BMX veteran Cory Nastazio showed that he still has what it takes as he topped the BMX Dirt prelims at the Wendy’s Invitational in Portland Thursday.  Nasty unveiled a 360 flip that helped him lock down the first slop, while Ryan Guettler had two 720s to help take second place.  Diogo Canina was third.

It was a stacked qualifying round with the top nine riders who advanced to the finals all scoring 90+ — in fact, only three points seperated Nasty and Luke Parslow, the ninth-place qualifier.  The top three points leaders in the AST Dew Cup standings in BMX Dirt, Ryan Nyquist, Cameron White and James Foster prequalified for the finals.

The indoor Portland course was one of the favorites on the AST Dew Tour in 2007 and this year looks to be another strong one, though unfortunately for fans the event will not be televised.  Read some more coverage of the prelims here and here.

Here’s the lineup for Friday’s final (in order)

12. Luke Parslow
11. Dennis Enarson
10. Chris Doyle
9. Corey Bohan
8. Rob Darden
7. Steve McCann
6. Diogo Canina
5. Ryan Guettler
4. Cory Nastazio
3. James Foster
2. Cameron White
1. Ryan Nyquist

BMX Dirt Prelim Results – Wendy’s Invitational
August 21, 2008 – Top Nine Advance

1st – Nastazio, Cory – 93.50
2nd – Guettler, Ryan – 92.50
3rd – Canina, Diogo – 92.50
4th – McCann, Steven – 91.67
5th – Darden, Rob – 91.33
6th – Bohan, Corey – 91.17
7th – Doyle, Chris – 90.67
8th – Enarson, Dennis – 90.50
9th – Parslow, Luke – 90.50
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
10th – Berkheimer, Nate – 90.00
11th – Ellis, TJ – 89.83
12th – Dosch, Brandon – 89.17
13th – Cooke, Allan – 88.83
14th – Aloise, Adam – 88.33
15th – Wirch, Scott – 88.33
16th – Napolitan, Anthony – 88.33
17th – Mackay, Colin – 86.67
18th – Gerber, Chris – 86.50
19th – Wade, Morgan – 86.50
20th – Smith, Jeremiah – 86.33
21st – Bowers, Charlie – 85.17
22nd – Gethard, Brad – 82.33
23rd – Marks, Joey – 81.67
24th – Hunt, Brian – 81.67
25th – Toohey, Jaie – 81.33
27th – Hult, Josh – 70.33

Dhers | cr. BRIAN BRANTLEY/SHAZAMM/ESPN IMAGES

There’s no doubting Daniel Dhers’ domination of the park scene over the last three years — something he proved last years by securing his first Park gold at X Games 13.  But this year the park course was replaced by the tight “Superpark” format and that threw many established park riders for a loop.  Dhers, who is known for his ability to adapt, did it again and managed to qualify in first.

Saturday he showed it wasn’t a fluke by dominating the finals, which was scored in a new format that gave each rider three 30-second runs which then were totaled up.  Dhers had the highest-scoring run each time and easily edged Diogo Canina, who won the BMX Big Air Triples event last week in Orange County.  Rob Darden continued his hot streak with a third-place finish with Ryan Guettler coming in fourth.

Dhers was among the riders criticizing the new course before the qualifiers took place but his success in adapting to the tight confines softened his opinion.

“I didn’t swim this far to sink at the shore,”  he said.

Keep reading for more about the finals and for full results.

Venezuelan Rider Daniel Dhers Is Untouchable
Dhers Wins Second X Games Gold Medal in First Ever BMX SuperPark Competition

LOS ANGELES- The action is swelling on the third day of X Games 14 as the BMX Freestyle SuperPark Finalists took to the distinctive course. The field started with 10 riders and was narrowed down to the top five in round one.

The top five moved on to the final, but it was apparent from the get-go that Dhers was going to be the man to beat. Dhers showed up to the SuperPark this year already with an X Games gold medal in his pocket from last year’s BMX Freestyle Park competition.

Each rider was given three 30 second runs, each one judged separately. The rider at the end of the competition with the most points was the winner. After an overwhelmingly technical and exciting performance out of Dhers, including a 540 bar spin, it was clear that he had swept the competition.

“I get to go to sleep happy tonight,” Dhers said with a smile. “I’ve been wanting this gold medal for the past year and now I have it. It’s as rewarding as winning the gold last year. It’s always awesome to win a competition like the X Games.”

