Nyquist Makes Return to BMX Park Finals After Qualifying First in Prelims

Ryan Nyquist topped the 31-man field in the BMX park prelims at the Dew Tour Championships, returning to the BMX park finals after failing to qualify for the past two due to a nagging neck injury. Landing a 720, truckdriver down the step down, suicide no-handed transfer and a wall ride to 270 out, Nyquist earned a 91.88 and a three-point lead over the competition in his first run.

Gary Young also made his return to the BMX park finals, finishing prelims in second place thanks to a run packed with tricks and great utilization of the whole course. After making the dirt finals Thursday night for the first time since 2006, Young upped the ante and qualified for park finals as well. It’s the first Dew Tour park final for both him and Nyquist since the Nike 6.0 BMX Open at the beginning of the 2010 season.

With Young and Scotty Cranmer leading the pack after Heat 1 of prelims, the first three riders in Heat 2 bumped into the top nine to shake up the standings. However, the middle part of the lineup was full of small bobbles that forced many riders to rely on their second run’s scores. That is, until Nyquist took over the lead with the first, and only, score to break into the 90s.

The standings remained relatively the same throughout the second runs of Heat 2, with Brandon Dosch sitting in eighth place and sweating it out for most of the second heat. But with only three riders left to take their turn on the course, a pair of 16 year olds were gunning to crack the top nine and knock Dosch out.

Pat Casey was the first to try to bump into a qualifying position, but a hard fall ended his bid and secured a spot in the finals for Dosch. Next up was Brett Banasiewicz, who landed a corked 720, double whip, fufanu and flair to front flip off the ledge combo that allowed him to leapfrog from 14th place up to fifth and into the finals.

Already in the lead, Nyquist treated the crowd to a no-footed wheelie, rocket manual and nose wheelie for good measure.

Nyquist and the rest of the top nine from Friday’s BMX park prelims will advance to the finals, taking place on Saturday from 2 to 3 p.m., where they’ll face off against Garrett Reynolds, Mark Webb and points leader Daniel Dhers for the Dew Tour Championships title.

Results

1. Ryan Nyquist, 91.88
2. Gary Young, 89.75
3. Scotty Cranmer, 89.75
4. Jeremiah Smith, 89.25
5. Brett Banasiewicz, 89.00

Get the full results from the BMX park prelims.