landed off-kilter and couldn't complete the run, but it was still completely nuts. --As we said above, Cam White won the event, his second career Dew Tour victory. All three of his runs were stacked front to back with banger moves, including unbelievable mid-rhythm barspin to tailwhip backflips, the trick only he can do. "We all have to thrown down stuff like that just to try to make it out here," he said after the awards ceremony. "Everyone is a shredder in their own right, so I'm just trying to hang on to the bike and enjoy it." White and Nyquist are tied with 175 points going into the Wendy's Invitational in Portland next month. The rest of the stops will keep getting crazier as we get closer to determining the 2008 Dew Cup winner, but however nuts it gets, all the competitors are still great friends who just want to see each other bust big moves and push the sport. When White was asked if he thought he could seal up the title this year, he responded, "You know what, if I get second place behind Ryan Nyquist again, I'm not going to be too bummed – he's the champ! press release, july 2008: Cameron White established his dominance on the dirt course and won the BMX Dirt event in the Right Guard Open on Friday night. The 24-year old White, of Australia, landed his signature trick, a backflip barspin tailwhip, to secure the victory with a 93.92 score. Fellow Australian Ryan Guettler finished second at 92.50 and Ryan Nyquist of Greenville, N.C. was third at 91.59. The 90-minute final was full of technical tricks, with a 1080 from Guettler and a double backflip from Luke Parslow, who finished sixth. White is the current points leader in the quest for the Dew Cup but he doesn't dwell on the standings. "If you start looking long term it's just added pressure," White said. "I try to alleviate all the pressure I can and just compete against myself every run. Those runs I did today were the best I can do. I gave it everything and landed it and that's all you can ask for." Dirts Finals results: 1.Cameron White 2.Ryan Guettler 3.Ryan Nyquist 4.Steven McCann 5.Dennis Enarson 6.Luke Parslow 7.Rob Darden 8.Corey Bohan 9.James Foster 10.Brandon Dosch 11.Nate Berkheimer 12.Anthony Napolitan |
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| PARK | PRELIMS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: Thirty-two of BMX's best Park riders squared off at the Right Guard Open on Friday, going head-to-head to determine who would make it out of Prelims; only nine of them would move on to Sunday's Final. After over two hours of blood, sweat, and big airs, Ryan Nyquist emerged as the leader, giving himself some winning momentum as he heads into tonight's Dirt Final. Nyquist made it happen with a huge suicide no-handed 360 over the tall box, a smooth curved wallride to alley-oop 270, and a nice 720 over the box and 540 on the big quarter. In typical Nyquist fashion, he'll drop variations into most of those moves for the Final. He'll definitely have to step up his game, because in addition to the other eight riders who transferred from the Prelim, he'll be up against Tour points leaders Mike Spinner, Ryan Guettler, and current Dew Tour Park champ Daniel Dhers. Garrett Reynolds took the number two spot behind Ryan, laying down a ridiculous string of barspin moves including a barspin to no-handed 540, double barspin to tabletop 360, and a barspin to turndown 270 step-up transfer. The kid can throw the bars, that's for sure. Craig Mast was next, pulling his patented step-up frontflips, double whip 360s, and a big triple tailwhip. It wasn't long ago that James Foster was the only guy doing triples; now, they're starting to almost become commonplace – that's the Dew Tour for you. Triple threat Steven McCann finished fourth with a perfect no-handed to turndown 720 over the box. Rob Darden gave a tutorial on how to properly execute a high-speed full-course contest run, dropping truckdriver transfers, 720s, and a fast and hairy gap into the spine. James Foster went down in practice shortly before his run, but was able to rally back to prime form with solid double whips and an opposite whip to x-up to make the cut. Marcus Tooker dropped a few jaws with a clean no-handed 720, a busdriver backflip, and double truckdrivers and tailwhips. Drew Bezanson, a hot up and coming rider from Canada, charged into the Final with truckdriver bomb drops from the top deck of the course, a no-footed can-can to tailwhip, and a big tailwhip gap to wallride. Alessandro Barbero came all the way from Italy to land in his first Dew Tour Final, bringing double tailwhip 360s and a windshield wiper (tailwhip to tailwhip back) with him. The BMX Park Final will close out the Right Guard Open on Sunday, so the 12 finalists will come prepared to close the show with a bang. Look for bigger moves, crazier transfers, and even new tricks – everything you've come to expect from the AST Dew