Freestyle Motocross


Saturday - 7:30pm
Nashville, TN, Saturday, 3/1/2008 Things got jumpin with an excellent pit party brought to you by the Middle Tennessee Toyota Dealers. There was a great crowd of people on the floor getting autographs from the riders and checking out the obstacles our trials rider Geoff Aaron was going to negotiate later in the night. In our first set of qualifiers Ryan Logan ran smoothly and posted an 86.0. Cody Powell had some mechanical issues and was forced to pull off after just two jumps and only managed a 60.0. Gabriel Villegas brought the heat on his run and posted what looked like a good enough score, 91.4, to get him into the finals on his KTM. During our break between qualifiers Geoff Aaron thrilled the crowd and showed why he is a ten time trials champion aboard his Honda Montessa. The Hell on Wheels BMX boys also got the crowd revved up with their acrobatics. Back flips were flyin' everywhere and the crowd was eating it up. In our second qualifier Doug Cossey came out fast with a seat grab indy air that had the hometown crowd screaming at the top of their lungs, but he came up a little short of the finals, posting an 87.6. Slade "Mr. Nasty" Waltman roared out next and used his height to get some awesome extensions to secure a spot in the finals with a 90.7. Ben Veyna took the floor next and had a flawless run that advanced him to the finals with a 91.3. With the final run of the qualifiers, Thomas "T-Money" Alves went inverted to easily qualify for the next round with a 92.7. In the finals Waltman led things off with a good run posting a solid 90.9. However, his time in the Middle Tennessee Toyota Dealers Hot Seat was short lived as Ben "High Roller" Veyna rocked out loud with a 91.3. The man from way south of the border, Gabriel Villegas was as smooth as silk, start to finish, and posted the top score, 92.1, with one rider to go. Unfortunately for "Las Vegas" that final rider was Thomas "T-Money" Alves and he did several back flip combinations included a cordova back flip to secure the win here at the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN. Next week the high flying FMX tour heads to the bayou in Baton Rouge, LA. Get your tickets online at ticketmaster.com for the event at the Baton Rouge River Center. Make sure you check out my column, Wide Open, this week on Arenacross.com to find out about all the back stage hi jinx and other random adventures. David Knisley