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Freestyle Motocross
FRIDAY
On the shores
of the Emerald Coast, Pensacola, Florida, home to some of the world's most beautiful
beaches and in the shadows of the Pensacola Naval Air Station (home of the Blue
Angels), was the second stop of your Southern Ford Dealers FMX Tour presented
by Subway Restaurants. This show featured nine of the most talented FMX athletes
in the US, as well, as the, "Urias Family Globe of Death", and featured
the band, "It Starts Today".
The crowd was very enthusiastic
and got behind the riders and all of the performers from the get go! During qualifying,
there were several lead changes, Slade Waltman aka, "Mr. Nasty", lead
qualifying with an 86, until Gabriel Villagas, on the KTM, put together a very
smooth run which gave him an 89. Scott Hand and Dan had some difficulty during
qualifying, and were unable to make the cut. Jack Rowe, of Wakunda, Illinois,
open his qualifying run with a backflip, which got the crowd on their feet, and
he had a near flawless routine and posted a 95, which proved the number to beat
during the qualifiers. Chris Taylor, qualified in third with getting inverted,
and the last athlete to go was Thomas Alves, who is sponsored by Troy Lee Designs.
Alves, busted out a couple of flips, but had to settle for second during qualifying.
During the main, the first rider was Gabriel Villegas, who was running
good, but ran into a mechanical problem and pulled of the track with time left
on the clock boasting a score of 89. The next rider up was "Cardiac"
Chris Taylor, of Montrose, Colorado. The fans were behind him, and he put together
a great run, which included his, Super Rock Solid", a variation that he came
up with that looked very impressive, and good enough for a 92.5! Next in the lineup
was Phoenix resident, Thomas Alves. Alves did four backflip variations (nac nac,
no hander, one footer, regular), however, his 93.5 wasn't good enough to beat
Jack Rowe, who was on fire with every trick! Jack was the big winner tonight with
an impressive 95!
Mikey
1.
Jack Rowe 95
2. Thomas Alves 93.5
3. Chris Taylor 92.5
4. Gabriel Villegas
89
5. Slade Waltman 86
5. Dan Newth 86
7. Scott Hanlin 85
8. Ryan
Logan 84.5
9. Jadd Knox 78
SATURDAY
The
scene had been set early, and the excitement had been built for a great Saturday
evening FMX Show in Pensacola. To begin with, the Pensacola News Journal had given
the event a major boost with great stories, and pictures of the riders all weekend
long. The crowd had heard about the Friday show, and was eager for more high-flying
excitement.
The evening began with some excellent qualifying runs; however,
one of the big stories was Dan Newth, who is sponsored by Smith, Fox and Michelin
Tires. Dan had not done a backflip in practice, however, after a brief conversation
with his friend, Travis Pastrana, decided to go out and "huck it". Dan
was the first to do it and landed it perfectly, which sent the fans into frenzy.
He qualified for the main event with a score of 90.5 from the judges. Chris Taylor,
of Colorado, built his fan base by boasting a nearly flawless run, however he
did not get upside down, and had to settle for third in qualifying with a 91.
Thomas Alves, Friday nights, runner up, did a series of backflips including a
backflip nac nac, which helped to give him a score of 91.75. The final qualifier
was Wakunda, Illinois', Jack Rowe. Jack opened with a backflip and threw a different
trick every time he hit the ramps, and the judges favored him with top qualifying
score of 92.
The scene was set for the finals, three riders who could do a
backflip, and another who was capable of winning on any evening. "Stuntman"
Dan Newth was the first to ride, and Dan had a little trouble during one of his
jumps and pulled a Supercross air, which hurt his final tally of 89.5. Next up
was, Cardiac Chris Taylor, who had really improved upon his first appearance last
week in North Dakota, with a score of 92. Thomas Alves was up next and set the
bar very high as he had four different backflip variations on a very solid run,
to his pleasure…the judges agreed with a score of 94, so the Southern Ford
Dealers Hot Seat was his! Finally, Jack Rowe was looking to go 2 for 2 in Pensacola,
but it was not to be as he fell short just a quarter of a point to his good friend
Thomas Alves.
It was a great weekend in Pensacola, special thanks to all of
the great fans who came out and supported the tour. Also, congratulations to Jack
Rowe, as he was the winner of FMX P-I-G and also the Subway Head to Head Competition.
The tour is heading to Bridgeport, Connecticut, January 18-19; we hope to see
you there! MikeySaturdays
Results
1. Thomas Alves 94
2. Jack Rowe 93.75
3. Chris Taylor 92
4.
Dan Newth 90.5
5. Slade Waltman 90
6. Gabriel Villegas 89.5
7. Scott
Hanlin 88.5
8. Ryan Logan 83
9. Jadd Knox 80
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