*** ABA Great Northwest National News & Reports ***

Pasco, Washington ( archives ) -- 03/28/2004
~~ Index ~~
* Sharp BMX Industries - Amanda Humphrey / NW Nats/Pasco Report
* FLY Racing Congratulates Paulie Lange
* ABA Northwest Nationals Good For Northwest/Supercross
* ABA Great Northwest National Story Pasco, WA
* Reno Photos Factory Team making waves on the National Scene
* Rybolt Continues Winning Ways In PASCO
* JBL Takes On The ABA Great Northwest Nationals
CC - BMX Mania http://www.bmxmania.com
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* Sharp BMX Industries - Amanda Humphrey / NW Nats/Pasco Report

Sharp BMX Industries/Sharpbmx.com is proud to announce the
addition of Amanda Humphrey, 14 Girls, to the Factory team
roster for the remainder of the 2004 season. Amanda hails from
Byron, CA and has a very accomplished resume’ to her credit.
In the past she has won the ABA Grands, held numerous NAG
plates, multi time District Championships and claimed the State
Championship Title six consecutive times. We are very excited
about having her choose us to ride with and look forward to an
exciting season with her aboard. She tells us she is UP for the
challenge and we believe her!

The Sharp BMX Factory team blasted into Pasco, WA for the
ABA Northwest Nationals this past weekend. If you have never
attended the race held in Pasco, WA you owe yourself a visit next
year. It’s a really cool arena with excellent views of the races from
nearly every seat in the place. The ABA did a fantastic job building
a track that was challenging, had great flow and provided great
racing action from start to finish. The turnout was a bit smaller
then everyone expected, but the fast riders were there in most
of the classes. There were no easy wins for anyone.

Factory Sharp BMX Industries team riders had good success over
the course of the weekend with Brianna “mini Mack” Cummings, 8
Girls, leading the way with a double double. Blake “Screamin’
Demon” Paulson made his presence well known in 9 Expert taking
2nd Sat and returning Sunday to show everyone how it should have
gone down by taking the win. Brandon “Big B” Cato crushed the
comp Sat. and Sun. in 9-10 Open with a pair of wins and also made
both his mains in 10x which had the largest rider count of the weekend.
Jake “Peddlin’ Peebs” Peebles, 13 Expert, finished the weekend with
a 2nd Sat. and a hard crash in class on Sunday, but showed everyone
what’s up by making his main Sat. in 13 – 14 open. “Thryllin’”Dylan
Clark, 14 Expert, came home with 2nd Sat. and found the ground
several times in cruiser and class Sunday bringing back some scrapes
and bruises to remember for his efforts.

Mike “Mayhem” Larson, newly into the 17-18 Expert class,
demonstrated that he is going to be a force in his new class by
taking 3rd Sat. and 4th Sun. while getting into the mix on the big
bike both days as well. “Nitro” Nathan Bonilla simply handled
the 21-25 Cruiser class both days with a pair of wins, but came
up a little short of the double double with 2nd both days in 19-27
Expert. Eric Child (the other birthday boy) had mixed success in
36 – 40 Cruiser with a 3rd Sat. and 7th Sun. while finishing on the
little bike 5th and 4th in 36 < Expert. Birthday boy Scott “The
Fork”Bercier made his debut in the 41-45 cruiser class with a 7th
and 5th. While he didn’t pull off the win, he did prove at the team
dinner Saturday night that is IS the absolute KING of the dinner
table by simply destroying former team champ Mike “Mayhem”
Larson down the stretch in the dessert finale’ with an impressive
Peach milkshake, HUGE Mud Pie and the clincher being a chocolate
fudge sundae. So, if you go to dinner with “the Fork” keep your
hands back at a safe distance. John Rush 41-45 cruiser missed the
team dinner and was probably faster for it as he raced away with 2nds
both Sat. and Sunday.

Factory team results were less than we expected, but that’s simply
how racing goes. Saturday the team placed 3rd to Redline and
Challenge and on Sunday slipped into 4th due to some accidents
and crashes. It seems the race will certainly tighten up as we head
into a string of Big “A” nationals here on the west coast beginning
with Ontario, CA holding the ABA So Cal Nationals, then Roseville,
CA hosting the ABA US Nationals at Oak Creek BMX, and finishing
in Bakersfield, CA with the ABA Spring Nationals. Look for the big
guns to all be making runs at the title this season.

