The American Bicycle Association hosted the Winter Nationals this past weekend, March, 6-8 in Phoenix, AZ. What you say about Black Mountain BMX that hasn't been said before? That is a hard one for sure. How about Olympians, Gold medals, world famous dirt jumpers, television, and media! I can say this though, this weekend 's event was excellent to say the least. The riders, families, fans, and industry up in full force to an amazing 265 motos! Even world famous dirt jumpers like Cory "Nasty" Nastazio and Ryan Guettler showed showed up at Black Mountain BMX to try their hand at BMX RACING. BMX PLUS! editor Ben Crockett even went back to his roots and raced it out on the world famous Black Mountain BMX track! The sun was out in full force, the weather was a perfect mid-70's temp, and the track and facility were dialed in better then ever, The track was sooooo smooth you could almost eat off it! Thanks to ABA BMX track builder Billy Allen for working his magic on the rebuild this year. Also the Black Mountain crew getting the place in tip-top shape as always. Word with the fans was this was the best they had ever seen the track and they were pumped to be there. The racing at the Winter National event was INTENSE! A stacked international field in the AA PRO - Elite ranks was just INSANE! There was an incredible 57 riders in the ELITE class on Saturday and there have been record turn outs in the premier class this season and the fans, industry and media are just blown away!

With 2009 being the debut of UCI Continental events with ABA BMX racing, the buzz is all around, and the buzz was bigger then ever this weekend. UCI's own Johan Lindstrom and Tom Ritz were even made the trip to Phoenix, AZ. to check out their first Black Mountain experience. There was lots of media on hand and many of the sports top athletes from around the world were at Black Mountain BMX to take a shot at getting some much needed points towards the UCI ranking and ABA BMX titles. The fourth UCI event of the 2009 season was dominated by Olympic Gold medalist, World Champion, and Free Agent's own Maris Strombergs. Maris won lap after lap on the world famous Black Mountain BMX and has truly "arrived" here on the USA circuit. The man on a mission this season is Olympic Silver medalist Mike Day. Mike Day has made just about every main this season on his trusty GT steed. Mike kept Maris honest all the way to the finish line stripe. Kyle Bennett made another trip to the UCI podium with a very impressive 3rd for the day. Kyle has made tons of mains this season as well and looks to be as solid as ever. With an amazing 57 Elite Men on hand making the main is a impressive in it's own right. Talking with several of the top dogs about this weekend, many said it was the hardest they had ever seen the class! STACKED, STACKED, STACKED is all I can say!!

JR. Elite saw Redline's Denzel Stein lay the law down in JR. Elite with the HUGE win. Denzel was sportin' a newly designed USAC National Champs jersey for the event. Formula's Sam Willoughby was back on the gas as well. Sam's the defending World Champ and was coming off a big win in Oldsmar, FLA. Sam kept things very interesting for Denzel and they race it out hard with Sam coming in a close 2nd for the day. Canada's super fast and Redline's Tory Nyhaug was the man to bring home the 3rd place podium spot at Black Mountain BMX. This class is pretty stacked as well and you can get a glimpse into the future of our sport by watching these guys. These kids KNOW how to race!

Elite Women went down like this, RaceplaceBMX and BAWLS Guarana rider Stephanie Barragan took the HUGE win for the event. Redman's Amanda Geving had a great showing nailing down the 2nd. Amanda's got mad skills and the Fla. native looks to be a top contender for the podium at each round. SX's Crystal Hime took the 3rd and last podium spot. Crystal took some time off and has been back and racing really well. I expect to see Crystal on top the podium very soon.

ABA National #1 Ladies PRO, Dominique Daniels keeps her streak alive and makes it four in a row for the top UCI podium spot. Dom has been an ustoppable force this season so far. All the other ladies are keeping her honest and making her work for each and every podium. 2nd went to the pride of Redline and Minnesota, Alise Post. Alise is getting back in the swing of racing after talking some time off for her gymnastics and is looking really good on her new Redline. Expect to see Alise on top the podium very, very soon. 3rd went to rookie PRO sensation, Ashley Verhagen. Ashley rides for Team Inseino out of Simi Valley, CA. Ashley is still making the adjustment to the PRO class and is getting better at every event. She's ready for the top spot on the podium!

ABA BMX PRO points day one saw 2008 Olympic Bronze medalist, Hyper Bicycles, Donny Robinson take his 2nd win of the season. Donny's made a bunch of mains this season proving to be very consistent, but this weekend it all clicked for him despite losing a chain in the first of three main events! 2nd place went to none other then the powerhouse named Maris Strombergs. Maris was gracious enough to bring his actual Olympic GOLD medal to the event and did a HUGE autograph session with the fans. The fans were allowed to touch his GOLD medal! This was no replica either. It was the REAL DEAL. Maris gained a ton of new fans at Phoenix for sure. 3rd went to the unsponsored Jason Rogers. I know I've said this a few times, but somebody needs to pick this kid up and fast! Jason has made many mains this season and has to be to have main the most mains for guy wearing jeans ad T-shirt to race. All you team managers out there take note of this guy! It was a SUPER STACKED field at the Winter Nationals and there where a lot of heavy hitters on the side lines watching. Taking with many of the riders Super Nationals/UCI/USAC National Championship weekend looks to be the next big event around the corner and there are a lot of hungry guys looking to make their first podium of the season.

