Greg Weatherall © Lat34
Napolitan Triumphs At Dirt Finals
Oct 13 2006 / Orlando, FLNapolitan Takes Home A Beefy $90K Check
Despite it being Friday the 13th, good fortune was on Anthony Napolitan's side. Napolitan squeeked out a giant win in a super tight, nail-biting contest at the PlayStation Pro Dirt Finals in Orlando, and took home a big $90,000 check for all his hard work. He won $15,000 for winning Friday’s Finals and another $75,000 for winning the overall points race yielding him the coveted Dew Cup and the prestige of winning the grueling five-stop Dew Tour.
When asked how he did it Napolitan said, “I don’t even know. It’s crazy. I just went out to have fun.” Napolitan came out of relative obscurity on a national scale to win the first stop of the Dew Tour in Louisville. He placed 2nd in Denver and 3rd in Portland, but had a rough time in San Jose where he placed 9th. No one ruled him out of the overall contest, but it appeared that his grip on the lead was slipping. Until Orlando, that is. Most 20 year-olds would crumble under the pressure, but not Anthony. He said, “I knew if I just stayed calm I’d do well. I’ve been working on new stuff, but I didn’t have to use it, so I guess I’ll save it for next year!”
Corey Bohan threw down two unbelievably hard runs, the first scoring him a 92.5 and the second scoring him a big 94.0. But, it wasn’t enough to beat Napolitan’s 94.25. Bohan’s stellar performance bumped him up to 3rd in overall points for the Dew Tour, up from 6th coming into Orlando.
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Luke Parslow, who has been Mr. Consistency all season long with 2nd and 3rd place finishes at every stop, finished 3rd again with a searing 93.25. He pulled a back flip tailwhip on the first set, a front flip, a super tweaked back flip turndown, to a 360 whip. That run puts him 2nd overall in the points race and the motivation to step it up one more notch next year.
Ryan Nyquist finished in 4th at the Orlando Dirt Finals. He difficulty with his first run but still fit in a back flip double barspin followed by a double barspin. He pulled it together for his second run, which started with a back flip barspin, a suicide double truckdriver, a 360 followed by a 720 barspin. In other words: nuckin futs. Nyquist’s Orlando performance put him in 4th for the season in overall points.
Ryan Guettler had some problems with both his runs but still ended the season 5th in overall points. Also of note, Stephen Murray threw down what could have been one of the biggest runs on this evil Friday. He started off with a 360 backflip followed by a front flip on the second set, a 360, and ended with a double back flip that he over-rotated. Murray is the only rider to ever pull off a double back flip and 360 flip in a single run.
-Steve Lemig
