Josh Hult is not your typical BMX dirt finalist. His sneakers are worn, his jeans are torn, his helmet is not adorned with sponsor stickers. His profile is not highlighted in the official Dew Tour program and his name is not considered "one to watch." Yet that didn't prevent him from overcoming all the odds--open qualifiers, prelims, and stacked finals field--to win the Nike 6.0 BMX Open Dirt Finals tonight in Chicago's Grant Park.

Entering his final run with an already impressive score of 92.5, Hult completed a highly difficult truck driver (360 barspin) to down whip on the 3rd and final setup. Knowing he'd landed his dream run, Hult punched his fist, grinned wide and awaited his 3rd run scored. From the commentators analysis it would've seemed likley that Hult could jump from 8th position and possibly break into the top three. No one was expecting that a second 92.50 would appear on the scoreboard catapulting him past leader Brandon Dosch (who'd been dominating the competition all night and looked visibly frustrated with the outcome). Alas, Hult was awarded the top spot and even remaining riders, Ryan Nyquist, Corey Bohan and Cameron White (last year's Dew Cup champion) could not unseat him.

In reflecting on his unlikely victory, the stunned Hult simply stated, "I really didn't expect his to happen, I'm just super excited!"


Hult after just landing his high scoring run.

Making his result even more amazing was just how outstanding the finals competition were. All the riders were throwing down. Jaie Toohey was blasting triple tailwhips. Nastazio stuck a 3 flip (360 backflip). TJ Ellis issued his frontflip to backflip line. Cameron White landed his barspin to tailwhip backflip.  Others were just going for it. A brakeless Cory Bohen went off the course and lost his shoe, Dennis Enarson went over the tuff blocks after his last jump, and Luke Parlslow missed a double backflip by the skin of his front tire causing a pretty brutal crash on the last hit, made even more painful due to the courses non-traditional limestone makeup (required vs. clay due to the threat of rain).

All in all it was quite a show and more than setup a seasons worth of dramatic finals to come on the 2009 Dew Tour.

Nike 6.0 BMX Open Dirt Finals Results
1. Josh Hult - 92.50
2. Brandon Dosch - 92.31
3. Ryan Nyquist - 91.38
4. Corey Bohan - 91.31
5. Dennis Enarson - 91.31
6. Rob Darden - 90.37
7. Cory Nastazio - 89.12
8. TJ Ellis - 88.94
9. Chris Doyle - 88.94
10. Jaie Toohey - 88. 37
11. Cameron White - 87.81
12. Luke Parslow - 87.19



The crowd was in full effect.


Rob Darden


Dennis Enarson


Corey Bohan, shoeless, after a sketchy fall, but all smiles nonetheless.


Nike 6.0 t-shirt toss.


Josh Hult is interviewed by Allisports.com after his unlikely win.



Finals podium - 1. Josh Hult; 2. Brandon Dosch; 3. Ryan Nyquist


Words and photos: James Sullivan