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Three-Way Chevrolet Air-MX Challenge Round 6 : Mesa Marin Raceway ~e ~~ ~ A~O~ "I, too, was amazed when Renner pu lled the St e rilize r," Rourke sa id. "I kn ew after that I woul d need to come bac k with a flawless run in the final roun d to win." Afte r two hard a nd amazing rou nds of frees tyling , five rid e r s woul d ad vance to the fina l rou nd. Before t he fina l round, it was time fo r the Step-U p. J e re m y Stenberg has bee n pulling away and winning them with no problem. They bega n by setting up the pole for the step-up; as the y we re doing this , a fe w riders B AKERSAELD, CA, MAY19 l!! =r~he Three-Way Chevrolet Air-MX !I Challenge arrived in Bakersfield, Ca lifo rnia , for round six, at the Mesa Marin Racewa y. At the end of th e fifth round, Cliffo rd "Th e Flyin ' Hawa iian " Ado ptante was leading in po ints . The winner of th e last ro un d , Kris Rourke , was in s e c on d p la c e , Ron nie F a is s t was th ird , Trevor Vines he ld fo urth , a nd newco me r Ty ler Evans was fifth. Th is wee ke nd, th e Meta l Mulis ha was looking fo r one of the ir crew to ta ke th e win for the weekend . Adopta nte was absent, as we re Vines an d Fa isst. In th e first and s econd rounds , each of th e 18 riders had a chance to qualify for th e fina l round . The majority o f the rid e rs displ ay ed man y amazing tric ks th at plea s ed th e c rowd a nd the judges, from Sea t Grabs , Bar Hops and Cliff Hang e rs to No-footed Nac Nacs, Hart Atta cks , Whip-its an d Supermans. Ronn ie Renner pu lled a trick that won ever yon e 's hea rt. It was the Sterilize r- one of th e hardest tricks in the book, whic h ga ve him a defin ite position in th e final ro und. After that , it looke d like Rour ke wou ld hav e a challenger. As Renn er landed the Ster ilize r, the c rowd cheered . "I was s ure to win th e crowd and jud g e s with the Sterilizer ," Renne r sa id, "b ut I hope that I can c o me ba ck in the final round and rep eat it." Ro ur ke fi n is he d ou t t he s e c ond round by d is pla ying so me tricks that wer e c rowd-pleasers , which he lp ed him m a ke it to the final. 62 J UN E 27,20 01 • cu e I e (Above) Surpris ing even himself, Kri s Rourke won round six of the Three-Way Chevro let Air-MX Challenge his se c:ond vic:tory in a row. (RIght) Jeremy Stenberg plac:ed th ird at Mesa Marin Rac:eway, and he also won the Step-Up c:ontest. (Below) It looked like Ronnie Renner would be the vlc:tor, but he wound up sec:ond In Bakersfield, Callfomla. He also c:ame in th ird in the Step-Up c:ontest. cam e for th e challenge. It came down to t hree r id er s : Stenb e rg , Adam Pier ce a nd Renner.' All thr ee lo oked e ve nly mat c he d , clea ring the pole with no proble m eve n as th e pole was being raised high er and higher. Ren ner wa s the first rider to hit the po le. After t hat, Pier ce tried to cl ear the to p , but he fa iled , to o. This gave Ste nberg a c ha nce to p rove why he has been th e champ in th e St e p-Up co ntest. He cleared it with no problem , whic h gave him th e win for th e night. Pierce was second, a nd Renner held on to third. In the final ro un d . the firs t rider was Evans, who had an average run, showing most of the sa m e trick s from his first run, with no s urpr ises for the crowd or judges . Next was Stenberg, who dec ided to go all out fo r the overall win with a great run , and he looked as th ough he may have won . Ju s ti n Homan was next , an d th e n came Renner, who he ld nothing back in his run, pulling another Sterilizer in his final jump and riding around the ra ceway with his le g s over the han dle ba rs , m a king the c rowd go wild. He pulled off a not her pe rfect run. "Wowl" Renner e nthused . "I can 't be lie ve I pulled a nother one a nd had a great run. I a m ha p py to please th e c rowd with my run." Ro u rke tri ed to be a t Re nner a nd Ste nberg , wo rking his ma g ic with a great run that made everyo ne reali ze wh y he won t he last rou nd , but he looked as though he didn 't th ink that he had do ne his best. "I was s hoc ke d that Renner pu lled anot her Ste rilize r and had a perfect run ," Rourke sa id. "I just do n't think that I stepped up to his level to night. I was not happy with m y run." Then the j ud ge s a n nou nc e d the resu lts , and it was a shock fo r Rourke : "The winner in Kris Rourk e." "Wo wl" Ro u rk e sai d . "I a m so shoc ked that I won. After watching Renner's performance, I knew that he had it won. But I pulled it off some way. " Re nne r came in second, Stenberg was t h ird , Ho m a n was fou rth a nd CN Eva ns wa s fifth. Mesa Marin Raceway Bakersfield, Califomia Results: May 19, 2001 [Round 61 0 / A : 1. Krls Rourk e; 2 . Ronn ie Renn er; 3 . Jeremy Stenberg; 4 . Justin Homan; 5 , T yler Evans; 6 . Adam Pierce; 7 . Jeff Ti lton; 8 . Mik e Harris: 9 . Jeff Karlola; 10 . Beau Manley; 1 1. Colin Morrison; 12. Marco Riikonen; 13 . Manny Juba la; 14 . Caleb Wyatt: 15 . Chuck Crothers; 16 . David W alk er; 17. D .J . Umph res; 18 . Ja son Sinkpic. STEP -UP : 1. Jerem y Stenberg; 2. Adam Pierce; 3 . Ronnie Renner. n e "'" s