Those three poker players that I’ve just mentioned withstood a field of thousands to win their titles.  Now Dave and company want to play their game?  I hope they know what they’re getting themselves into.  Go to Mirrabikeco.com to see what they’re up to and what their objective really is.  I just hope that Fossilman doesn’t show up or he’ll smoke these guys. 

Daniel Dhers kept his hopes for a perfect season on the AST Dew Tour alive by winning the Toyota Challenge BMX Park finals Sunday in Salt Lake City.

Dhers had some strong competition from his constant companions on the podium, Mike Spinner (who finished less than a half a point behind Dhers) and Garrett Reynolds.

At this point Dhers appears to be a lock to be the first athlete ever to win all five events in a season for a particular sport.

See the full results below.

Dhers in action. cr. John Swenson
BMX Park Final Results – Toyota Challenge
September 14, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – Dhers, Daniel – 93.33
2nd – Spinner, Mike – 93.00
3rd – Reynolds, Garrett – 92.00
4th – Mast, Craig – 91.83
5th – Guettler, Ryan – 91.50
6th – Kiraly, Kevin – 91.00
7th – Darden, Rob – 90.33
8th – Young, Gary – 90.00
9th – Bezanson, Drew – 89.33
10th – Whitton, Alistair – 88.17
11th – Toohey, Jaie – 88.00
12th – Hunt, Brian – 87.33

BMX Park Prelim Results – Toyota Challenge
September 13, 2008 – Salt Lake City, UT

1st – Reynolds, Garrett – 91.83
2nd – Mast, Craig – 91.67
3rd – Kiraly, Kevin – 91.33
4th – Bezanson, Drew – 90.83
5th – Young, Gary – 90.83
6th – Guettler, Ryan – 90.83
7th – Whitton, Alistair – 89.17
8th – Hunt, Brian – 89.17
9th – Toohey, Jaie – 88.83
10th – Nyquist, Ryan – 88.67
11th – Klinger, Seth – 88.67
12th – Foster, James – 88.50
13th – Tooker, Marcus – 88.33
14th – McCann, Steven – 88.33
15th – Dosch, Brandon – 88.00
16th – Wirch, Scott – 88.00
17th – Mirra, Dave – 87.83
18th – Napolitan, Anthony – 87.83
19th – Mackay, Colin – 87.33
20th – Enarson, Dennis – 86.33
21st – Wade, Morgan – 86.33
22nd – Harrington, Josh – 86.17
23rd – Barbero, Alessandro – 85.00
24th – Perry, Joshua – 85.00
25th – Sieg, Dan – 84.83
26th – Cooke, Allan – 82.83
27th – Thompson, William – 81.50
28th – Coleman, Austin – 71.33
29th – Canina, Diogo – 70.17
30th – Smith, Jeremiah – 70 .00

Daniel Dhers came into Sunday trying to be the only athlete left who had a perfect record this season on the Dew Tour (FMX notwithstanding) and Mike Spinner did his best to change that.  But in the end, it wasn’t only Dhers on top again, but for the second month in a row, he was followed by Spinner then Rob Darden, who edged Steve McCann for third place.

With Dhers securing his third-straight win, he keeps his hopes alive for winning all five AST Dew Tour stops this season.  Last year he lost in Portland and Salt Lake City before closing out the season with a win in Orlando and winning his second-straight Dew Cup title.

Here are the final results…

BMX Park Final Results – Wendy’s Invitational
August 24, 2008 – Portland, OR

1st – Dhers, Daniel – 93.83
2nd – Spinner, Mike – 92.67
3rd – Darden, Rob – 91.33
4th – McCann, Steven – 90.33
5th – Enarson, Dennis – 89.33
6th – Nyquist, Ryan – 89.17
7th – Napolitan, Anthony – 89.00
8th – Canina, Diogo – 88.00
9th – Mast, Craig – 87.67
10th – Reynolds, Garrett – 86.33
11th – Dosch, Brandon – 84.00
12th – Klinger, Seth – 83.33

Dhers remains perfect in AST competition with BMX park win at Wendy’s Invitational

PORTLAND, Ore., – Daniel Dhers continued his bid for a fourth consecutive Dew Cup and defeated defending event champion Mike Spinner Sunday in the Wendy’s Invitational.

Dhers took the lead from Spinner in his flawless first run which included a 720 into a flair, a can can 720, and a 360 tailwhip transfer, to finish with a 93.83 score. Spinner attempted to knock Dhers out of the lead on his second run, but his feet slipped off the pedals when landing a triple tailwhip. He finished second at 92.67 and Rob Darden, of Greenville, N.C. was third at 91.33.

