Tommy Clowers Owns Step Up at X Games Over Buy-10!
Filed under: MX News
One of the most popular events at the X Games is STEP UP. Last year the contest ended up in a 54 minute thriller between McGrath and Matt Buyten. This year only 1/2 of that equation was there, and Tommy “Tom Cat” Clowers proved that he was King of Step Up …
B.J. Smith - EXPN.com 8/6/2005
Will Tommy Clowers Please Step-Up?
By B.J. Smith for EXPN.com
Photos by Jim Quashnick
From Supercross to mini-bikes to SuperMoto and now Step-Up, everything Jeremy McGrath touches seems to turn to gold. Because of his enormous Moto popularity, and because he returned to X on Friday to defend his gold medallion, the 2005 Step-Up competition was one of the most anticipated events of X Games 11.
Last year’s dramatic battle between the former Supercross champ and the 2003 gold medalist, Matt Buyten, elevated Step-Up from sideshow to Main Event. Thanks to the popularity generated in 2004, when McGrath won in a dramatic three-round jump-off, the 2005 event had its own venue, in the tennis stadium at the Home Depot Center in L.A. The ingredients for an explosive contest were in place.
“I think Step-Up was a dying event until that contest last year,” McGrath said. “All the drama between me and Buyten honestly saved the event. I’m used to stuff like this because growing up, we rode cliffs. That’s why Tommy Clowers is so good. He grew up on Palm Avenue in San Diego and that place is all about cliffs.”
Instead of another battle, Step-Up barely got going before it was over. All five riders cleared the opening height, 28 feet, and McGrath was one of three riders eliminated at the second height, 31 feet. Matt Buyten and Clowers cleaned 31.5 feet, but only Clowers could clear 32 feet. Clowers also won in 2000, 2001, and 2002, finished second to Buyten in 2003, and was third in 2004.
“Nobody really talked to me or did interviews with me before the event,” said Clowers. “I didn’t mind because it took some pressure off me.”
If it was surprising to see the former champion win again, more surprising was how fast the rest of the competition went out. Brian Deegan was eliminated first when he plowed into the bar on both runs. Ronnie Renner and McGrath got up above the bar, but couldn’t find the distance for the rear wheel to clear.
Clowers easily cleared 32′ on the first run, then Buyten ran into a familiar problem: He got way above the bar, but didn’t travel far enough forward to go over it. He clipped his rear wheel on his first jump, and re-injured the left shoulder that popped out of its socket during the 2004 event. He also knocked the bar off with his rear wheel on his second attempt.
McGrath was bummed about his quick elimination. “To be honest, we were all out before it even got going,” he said. “I’m happy for Tommy. Congrats to him. I’m not complaining, but the bar was straight above the landing. How are you ever going to get forward enough to get over it? It was a bad jump overall. The way they built it was horrible.”
As much as anything, the course was simply different than conventional courses. On most courses, the lip of the takeoff ramp and the landing ramp are about the same height. On this course, the landing was about three feet higher than the top of the lower-than-normal eight-foot takeoff.
Clearly, Clowers was geared to sail off any pile of dirt. “Everyone had to deal with the same lip,” Clowers said. “I have no idea how I was able to get up and out. Getting a second in 2003 and a third in 2004, it felt like I was going backwards. It’s great to get it back and I’m feeling good.”
There was some grumbling in the pits during practice when a new rule was announced to combat against last year’s 30-minute-plus man-to-man battle between McGrath and Buyten. If two riders were still in the contest and time started running long, an NFL-style coin toss would be enacted for a sudden-death round. That meant whoever won the toss would have first crack at a dropped height and if he cleared it first, would win.
Ronnie Renner wasn’t on the original roster. Mike Metzger was the original fifth man, but when he broke his foot at the Dew Action Sports Tour in Denver, Renner got the call. Even with the alternate invite, it still disappoints Renner that the contest is invite-only. “It’s a popularity contest and I wasn’t afraid to show them that I was bummed and angry about that. When Metzger pulled out, they pulled me in. I’m taking Step-Up more serious than I’m taking freestyle.”
Tommy Clowers, showed up on a brand new Yamaha YZ 250, which he had only ridden three times but showing up to X Games. Like the majority of freestyle riders, Clowers had always ridden a Honda CR 250.
The Step-Up competition was the only event this year for Matt Buyten. He said he hasn’t been able to ride much because the same shoulder he separated and popped back in during last year’s Step-Up battle against McGrath still hurts. “I had surgery and started riding, but it started coming out again,” he said. “I had another surgery and I wanted to make sure I’m strong for this weekend.”
Unfortunately for Buyten, who recently qualified for the remaining rounds of the Dew Action Sports Tour and got fifth at the Gravity Games, he re-injured his shoulder and may need yet another surgery. “I think everything got destroyed in my shoulder last year. It might be beyond help. I think on my humerus bone, there is a bald patch. I may need to get a plate on top of it to keep the mass inside the rotator cuff.”
Speaking of Buyten, he is one of the riders still trying to learn the backflip. “I’ve been sticking the 75-foot flip in the foam pit and hopefully I can get that to dirt in the next week and carry on with my freestyle career.”
Before the contest started, when asked about his bike setup this year and what he learned from last year, McGrath said, “We have some different stuff we’re trying … uhhhh … hmmm … where are you going after this? You’re not running over to Buyten’s are you?”
McGrath said he put griptape on everything so he could use his legs to lift the bike higher. Also, during last year’s Buyten battle, he said his bike got really hot. This year, McGrath’s crew showed up with a special cart with a fan and generator to keep the bike cool between runs.
In case you didn’t already know, McGrath and his wife Kim are expecting a little girl this December.