Friday - 7:30 PM
Dodge Arena Hidalgo, TX
Small building, small crowd - BIG EXCITEMENT!!
Tonight had to be one of the best shows I had ever seen so far on this tour and a great set of fans were on hand to witness it. The Team FMX was dropped in favor of the Ogio Head to Head Competition that saw an eliminator format which whittled 8 riders down to one. The riders had to each do the same trick with the best moving on and the loser moving out. It ended with the final two riders Richard Ratto from Sweden and Javier Villegas from Texas going for the Ogio prize. Javier psyched out Richard with a backflip to take the win.
Once again the crowd was wowed by the Torco Sphere of Fear with two riders circling the steel ball at breakneck speeds. Then the two riders Cody Ives and Mark Folk had Tanya Ives climb in and stand in the center while they went around her! Shawn Ives called the shots and you can catch these guys in action further on in the tour and at the Monster Jam World Finals (buy tix at www.monsterjamonline.com).
The C & C Motorsports FMX Final had just four riders make it in after a tough Air Force Qualifier. Making the cut was Gabe Villegas, his brother Javier Villegas, Chris Taylor and Dustin Nowak. Gabe went first and even though he had a solid score of 90, he did not last in the C & C Hotseat for very long as Chris Taylor took a seat with a score of 92.5 points. Dustin Nowak busted the back flip and a few variations of it to score highly. The rest of his run was incredible as he nailed every hit and landed perfectly for a 95. Javier went last, and even though he had the flips too - he landed too deep on a few hits and could only score a 94.75. Dustin the Wacker won by .25 points to keep the C & C Motorsports Hot Seat.
Check out tomorrow nights results and buy tickets at www.freestylemotocrossonline.com !
Saturday - 7:30 PM
Tonight was a night of firsts for Javier Villegas and Dustin Nowak during the C & C Powersports Final and the crowd at near capacity for size and noise at the Dodge. I will just cut to the final first since that was where most of the excitement was.
The riders who made the final were Gabriel Villegas, Chris Taylor, Dustin Nowak and Javier Villegas. The crowd made Javier the favorite early in the night but it was up to the riders to put in the good score. First out was Gabriel the “Flyin’ Chile Pepper” who overcame bike troubles during practice to get into the hot seat first. Next out was Chris Taylor who put in the best run I personally have ever seen from him. Seems his confidence is building every show. He jumped into the hot seat and took a little break. Out as third contestant was the “Wacker” Dustin Nowak who back flipped his way into the hot seat with a near heel-clicker-flip boosting the score to 96 points. Crowd fave Javier Villegas came out last and spent a little extra time warming up and whipping the fans in to a frenzy. He started his run with a flip just like Dustin did then continued on with the rest of his 80 second run. Then the shocker - Javier hit the ramp combo that NO ONE had EVER flipped and busted out a mean flip for his last trick. The entire arena was on its feet and screaming for Javier. The judges were impressed too, giving the Chilean a score of 97 to win the C & C Powersports Final. With the win complete - it was encore time which the riders decided to do for such a great crowd and that gave “Wacker” the opportunity to pick up the flip gauntlet that Javier threw down and flipped the same ramp, making him the second ever to flip it. The most amazing thing is neither rider practiced a flip from that ramp combo all weekend and manned up for the rowdy Hidalgo crowd.
The Torco Sphere of Fear once again amazed the crowd with Mark Folk and Cody Ives spinning circles around Mom Tanya Ives while she stood inside the steel ball with two motorcycles whizzing about her head.
Make sure to check out Coast to Coast this week and don’t forget to enter the Supercross Ultimate Giveaway. Time is running out for your chance to win one of four huge prizes by going to www.supercrossonline.com/win .
See you next show!
Cory Stem
