Race for the Sluggers

Back-to-back weekends are on deck for the USA BMX Pro Series, and all your favorite heavy hitters are flocking to Louisville!

With six Louisville sluggers on the line, the action is bound to be electric as the best in BMX battle through the World Famous Derby City BMX once again. Testing a new run of show for pro racing, USA BMX brings the Pro racing to the fans in-house and across the globe in a condensed show under the lights on Friday & Saturday.

With the travel craziness of the World Cup, World Championship, and Olympics concluded for the year, the Pros of BMX dive into the Title chase leading into the 2024 Grand Nationals in Tulsa, OK. With almost an entire season remaining, the title is up for grabs for your favorite Pro. 

Up Next on the Pro Series

Derby City Nationals - 2 Scores

Legacy Nationals - 2 Scores

Texas Nationals - 2 Scores

Gator Nationals - 2 Scores

Race of Champions - 1 Score

Pro Championship Finals - Double Point Score

9 Scores  + Pro Championship Finals 

As we roll into Tom Sawyer Park, the facility's history calls out as past & current champion’s legacies can still be felt. The two racers who have dominated the track’s racing in the past decade return to the 2024 Derby City Nationals. Newly crowned Olympic Champion Joris Daudet and his fellow 2024 Elite World Champion, Alise Willoughby, climb the Derby stairs on entirely different sides of the Pro series points.

11x NAT No.1 Women Pro Alise Willoughby stands on top of the point standings once again, going 6-0 through the first half of the series, overtaking her training partner, Lauren Reynolds, who now sits in second with 490. Alise has two more regular season scores before she shifts into block mode, and all the ladies in the standings will be hunting for those podium spots to climb and stay within striking distance.

For 6x NAT No.1 Men Pro, Joris Daudet, he starts his charge to title seven off the board with 0 points going into the final nine scores before Title night at the Grand Nationals. Even with a goose egg beside his name, Daudet is an obvious favorite in Louisville because he dominated the past decade, taking home ten wins in the past ten years. Only two current racers have overthrown the Frenchman, Mr. Tucson Corben Sharrah and 2020 Olympic Champion Niek Kimmann. 

As the two defending champions gear up for more leading laps, who are the racers that could overtake the top of the podium and leave Top Sawyer with a Louisville Slugger?

Men Pro points leader and 2024 Team USA Olympian Kam Larsen comes into the weekend with unfinished business left over after the 2023 Derby action. Leading multiple times through last year’s racing, Larsen already claimed his first Golden Record from Nashville, and he’s looking to pair it with a slugger from Louisville. Joining Larsen at the top of the point standings, Drew Polk, Corben Sharrah, and Joey Leto hope to keep their consistent finishes rolling as they head into the big race weekend. While Corben has been a consistent threat on the series, Polk and Leto are becoming podium hunters with bright futures to climb the top step on the podium. Focusing on rehabbing his shoulder and the Paris Olympics, Cam Wood returns to Derby City for the first time since 2021, sitting in 16th place with 130 points.

In a similar situation as the defending champ, Cam Wood brings a lot of speed into the second half of the season. With three of the four regular-season stops charging down the big hill, Wood and his fans are looking to rack up wins and go into Tulsa in the title contention again. Wood will have his hands full as the level of competition grows, not only in the US field but also in the Chase Bicycles field.

We already ran through what Daudet hopes to accomplish, but the Chase Bicycles brand has their youngun headed back to US soil, hoping to contend for the 2024 title. Izaac Kennedy showed his speed on the World Cup circuit, claiming the Series overall and finding himself in the Olympic main event. Kennedy’s return stateside brings an added level of competition as Kennedy looks to take the slugger down under for the first time since Sam Willoughby’s win in 2015. 

Lining up in the gate alongside the Rainbow stripes of Willoughby, honorary local pro-Carly Kane saddles up her skills and racecraft to solidify her current 3rd place standing. Kane has been a fan favorite since her days in the amateur ranks, and with each Pro Series stop, we see her ability to make moves and utilize her skills more and more. On board a new prototype Huffy frame, Kane looks to electrify the crowd while she battles with a stacked list of Women Pros. Just under Kane with 400 points is the lightning-fast Lexis Colby. Colby comes into the weekend with two wins from the Waterford Oaks Stars and Stripes Nationals. The Arizona racer has been making big strides over the past couple of years, and with a confidence boost from her first two pro wins, we see her as a podium favorite. Colby won’t be the only Arizona pro climbing the stairs at Derby City, as Daleny Vaughn will use her Olympic-level speed to find points in Louisville. Showing off fast starts in Paris on the world stage, Vaughn is no rookie when it comes to being out front on the USA BMX Pro Series. However, we look at the Derby City Nationals as a turning point for Vaughn as she can climb the rankings from her current 6th place position into the top three with two podium finishes and continue on into the title contenders list. Kane, Colby, and Vaughn will be joined by their fellow class member Payton Ridenour, who has already displayed her speed in Louisville. Inches from taking the holeshot lead in 2023, Ridenour returns to the Derby, looking for her chance to take a slugger back to Tulsa.

Both on the Men's and Women’s side of the pro racing action, we will see racers exit the injured reserve list and revamp their 2024 season in Louisville, Kentucky. Mckenzie Gayhart and Anthony Bucardo return to the starting hill with fresh legs and ample opportunities ahead of them. Skittles, who will be rocking a completely new look at Derby City, comes into the weekend with 190 points, giving her a little bit of a Headstart into her late-season run toward Grands. For Anthony Bucardo, the 2023 US National Champion kickstarts the late season in Louisville, Kentucky, after a string of injuries, keeping him out of the racing action. Both get a big pop from the crowd when their names are announced on the start list, and the Friday and Saturday night crowd is sure to be behind them as they gear up for their return to the series.

One thing is certain as we head into the 2024 Derby City Nationals: the action is ready to bring the crowd to its feet as the USA BMX Pro Series tests out its new night schedule format. Fans on the fenceline and online watching on the webcast will be ready to see their favorite Pros race under the lights and be spotlighted throughout the race coverage! 

As always, stay tuned to PULL BMX as the weekend coverage ramps up from Thursday to the Greatest Race on Earth in Tulsa, Oklahoma.