Tour. Park Qualifying Results: 1.Ryan Nyquist 2.Garrett Reynolds 3.Craig Mast 4.Steven McCann 5.Rob Darden 6.James Foster 7.Marcus Tooker 8.Drew Bezanson 9.Alessandro Barbero FINALS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: Two-time Dew Cup Park champ Daniel Dhers is batting a thousand on the '08 Dew Tour after wrapping up Park wins at both the Panasonic and Right Guard Opens. He posted the highest score of the day on Sunday in Cleveland after his first run and no one else could top it, so he heads into Portland next month with a perfect 200 points overall, one step closer to a title three-peat. After earning second in Dirt on Friday, Ryan Guettler looked like a solid contender for first in Park but suffered a crash on his first trick in run one, a 1080 over the box. He wasn't able to take his second run while being checked by the medical staff for injuries and had to settle for the 12th place spot. He did make it back to watch the end of the contest though. James Foster, who was sporting a black eye after a few of his own crashes this weekend, landed in 11th with double whips and a 360 busdriver. Alessandro Barbero nailed windshield wipers and double tailwhip 360s in both runs, and Marcus Tooker did a clean no-handed 720 and a new barspin flair to take ninth. Multi-tasker Steven McCann followed his third in Vert and fourth in Dirt with an eighth in Park, quite respectable when you take into account the fatigue of riding non-stop in three disciplines over the course of five long days. Ohio native Craig Mast landed just above McCann with step-up frontflips and a triple tailwhip. Canada's Drew Bezanson is quietly moving up the Dew Tour ranks with some creative tricks and outside-the-box run planning. He threw an awesome double tailwhip gap transfer into the wallride that got mad props from all the other riders. Ryan Nyquist broke into the top five with a barspin 270 out of the curved wallride, his new downside whip 360, barspin 540s, and a nothing to rocket suicide combo. He was just edged out by Garrett Reynolds, who twisted a super-clean 900, a barspin to no-handed 540, and a barspin to barspin 360 to late tabletop that scored high on both difficulty and style points. Park contest veteran Rob Darden posted his best Dew Tour finish to date, losing a super close tie-breaker with Mike Spinner which put him in third. Darden turned in the most complete run from start to finish of the entire contest, firing up the afterburners and hauling ass around a technical line throughout the course. He pulled a 720, a fast barspin transfer into the spine from the Nike 6.0 sub, a huge backflip followed closely by a flair, and a bunnyhop truckdriver, all with speed and style. Mike Spinner had one thing on his mind before the Final, and that was to land a quadruple tailwhip for the first time in competition. He got it done first thing in his first run, following it with a 1080. He actually scored better in his second run though, with a triple whip and another 1080 over the box, a triple whip on the big quarter, and a 720 over the spine. That's two podiums for Spinner so far on the '08 Tour, so he's going to be giving Dhers a run for his money for sure. Daniel Dhers, who jokingly called Spinner his nemesis while standing on the podium, isn't looking too nervous. He did a total of four 720s in his first run, popping them out like other riders do 360s. His no-handed corked 720 was as smooth as glass, and his patented no-footed can-can to late tailwhips are totally dialed. If you're waiting for Dhers to blow a contest, you're probably going to be waiting a long time. It's back to the practice game for all of the Park competitors, who now have a month to nail down new moves before the Wendy's Invitational in Portland. The pressure will be on Dhers, but he's made it known that he's already got new tricks on deck, ready to quash any attempt at his title. Can anybody take him down? Tune in to the action in Portland to find out. Press release: Two-time, defending Dew Cup champion Daniel Dhers remains perfect in competition with a win in the BMX park event, Sunday in the Right Guard Open. It was a heated contest between the 23-year-old Dhers, of Venezuela, and Miami's Mike Spinner, who landed the first ever quad whip in BMX competition. Dhers landed a 720 over the long box jump, a 720 to tailwhip air, and earned a score of 92.67. Spinner placed second with 91.17 and Rob Darden, of Greenville, N.C. was third with 91.17 points, based on a lower scoring first run than Spinner's. "The scariest was the seven in the long box," Dhers said. "Every time I jumped it I had a different speed. You think you're not going to make it because it's so long. Let's see what happens at the next stop. It's Spinner's favorite stop and my nemesis stop." Spinner said he had been contemplating whether or not he would attempt the quad whip since he arrived at the event and was ecstatic when he landed the trick. "That was the first time I've ever rolled away from it. I am so happy right now," Spinner said. "I love the progression. That's what drives me every day to ride my bike. I did what I came to do. I messed up the triple whip on the quarter so if I would have kept going maybe I would have given Daniel a run for the money." Park Final Results: 1.Daniel Dhers 2.Mike Spinner 3.Rob Darden 4.Garrett Reynolds 5.Ryan Nyquist 6.Drew Bezanson 7.Craig Mast 8.Steve McCann 9.Marcus Tooker 10.Alessandro Barbero 11.James Foster 12.Ryan Guettler |