Congratulations to AA Pro Paul Lange for his wins at the Northwests.
Pooter was smokin’ fast and you can expect more of the same in the
near future from this young guy. Great job, bro!

Of course our racing success has been made possible with the
help of these fine sponsors who provide the best in parts, accessories,
protective equipment and clothing available. We hope you’ll try out
their products and see for yourself why they are considered the best
of the best.

They are: Sharp BMX Industries – frames, bars & gears,
Troy Lee Designs – helmets, Fly Racing – leathers and gloves,
ATi – pads, plates and grips, Answer Products – forks, Specialized
– shoes, No Wimps – urban/hip clothes, Kovachi Wheels
– racing wheels, hubs, Oak Creek BMX – Roseville, CA
(916) 784-8269, Bailey Electric – Auburn, CA, Timberline Signs
– Auburn, CA, Silver City Bicycles, MA and Renn Tech Porsche.
Sharp BMX Web Site = http://www.sharpbmx.com

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* FLY Racing Congratulates Paulie Lange

FLY Racing would like to congratulate the ABA's Pro Rookie
of the Year, Paulie Lange on his very first AA Pro win. Over the
weekend the ABA held it's annual Great Northwest National in
Pasco WA and there was handful of top AA pros ready to battle
it out. It came down to the third main between Paulie and Bubba
Harris for the win with Randy Stumpfhauser and Donny Robinson
looking to move up. The gate dropped and Paulie won the lap wire
to wire taking home the win.

Sunday would see Paulie and Bubba going at it again leading up
to nearly the same scenario as the day before going into the third
main. Paulie again got the holeshot and pulled away to earn his
second AA Pro win. To top that off, he split wins in Pro Open
with Donny Robinson. Paulie was seen after the race with a smile
as big as the gap he tried clear during Saturday morning's practice!
Again congrats to Paulie and Donny on a great weekend.

Look for the FLY Guy's, Donny, Paulie, and Mikey Day to be
tearing up a track near you. Next stop, the ABA So Cal Nationals
in Ontario CA. Good luck guys, good luck to all the FLY Racing
supported riders and teams, and good luck to all FLY Kids heading
out there! - Ray Hudson/FLY Racing http://www.flyracing.com

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* ABA Northwest Nationals Good For Northwest/Supercross

The ABA Great Northwest Nationals went off pretty well for
the team this year, with almost all riders making at least one
main for the weekend, many riders making all of their mains.
The race of the weekend goes to Nate Kirkpatrick, this kid never
comes out to the track hardly ever practices, and on sunday came
out of no where to rock his 15x class. (details)

Gate drops, Nates comin directly out of the middle, with not
that great of a gate but more pull from his second and third pedal
then I have ever seen from most AA pros, smokes past Oie and
the rest of the crew to lead them all through the first turn, pulling
away down the second straight around the second turn, Oie in
second by about 3 bikes, Nate hits the section, has some "clothing
problems" lol gets all sketchy, Oie pulls up next to him, its a race
to the last turn, Oie manages to get by, but remember Nates got
pull... its a drag to the finish but the cameras say that Oie got it!
Good job Nate!

Terri Hillis had an awesome weekend pulling off a pair of seconds,
Carl Hillis pulling off a second and some fourths. Bryan Gamble l
ooked as if he was going to make this his weekend as he was on
fire but has some issues and some crashes, but still managing some
3rds and 4ths in 16x, tough tough class. Mark Russeff had an
awesome weekend making all his mains, breakin some pedals but
still getting a 4th in cruiser as an intermediate! Power Bar Mundell
had a good weekend walking away with a pair of 3rds. Joe Dirt
had a tough tough weekend, seemed like he wanted to roll in the
dirt and take some ass slides more then he wanted to complete the
track, but given credit he was always out front when he decided to
make some dirt clouds! Vince Anello had a tough weekend not
being in 12x all that long but still managed to make a good showing
in the main on sunday!

Great job to all the Northwest Supercross riders! You made us
very proud and well represented all our new sponsors.... Thanks
Bill Ryan at supercross our team wouldnt be our team with out you,
Joey Licata and Dave Clinton at Answer products for all the new
gear! Looks good! D. Crews at Sonic Speedwerx for all the new
plates, we rocked them well!