The astonishing medalist from the BMX Freestyle SuperPark final today was second place finisher Diogo Canina, who until last week was not even sure if he was going to make the trip out to the X Games from his home country of Brazil.

“I didn’t even think I was ready for this competition. Winning silver is like gold to me with a competition like the X Games,” Canina proclaimed excitedly. “This past week here was the greatest week of my BMX career.”

Perhaps having the most fun on the SuperPark course was third place finisher Rob Darden. Darden utilized the entire course completing multiple transfers from the quarterpipe to the box set and rallying through the bowl corners at mock speed.

“I always liked to go fast as a kid,” Darden grinned. “I felt like a kid in there. It was awesome.”

BMX FEESTYLE SUPERPARK FINAL RESULTS
Results from ESPN X GAMES 14 at The Home Center in Carson, Calf. on Saturday, August 2, 2008. (Final Standings)

Name / Hometown / Score

1. Daniel Dhers / Caracas, Venezuela / 101
2. Diogo Canina / Amparo, Brazil / 90
3. Rob Darden / Greenville, N.C. / 85
4. Ryan Guettler / Beenleigh, Australia / 82
5. Gary Young / San Diego, Calif. / 61
6. Chase Hawk / Austin, Texas / 81
7. Alistair Whitton / Chester, Great Britain / 79
8. Dennis Enarson / San Diego, Calif. / 75
9. Corey Bohan / Brisbane, Austrailia / 60
10. Morgan Wade / Tyler, Texas / 59

Daniel Dhers | cr. CHRISTIAN PONDELLA/Shazamm/ESPN Images

But a very familiar face led the contest as Daniel Dhers had no problem holding on to the top spot going into Saturday’s finals.

Dave Mirra, Ryan Nyquist, Mike Spinner and Jamie Bestwick were among the riders to miss the cut.

Following Dhers on the podium were Gary Young and Diogo Canina, who just won the BMX Big-Air Triples event in Orange County on Thursday night.  Morgan Wade, Corey Bohan and Dennis Enarson also made the cut.

Check out the full results below.

BMX FREESTYLE SUPERPARK ELIMINATION
Results from ESPN X GAMES 14 at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calf. on Friday, August 1, 2008. (Final Standings)

Rank  – Name  – Run 1  – Run 2  – Run 3: Score
1. Daniel Dhers – 35 – 33 – 31: 99
2. Gary Young – 31 – 31 – 31: 93
3. Diogo Canina – 33 – 31 – 28: 92
4. Ryan Guettler – 32 – 30 – 30: 92
5. Alistair Whitton – 33 – 30 – 27: 90
6. Chase Hawk – 31 – 29 – 25: 85
7. Rob Darden – 29 – 28 – 27: 84
8. Corey Bohan – 32 – 27 – 18: 77
9. Dennis Enarson – 28 – 25 – 24: 77
10. Morgan Wade – 29 – 25 – 21: 75
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
11. Ryan Nyquist – 25 – 23 – 20: 68
12. Mike Spinner – 24 – 22 – 22: 68
13. Brian Foster – 22 – 22 – 22: 66
14. Chris Doyle – 23 – 23 – 15: 61
15. Jamie Bestwick – 19 – 19 – 18: 56
16. Dave Mirra – 20 – 19 – 12: 51
17. Chad Kagy – 19 – 19 – 11: 49
18. Steve McCann – 25 – 16 – 6: 47
19. Dave Dillewaard – 23 – 3 – 0: 26
20. Josh Harrington – 3 – 0 – 0: 3

Coleman, Canina, Ellis | cr. Jared Souney

Brazilian Diogo Canina took home the top spot Thursday night as the Big-Air BMX Triples contest came to a close at the Orace County Fairground.  Canina defeated Austin Coleman and TJ Ellis in the three-man final after besting Josh Stead and Koji Kraft in earlier matches.

Check out the full release below to find out how the action went down.

Brazil’s Diogo Canina wins the Big-Air BMX Triples Event!
California’s own Austin Coleman and T.J. Ellis Capture Second and Third Place

LOS ANGELES (July 31, 2008) – The highest-flying action in Orange County this week concluded tonight when ASA Entertainment presented the finals of the Big-Air BMX Triples from the Orange County Fair’s Action Sports Arena.  Before an audience that overflowedthe grandstand onto the infield and bleachers, Brazil’s Diogo Canina performed a virtually flawless run of backflip tailwhips, tailwhips, and a 720 to win the event championship and qualify for the LG Action Sports World Championships.  Just two nights ago, Canina stood in the same podium position after winning round one and said he wouldhave to ride even harder in the finals because he would be facing some of the best BMX riders in the business.  The battle fought tonight involved some of the toughest skirmishes the sport has to offer.

