Kenny Bartram pulling a hip invert at the 2006 Dew Tour Training at Woodward. © 2006 Jared Souney/Sophisticated Rider
Returning Champion: Kenny Bartram
Jun 25 2006 / Louisville, KYDefending FMX Dew Tour Champ Kicks Off 2006 Season in 5th Place
Throughout today’s BMX Dirt Prelims, Kenny Bartram could be seen, 10-gallon hat and all, working on the FMX course with shovel in hand. Riders, including our own Sophisticated Rider blogger Twitch, had been airing concerns about the course yesterday, and it says a lot about the Dew Tour – and about the efforts of the PRO Pro Riders Organization – that the Cowboy himself was involved in making things right.
Bartram had the unenviable position of riding just after Stenberg’s brutal backflip bailout, but still managed a strong 5th place finish with a score of 87.93. Nate Adams, Travis Pastrana, and Ailo Gaup took 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and Stenberg hit number 4, stretchers and ambulance notwithstanding.
Though Bartram obviously would have liked to start things off with a win, 5th place still leaves him in solid position to make his mark in the overall standings. Here at Lat34, we have a feeling he’ll pick up a trophy or too along the way in his quest for another Dew Cup.
– Colin Bane
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Update: June 23, 2006
No surprise here: Bartram is in for the FMX finals, after a 4th place finish in the Prelims, and the wild new course design very much agrees with him. Of the 20 riders in today's contest, only a few were really hitting the quarter-pipe and none hit it harder than Cowboy Kenny.
"You could throw out the rest of the course and I'd just play on the quarter-pipe all day," Bartram said, during an intermission interview after qualifying for the Finals after the first round of Prelims. "Fortunately I have some great sponsors this year who aren't putting a lot of pressure on me, so I can just come out here and have fun, and hopefully I'll come out on top."
He also hit the wall ride, launched a huge Rock Solid on the new step-up-step-down combo, and threw in a Kiss of Death and a crossed-up backflip for good measure.
No real surprises on Bartram's competition for the Finals, either: First place in the first round of Prelims went to Travis Pastrana, second place to Nate Adams, and third place to Ailo Gaup. Also qualifying after the first round: Ronnie Renner, Jeremy "Twitch" Sternberg, and Mike Mason.
Renner's 5th place score of 90.5 seemed like a lowball: He made the most of the new course and would be Bartram's biggest rival if it ever came down to a quarter-pipe-only showdown. He wasted no time between hits and went fast and big on everything he touched, lofting a huge and extremely extended Kiss of Death and a fully-tweaked Knack in the neighborhood of 9 o'clock. Kenny's not the only bullrider in this rodeo, and the Finals should be quite a show.
No surprise here: Bartram is in for the FMX finals, after a 4th place finish in the Prelims, and the wild new course design very much agrees with him. Of the 20 riders in today's contest, only a few were really hitting the quarter-pipe and none hit it harder than Cowboy Kenny.
"You could throw out the rest of the course and I'd just play on the quarter-pipe all day," Bartram said, during an intermission interview after qualifying for the Finals after the first round of Prelims. "Fortunately I have some great sponsors this year who aren't putting a lot of pressure on me, so I can just come out here and have fun, and hopefully I'll come out on top."
He also hit the wall ride, launched a huge Rock Solid on the new step-up-step-down combo, and threw in a Kiss of Death and a crossed-up backflip for good measure.
No real surprises on Bartram's competition for the Finals, either: First place in the first round of Prelims went to Travis Pastrana, second place to Nate Adams, and third place to Ailo Gaup. Also qualifying after the first round: Ronnie Renner, Jeremy "Twitch" Sternberg, and Mike Mason.
Renner's 5th place score of 90.5 seemed like a lowball: He made the most of the new course and would be Bartram's biggest rival if it ever came down to a quarter-pipe-only showdown. He wasted no time between hits and went fast and big on everything he touched, lofting a huge and extremely extended Kiss of Death and a fully-tweaked Knack in the neighborhood of 9 o'clock. Kenny's not the only bullrider in this rodeo, and the Finals should be quite a show.
-Colin Bane
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The 27 year-old from Stillwater began competing in FMX in 1998, making him a veritable veteran in this relatively young sport. His contributions to the sport are immeasurable and have made him arguably the best freestyle rider in the world. He’s an encyclopedia of tricks, uses them all in competition, and constantly strives to invent new ones. He sends them big – really big, bigger than most – and he crashes big. But, somehow he manages to get back up and win competitions at any cost. Lots of them. It’s the cowboy blood that runs through his veins. He’s so tough he puts thumbtacks on his toast in the morning instead of jelly. And, instead of a massage after a comp he has a gang of thugs wail on him with baseball bats for a while to relax him.
Um, so anyway, nothing will stop Bartram from pushing FMX to crazy new limits. Nothing! Case in point: November 17, 2003. The same year he landed the first-ever backflip-to-heel clicker, Kenny tried to pull a Double Fritz (two consecutive backflips), but came up short. The mistake dislocated his hip, an injury that still bothered him at the beginning of 2005. But, just like with his other 20 broken bones, 7 knocked-out teeth, and the ruptured blood vessel in his brain, Cowboy Kenny didn’t let it slow him down at the rodeo one bit. He’s like Rocky. Pain is motivation. And 2005 is proof of that.
2005 was an insane year for Hazard. First place: Gravity Games at Woodward. First place: Right Guard Open in Denver. First place: Vans Invitational in Portland. First place: Playstation Pro in Orlando. All of which led him to his Dew Tour Series season end rank of #1. Not to mention a slew of other top-ten finishes.
So, what does 2006 have in store for our fearless, hard-working FMX leader? He’s recovered from an injury that gave him 30 stitches and a few dislocated ribs last winter, which leaves him with “world domination” on his to-do list. And since he’s the defending world champ of every major freestyle series, we’ll probably see him in a few comps as well. We’ll be watching in awe.
– Steve Lemig