On the Ladies side once again defending Champ, Dominique Daniels took the top honors in the class. Not much else I can say about Dominique except she's super fast! Two Time ABA Ladies PRO CHamp, Alise Post was all over Dominique this weekend and looks to have plans to grab her #1 plate back this season. These two ladies really put on a great show for the fans. Once again Ashley Verhagen made the podium with a solid ride. Ashley is helping step things up in the ladies PRO ranks and proved the new crop of ladies PRO are legit.

As usual the Vet Pro class was on fire this weekend. The VET PRO class has become a who`s who in BMX titles of the past. Names like John Purse, Dale Holmes, Greg Romero, Jason Carnes, Kenth Fallen, Eric Rupe, and so on , and so on. One of the sports all-time greats GHP`s John "The Jackal" Purse nailed down yet another 1st on Saturday and a 3rd on Sunday on his quest for the ABA BMX VET Title. Saturday saw defending Champ, Kenth Fallen bring home 2nd and Sunday saw the always consistant Chad Street bring home the 2nd as well. "Coach G" Greg Romero was on the gas in Phoenix as well. Greg took some time away frombeing a super trainer to jump back on his bike and put his money where his mouth is. Coach G was a solid podium maker on Saturday with a 3rd place finish for the day. Sunday was a new day and Greg powered his may to his first win of the season. Greg is always on the gas when he comes to play and you can never count out "Coach G" for the win in the VET ranks!

PRO Cruiser win went to two-time ABA BMX PRO Cruiser Champ Danny "Easy Money" Caluag. Danny been the man to beat the last few years in the Cruiser ranks and looks to be back on top of the heap after Phoenix.Crupi's Tyler Brown continues on his quest for an ABA BMX title by nailing down the 2nd for the day. Tyler is a main stay on the PRO Cruiser podium and doesn't look to be giving up one of the top three spots any time soon. 3rd went to Phoenix local Joe Sowers. Joe's been on the come back trail and has a new ride with team Misbeehavin. Joe had the home town fans on their feets for this main event for sure!

GO211.com has tons of videos posted from the ABA BMX Gator National weekend!

Check it out at: http://www.go211.com/u/abawinternationals2009 <http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=15053532&msgid=342749&act=0LVH&c=124165&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.go211.com%2Fu%2Fabawinternationals2009>

The ABA would like to thank all the participants, families, teams, sponsors, and BMX industry for helping make the ABA BMX Winter Nationals event such a huge success!