The head-to-head format for the Big Air BMX Triples saw every man performing tricks from an expansive repertoire in order to prevail and advance to the next round.  For some, even injury didn’t stop them from throwing their toughest stunts.  With a dislocated finger, ligament damage in his wrist, and a sprained ankle, Koji Kraft (Addison, Ill.) fought through the pain in the quarterfinals and defeated Ricky Moseley, round one’s third place winner, to advance to the semi-finals where he met the eventual event winner, Canina; an injured Kraft was no match for the consistent Brazilian.

In other quarterfinal action, T.J. Ellis (Moreno Valley, CA) and Pat Casey, the 14 year-old phenom from Placentia, Calif., provided the judges with one of the toughest decisions of the evening.  Casey electrified the crowd with a triple tailwhip during his first run, but was quickly challenged by Ellis with his front-flip, 360 double tailwhip combination.  The eventual decision was unanimous, and Ellis advanced to the semi-finals to face Rob Darden (Greenville, NC), Wednesday night’s preliminary round two winner. Round two’s results, which saw Ellis accept third place to Darden’s win, were long forgotten as Ellis successfully connected with his stunts tonight to earn a spot in the final heat.

For Austin Coleman (Los Angeles, Calif.) tonight progressed the same as it did last night; Coleman faced impressive talent that required him to push hard all the way to the end.  He pumped up the crowd before each run and fed off their energy to perform no-handed front flips and no-handed flairs to the fans’ delight.  He entered the final round confident and ready to take on the best men the event had to offer, and Canina and Ellis stepped up to answer his challenge.

The final heat ended with each man standing on the podium in the same positions in which they stood after their preliminary rounds; Diogo Canina in first place, Austin Coleman in second place and T.J. Ellis in third place.  The Big Air BMX Triples compared each man’s best of two runs and rewarded technical consistency and flawless execution over flash and flair.

The Big Air BMX Triples is an ASA Entertainment production whose excitement will be brought to fans via CBS Sports later this year.  Please stay tuned to your local listings and www.bmxtriples.com for more information.

Final Results

Final Podium:
Winner: Diogo Canina
Second: Austin Coleman
Third: TJ Ellis

Below are the full results from the Final Round of competition at the BMX Big Air Triples event in Costa Mesa, CA.

Quarter-Final:
Chris Hughes vs. Sean Logan
Winner: Sean Logan

Tony Campos vs. Austin Coleman
Winner: Austin Coleman

Pat Casey vs. TJ Ellis
Winner: TJ Ellis

Michael Clark vs. Rob Darden
Winner: Rob Darden

Koji Kraft vs. Ricky Moseley
Winner: Koji Kraft

Josh Stead vs. Diogo Canina
Winner: Diogo Canina

Semi-Final:
Sean Logan vs. Austin Coleman
Winner: Austin Coleman

TJ Ellis vs. Rob Darden
Winner: TJ Ellis

Koji Kraft vs. Diogo Canina
Winner: Diogo Canina

Final:
Austin Coleman vs. TJ Ellis vs. Diogo Canina
Winner: Diogo Canina, Second: Austin Coleman, Third: TJ Ellis

The Big-Air BMX Triples contest began Tuesday night in Orange County, where 12 riders fought for six spots to take part in Thursday’s final.

Brazil’s Diogo Canina had the best run of the night, securing his place in the finals.  Joining him were Sean Logan and Ricky Moseley, who placed second and third, along with Tony Campos, 14 year-old Pat Casey and Allistair Whitton. Wednesday 12 more athletes will battle to fill the final six spots for the final.

The course is Big-Air Triples course is 165-feet long and features three deep valleys that allow riders to grab big air while throwing three tricks in a row.

Read on for the press release about the day’s action.

Diogo Canina Wins Round One of the Big Air BMX Triples presented by ASA Entertainment
The Top Six Men Qualify for Thursday’s Finals including Placentia, CA’s 14 year-old Pat Casey
LOS ANGELES (July 29, 2008) – The Big-Air BMX Triples kicked off tonight from the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California with an extraordinary display of bike-riding talent and skill from an international roster of the world’s top BMX athletes. Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Diogo Canina flew higher than his fellow competitors to land six technically clean and awe-inspiring runs over the 165 ft. course before a packed bandstand to capture the round one win and qualify for Thursday’s final round.

