Bartram also won July’s Dew Action Sports Tour Right Guard Open for his first Tour event win. Jeremy Stenberg of Winchester, Calif., finished third with 93.90 points.
Bartram knows how close the competition is between the athletes.
“It’s FMX, anything can happen,” Bartram said. “In this Tour, consistency pays off. It’s easy to lose the points lead in one event, but difficult to win. I think the Dew Tour series is definitely working. You see a lot of guys come out and compete who wouldn’t necessarily if it wasn’t for the points system and big money. It shows the heart of the competitors.”
With his win, Bartram currently has 263 points and extends his lead to 50 points over Stenberg, who has 213 points.
Today caps four days of competition at Portland’s Rose Quarter. On Thursday, Jamie Bestwick, 34, from Nottingham, GBR, executed some of the most technical tricks ever seen to take first place in the BMX Vert Final. Bestwick also finished in first place at the Tour’s Right Guard Open last month, which was his first appearance on the Tour. He currently sits in second place in the Tour’s BMX Vert standings with 200 total points.
It was Bestwick’s first of two runs that earned him a winning score of 92.50. That run was highlighted by a downside tailwhip flair into a 540.
“This Dew Tour is amazing,” said Bestwick. “I’m chasing the title and am now only 20 points behind [first place].”
Finishing in second was Kevin Robinson, 33, of East Providence, RI, with a score of 91.75. Robinson finished in first place at the Panasonic Open and in sixth place at the Right Guard Open. He is currently the Tour’s overall BMX Vert points leader, with 220.
Dave Mirra, 31, of Greenville, NC, rounded out the top three with a score of 91.50 in BMX Vert. Mirra finished fourth at the Panasonic Open and third at the Right Guard Open. He is currently tied with Chad Kagy for third place in the Tour’s BMX Vert Standings.
Thursday night’s BMX Vert Final ended with Robinson trying to land the world’s first double flair. The Tour’s skateboard and BMX athletes congregated on the deck of the vert ramp in support of Robinson. Despite coming up short in his attempt at history, Robinson earned an extended standing ovation from the Memorial Coliseum crowd.
On Friday evening, Ryan Guettler, 22, from Brisbane, AUS, took the overall BMX Dirt points lead with his second consecutive event win. Guettler, who also finished first at the Right Guard Open, currently has 237 points in BMX Dirt. His best run of the evening included a 360 off the start ramp, followed by a front flip and a tailwhip 360. Guettler’s final score, an average of his best two of three runs, was a 94.13.
The two-time BMX Dirt winner was pleased with his victory at the Vans® Invitational. “I’m just all nerves right now; I’m so excited to pull out this win,” said Guettler.
Fellow Aussie Corey Bohan, 23, of Brisbane, AUS, took second place in BMX Dirt with a score of 91.38. Bohan, who finished first at the Tour’s Panasonic Open, and fifth at the Right Guard Open, is currently in second place in the Tour’s BMX Dirt standings with 224 total points. Ryan Nyquist, 26, of Greenville, NC, rounded out the top three with a final score of 90.88.
Saturday evening, Greg Lutzka from Milwaukee, Wis., earned his first Tour victory in the Skateboard Park Final while Ryan Nyquist won the BMX Park Final for the first time.
Twenty-year-old Lutzka triumphed over two-time Skateboard Park event winner, Ryan Sheckler, 15, from San Clemente, Calif. Lutzka’s final score was a 90.42, edging out Sheckler who ... (continue story on page 2)
