The Toyota Challenge was an odd event this year as each event featured 2 of 3 disciplines, so one misses park, one misses vert, and one misses dirt, to even out the season. This particular event missed park, arguably the most popular discipline in BMX, and only featured vert and dirt but Salt Lake City LOVES some dirt so I doubt anyone was complaining.

Brett Banasiewicz came back hard from a slight losing streak from previous Dew Tours and X Games. He has always had the potential to do well in dirt and has a win under his belt but needed to step up his consistency to go with his big bangers, and that's exactly what he did. He pretty much displayed what can be done on a BMX bike on dirt jumps in one run, from barspins to tailwhips to spinning to flipping (the ultimate example being his signature "cashroll"). It was the epitome of a Dew Tour run and he was rewarded for it.

Dennis Enarson is another rider who can lay down a typical Dew Tour run like nobody else, and would do so to earn second place. What earns him the extra points is his technicality and creativity, linking odd tricks and bringing new things to the table. Brandon Dosch landed in third with a solid run but may have been a bit overscored as everything looked forced, meaning not stylish.

There were definitely some riders going HUGE that didn't place well due to lack of consistency between all the sets such as Kyle Baldock and Jaie Toohey. Luckily for them, this event featured a best trick event on one big booter jump set up at night's end. It looked pretty rough as there probably wasn't as much time to get used to the jump and BAD slams were taken left and right. Buckworth tried a double front and landed flat on his back and Baldock was throwing no-handed double flips. Despite the falls, some of the gnarliest tricks ever attempted were going down from triple whip flips to nothing-double whips to no-handed cashrolls! In the end, however, it was Baldock's 3 down whip to oppo double whip that took the gold. It's like a windshield wiper plus one inside of a 360. Complex enough for you?

If that wasn't exciting enough, big things were happening on the vert ramp Sunday night. Jamie Bestwick has been on the Dew Tour for 7 years, racking up 23 wins, and a LOT of those wins have been in a row for the past two years, sweeping both seasons. This event, however, it was not about Jamie Bestwick. Steven McCann has been knocking on the door every event and it was only a matter of time before McCann's bigger tricks caught up with Bestwick's unmatchable style/height. This is like McCann's breakthrough year, after a win at X Games Big Air and now this. He definitely sealed the deal with a no-handed 900 that Hoffman would be proud of.

Despite not winning the event, Jamie Bestwick would take second with his signature tricks at height. Vince Byron put on a performance that I see easily beating Bestwick next event and maybe even McCann for that matter. Once Byron develops more consistent, action-packed runs he'll be a threat to McCann's energy boost of finally capturing first at a Dew Tour event.

So, with that said, see you in Las Vegas next month to find out who takes homes the big money and Dew Tour cup this year!



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