Intense/Phantom/On-Trac pulls off an Arizona-to-Florida, Coast-to-Coast Double Header!

They say nothing worth having comes easy. This weekend was a tough weekend for the TMís of Intense/Phantom/On-Trac. The ABAís legendary Winter Nationals. The ìcanít missî first NBL weekend of Easter with the Gator Nationals and UCI races. Someone had to go to one race or the other and with two top guns unavailable to the team, the TMís Chuck Colton and Donavon Long were forced to pick riders to hit both races. In Phoenix, the Intense/Phantom/On-Trac squad had all the usual suspects to chase; Redman, Answer, BFR, Staats/Challenge and Tangent. In Florida it was 9 times champion Danís, OFR, MCS, Felt, Bizarro and Hyper. Both Battleground races are large for both sanctions and to compete for the title in each, we needed some good finishes in each race. BATTLEGROUND # 1: Black Mountain, Arizona. The ABA Winter Nationals: The Phoenix race wasnít a Pro race but still had over 230 motos. The Winter Nationals usually provides ìkeeper scoresî for the year end computation and It was clear that several riders needed to take care of business and they did. The littlest and fiercest ìmonsterî on the team Madison Martinez took care of her business both days this weekend pulling off a fine double-double in 7 Girls and a pair of 3rds in 7-8 Mixed Opens. Kristen Long had a strong weekend of her own with a pair of wins in 11-12 Mixed Open and a 2nd and 1st in 11 Girls. Taylor Wolcott, one of the most unappreciated, skilled female riders in the US proved her competence by nailing a double-double in 13-14 Mixed Open and 14 Girls. Keep an eye on this gal ‚ she has skills many of the Girl Pros desperately wish they had! In the group of grommets that sport the yellow of Intense/Phantom/On-Trac, little Shayne Lewis says little but makes his point on the track. Shayne motors his way to a pair of wins in 7X and a pair of 3rds in 7-8 Open. Always humble, this little man ROCKS! Derik ìDominatorî Bergh has what must be described as a break-out weekend in Phoenix. Derik has always been right there on the front edge, but this weekend he was not to be denied. Not quite able to nudge out the competition into turn one, Derik waited patiently and on both days stole first place swooping down the 3rd straight like a hawk propelling himself to a pair of very useful wins in 12X and a nice win Saturday in 11-12 Open. Billy Russell donned his spurs and took to taking care of business this weekend in class and cruiser puling off a double in 14 Cruiser and what would have been a double in 14X after Saturdayís win but for an arguable DQ call on Sunday denying him the win. Keep an eye on Billy this Summer ‚ he means business! El Pasoís finest, Fernie Jaquez had himself a strong weekend managing some great scores including a 2nd and 4th in 15X and a 1st and 3rd in 15-16 Open. Jake Peebles pulled off the win Sunday when the team needed it and manages a 1st in 17-18X Sunday after a tough weekend without his usual finishes, partly interrupted by crashing into Redmanís newest pick-up, Johny ìRocketî Woodmansee. Matt Tishcler, recent graduate of the ìLong-Camp-of-Gates-and-First-Straightsî, shows off his newfound knowledge and puts together a pair of wins in 19-27X, two very important scores for the team. Key riders came through when the team needed them in Phoenix. BATTLEGROUND # 2: West Palm Beach, Florida. The NBL Gator Nationals: The Gator National at famed Okeeheelee BMX in West Palm Beach was nearly 130 motos strong and filled with most of the top riders from the East Coast and Florida. Our small squad of racers went into the lionís den in Florida trying to manage some UCI finishes and useful team scores. Heading to the NBLís biggest concentration of tracks and riders is daunting, but a necessity to compete for the title. We sent a handful of riders that way to take their chances and compete for some points and a few bucks to fund the campaign. As always, ladies first. Charming and lovely though Felicia Stancil is, she is only that until you have to race her. At that point, you realize she is like a caged animal, attacking every pedal, focused on crossing the line ahead of you and she is completely focused on winning. She is an amazing combination of sweetness and competitiveness. As usual, she takes care of business with a double-double in 12 Girls and 12 and under Cruiser. Cole Tesar is a little shy off the track, but when it comes to racing he just wants to win. Cole makes his mom and dad proud with a tremendous outing taking two meaningful perfects and wins in 11X and a pair of 2nds stalking Oneís Maliek Byndloss around the track like his evil shadow waiting to pounce upon any mistake, or unexpected ìbonkî. World # 1 Rusty Nesvig has a big target on his back and had some stiff competition this weekend in the form of Danís world class rider Lucas Bustos and Georgiaís pride Geoffrey Banser. Rusty, who recently turned 14 had a brain cramp Saturday leaving on ìRiderís Readyî forgetting he was on a random gate, not an ABA one. Oops! After the bone-jarring slam he fought his way to 3rd and that is all he could manage. On Sunday, he remembered where he was and owned the 14X race wire-to-wire in his usual winning fashion. Jake Trevino, famed rapper of San Antonio, put together some incredible come-from-behind races this weekend pulling off a 2nd and 3rd in 17-18X and a 1st and 4th in 17+ Open. Teammate ìQuickî Nic Long did what Nic has been doing for months and that is simply own the class. Nic achieves a fantastic double-double in the hyper-competitive 17-18X class and 17+ Open. Jake and Nic also took part in the UCI tests Friday and Saturday. Nic made it to semis on Friday and after many tests finally made an Elite main on Saturday taking a 6th. Jake made both his Junior Elite mains and put together a pair of 4ths. CONCLUSIONÖ WHEN THE DUST SETTLED: With this first major test of splitting the team between two sanctions, there was some trepidation as to whether we could defend our efforts to repeat as the ABAís # 1 Factory Team as well as contend for the National title in the NBL. The phone lines were burning as we were all keeping up with the action coast-to-coast and some nail-biting was under way! And when Sunday afternoon finally arrived in Phoenix, our confidence in our riders and sponsors was proven worthy! In the ABA competition the Intense/Phantom/On-Trac squad takes the Factory win both days compiling scores of 228 and 232. And in Florida, the team put together a 2nd on Saturday and took the win on Sunday compiling scores of 86 and 89. Half way through the NBL season, and one third through the ABAís, Intense/Phantom/On-Trac is leading both Factory Divisions in each respective title hunt. Weíd like to thank all our riders, parents and expecially our sponsors for supporting us in this quest. Intense/Phantom/On-Tracís accomplishments are made possible by our great sponsors who include Intense BMX (www.intensebmx.com), On-Trac Garage Doors (www.ontracdoors.com), Phantom BMX Products, Fly Racing www.flyracingbmx.com, Bombshell (www.bombshellparts.com), FSA (www.fullspeedahead.com), THE Products (www.the-industries.com), SINZ Racing (www.sinz-racing.com), Intense Tire Systems, (www.intensetires.com ), BMX Jerseys (www.groupdmfg.com), and Scott goggles (www.scottusa.com).