Rider ABA BMX PRO wins after Winter Nationals –

AA PRO

Mike Day – GT Bicycles – 2

Donny Robinson - Hyper Bicycles - 2

Joey Bradford - GT Bicycles - 1

Kyle Bennett – Free Agent - 1

Woman’s PRO

Dominique Daniels – 8

Stephanie Barragan – 1

PRO CRUISER

Barry Nobles – Clayborn Bicycles - 3

Danny Caluag – BAWLS/Intense - 2

Tyler Brown - Crupi – 1

VET PRO

John Purse – GHP - 6

Kenth Fallen – Supercross - 2

Dale Holmes - Free Agent - 1

Greg "Coach G" Romero - Sun Bru - 1

2009 Pro Standing through Winter Nationals

AA PRO

1 MIKE DAY 1001

2 KYLE BENNETT 911

3 DONNY ROBINSON 877

4 JOEY BRADFORD 681

5 MARIS STROMBERGS 590

6 KHALEN YOUNG 511

7 JASON ROGERS 497

8 DANNY CALUAG 423

9 TYLER BROWN 423

10 BARRY NOBLES 401

11 JAVIER COLOMBO 394

12 RANDY STUMPFHAUSER 381

13 DENZEL STEIN 363

14 DAVID HERMAN 343

15 TRAVIS OHRAZDA 340

16 CRISTIAN BECERINE 329

17 JARRETT KOLICH 234

18 STEVEN CISAR 204

19 MARC WILLERS 196

20 KYLE CUSHMAN 180

21 DEREK SIPKOI 176

22 MICHAEL LARSON 174

23 MIKE BRABANT 170

24 PHIL DELIZIA 142

25 JOE SOWERS 141

26 KEITH GRINE 141

27 KARL CLARK 130

28 BUBBA HARRIS 129

29 JIM BROWN 113

30 ALEXIS VERGARA 105

31 SAM WILLOUGHBY 103

32 AKIFUMI SAKAMOTO 97

33 DEREK BETCHER 77

34 MARTIN SCHERPEN 77

35 SEAN STORMS 77

36 ROBERT DE WILDE 76

37 MATT POHLKAMP 73

38 ALAN HUDSON 71

39 DEAK BROWN 71

40 MICHAEL HUGHES 71

41 KRIS FOX 70

42 YVAN LAPRAZ 67

43 JOSH SMITH 50

44 ANDRES JIMENEZ 37

45 ALEX CAMERON 36

46 JOSH OIE 36

47 MIKE MOELLER 36

48 NATE BERKHEIMER 36

49 AARON JOHNSON 34

50 ARNAUD DUBOIS 27

51 JOEY BERTHIAUME 27

52 JEFF UPSHAW 23

WOMEN PRO

1 DOMINIQUE DANIELS 1434

2 STEPHANIE BARRAGAN 704

3 BROOKE CRAIN 703

4 ALISE POST 650

5 ARIELLE MARTIN 512

6 ASHLEY VERHAGAN 475

7 TAYLOR WOLCOTT 365

8 KRYSTAL HIME 335

9 AMANDA GEVING 267

10 COURTNEY TOMEI 146

11 SAMANTHA COOLS 86

12 AFTON SCHRIMPF 66

13 TERRA NICHOLS 55

14 KAILA SWEENEY 53

15 DANIELE BRISSON 51

16 MADISON PITTS 51

17 REGULA RUNGE 43

18 BRITTANY BATES 42

19 CASSIE BUSHNELL 42

20 KYLA REED 31

21 ILENE VANEGAS 29

22 MISSY HARTLEY 28

23 CHRISTIAN COSSEY 26

24 RACHAEL LUNA 16

25 ROSEMARY ADAMS 16

26 CARLEY YOUNG 11

26 MICHELLE GUTHRIE 11

PRO CRUISER

1 DANNY CALUAG 1251

2 TYLER BROWN 1171

3 BARRY NOBLES 1111

4 JOE SOWERS 556

5 BILLY ANDERSON 356

6 ERIC RUPE 251

7 MATT BAISLEY 244

8 ADAM TREADWELL 186

11 JOSHUA MEYERS 167

12 GAVIN LUBBE 129

13 WILLY SUAREZ 89

14 JOE MATHIS 87

15 KEITH GRINE 39

16 KENTH FALLEN 38

17 KYLA REED 37

18 EDWARD OLSON 28

19 DOMINGOS LAMMOGLIA 10

20 CAMERON DAVIS 9

VET PRO

1 JOHN PURSE 2324

2 DALE HOLMES 1279

3 KENTH FALLEN 1182

4 CHAD STREET 1142

5 GREG ROMERO 1012

6 ERIC RUPE 534

7 DAVID BITTNER 509

8 WILL MURRAY 502

9 TIM DINGER 345

10 ROBERT HARRIS 272

11 TODD PARRY 272

12 PERCY OWENS 240

13 JASON SILVA 195

14 DOMINGOS LAMMOGLIA 194

15 TOMMY OPINCAR 130

16 ANDRES HOLGUIN 120

17 ERIC DYER 114

18 BILLY ROSS 112

19 JEREMIAH OLIVER 110

20 PAUL CALDWELL 110

21 RONALD WILLIAMS 99

22 PAUL BROWN 97

23 DOUG CROWELL 95

24 CODY SMART 82

25 RAY HUDSON 74

26 MIKE ACOSTA 67

27 MARK NUNLEY 62

28 JAMES REED 50

29 KEVIN TOMKO 50

30 TOMMY BOARD 50

31 GARY MASON 40

32 GEOFREY SSENGOBA 40

33 MIKE CASAS 40

34 PHIL POTOSNAK 40

35 CAMERON DAVIS 35

36 SCOTT MORELAND 35

37 COREY FOWLER 32

38 JADE MCPHERSON 32

39 JASON ALSTATT 32

40 DREW DOWNEY 25

41 JOE MCCARTY 25

42 MIKE GUL 18

43 EFRIAM MIRANDA 17

44 RICK LOWRY 17

A PRO

1 COREY REID 584

3 KRISTAPS KONRADS 397

4 THOMAS FERNANDEZ 365

5 JOSH MEYERS 251

6 MATT TISCHLER 213

7 JONATHAN WOODMANSEE 207

8 JORDAN SEWARD 198

9 VANCE WEISENDANGER 196

10 TYLER FAORO 190

11 DALE CUSHMAN 189

12 JELLE VAN GORKOM 182

13 GAVIN LUBBE 174

14 MATT BAISLEY 170

15 TOMMY BELLEW 162

16 BILLY ANDERSON 160

17 JESSE LANGLAND 159

18 MICHAEL HENDERSON 159

19 JEFFREY KALAPACA 151

20 ROY WINKELMAN 148

21 MATT KELTY 146

22 JASON MORRIS 136

23 MASAHIRO SAMPEI 124

24 JUSTIN MCLINTOCK 123

25 BRANDON PANUCCIO 120