Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128629
Vans Triple Cr own of Freestyle MX Round 1: Thomas & Ma ck Center is m y biggest priority right now . My S T O RY AND PH OT OS B y J OEY CASEY buddy , Kenny Bartram , w as r id ing , LAS VEGAS, NY, AUG . 5 - r - eam Suzu ki m ot ocross er Travis Past ran a was a surprise l astminute entry in Vegas , ri ding a stock RM 125 to vic tory at ro und one of the Vans T rip l e Cr own o f Freestyl e MX. Ch a sin g a p air o f 125 cc titl es ha s k ept Past ran a awa y fr om Freest yl e, even th ough the sport's po pula rity is due in l arge p art to Pastrana's past performanc es. The tal ent lev el in th is still rela tivel y n ew discipline contin ues to rise wi th each new co n t e st , and Pas t ra na's a bsence has allowed h i s competit ion to d raw closer. Secondpl a c e finisher Mike Jones, riding for Red Bu ll and OBG Clothing, bec am e the firs t rid er to beat Pastrana in a freeride contest when he scored higher in a qualifying run on Friday. In fact, J on es , obviously he al ed from t he bro ke n neck he suffered last fa ll that nea rly left h i m p ar alyz ed , wa s a b l e t o m at ch m an y of Pas tr an a ' s creativ e lines and tri cks . On one hit in pa rti cu l ar , t he t w o were a b le t o j um p t o th e unprep ar ed , steep side of t he m a in di rt l and in g , th rowing out h ug e , o ne-legged f1 atti es a lo n g the wa y . Th i s w a s p erh aps t h e m o s t impressive trick perfo rmed during the cou rse of th e weekend. O th er high lights of Pastra na's winn in g ru n included a 180 h e did on on e sid e of the big 'landing , pulling th e trick just a few feet off the ground and landi~g up on the fla t , right in front of his take -off point. Pastrana 's run also included a nee -nee , an Indian air, a no-footed can -ca n, a Saran Wrap , and a Superman seat-grab . In usu al Pastran a fashion , he ended his run w ith so methi ng different, hitting th e face of a take -off jump from behin d at a slow spee d and launching the bik e away , rolling off the back of th e seat and rear fender int o a backfli p , and land ing on his feet while his Suzuk i bounc ed to a cras h in front of him . The cro wd we nt nut s, and th e j udges awarded h im w ith a 94.3. " I di d n ' t know about the co ntest u n t il T h u rsd a y ." Pa st ra n a sa i d, "I happened to be at Gl en Helen , testin g for th e Motocr o ss des Nati ons , Racing and I was only four hours away , so I came o ut. T he n ext o ne is c lose to V 56 SEPTEMBER 6, 2000' cue home, so maybe I can ride it , too. " Jones scored a 93 .5 with thre e one -legge d f l at ti es in h i s fina l run , wh ich some other riders thought was too repetitive t o receive such a h igh sco re and seco nd place in th e cont est. J on e s also buste d out som e w i c k ed var iatio ns (more than o ne trick per j um p), such as a suicide no han d er to no -hande d landing, and a (Above) At the open i ng rou nd of the Va n s Triple C rown of Freestyle MX, T ra vi s Pestrana w a s a surprise e ntry; not surprisingly, he was the win ner. (L eft) The maste r of one- handed f1atties, Cliffo rd A d optante, p l ac ed third In Las Vegas . (Right) J e remy Carter p lace d sixth in h i s firstever m aj or contest. heel-cl ick er to noth ing . He also l and ed a su r fe r wi t h h i s feet still on th e seat, along w ith tra d iti on al tr ick s like a Superman seat -grab, a cliffha ng er, a coffin, a S uperman air, and a Lazy boy . L BZ C l o t h i n g ' s C l i ffo r d Adoptante , aboard a S uzu k i . took home the bronze after his run of tr i c k s that included a cand y bar , a Saran Wrap , a nac-nac , a S u p e r m a n a ir , a heel-clicker, and a stalefish -tosteril iz ~r var iat ion , good enough for a 92.5 out of a possible 100 . The fourth -place finisher , SMP's Tommy Clowers , received th e most "bo os" of the night, but the neg at ivity wasn 't at all d irec t ed toward the "T om c at. " Clowers busted one of th e craz iest ru ns o f the weekend , but o n ly rec eived a 91 .8 . Clow ers ' run includ ed the biggest Hart attack (his feet we re al most in fro nt of his hea d) and Su pe rma n air. His no -foot ed ca n ca n was co m pleted with his body and head partia lly tu rne d around back wa rd. An airwa lk, a M et zg er -st yl ed nac -n ac wi th a wh ip, and a d o ubl e seat-grab rounded o ut his grou p of tric ks . I e n eVIl's (L eft) Fourth-p l ac e d Tommy Clowers has obviously b ee n working hard on his freestyl e skills; many f e lt he should have placed se c ond . Fah-Q Racing 's Trevor V ines rounded out the top five with a sco re of 88 . In h is fi nal run , Vines busted out a heel -c licker to one-hande d landing, a whip over the bigg est gap, a Supe rma n sea t-gra b , a front-fe nder -grab to no -handed lan ding , a nac nac , a noth in g , a Saran Wrap to no hand ed l and in g , a n o -f o oted w h ip, and a no -footed ca n-can , w hich was just barel y eno ug h to edge o ut ne w co mer J erem y Car ter. Many top riders did not com pe te in Vegas. Lo cal favor it e Care y Ha rt pull ed m uscles in his back when he executed his infamous backflip at th e G r av it y G a m es three weeks pr ior. Mike M et zger w as still recuperat ing from a bro k en leg . The Meta l M u li sha 's Br i a n D eegan didn't even unload h is b ik e , calling the small o bstacles " BM X j u m p s." H is tea mmate J ere m y Sten berg pulled out after a qua lify ing round on Friday , and Shift 's Mik e Cinqma rs pulled out after pra c tic e. "I would go ho m e, too ," Ronnie Faisst said , " but I need the money ." T h e b a s k et b a ll a r ena was the smallest y et t o hous e a F re est y l e co ntest, and m an y r ide rs felt they co uld not ride to their full po te ntia l o n such a sm all co urse . eN Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada OIRound 1 0131 Res : Augus 6, ZOO ults t O / A : 1. T r avi s Past rana ( Suz); 2 . M ike Jones ( Kaw) ; 3. Cl iffo rd Ad opte nte : 4 . Tommy Clo we rs (Suz) ; 5 . Tre vor Vin es ( Y" m ) ; 6 . J er em y Carter (Kaw); 7. Ronnie Faisst (Hon) ; 8. Kris Rourk e (Hon); 9. John Distler (Han) ; 10. Dustin Mill er (Yam ); 11. Adam Pierce (KllW): 12. Kenny Bertr am (v ern) : 13. Adam Bell (KTM): 14. Jake Windh am (Han): 15. Jeff Tilt on (Hon).