Florida isn't just the home of alligators, your grandparents and the crazy people you see on the news, it's also home to one of the longest running grassroots freestyle BMX contest series in the world. Attracting riders from all over the country, these contests always make for a good time and some incredible riding. Last weekend the FLBMX Skatepark Series made its way to Abacoa Skatepark in Jupiter, FL where it was no surprise that the podiums were packed full of Monster Army riders.

The Monster Army riders started off their day of domination in the 16-29 division where they claimed the top two steps of the podium. Sergeant  Ryan Baker threw down two solid runs featuring flairs, a few bar spins and a hop whip into the box landing that helped him snag second place. First place went to new recruit  Robert Vargas. The new private proved he was worthy with runs full of flips, flairs and a text book no-hander to x-up.

Once the dust settled it was time for the Open class! The eight-person final was packed with Monster Army riders. Coming in at 8 ^th place was  Freddie Smith, after slipping up in both of this runs, Freddie powered through and put down a huge 360 double tailwhip over the box.

Taking the 6^th spot overall was another new recruit, Dominick Secatello. Dom is no stranger to these contests and is the former series overall winner of both the 16-29 and 15-15 divisions. This year he stepped up to the Open class and will definitely be a serious threat going forward. Dom’s runs in the final featured a stretched out indian air seat-grab, whip to bar, and a committed attempt at a quad barspin. We are really stoked to have such a dedicated rider in the program.

Falling just short of the podium in forth place was Justin Dowell. Justin came out swinging throwing down his signature twix on a hip in the bowl followed by his arsenal of bar and whip combos and picture perfect lookbacks.

Brian Fox has always been a staple rider at the FLBMX contests and it’s no surprise to see him on the podium. One of the biggest shockers of the night came when Brian started his run off with a double flip on the box, and this box is no joke! Brian followed up with bangers including a flair bar and one of the cleanest flair down whips that I have ever seen. Unfortunately this wouldn't be enough for the win and Brian would end the night in second place but is still at the top of the leaderboard for overall series points. 

The biggest story of the day came former Recon Tour AM champion Case Taylor. Case is not afraid to send it and that’s just what he did in the final. Starting out his run with a flip whip on the box followed with a flair bar, a 900 and a flair whip. Then to top everything off, Case dropped one of the biggest hammers of the night when he whipped a twenty-foot gap from the park course into the flat bottom of the bowl. I think it’s safe to say that if Case keeps this up we will be seeing a lot more of him in 2018.

The next stop of the FLBMX Skatepark Series takes place on February 10 ^th at Drop In Action Sport Complex in Boca Raton.