Pastrana Rides Away with FMX Win in Denver

The heat, the wind, the flow of the course, and yes…a little payback, were all significant factors rolling into Sunday’s FMX finals at the Right Guard Open in Denver. The Saturday Prelims saw a field of 20 narrowed to only 12, with Travis Pastrana, Mathiew Rebeaud and Ronnie Faisst sitting atop the leader board.

 

For high-flying ace Travis Pastrana, this stop on the Dew Action Sports Tour could not have been sweeter. After last month’s narrow loss to Nate Adams in Louisville, he found the vindication he was seeking on his very first run.

Straight off the wall hit, Travis lit fire to the course with huge back-to-back backflip combos, a sick new trick called a backflip Superman, a souring 9 o’clock and lazyboy, and closed out buy duplicating a Side Saddle backflip that ‘Cowboy” Kenny Bartram had wowed the crowd with earlier. When the scores came down it was the clear the judges were impressed. Pastrana pulled down a blistering score of 96.83!

 

The clean-cut, Pastrana has clearly become a FMX media darling. The ladies swoon over his rugged good looks, the men give him props for his “go big, or go home” attitude, and the cameras purely love his soft-peddling style of self promotion. Add all that to a big, bad, bag of tricks, shake vigorously, and what you have is a superstar athlete that almost any fan, or sponsor, can feel good about supporting.

 

 

 

For Nate Adams, a second run was needed to cinch the number two spot. After a solid first run of 94.33, he went looking for blood with me-too, back-to-back flip combos with nac-nacs, no-handers, and heal clicks thrown in for difficulty. His signature move, an awesome Cordova backflip, pulled cheers from the crowd that had everyone wondering if it was enough to change the board. His 96.17 missed the margin.

 

Another crowd favorite, Kenny Bartram, rocked the course with two solid runs to claim third place. As last year’s overall Dew Tour FMX Champion, the outlaw-spirited Bartram started the fans rocking with an off-the-bat backflip with one-hand takeoff and a no-hand lander. Just awesome. Soaring back-to-back flip combos, signature tail whips, sidewinders and indy moves were all just a set up for his stunning last trick: a totally sick, side-saddle backflip that slackened jaws all across the stands. For Kenny, a 95.67 and 95.17 were certainly scores to be proud of.

 

Once in a great while, sports fans are treated to moments they’ll long remember. For FMX fans here in the Denver, these finals offered that rare treasure. After already having blistered the rest of the field with his stratospheric first run, Travis Pastrana invited fellow competitor Kenny Bartram to share his second run in a game of follow-the-leader. For 90 seconds these two FMX wizards astounded the crowd with side-by-side aerials that had to be seen to truly appreciate. It was so riveting, so pure in its improvisational artistry, it left fans breathless.

 

One can only wonder if this is the beginning of a new trend on the Dew Action Sports Tour. We’ll all know later next month when these exceptional athletes take flight in Portland.