Banasiewicz Pulls Out Cash Roll To Bring Home the Money

Fifteen-year-old Brett Banasiewicz managed to amp up his already insane level of riding at this weekend’s Wendy’s Invitational by busting out a cash roll for the first time in a dirt competition. The 180 to backflip 180 helped him collect his second consecutive win in his rookie season competing in the Dew Tour’s dirt discipline.

The trick brought the house down. It also had second-place finisher, veteran pro Ryan Nyquist – who is 16 years older than Banasiewicz – scratching his head.

“It’s still a crazy looking trick,” Nyquist said. “I still don’t know what it is. I look at it and I’m like, ‘I don’t even know.’ He’s wiggling and he’s spinning and he’s flipping and he lands.”

Ryan Nyqist, 2nd; Brett Banasiewicz, 1st; Dennis Enarson, 3rd

Three-time BMX park Dew Cup winner Daniel Dhers invented the trick and dialed it in just this year on box jumps in park, but for him it took years of planning to figure it out. He was shocked by how quickly Banasiewicz learned it himself.

“It’s just the sentimental value behind it,” Dhers said. “It took me a long time to figure that out and he’s just like, ‘Oh, you do that? Ok, I’ll just learn it and throw it next contest.’

“But he’s a great rider, and I knew that somebody was eventually going to do it, I just didn’t know it was going to be that soon.”

Luke Parslow’s face says it all as he watches the cash roll go down

Banasiewicz said he’s been working on it for about a year.

“I watched Daniel do it for the first time at camp and went back home and learned it and I’ve been working on it ever since,” he said.
      
The dirt course inside Portland’s Memorial Coliseum had bigger jumps than last month’s Chicago event and featured a vert hip. With a new course, new venue and drastically improved riding conditions compared to the Nike 6.0 BMX Open’s stormy BMX dirt finals, the level of riding was off the hook.

                             

Brandon Dosch, 360 nose dive                                               Anthony Napolitan, 360 triple whip

Nyquist lived up to his reputation as the comeback kid in clutch situations after falling on his second run and needing a solid last run to podium. His 720 double barspin on the last set was flawless, and with his wife and baby watching from the sidelines, he bounced back on run three to finish in second with an average score of 92.81 to Banasiewicz’s 94.12.

“In the second run when I crashed, and literally as I was sliding out, I was smiling because I was just like, ‘This is what happens to me,'” Nyquist said.

“I don’t enjoy being in that situation because it’s do or die, but I think percentage-wise, if you look at it, it works out pretty well for me.”

TJ Ellis, front flip whip

In third with a score of 91.94 was another talented rider, Nike 6.0’s Dennis Enarson. The 19 year old from La Mesa, California always looks like he’s having the most fun on the course, and he went bigger than everyone, starting one run with a triple tailwhip and finishing with an opposite double tailwhip. But as it was with all the riders and everyone in attendance, it was Banasiewicz that left the impression.

“Oh man, Brett is so good,” Enarson said. “He’s so good, it’s sick. A new, young kid coming into dirt. It’s been a little while, and you know, not to be weird, but since me. It’s cool. He’s the new dude. I’m not the young guy anymore. So it’s sweet riding with him.”

With two wins under his belt, Banasiewicz is leading the overall standings and is well on his way to owning his first Dew Cup in dirt.

“It’s amazing,” Banasiewicz said. “I think I need to finish in top three at Dew Tour next month, and then good in Vegas to get Cup contention. Going into the next stop I just have to stay on my bike and ride good and hopefully get top three.”

For the Dew Tour recap of the event, click here. For full results from the Wendy’s Invitational, click here.

To see the full Alli photo gallery from the competition, click here.

Check out the video below for highlights from the BMX dirt finals