Word with the fans was this was the best they had ever seen the track and they were pumped to be there. The racing at the Gator National event was INTENSE! A stacked international field in the AA PRO - Elite ranks was just INSANE! There have been record turn outs in the premier class this season and the fans, industry and media are just blown away! 
With 2009 being the debut of UCI Continental events with ABA BMX racing, the buzz is all around. There`s lots of media on hand and many of the sports top athletes from around the world were on hand to take a shot at getting some much needed points towards the UCI ranking and ABA BMX titles. The third UCI event of the 2009 season was r owned by Free Agent's Cristian Becerine. Cristian took a hard fall in the early stages of the race day hurting his hand pretty badly. But rather than pack it up for the day he stuck it out and was able to "holeshot" his way to another victory! Coming in a solid 2nd to Cristian was current ABA BMX National #1 AM and Dew Tour SX winner Nic Long. IPOT's Nic Long turned PRO in Reno earlier this season and is settling in to his new class just fine and seems to be adapting well to th e PRO/ELITE level of racing . To round out the UCI podium for the day would be none other than unsponsored rider Jason Rogers. This kid has been making some big mains this season against a lot of odds. If anyone out there is looking for a top caliber rider you might want to take a look at this guy. 
JR. Elite would see the return of Australia`s own Sam Willoughby. The current UCI's JR. Elite World Champ came back to the state in a big way. Sam picked up the big win in the class first race back. USA's own and Free Agent`s new wonder kid, Connor Fields rode to a 2nd place podium once again. Canada's super kid and Redline's Tory Nyhaug was the man to bring home the 3rd place podium spot in Oldsmar, FLA. This class is pretty stacked as well and you can get a glimpse into the future of our sport by watching these guys. The kids no how to race! 
Elite Women went down like this, ABA National #1 Ladies PRO, Dominique Daniels keeps her streak alive and makes it three in a row for the top UCI podium spot. Second went to Redman's Amanda Geving. It was good to see Amanda out at the event as she is a Florida local. Third went to Stephanie Barragan. Stephanie`s always a solid podium contender and can never be counted out for the win! ABA BMX PRO points day one saw 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist, Hyper Bicycles, Donny Robinson take his first win of the season. Donny's made a bunch of mains this season proving to be very consistent, but this weekend it all clicked for him in Oldsmar. 2nd place went to none other then Maris Strombergs. The Latvian rider has moved to the USA under his new Free Agent sponsorship. Maris is ONE FAST GUY for sure. The 2008 Olympic Gold medal
ist and current UCI World Champion has been settling into the USA scene as has made big improvements at each event. It won't be long before Maris is on the top step of the box. Fellow Olympian and Free Agent team mate, Kyle Bennett also looked to be getting back on track Sunday. The USAC National BMX Champ worked his way to a 3rd place finish for the day and looks to be battling Mike Day for the ABA BMX PRO points lead. It was a stacked field at the Gator Nationals and there where a lot of heavy hitters on the side lines watching. Taking with many of the riders Phoenix looks to be the next big event around the corner and there are a lot of hungry guys looking to make their first podium of the season. On the Ladies side once again defending Champ, Dominique Daniels took the top honors in the class. A very impressive second went to GT Bikes Arielle Martin. Third went to Crystal Hime. Crystal took some time off and has made a big presence on her return.
Vet Pro class was another one to watch this weekend. The VET PRO class has become a who`s who in BMX titles of the past. Names like John Purse, Dale Holmes, Greg Romero, Jason Carnes, Kenth Fallen, Eric Rupe, and so on , and so on. It really is a exciting class to watch. GHP`s John "The Jackal" Purse nailed down two more wins on the weekend stretching his lead in the points even more. Rennen rider Will Murray scored his first VET PRO podium on day one with an impressive 2nd place for the new comer to the class. Free Agent`s Dale Holmes rode solid as ever both days leaving Oldsmar with a 3rd on #1 and a 2nd on day #2. If Dale's at an event you can pretty much count on him being on the box at the end of the day. IPOT's Chad Street was in the house too! Chad found his stride on day #2 with a solid ride to 3rd place and another podium finish. Things are only going to get tougher for this class. It`s starting to look more and more like the AA PRO class of the 90`s out there. I hear rumors of a few other ex-AA`s that might be stepping back into the ring. I for one am pumped to see all the guys back out on the track! PRO Cruiser went down like this Clayborn`s Barry Nobles was not to be denied this weekend. He was riding way to fast to not win something. Barry laid down a super hot lap and took the PRO Cruiser win over current ABA BMX National #1 PRO Cruiser rider Danny "Easy Money" Caluag. The third podium spot went out the Florida local boy Josh Meyers. Josh jump on his cruiser on his home track and put a great show on for the fans!
2009 Pro Standing through Gator Nationals
AA PRO
MIKE DAY 885
KYLE BENNETT 835
JOEY BRADFORD 635
DONNY ROBINSON 601
KHALEN YOUNG 475
TYLER BROWN 381
DANNY CALUAG 377
BARRY NOBLES 365
MARIS STROMBERGS 354
JAVIER COLOMBO 352
RANDY STUMPFHAUSER 335
DAVID HERMAN 301
JASON ROGERS 301
TRAVIS OHRAZDA 298
CRISTIAN BECERINE 287
DENZEL STEIN 207
JARRETT KOLICH 178
STEVEN CISAR 168
MARC WILLERS 160
KYLE CUSHMAN 144
PHIL DELIZIA 142
DEREK SIPKOI 140
MICHAEL LARSON 138
MIKE BRABANT 134
ALEXIS VERGARA 105
JOE SOWERS 105
KEITH GRINE 105
KARL CLARK 94
BUBBA HARRIS 87
DEREK BETCHER 77
MARTIJN SCHERPEN 77
SEAN STORMS 77
ALAN HUDSON 71
DEAK BROWN 71
MICHAEL HUGHES 71
JIM BROWN 67
YVAN LAPRAZ 67
AKIFUMI SAKAMOTO 61
JOSH SMITH 50
ANDRES JIMENEZ 37
MATT POHLKAMP 37
SAM WILLOUGHBY 37
MIKE MOELLER 36
AARON JOHNSON 34
KRIS FOX 34
ROBERT DE WILDE 34
ARNAUD DUBOIS 27
JOEY BERTHIAUME 27
JEFF UPSHAW 23
WOMEN PRO
DOMINIQUE DANIELS 1178
BROOKE CRAIN 687
STEPHANIE BARRAGAN 608
ARIELLE MARTIN 512
ALISE POST 434
TAYLOR WOLCOTT 319
ASHLEY VERHAGAN 299
KRYSTAL HIME 299
AMANDA GEVING 131
COURTNEY TOMEI 130
SAMANTHA COOLS 86
KAILA SWEENEY 53
DANIELE BRISSON 51
MADISON PITTS 51
AFTON SCHRIMPF 50
REGULA RUNGE 43
TERRA NICHOLS 39
KYLA REED 31
MISSY HARTLEY 28
BRITTANY BATES 26
CASSIE BUSHNELL 26
CHRISTIAN COSSEY 26
ILENE VANEGAS 13
CARLEY YOUNG 11
MICHELLE GUTHRIE 11
By the ABA
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.