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* ABA Great Northwest National Story Pasco, WA
Story by gOrk/Redline BMX

There's a reason ABA keep returning to the tri-cities area of
Eastern Washington. The TRAC Arena in Pasco is perfect.
Perfect size. Perfect spectating. Perfect dirt. And once again;
a perfect track. And when you combine all of those, it makes
for a pretty perfect race.

Despite a slightly smaller turnout than years past (178 motos),
there were still plenty of bar bangin' battles going on. With many
of the hot 'n heavy teams bringin' up their best, every main event
provided some great action.

Phantom-OnTrac riders seemed to be the most dominant throughout
most of the weekend; constantly out front in every other race it seemed.

The Sharp BMX Industries gang drove up from NorCal.,
led by newly-turned-41 birthday boy Scott Bercier making
his 41-45 cruiser debut. And you can't forget the Challenge
gang led by ABA's insanely fast ABA No.1 Amateur Josh Oie.
Of course, bein' as this race was equadistant from the thriving
BMX scenes of Washington, Oregon, Canada and Idaho
-- there was tons of comp in all classes out to prove themselves.

The Northwest BMX~Supercross team rivals the huge quantity
of BMX-TC riders and Puget Sound~FSA. From Oregon came
the Lindner Racing crew and from Idaho arrived a mass of contingents
all decked out in Fly racing gear. Canada's finest was there; most of
them on the JBL team. And last but not least--there were plenty of
Redline riders from the factory squad to the many co-sponsored Bike
Shop riders all over the place.

In the pro ranks, it was like a changing of the guard;
the young blood of new pros were out to stake their claim,
leaving only a few seasoned vets to defend the honor of the
old breed. In single-A pro, 40 year old Eric Rupe and Eric Dyer
had to fight off kids more than half their age, while in AA-pro it
was GT's Randy Stumpfhauser having to duke it out with a gate full
of 1 and 2-year rookies. Out of everyone, the Big Daddy was
most impressive; bumpin' elbows with new 2004 Rookies
Taylor Wells and Trevor Faye. Eric was overheard joking with
Nate Berkheimer that he was in his third year of double-A pro
when Nate was born. Needless to say, the location of Rupe's
fountain of youth is still a mystery.

On Friday, Warwick Stevenson made a surprise visit after his
collapsed lung incident in Florida. He already had his tickets to
Pasco and needed to do a photo shoot for FSA, so he figured
he'd give practice a try to see how he felt. After three laps, the
reigning ABA No.1 Pro felt more pain and decided it'd be safest
to not race. (We figured he was crazy for even trying to do some
laps in practice!) This left the young pups--Tyler Brown, Nate
Berkheimer,
Donny Robinson, Paulie Lange and Bubba Harris to fight Stumpy for
bragging rights. In the long run, the top four spots would be decided
between Stumpy, Harris, Robinson and Lange. And in the end,
it was Paulie Lange's weekend -- scoring three out of four wins
and taking home the first two AA-pro victories of his career.

Paully's holeshots and smoothness through the rhythm were crucial
to his wins; while Bubba Harris repeatedly made some amazing moves
in the first turn to get in the hunt. Both days, Bubba held low points
going
in to the third main, but disaster and bad gates spelled wins for Felt's

Paul Lange. Overall, it was another great weekend of ABA racing.
And everyone here in the Northwest is anxiously awaiting their return
in July; as the ABA World Championships return to Nanaimo, BC.
If you thought this one was excellent -- just wait until July 29-Aug
1st!

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* Reno Photos Factory Team making waves on the National Scene

Pasco, Washington - Reno Photos was in the house in Pasco,
Washington, this past weekend.

Shealen "Rocket Girl" Reno swept away the 7 Girls class taking
home 1st place wins both days. Shealen also pushed the boys
around in 7-8 Mixed open, with a 3rd place on Saturday and 4th
place on Sunday. While some of us where in Pasco, the Reno
Photos A Pro - Justin Wikes was taking home a Win at the NBL
National in Mississippi on Saturday.

The Reno Photos Factory Team is currently sitting
5th in the ABA Factory Team standings.
Reno Photos - http://www.renophotos.com

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* Rybolt Continues Winning Ways In PASCO -

HH/FLY/KOVACHI's, Sarah Rybolt continued her domination
with back to back First Place finishes in 21-25 Women's Cruiser
this weekend at the ABA Great Northwest Nationals in Pasco,Washington.

