We are excited to sponsor Joey Leto for another year of BMX races! 2022 is Joey’s 2nd year as a pro rider. With a successful first year of pro racing under his belt, Joey is looking forward to more competition and furthering his professional career.
March 2022 Races
Houston Lone Star Nationals (3/4 – 3/6)
This was Joey’s 2nd USA BMX pro series of the season, and the most competitive field of racers he has lined up against. Racers from all around world came to compete including riders like the Olympic gold medalist Niek Kimann from the Netherlands.
There were 3 total races over the weekend on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday and Saturday Joey qualified for the quarter finals. He didn’t finish in the top 4 in these races so he did not qualify for the semis. On Sunday, his racing day ended even earlier due to a flat tire and very windy conditions.
Overall, Joey was happy to race against a competitive field and learn from his experiences.
“Racing at the professional level can be frustrating at times, but there’s always something to take away from a race weekend. For me, it was the experience of lining up in the gate with such a competitive field and learning how to gain confidence even when conditions are bad and competition is high,” said Leto.
Carolina Nationals (3/18 – 3/20)
The Carolina Nationals were another USA BMX Pro series and a UCI sanctioned race on Sunday like the previous races in Houston. The competition was very similar to Houston, and most pros traveled straight from Texas to South Carolina.
The race weekend began on Friday. Weather conditions were good in practice on Friday, but by the time racing began, it was raining and 20 mph crosswind. Crosswind is when the wind blows across the straightaways – blowing towards riders’ sides. This is the most dangerous type of wind because it can push riders to the side when they are in the air on a jump. Joey had several good qualifying laps but did not qualify out of the quarter-finals.
On Saturday, however, he qualified for the finals. “I was very happy to make the final, especially in such a competitive field. There were 48 Pro racers from all around the world which is condensed into an 8 man final through qualifying,” said Leto. The final included Joshua Mclean from Australia, Izaak Kennedy from Australia, Sylvain Andre from France, Cam Wood from the USA, Cedric Butti from Switzerland, Cam Moore from the USA. and Joey, himself. He finished finished 7th in the final.
On Sunday for the UCI race, he did not qualify out of the semi-finals.
“I am happy with my riding this weekend and managed to show some improvements from Houston against the same competition. BMX has a lot of highs and lows but showing up is the first step to getting better. I’m excited to have made a final and thankful for Route signing me up for the races.”
