Newcomer Anthony Napolitan wows the crowd--and the judges--in the BMX Dirt final
You couldn’t have asked for a better way to end the dirt contest at the Panasonic Open. A rowdy crowd, perfect weather, and unreal action on the course combined to produce an incredible final event.

Things got hectic right out of the box as the first five riders pulled flawless runs. Since only the better of their two runs counted, these guys could relax, knowing that they already had a good score in the bag. Chris Gerber, Luke Parslow, Chris Doyle, and Colin Mackay had some problems in their first runs, so they were feeling a lot more pressure going into the second round.

Corey Bohan took the lead at the end of round one with multiple-variation 360s in both directions and an opposite 360 whip. Anthony Napolitan pulled a no-handed frontflip, a straight tailwhip, and a 360 whip, and earned a score that fellow finalist Mike Cleveland thought was a little low. Mike wrote Anthony got robbed on his shirt and showed it to the camera after his own run, which included a difficult bunnyhop tailwhip off the drop-in. That’s a good example of the camaraderie among these riders; its a heated competition, but in the end, most of these guys are just friends and riding buddies, supporting each other even when they’re going for the same prize.

The crowd thought they had seen it all after the first round, having witnessed more whips, flips, and spins than you could shake a stick at, which, for those of you who haven’t indulged in a little stick-shaking, is a lot. However, the show was just getting started, and Napolitan decided to turn it up to eleven. His first two jumps matched his first run, but he followed them with a picture-perfect double-tailwhip 360, and is most likely still smiling as you read this. He rocketed into first place, getting the crowd and the other riders hyped up in the process.

Indiana’s Chris Gerber was next up, and with a crash in his first run, he knew it was all on the line. The spectators were already on edge after Anthony’s performance, so when Chris landed a double whip and a backflip tailwhip, they went nuts. Luke Parslow was on deck, and anyone who knows Luke knows hes got the big tricks, and it was all or nothing at this point. Busting big tricks on the first set equals big points, so Luke went for the flipwhip and pulled it clean, following up with a frontflip and a 360 whip. Everyone watching lost their marbles, and Luke bounced into a tie with Anthony for first, moving Bohan to third.

Nyquist had gone for a nothing flip in his first run but didn’t get the extension he wanted, so he was determined to pull a perfect second round and get into the top spot. He nailed a double-barspin flip, a double truckdriver, and a barspin no-footed can-can, and moved up to fourth.

Since the dropped-run score is used to break ties, twenty-year-old Napolitan came out on top, giving him his first major contest win. Major as in fifteen thousand bucks in his pocket and a head start on everybody else in the chase for the seventy-five grand year-end prize. He actually said he held back on throwing a double whip over the second set, so it looks like he’s headed into Denver with plenty of ammo left. Anthony’s also a threat in the park comp, so 2006 could be a very good year for this rookie from Ohio.

Check out the BMX Dirt Final results:
1. Anthony Napolitan
2. Luke Parslow
3. Corey Bohan
4. Ryan Nyquist
5. Chris Gerber
6. TJ Lavin
7. Cameron White
8. Allan Cooke
9. Colin Mackay
10. James Foster
11. Michael Cleveland
12. Chris Doyle

Click below for video highlights:

Anthony Napolitan    Luke Parslow   Corey Bohan  Â