X Games: Julian Chistianson leads amateur skateboarders in qualifying

The results from the eighth Hometown Heroes Amateur Skateboard Street elimination are in.
 
Brendon Villanueva of Poway had a large cheering section in house and finished second in qualifying to three-time winner Julian Christianson. Ke’Chaud Johnson, who won the event two years ago, finished seventh.
 
The following 10 teenagers are headed to the final with a shot at $5,000. In order of finish:
 
 1. Julian Christianson
 2. Brendon Villanueva
 3. Dan Coe
 4. Tyson Bowerbank
 5. Anthony Estrada
 6. Miles Silvas
 7. Ke’Chaud Johnson
 8. Ryan Thompson
 9. Wyatt Milhollan
10. Maurio McCoy  

X Games: Amateurs hit the street for some skateboarding

The Hometown Heroes Amateur Skateboard Street elimination round is in full swing on the final day of X Games 17 in downtown Los Angeles.

Though it's not on TV, fans in the stands get to see some of the best teen skaters from across the nation coverging in L.A. for this signature final event.

A spokeswomen for the tour said that Hometown Heroes takes place over three months in major cities across America. In each city, a skate competition features all the best amateurs in the area, and the winner of each local event gets a spot in the X Games event. A handful of other standouts come by special invitation to the field of 32.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Skaters are currently performing one-minute individual intro runs, then five-minute jam sessions that judges will score. The top 10 skaters will advance to the final later this afternoon, with the winner taking home a $5,000 check.

Julian Christianson has won this event three of the last four years and currently leads the elimination round with a score of 91 points.

This is the third year the X Games has hosted the Hometown Heroes final.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

--Matt Stevens

Photo: Pedro Barros takes part in amateur skateboarding during X Games 15. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Travis Pastrana will race RallyCross with hand controls

Three days after breaking his right leg and ankle in a crash during the Moto X Best Trick competition Thursday night, Travis Pastrana will take part in the RallyCross race Sunday at X Games 17.

Pastrana's injured leg prompted his team to develop a steering wheel with hand controls for the gas pedal and clutch pedal. Thus, Pastrana's cast-bound leg will remain motionless during the race.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Pastrana first tested the altered car Saturday morning on the RallyCross course. Saturday night he took it to the Los Angeles Police Academy for test runs on the LAPD's road course.

Sunday morning, word became official that he would be allowed to take part in the RallyCross races. The first RallyCross heat is scheduled to take place in downtown Los Angeles at 2 p.m.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Travis Pastrana injures his right leg and ankle during a crash in the Moto X Best Trick competition on Thursday. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Nate Adams adds Speed and Style gold to his haul

Nate Adams took home his second gold medal in X Games 17 by leaving all-comers behind in the Moto X Speed and Style competition Saturday.

Adams topped Mike Mason in the final race of the night, leaving Mason with the silver medal Adams won last year. Adams won thanks to his style, more than his speed, earning 90 points for his tricks throughout the race, while Mason tallied 87. Although Mason crossed the finish line first, his buffer of 1.53 seconds was not enough to overcome the three-point deficit from the style element.

Adams won the Moto X Freestyle competition Friday night, his first gold medal since winning the same event in 2004. Seven years later, he has now tripled his total gold count.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Adams beat Adam Jones and Ronnie Faisst on his way to the final. Mason topped Todd Potter and Carey Hart.

Faisst beat Hart handily in the bronze medal race to reach the podium.

In the quarterfinals, Jeremy Stenberg suffered a nasty fall on his third lap. Stenberg hit the main dirt-jump with plenty of speed, and appeared to be attempting a backflip when he separated from his bike. Stenberg, the defending bronze medalist, fell to the dirt feet-first and was carted out of the arena. An ESPN spokeswoman said he suffered a foot injury and would get X-rays.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Nate Adams during the Moto X Freestyle final on Friday night. Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

X Games: Jeremy Stenberg is latest crash victim at X Games 17

Jeremy Stenberg became the latest victim of an X Games 17 competition accident when he crashed during the quarterfinals of the Moto X Speed & Style event on Saturday night.

