Cameron Naasz, hoping to become the first American to win the Ice Cross Downhill World Championship, was the fastest man on ice in the Shootout competition on Friday. The Minnesota native grabbed pole position for Saturday's Red Bull Crashed Ice season final showdown race while his rival Scott Croxall of Canada finished only 10th on ice softened by bright sunshine and temperatures well above freezing.
Naasz, who is close behind Scott Croxall in the overall championship race, set the pace down the challenging 360-meter long track dropping from the steps of the Saint Paul Cathedral towards the Mississippi River in the heart of Saint Paul, stopping the clock with a time of 30.24 seconds. Canada's Dean Moriarity was 0.02 of a second behind in 30.26 while France's Tristan Dugerdil took a strong third in the competition that sets the rankings for Saturday night's heats with a time of 30.68. Germany's Fabian Mels was fourth and Austria's Luca Dallago fifth. Croxall crashed three times and finished with a time of 33.80 for 10th place in a field of 92 finishers. There were three Americans in the top 10: Naasz, Reed Whiting (8th) and Tommy Mertz (9th).
The impressive victory for Naasz on the difficult track with its giant BF Goodrich Wallride and a tortuous 16-foot high step-up near the finish gave the American an important psychological victory in his battle against Croxall for the overall Ice Cross Downhill Championship on Saturday at the end of the 10-race season.
"It's always good to do well in the shootout," said Naasz, who needs to beat Croxall on Saturday to win the title. "It's going to give me good gate choice all night. I'm still going to have to race everyone. It's just a little bit of an advantage. I like the track, I feel good out there. I feel confident, I can do better. I'm excited."
Naasz glides around the imposing BF Goodrich Wallride on his way to the fastest time of the day. Photo: Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool.
Naasz's strong time was all the more impressive considering more than 100 riders, including more than two dozen women, carved ruts and divots into the track before he and Croxall went down. "The guys who got to go first had good ice. By the time we got on the ice it was in bad shape."
Croxall, a powerful racer who digs hard into the ice, was also disappointed by the conditions. "I didn't know it turned to slush," he said.
Naasz needs to finish on the podium and ahead of Croxall to become the world champion while Croxall needs to finish ahead of Naasz.
Croxall struggled on the ice and could only manage 10th place in the Shootouts. Photo: Joerg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool.
In the women's race, Canada's Myrian Trepanier posted the fastest time of 35.84 with Alexis Jackson (USA) in second and Jacqueline Legere (CAN) taking third. Only 11 of the 28 women made it up and over the challenging 16-foot high step-up near the finish.
Saint Paul Shootout results:
MEN: 1. Cameron Naasz (USA), 2. Dean Moriarity (CAN), 3. Tristan Dugerdil (FRA), 4. Luca Dallago (AUT), 5. Fabian Mels (GER), 6. John Fisher (CAN), 7. Kilian Braun (SUI), 8. Reed Whiting (USA), 9. Tommy Mertz (USA), 10. Scott Croxall (CAN)
WOMEN: 1. Myriam Trepanier (CAN), 2. Alexis Jackson (USA), 3. Jacqueline Legere (CAN), 4. Tamara Kajah (CAN), 5. Michaela Michaelson (USA),
Pictures free of charge for editorial use: Joerg Mitter, Balazs Gardi Andreas Langreiter, Ryan Taylor
WATCH IT LIVE: Red Bull Crashed Ice Saint Paul will broadcast live on redbullcrashedice.com and Red Bull TV at 7:45pm MST (2.45am CET) on February 27 and will be available on demand immediately after the competition. Red Bull TV is available on connected TVs, gaming consoles, mobile devices and more. For a full list of supported devices, visit about.redbull.tv.
For US fans, the live webcast and replay is geo-blocked in the US due to an exclusive deal with FOX Sports. The race will air on the FOX broadcast network on March 5 at 4:30pm EST. Following this, it will be available on demand at Red Bull TV.