What do barn animals, freaky carnies and ten-dollar beers have to do with freestyle motocross? Well this might be hard to fathom but on Oct 3 at 7:30pm L.A. County Fairgoers put down the giant turkey legs and fried Twinkies to take a seat inside the Fairplex Stadium to witness the ASA World Championships of Freestyle Motocross – and we got to be there on the inside, front and center.
10,000 spectators of all ages took their seats as the top eight stars of freestyle motocross battled it out for this year’s title as the ASA World Champion of Freestyle Motocross.
It seemed that nothing would stand between Nate Adams and this year’s title as he cruised through the quarterfinals to the semis throwing down a solid run before Beau Bamburg, who Adams was matched up against, experienced trouble with his rear tire. In the semi-finals Nate faced Takayuki Higashino and Adams had another excellent run with an astonishing seat grab and a huge sidewinder, as he advanced to the finals.
On the other side of the brackets, Mike Mason won over the crowd in his quarter final heat against Myles Richmond with some sick tricks including an insane flip whip and some lengthy extensions. When the crowd was called on to choose the winner of this quarterfinal match up it was clear Mason was moving on to the semis against Ronnie Faisst who beat out Adam Jones for the opportunity to make it to the finals. Both Mason and Faisst had good runs but it was Mason who the judges would send on the finals against Nate Adams.
As Nate Adams and Mike Mason squared off under the lights, all eyes were locked in on the main event. Mason took the stage first putting down another solid run but was soon biting his nails as he watched 
Adams hit the dirt next. The anxiety didn’t last long though, as Mason quickly relaxed as he watched Adams float around the track jump to jump nearly trickless due to a mechanical mishap with Adams’ bike. Mason took the top of the podium proudly and Adams stood beside him in second at the end of the night
Higashino would have one last shot at the podium against Faisst in a battle for third. After the dust had settled and both riders had laid it all on the line, Japan’s Takyuki Higashino stood on the podium with a grin from ear to ear thanking everyone with a very gracious “Domo Arigato!”
After the trophies had been handed out, we decided to go catch up with some of favorite riders from the night. Talking with 3rd place Takayuki Higashino was a treat. He was so stoked on his third place finish and was all smiles – seriously keep your eyes peeled for this kid on the scene. He’s one legit competitor, progressing fast and under many people’s radars. Nate Adams was no poor sport laughing off the incident with his bike, smiling and saying, “Hey, I’m happy any day I can mess up and finish second.”
The Epicology Crew would like to thank Denise and Kevin from ASA Entertainment as well as all the other sponsors and riders for having us and showing us a great time! Check out our other photos below and our Facebook page where we have tons more!
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Much love,
the Epicology team
Tags: contest, fair, festival, freestyle motocross
