NBL Great Lakes Nationals Waterford Oaks, MI

Round 6 of the 2004 NBL Pro Series events was held this past weekend in Pontiac, Michigan at the Waterford Oaks BMX Track. Home of the 2004 UCI World Championships, the Waterford Oaks track has a deep history with holding national events and the NBL did another great job of having an event here this year. On Saturday, the weather was perfect for a BMX race and made it such and enjoyable day. Unfortunately, Sunday was no where near the same, as just minutes before the gate was to drop for the first moto, the dark clouds that had loomed all morning had opened up and dumped rain. With it not looking like it would let up and predictions of rain all day, the NBL canceled the event for Sunday. In this case, they doubled the scores and results of Saturdays race to the riders.

Randy Stumpfhauser was looking to continue his great results from last weeks Southpark national and help move him up from #2 overall in the 2004 points chase. On Saturday, Stumpy looked fast and easily transferred into both the AA Pro and Pro Cruiser main events. In AA, as the gate fell it looked as if Randy was going to take the lead but just before the first turn it was AA chaos and Randy was held back to 4th. Randy had a hard charge but was unable to move up and would finish the day in 4th. In Pro Cruiser, this time Randy held the lead from the gate drop until the finish line, posting up another win. With just one more NBL national before the NBL Grands, Randy looks to be in great position to retain his 2003 #1 title. Randy's sponsors include GT Bicycles, Hyundai, ODI, IRC Tires, Shimano, Fox Racing, Smith, Sun Ringle, Bombshell Forks, AC, Thomson, Powerbar, CTI Knee Braces, Easton, Marwi, FSA Headsets, S & M, Cyto Sport, and BMXpros.com

Cristian Becerine has been riding well all season and Waterford was just another prime example of that. Cristian powered his Crupi XL race bike into both the AA Pro and Pro Open main events on Saturday. When the AA Pro main event started, Cristian had some trouble as he clipped out of his SPD pedal down the first straitaway, and in AA Pro, that is all it takes to put you back to last. Cristian came back to redeem himself though, as in the Pro Open Main event, he finished 3rd for the day. Cristian's sponsors include Crupi, O'Neal, Answer, UGP, Sun Ringle, Marwi, Shimano, Powerbar, BMXpros.com, Cyto Sport, and Thomson Seat Posts.