Stenberg was in the third of the four-lap race against Carey Hart when he lost control of his motorcycle as he was going up a ramp to perform a trick. Stenberg was separated from his cycle and fell from several feet in the air, slamming feet-first onto the dirt before crashing onto his side.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Paramedics tended to him for several minutes before he eventually waved to the crowd and was carried off on a stretcher.

An X Games spokeswoman said there is no official word on the nature of Stenberg’s injury.

Nate Adams, Ronnie Faisst and Mike Mason will join Hart in the semifinals.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

--Matt Stevens

Photo: Jeremy Stenberg. Credit: Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times

X Games: Speed and style explained

For anyone wondering what exactly “speed & style” means in the X Games' Moto X Speed and Style competition, let’s take the quarterfinal race between Ronnie Faisst and Matt Buyten as our example:

Faisst finished the four-lap race first, but he was not assured to advance simply because he took the checkered flag. Each of the racers is required to perform one trick per lap, excluding the first lap when the course does not include the largest dirt-jump.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Based off those tricks, the judges assign the racers a score for style. In this instance, Buyten tallied 86 style points, while Faisst recorded 84. Hence, the uncertainty as to who would advance.

But since Faisst won by 4.40 seconds, his final score was 88.80, edging Buyten’s 86.

Hopefully now it makes a bit more sense.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Travis Pastrana performs a trick during a Moto X Speed and Style run at X Games 16. Credit: Adam Lau / Associated Press

X Games: Vicki Golden goes wire to wire for Women's Moto X Racing gold medal

Vicki Golden led from start to finish in a rather uneventful Women’s Moto X Racing final on Saturday night, taking the gold by more than four seconds to earn her first X Games medal.

Golden started on the inside of a small, narrow track, charged out of the gate, and gradually increased her lead over Tarah Gieger for the win.

It was a completely clean race with the exception of a caution flag that came out early when Sara Price took a spill in the middle of the track near a ramp.  Price could not recover and finished in fourth place.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Meanwhile, the three medalists cruised around the course separated by several seconds. When Golden crossed for the checkered flag, she was 4.05 seconds ahead of Grieger and more than 11 seconds in front of third-place finisher Livia Lancelot.

Two-time defending gold medalist Ashley Fiolek was held out of Saturday’s competition with a concussion, and medal hopeful Jessica Patterson crashed in the first round of elimination and failed to qualify for the final.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

--Matt Stevens

Photo: Vicki Golden before an Arenacross event in Sacramento in February. Credit: James Saechao / Feld Motorsports / Associated Press

X Games: Travis Pastrana practices at LAPD road course

Rarely does the Los Angeles Police Department encourage high-speed driving. Saturday night, they are doing just that.

According to Travis Pastrana’s Twitter account, @travispastrana, he is test-driving his altered Rally Car at the Los Angeles Police Academy.

“At the police academy where the LAPD was nice enough to let me practice with the hand controls at their road course,” Pastrana tweeted shortly after 6 p.m.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Saturday morning, Pastrana informed the world that his team had put together a steering wheel with hand controls for the accelerator and clutch -- that may allow him to race in Sunday’s RallyCross competition at X Games 17. Pastrana broke his right ankle and foot in a crash during the Moto X Best Trick competition Thursday night.

The ankle prevented him from making his Nationwide Series debut in Indianapolis on Saturday. Instead, he drove his hand-controlled rally car around the course at L.A. Live.

And now, he’s testing it with L.A.’s finest.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo: Travis Pastrana during an interview last week at Michael Waltrip Racing, where he was preparing for a NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Credit: Jason Smith / Getty Images for Michael Waltrip Racing

X Games: Ashley Fiolek and Jessica Patterson knocked out of Moto X

A crash in practice prevented two-time defending gold medalist Ashley Fiolek (pictured at left) from holding onto her spot atop women’s Moto X Racing.