“I like to win contests but I thought winning in Portland would be redemption,” Dhers said, who battled injuries at this event in the previous two years. “Spinner has been up in the mix for a while. So, after he did his first run I was like, ‘OK, I’m up for the challenge.’”

Spinner’s first run included a triple tailwhip on the quarterpipe, a 1080, a 540 tailwhip and a quad whip.

Dhers has won eight of the 10 contests he has entered this year, including every stop of the AST Dew Tour. He said his goal is to win all five stops of the tour.

AST Dew Tour: Dew Cup Current Standings
BMX Park Points

1. Daniel Dhers, 300
2. Mike Spinner, 245
3. Rob Darden, 195
4. Steven McCann, 193
5. Ryan Nyquist, 191
6. Dennis Enarson, 155
7. Garrett Reynolds, 146
8. Craig Mast, 146
9. Marcus Tooker, 129
10. Ryan Guettler, 124

Below that, another video of FMX action from a Sunday demo.

Daniel Dhers has won the BMX Park finals at the second stop of the AST Dew Tour at the Right Guard Open in Cleveland, OH.  Dhers held off Mike Spinner, who came close but could not catch up with his second run of 91.17.  The score was good enough to give Spinner a tie-breaker over Rob Darden, who had the same score and ended up in third.

It was a tight contest, with eight of the 12 riders scoring 90 or above in scoring.  In addition for the tie in second-place, Garrett Reynolds and Ryan Nyquist tied for fourth with Reynolds getting the tiebreaker and Drew Bezanson and Craig Mast tied for sixth, with Bezanson getting the edge.  In the even of a tie, the rider with the higher score on his second run gets the advantage.

One of the contest favorites, Ryan Guettler, crashed during his first run while attempting a 1080.  He landed on his face and received multiple injuries, though none are expected to be serious.  However, he could not take to the course for his second run and ended up in 12th place.

BMX Park Finals – 2008 Right Guard Open
July 20, 2008 – Cleveland, OH

1st – Dhers, Daniel – 92.67
2nd – Spinner, Mike – 91.17
3rd – Darden, Rob – 91.17
4th – Reynolds, Garrett – 90.67
5th – Nyquist, Ryan – 90.67
6th – Bezanson, Drew – 90.33
7th – Mast, Craig – 90.33
8th – McCann, Steven – 90.00
9th – Tooker, Marcus – 89.83
10th – Barbero, Alessandro – 87.83
11th – Foster, James – 86.83
12th – Guettler, Ryan – 80.50

The Miami Herald has a pretty good interview with BMXer Mike Spinner. It’s not that unusual to see an interview with him (check out our older one), but if you haven’t heard Mike’s “full” story it’s worth checking out. I learned something new in this one — I didn’t know that his dad’s kidneys failed and he needed a transplant. That forced Spinner to start working washing dishes and the like. All the hard work he’s had to do has certainly paid off and he can really be considered one of the best Park riders out there — at least one of the most innovative.

Spinner, who was originally born in New York, spent most of his childhood in Coral Gables, Florida. The article also reveals he’ll be in a Nike commercial this fall with Maria Sharapova and LaDainian Tomlinson (the pic above is from the shoot). Not bad for a 20-year-old.

Spinner will have his chance to keep pushing the envelope at next week’s AST Dew Tour in Cleveland. The BMX Park finals will be on NBC Sunday from 4-6 p.m. ET so check it out. Meanwhile, if you want more Spinner, check out his MySpace page (if you dare).

Steve McCann made up for a disappointing start in his other two events (Dirt and Vert) by placing fourth while BMX Dirt champ Ryan Nyquist had a strong 90.83 to place fifth ahead of Dennis Enarson. Open qualifier and virtual unknwn Seth Klinger was still a factor in 7th place.

The BMX Park finals mark the end of the 2007 Panasonic Open and stay tuned for a recap of all the results and surprises.

Here’s some video from the action — the only vid you’ll see since it wasn’t televised…

2008 Panasonic Open
BMX Park Finals
June 22, 2008 / Baltimore, MD

1st – Dhers, Daniel – 93.33
2nd – Guettler, Ryan – 92.50
3rd – Spinner, Mike – 92.33
4th – McCann, Steven – 91.83
5th – Nyquist, Ryan – 90.83
6th – Enarson, Dennis – 90.50
7th – Klinger, Seth – 89.17
8th – Tooker, Marcus – 89.00
9th – Wade, Morgan – 89.00
10th – Darden, Rob – 88.83
11th – Mast, Craig – 86.83
12th – Wallace, Ben – 85.00