Adams Eyes Dew Cup

Travis Pastrana was leading the Dew Tour FMX points chase, but his no-show in San Jose, left the door wide open for Nate Adams to do his dirty work and annihilate the rest of the FMX field. To be fair though, Mother Nature was not on FMX's side and gusty winds on Friday forced the sport organizers to cancel the Prelims, throwing everyone into a winner-take-all, 14-man Final.

The first battle that the riders faced was the course itself. Extended course prep and high winds limited riders to less than 15 minutes of practice each. More than half the field was still feeling the course out during their first run of the Finals, which lead to a lot of dead sailors and half extended tricks. Even the little bit of practice that the riders did have proved to be painful especially for Drake McElroy who injured his left hand on an awkward crash in the dirt rhythm section. Drake still dropped in to keep his Tour points, but was chillin’ in the pits for the rest of the contest.

The first rider to really put a solid run together was 19-year old Wiley Fullmer. Fullmer flipped and kicked his way into the hot seat until Mike Mason came out eight riders later, stomping a run full of backflip nac-nacs, backflip heelclickers and his signature one-handed seat grab Hart Attack Indian airs.

Mason held the lead until Nate Adams dropped a show-stopping run. If it wasn’t a backflip variation he was pulling, he was landing one-handed on everything else - from backflips to wallrides. Backflip nacs to heelclicker and flip Cordovas were his highlights, not to mention, he didn’t miss one feature and hit the wallride twice in his run. When the judges released a 93.5 for his score, it was apparent that no one was going to come close to matching him. A few had valiant efforts in their second runs though; Jim McNeil, who finished an uncharacteristic 9th place, floated a perfect superman seatgrab flip and Adam Jones threw down a picture perfect no-handed backflip.

With Nate Adams sitting pretty at 350 points, it will take a miracle for Pastrana, who sits at 275 points, to take the title. The only way for Pastrana to have a shot is if Adams misses his flight, otherwise Adams is looking $75,000 richer at the moment.

The chase for third overall is cooking-up hotter than the Adams - Pastrana drama. Mike Mason, Jeremy Lusk and Jim McNeil are separated by less than ten points; the final podium spot for third is anyone’s guess.

Can Mike Mason hold onto his spot for one more stop? Or will Jeremy Lusk live up to his ‘Rookie of the Year’ reputation that he’s been building upon all season?