Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Vans Triple Crown Of FMX FOX/Von Zipper's Nate Adams, who swept the last two IFMA events in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, one week earlier, was a favorite to do well this weekend. But after qualifying in the top spot Friday, Adams got lost in the final seconds of his main event run and dead-sailored two jumps. Adams' 91.9 was still good enough for fifth on the night. He left the Thomas & Mack Arena knowing he threw away what should have been his first major win against the FMX veterans, but came back Saturday night with a flawless run and, just like Adoptante, threw in a sterilizer for his final trick. Adams' score of 94.7 was the biggest of the weekend. "A lot has happened and it's all happening so fast, but this [FMX] is what I've wanted to do, so I'm really excited: said Adams of his biggest win to date. "Mad" Mike Jones went 3-2 on the weekend and his runs were as STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOEY CASEy/PRACTICE TRACK MAGAZINE LAS VEGAS, NV, AOa. 10·11 lifford "The Flyin' Hawaiian" Adoptante put his LBZ/ Alba Action Sports Yamaha on top of the 2001 Vans Triple Crown points standings following his 1-4 finish at rounds one and two of the Vans Triple Crown of FMX Series. Adop· tante complimented his flawless run by landing a sterilizer for his final trick on Friday. When practice got underway for Saturday's competition, Adoptante was nowhere to be found and, in fact, didn't show until just in time to ride in the night show. Although he was able to trick every jump, his timing was a bit off and he had to qualify through the second round. But, by main-event time, Adoptante was almost back to his Fridaynight form, scoring a 93.1 in the main event, good enough for fourth place. His winning score on Friday was a 94. C 44 AUGUST 29, 2001 • cue I • n e _ s smooth, if not the smoothest runs Jones has ever put together. The same could npt be said, however, of Jones' qualifying run on Saturday, where he had to qualify through the last chance. Jones crashed in a turn for no apparent reason, and then as he rode up the backside of one of the dirt landings, he didn't have enough speed on the soft dirt and couldn't make it to the top. He fell over again while trying to roll backwards. To lighten up the situation, Jones purposely fell down for the third time when he rode over to floor announcer Steve "Lurch" Scott to do his postrun interview. The Answer/Red Bull rider was ruling the course with his no-hander lander combinations in the main events on both nights. Jake Windham is doing the sickest new trick as of right now. The commentators are calling it a tsunami. Adams is also doing the trick, but Windham's version is usually a little more extended. Windham had one weak trick on Saturday night, a frontfender grab, which knocked down his score. The G Sport/Madman Apparel rider went 4-5 on the weekend with a consistent 92.4 score on both nights. Windham is another one of the new breed of FMXers who is mixing it up with the veterans and whose name is about to explode with the upcoming NBC and ESPN telecasts of the Triple Crown, X-Games, and Gravity Games. Speaking of new names, Dustin Miller should have had a much better finish on Saturday following his runner-up finish on Friday. Miller is doing the sickest one-handed nine o'clock nac nacs, one-handed Hart attacks, and no-handed landing combinations. His two-minute final run on Saturday was chocked full of the most technical combinations, including a cliffhanger to no-handed landing. He couldn't land them smooth enough, though, and the Thor/Metzger Motorsports rider had to settle with an eighthplace finish on Saturday. Just how much has the level of riding in freestyle motocross improved in the past few months? How about the defending VTC champ Tommy Clowers, whose worst finish last year was a third, having to qualify on Sat-

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