| VERT | |
| PRELIMS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: The temperature wasn't the only thing that was hot at BMX Vert Prelims at the Right Guard Open on Thursday. Steven McCann fired out a blistering second run to overtake Dennis McCoy for the number one qualifying spot, setting himself up in a good position for the stacked Final on Saturday. With the top three overall Tour leaders – Jamie Bestwick, Chad Kagy, and Simon Tabron – pre-qualified for the Final, the rest of the riders went to war for the seven remaining spots. Jay Eggleston just made the cut with his typical massive airs, spinning on-edge 540s that had everybody on the decks holding their breath until he landed. John Parker had some airline troubles that landed him in Cleveland just minutes before the Prelim began, but his years of experience showed through as he blasted stalled no-handers, 540s, a double tailwhip, and an opposite flair, landing him in sixth. Rounding out the top five was Jimmy Walker, riding strong and solid all over the ramp and ripping tabletop 540s and flairs at will. Fourth went to Kevin Robinson, who was sitting near the bottom of the standings after a crash in his first run. Robinson wasn't phased by that, however, dropping in for run two with big no-handers and supermans, tabletop and switch-handed 540s, and no-handed and opposite flairs. Zack Warden also had to step it up in run two to make the cut; a perfect bikeflip on top of a solid double tailwhip, flairs, and no-handers boosted him all the way up to the number three spot. In Dennis McCoy's first run, he proved that tricks aren't just for kids; the 41-year-old held the lead for most of the contest after spinning a big 540 on the 15-foot section, a turndown into the bowled end of the ramp, a flair, and a gnarly barspin 540. McCann wasn't having it, though, knocking DMC down a notch at the last minute. He flew high above the ramp with back-to-back moves including no-handers to barspin, no-handed and turndown flairs, and a clean double tailwhip. The Prelim was hot, but the Final is going to be a scorcher. McCann and Warden definitely have bangers they haven't dipped into yet, McCoy's still got the 900, K-Rob's been spinning 540 tailwhips, and the top three killers haven't even ridden yet. Even with the big moves we saw today, Bestwick, Kagy, and Tabron remain the guys to beat, so everyone's going to be running it wide open for Saturday night's Vert Final. Vert Qualifying Results (Top 7 Move To Finals): 1.Steve McCann 2.Dennis McCoy 3.Zack Warden 4.Kevin Robinson 5.Jimmy Walker 6.John Parker 7.Jay Eggleston 8.Francisco Zurita 9.Koji Kraft 10.Tom Stober 11.Jorge Jovel 12.Vince Byron 13.Ben Snowden 14.Jason Branham 15.Art D’Ambrosio 16.Mike Mancuso FINALS www.dewtour.com, july 2008: Jamie Bestwick and Chad Kagy are widely recognized as two of the best Vert riders to take to the halfpipe these days, and their back-and-forth battles on the contest scene are becoming legendary. They put another exciting performance into the history books at the Right Guard Open, emerging from their amazing first runs in a dead heat, both earning scores of 94.5. The stage was set for an all-out second round, and neither of them disappointed. It wasn't just about those two riders, however. Simon Tabron landed back-to-back 540s in his first run (spinning the second one no-handed), but a rare missed landing on his 900 kept him low in the standings. He went into his second run determined to do better, and with a no-handed to barspin 540 and a clean 900, he did just that. Dennis McCoy floated massive back-to-back 540s on the 15-foot section and landed a barspin 540 at the buzzer to round out the top five. Kevin Robinson threw a difficult 540 tailwhip transfer into the 15-foot section, an alley-oop 540, and no-handed and opposite flairs. He was charging through his second run when his weight went off-center on a landing and he washed out. He marched back up on deck and attempted a gnarly double flair before calling it a night. Zack Warden turned in one of his best runs ever, landing his unique, high-difficulty bikeflip and windshield washer, along with a barspin to tailwhip and a double tailwhip. Jimmy Walker has permanently put barspin 540s on his trick list and complemented it with a killer inverted 540. Jay Eggleston did what he does best, blasting smooth 