“Winning in the preliminaries means a lot to me,” said Canina. “But I still have to ride hard on Thursday. These guys are good. They could pull it all together and hit all their tricks in the Finals. On Thursday, things could be a lot different.”

Tonight’s top three finishers included Sean Logan of San Clemente, Calif. and Ricky Moseley of Mason, Tenn., placing in second and third respectively.

The head-to-head format pitted competitors against each other for two runs with judges determining which rider had not only the most technical run, but also the most consistently spectacular performance. After the first heat, six men earned qualification to the Finals. These men are: Tony Campos (San
Francisco, Calif.), 14 year-old Pat Casey (Placentia, Calif.), Allistair Whitton (Chester, England), Ricky Moseley, Sean Logan and Diogo Canina.

The Big-Air BMX Triples continues on Wednesday evening, July 30th with 12 new competitors, each vying for one of the top six spots and a place in Thursday’s final round. Wednesday’s competitors include: Australia’s Dave Dillewaard, Canada’s Chris Hughes, Los Angeles’ Austin Coleman, and Santa Ana, Calif.’s Ben Snowden. These men will continue the battle for their share of the $20,000 event prize purse and two slots in the prestigious LG Action Sports World Championships.

The Big-Air BMX Triples is an ASA Entertainment Production that will air on CBS Sports and various cable networks this year.

For more information on the Big-Air BMX Triples presented by ASA Entertainment visit www.bmxtriples.com.

This is going to be a busy week in SoCal for BMX with this weekend’s Soul Bowl at the US Open of Surfing and then the Big-Air BMX Triples Event at the O.C. Fair next week.   ASA has announced the invited riders and there are a few of the usual suspects, but, unfortunately, a couple of big names are missing like Dennis Enarson, who won the first version of this event last year in Phoenix.

Even without Enarson, there should be some good riding — we’re betting on TJ Ellis or Diogo Canina to end up on top.

You can check out the full release below for all the info or just head down to the OC Fair next week if you can and catch the action in person.

International Athletes vie for Big-Air BMX Triples Event Title at Orange County Fair July 29-31
Winner and Runner-up Qualify for the Prestigious LG Action Sports World Championship

LOS ANGELES (July 24, 2008) – From July 29-31, the Orange County Fair will enjoy three days of gravity-defying action sports entertainment when ASA Entertainment’s Big-Air BMX Triples event jumps into action at the OC Fair’s Action Sports Arena. At 8:15 p.m. each night, ASA Entertainment (ASA), the global leader in action sports event and television production, debuts a unique spin on BMX bike riding in Southern California with an international roster of competitors sure to thrill even the most casual action sports spectator.

The competitors include:

California Athletes

Alfredo Mancuso (Long Beach, CA) -  21
Austin Coleman  (Los Angeles, CA) -   24
Cory Walters  (Costa Mesa, CA) -   27
Dan Norvell  (Murrietta, CA) -   16
Dylan Stark  (Lake Forest, CA) -   25
Lance Harness  (Rubidoux, CA) -   22
Lawrence Werrell  (Westminster, CA) -   27
Pat Casey  (Placentia, CA) -   14
Sean Logan  (Orange County, CA) -   24
TJ Ellis  (Moreno Valley, CA) -   22
Tony Campos  (San Francisco, CA) -   20

Other U.S. Athletes

Ben Snowden  (Hornell, NY) -   27
Josh Hult  (Idaho Falls, ID) -   24
Koji Kraft  (Addison, Illinois) -   25
Ricky Moseley  (Mason, TN) -   18
Rob Darden  (Greenville, NC) -   27
Ryan Jordan  (Boston, MA) -   27

International Athletes

Alistair Whitton  (Chester, England) -   27
Chris Hughes  (Toronto, Canada) -   20
Dave Dillewaard  (Brisbane, Australia) -   24
Diogo Canina  (Sao Paulo, Brazil) -   20
Erick Soto  (Tijuana, Mexico) -   29
Mike Moura  (Brazil) -   25
Ricardo Laguna  (Mexico) -   26

The competition format consists of twelve riders challenging the BMX course on Tuesday, July 29th and another 12 taking on the course on Wednesday evening, July 30th. The top six scoring men from each evening will meet on Thursday for the finals.