On the heals of sweeping the NBL Air Time Nationals the week
before, Sarah rode her new HH bike to her 4th straight 1st place
main event, on Sunday. Teammate Kenny Perry continued to
prove he is a force to contend with in the 13 Boys Cruiser class
with 3rd on Saturday and 4th on Sunday. The team and its'
outstanding sponsors, HH Racing Group, Fly and Kovachi
Wheels congratulate Sarah and Kenny for their fine performances.

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* JBL Takes On The ABA Great Northwest Nationals - Pasco,
Washington - March 19-21, 2004 - by gOrk / Redline BMX -

The JBL/WSARACING.com BMX team was on the hunt for some
big scores in Pasco Washington. For many of the Canadian riders
on team JBL, this was the first test of the new season. After getting
some of the rust out on Friday night at the pre-race, they all joined
up with three of their Minnesota team mates to do battle with some
of the best west coast teams. The team's Staats bikes were polished
and ready for battle.

Saturday started out with great promise as Drew "The Wonder
Woman" Mechielsen (Pictured below, right) cleaned up in the 6
and under mixed open class and scored the first of many top
finishes for the weekend. DJ Stephan followed up with a win in
open and took a spill in class while leading his main. Trent Hensler
pulled a win in cruiser and 2nd in class. Hayden Mechielsen made
his main in 8x and Brandon Macleod finished 4th in Cruiser.
Brandon also pulled a 4th in the very tough 11x class.

Robin Ellis (Pictured at left) finished 3rd in cruiser and followed
that with a 2nd in a huge 12X class. The Maniac Marissa Martin
had 3 seconds in Class, Cruiser and open on Saturday. Michelle
Berti picked up where she left off with a win in 9 girls. Rosemary
Adams finished 3rd in class. Scott Erwood pulled a strong 2nd in
open just ahead of his team mate, Nick Goertzen. Scott also
finished 5th in class. After the dust settled, the JBL/WSARACING
.com team found itself alone at the top with a win in the Bike Shop
Division.

Sunday's racing was much tougher for the team. Podium finishes did
not come easy, but everyone raced hard and worked through crashes
and bad luck. Drew "Wonder Woman" Mechielsen stared off with
another win in mixed open and a 2nd in class. The Maniac, Marissa
Martin also won her open and grabbed 2 seconds in class and cruiser.
Michele Berti grabbed a 3rd in class and fought hard for it.

Hayden (Hurricane) Mechielsen improved on Saturday with a
huge win in 7-8 Expert open and finished just ahead of his fellow
JBL rider, DJ Stephan. DJ worked hard after his crash on Saturday
and finished 2nd in a very tough 8x class. Trent Hensler improved his
NAG standings with a strong 2nd in cruiser. Brandon MacLeod also
made his mains in Cruiser on Sunday, while some tough luck kept him
out of the 11x main. Speaking of tough luck, Robin Ellis had a terrible
crash on his cruiser and was not able to make his 12x main on Sunday.
Get better quick Robin!! Our thoughts are with you.

Rosemary Adams finished with another 3rd on Sunday. Scott Erwood
showed why he is one of the fastest riders in Canada by winning the
15-16 open and finishing a close 2nd in class. Nick Goertzen also
made his open mains on Sunday. The team still had a strong 4th place
finish and these two finishes will keep the team in the #2 slot in the
ABA Bike Shop division.

JBL/WSARACING.com would like to thank the following
sponsors for all their support. JBL, WSARACING.com,
Staats Bikes, O'Neal racing gear, FSA, Profile, Leroy's Customs,
AutoTrimmers, Fancy Floorcovering, Park X and Edwards Manufacturing.
Visit us on the web at http://www.jblbmxteam.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CC - BMX Mania http://www.bmxmania.com
Posted - http://www.genesbmx.com/Northwest-Nationals.html
Source Links -
http://www.ababmx.com
http://www.redlinebicycles.com
http://www.flyracing.com
http://www.renophotos.com
http://www.jblbmxteam.com
http://www.sharpbmx.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
***** Gene`s BMX *****
http://www.genesbmx.com