Cranmer Wins BMX Park Final at Panasonic Open

Jun 24 2006 / Louisville, KY Put defending Dew Tour champ Ryan Guettler in the same room with Dave Mirra, Morgan Wade, Daniel Dhers, and Scotty Cranmer, and you’ve got one hell of a recipe for an explosive BMX Park contest: any of these guys has the tricks and the lines to win a major contest, and blood-curdling speed from Wade and Cranmer is fuel to the fire.

Morgan Wade blew us away in yesterday’s Prelims, riding crazy fast and setting the standard with a double-whip step-up over a huge gap that the other guys hadn’t even really considered… then quickly scrambled to follow. He continued to set the pace in the Finals, but took a seater on the lip of a quarterpipe mid-run in Round 1 and fell on a tailwhip in Round 2.

All eyes were on Guettler, the crowd favorite – he was in first place after Round 1, and Louisville loves champions – but Mirra, Cranmer, and Dhers aren’t the kind of guys to relinquish the spotlight, especially with $15,000 on the line and the overall Dew Tour title on their minds. Dhers’ Round 2 run included a giant double whip over the channel and a no-footed can-can 360 whip over the box, posting a score of 92.00 that would stand for 3rd place.

Guettler slammed on a 720 attempt in Round 2 and had to let his Round 1 score of 93.75 stand. Still, with a 360 drop from the step-down and huge front flip over the box in the mix, his first run looked unbeatable. Mirra and Wade both slammed in the attempt – Mirra ran off course and went crashing through a gate as if to remind the crowd why he wears a full helmet and pads, and Wade looked like he was making a victory run with a huge look-back towards the judges over the channel before crashing on a tailwhip a few seconds later.

That left Cranmer’s dizzying second run on top: Cranmer started things off whith a tailwhip drop in from the the big step-dwon gap off the top deck, doubled back to the same hit in the other direction for a double-whip step-up, then threw an insane double-whip 360 over the box. Tracking his bike through all those whips was enough to induce vertigo, especially at the speed Cranmer is known for.

Final results:

1.    Scotty Cranmer, 94.50
2.    Ryan Guettler, 93.75
3.    Daniel Dhers, 92.00