540s straight to the moon. Steven McCann topped his fourth place finish in Dirt last night by jumping on the Vert podium in third. He broke out several tricks that he's been working on, like the barspin to tailwhip and the highly coveted 540 tailwhip. Add back-to-back no-handed and turndown flairs, double whips, whip to x-up, and a no-hander to barspin, and it's easy to see why he's starting to give the big three (Bestwick, Kagy, and Tabron) cause for concern. Speaking of Bestwick and Kagy, they each turned in two amazing runs. In run one, Kagy did a barspin to tailwhip straight into a flair, his flatspin tailwhip flair and an opposite flair whip. In run two, he tried to break his tie with Bestwick by stepping up with his flatspin flair barspin, another flatspin tailwhip flair, and an attempted double tailwhip flatspin flair, just barely missing the landing. Although he ended up in second, he put the pressure on Bestwick in a big way, foreshadowing more close Vert contests on the rest of the Tour. Bestwick held the throttle open from beginning to end, packing back-to-back variations at incredible heights into both runs. He floated huge alley-oops across the ramp, dropping a one-handed invert, downside whip to x-up, and a barspin to turndown, all while traveling backwards. He also cranked turndown, tailwhip, and opposite fastplant flairs, casual double barspins, and an awe-inspiring invert 540. The 2008 Vert battle is shaping up to be the hottest in recent history, with the riders pushing their limits at every stop and inspiring each other to turn out their best contest runs ever. If you want to see the progression of Vert riding first-hand, the AST Dew Tour is definitely the place to be. Press release: In the BMX vert finals, the final two athletes to compete, Jamie Bestwick and Chad Kagy were tied for the lead with 94.50. Bestwick, of Great Britain, executed a flawless run which included a downside tailwhip X up. Kagy, of Gilroy Calif., fell while attempting a double whip flair and placed second. Australian Steven McCann finished third with 93.33. "I was just keeping the height and didn't stop tricking," Bestwick said. "I tried to capitalize on their mistakes. That was right to the end tonight. It was a really awesome final. I wished Chad had landed that double whip flair. There are three stops left and I know everyone's gunning for me." Vert final results: 1.Jamie Bestwick 2.Chad Kagy 3.Steven McCann 4.Simon Tabron 5.Dennis McCoy 6.Kevin Robinson 7.Zack Warden 8.Jimmy Walker 9.Jay Eggleston 10.John Parker (did not ride) |
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| PlayStation® Pro Moment Award | |
| Press release, August 18, 2008: The AST Dew Tour, the world's premier season-long action sports tour, today announced the winner of the PlayStation® Pro Moment Award from the Right Guard Open. Voting began on Monday, July 21, the day after competitions ended. Fans could view the videos at AST.com or on V CAST Videos from Verizon Wireless and vote online at www.AST.com or via text on Verizon Wireless until Friday, August 15. Fans selected Mike Spinner as the winner after he performed a quadruple tailwhip in competition during the BMX Park Finals. Spinner placed second in the competition. "I'm really psyched on winning the PlayStation® Pro Moment from Cleveland. I've been thinking of the quad whip for a long time," said Spinner. "The Dew Tour is awesome for us riders, because it gives you five month to progress your riding and show off new tricks. PlayStation® has a big part in that progression because they reward people for doing tricks for the first time. It's really cool to get credit from the fans for a trick you've worked really hard on." Spinner faced stiff competition for the PlayStation® Pro Moment Award. The complete list of Pro Moment nominees includes: Cameron White (BMX Dirt), distanced himself from the competition when he landed his signature barspin backflip to tailwhip to secure the win. Shaun White (Skateboard Vert), completed a frontside rodeo board varial to stalefish, which earned him his first win of the season. Paul Rodriguez (Skateboard Park), performed a switch kickflip backside tailslide which catapulted him to a first-place finish in the Finals. Simon Tabron (BMX Vert), landed an impressive no-handed 540 to barspin, but stiff competition gave him a fourth-place finish. Mike Spinner (BMX Park), pulled the first-ever quadruple tailwhip in BMX competition, marking a milestone in trick progression. He finished second to Daniel Dhers. Spinner wins $5,000, a PLAYSTATION®3 and a library of games to reward his skills. Further, Spinner will select his favorite amateur trick from the PlayStation Rising Stars presented by Woodward. The talented amateur selected will win a PSP® and library of games. But that's not all; their video will also be displayed next to the pro's at AST.com and on the PlayStation Network. |