Tuesday night’s competitors will be: Mancuso, Whitton, Coleman, Walters, Norvell, Canina, Harness, Werrell, Casey, Logan, Moseley and Campos. On Wednesday night, Snowden, Hughes, Dillewaard, Stark, Soto, Hult, Kraft, Moura, Laguna, Darden, Jordan and Ellis will be competing. With prize money and an opportunity to qualify for ASA’s LG Action Sports World Championships on the line, these men will push their limits to impress the judges with high-flying skills.

The Big-Air Triples is a new element in BMX competition that challenges riders to start from a 24-foot high ramp riding into three deep valleys and over three narrow platforms. This design allows the riders to grab ‘big air’ and perform three tricks in succession while trekking across a 165-foot long wooden course. This spin on BMX riding combines the best in BMX Box Jumping and Dirt Jumping with a Mini-Mega Ramp.

###

About Big Air BMX Triples producer ASA Entertainment:

A leader in the action sports industry since 1994, ASA Entertainment, headquartered in Culver City, California is the largest action sports event and television production company in the world. The company produces more than 200 events and 100 television programs annually around the globe that feature skateboarding, freestyle BMX, inline skating, freeskiing, freestyle motocross, snowboarding and music. Its events are broadcast on CBS, VERSUS, Spike, Fuel and Fox Sports Net domestically and distributed to more than 1 billion HH globally throughout Asia, Europe, USA, Africa, Canada, South & Central America and Australia. ASA’s properties range from large-scale international competitions such as the LG Action Sports World Championships to grassroots amateur contests, lifestyle and branded entertainment events, demonstrations, exhibitions and mobile tours. As one of the oldest and most established organizations in action sports, ASA Entertainment leads the market in developing premium content around the fastest growing sector of American sports. For more information visit www.actionsportstour.com or www.asaentertainment.com.

While the top three qualifiers were not surprises (Corey Bohan, Diogo Canina, James Foster), some riders were new to the finals, including Josh Hult and Chis Gerber, who last made a Dew Tour final in 2006. Getting a bye into the finals were last year’s top three ranked riders, Ryan Nyquist, Cameron White and Dennis Enarson.

Among the surprise eliminations were 2005 Dew Cup champ Ryan Guettler, who was eliminated when Luke Parlsow placed 7th, and 2006 champ Anthony Napolitan, who placed 15h.

Everyone on hand was happy to see Stephen Murray on site, as he assisted with course design with Fuzzy Hall and will be providing some announcing on Friday’s finals. Of course, Murray was injured last year during the AST Dew Tour dirt finals.

Cory Nastazio cr. AST

The BMX Dirt finals will take place on Friday from 7:30-9 p.m. ET and highlights will air on USA on Friday at midnight (ET).

Here’s the lineup for Friday’s final (in order)

12. Chris Doyle
11. Colin Mackay
10. Luke Parslow
9. Chris Gerber
8. Cory Nastazio
7. Josh Hult
6. James Foster
5. Diogo Canina
4. Corey Bohan
3. Dennis Enarson
2. Cameron White
1. Ryan Nyquist

BMX Dirt Prelim Results
June 19, 2008 – Top Nine Advance

1st — Bohan, Corey — 90.67
2nd — Canina, Diogo — 90.33
3rd — Foster, James — 89.67
4th — Hult, Josh — 89.50
5th — Nastazio, Cory — 89
6th — Gerber, Chris — 88.33
7th — Parslow, Luke — 88.33
8th — Mackay, Colin — 87.50
9th — Doyle, Chris — 87.33
—————————————–
10th — Guettler, Ryan — 87.17
11th — Ellis, TJ — 87.17
12th — Darden, Rob — 87
13th — Berkheimer, Nate — 87
14th — Wirch, Scott — 86.17
15th — Napolitan, Anthony — 85.83
16th — O’hara, Kyle — 85.67
17th — Aloise, Adam — 85.50
18th — Cooke, Allan — 85.33
19th — Bowers, Charlie — 84.33
20th — Wade, Morgan — 81.17
21st — Gethard, Brad — 79
22nd — Stead, Josh — 77.67
23rd — Clark, Michael — 75.67
24th — Voyles, Ben — 74.67
25th — McCann, Steven — 74.33
26th — Dosch, Brandon — 71.67
27th — Mildon, Jed — 71.33