Her main rival then joined Fiolek on the sidelines in the elimination races. Jessica Patterson crashed on the fifth lap of her six-lap heat, ending her hopes of capitalizing on Fiolek’s absence.

Vicki Golden and Sara Price advanced from the first heat to the final, and Tarah Gieger and Livia Lancelot joined them from the second heat.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Fiolek, 20, suffered a concussion during Saturday’s practice, but still hoped to compete. Doctors and her parents advised her against it, and the competition went on without her, presumably to Patterson’s benefit.

But Patterson appeared to injure her shoulder during her accident, and was helped off the track by a medical team.

Fiolek is well-known not just for her success on the track, but also for achieving it without hearing. She was born deaf and relies on her bike vibrations and shadows around her as she races.

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Douglas Farmer

Photo credit: American Honda Racing / Associated Press

X Games: Skateboard Vert elimination round saves best for last

Skateboard Vert saved the best for last.

Fourteen-time medalist Pierre-Luc Gagnon and X Games icon Shaun White showed an expanded field of 20 skaters how it’s done when they finally got their turns as the last and second-to-last skaters in the elimination round of the Skateboard Vert competition.

White exploded down the ramp and immediately got more air than any of the previous 18 skaters, putting together a nearly flawless run, good enough for 84.66 points and second place out of the gate. Not to be outdone, Gagnon responded with a technically sound run for 82.66 points to immediately crack the top 10. Then they both stepped it up another notch during their next run –- White stealing first with more aerial moves for 86.33 points, and Gagnon posting an even better 87.00 without flinching.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

The ease with which the top two skaters glided through their routines was a sharp contrast to the rest of the field, which largely could not stay on their skateboards for the full 30 seconds. At least half the runs ended with crashes and low scores.

But veterans Bob Burnquist and Bucky Lasek survived, finishing fifth and seventh respectively. They will both compete in Round One of the Vert competition later tonight. 

Skateboard Vert qualifiers
Pierre-Luc Gagnon: 87.00
Shaun White: 86.33
Alex Perelson: 85.33
Sandro Dias: 84.00
Bob Burnquist: 83.33
Adam Taylor: 83.33
Bucky Lasek: 82.66
Andy Macdonald: 81.66
Elliot Sloan: 81.66  
Paul-Luc Ronchetti: 79.33

--Matt Stevens

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

Photo: Shaun White warms up before the Skateboard Vert elimination round on Saturday at the Nokia Theater. Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times

X Games: 24-year-old Liam Doran wins Rally Car Racing gold in upset

On the streets of downtown Los Angeles, X Games rookie Liam Doran, 24, upset legendary European driver Marcus "Bosse" Gronholm, 43, to win the gold medal in the Rally Car Racing final Saturday.

Doran, from Kent, England, faced Gronholm, who hails from Inkoo, Finland, in a best-of-three final with each driver taking two laps around the 3,100-feet, six-turn course that also features a 52-foot jump.

PHOTOS: X Games 17 flies high at Staples Center

Doran won the first race, which was fairly close, and then won second, which wasn't so close, to take the gold medal.

Doran's biggest hurdle was upsetting Capistrano Beach native Tanner Foust in the semifinals. 

Foust, one of only four drivers who have competed in every Rally Car event at the X Games, came up short in the bronze-medal race against David Higgins when his car broke down shortly after the start. 

Foust, who won gold medals in both Rally Car events last year, is expected to compete in Sunday's RallyCross final, scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. 

RELATED:

X Games' safety a question as tricks get more dangerous

Nyjah Huston breaks through for Skateboard Street win

Daniel Dhers rallies to win BMX Freestyle Park gold medal

-- Baxter Holmes

Photo: David Higgins leads Dave Mirra during their Rally Car Racing quarterfinal on Saturday on the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Credit: Harry How/Getty Images