American Cameron Naasz will be trying to stay in front of defending champion Scott Croxall at the third Red Bull Crashed Ice race of the season in Finland on Saturday after the Canadian dominated the field in winning the last Riders Cup race in Rautalampi last week. Naasz, seeking to become the first American to win the championship of the world's fastest sport on skates, also knows that winning the first two Red Bull Crashed Ice races of the season is no guarantee of winning the championship.
Naasz could clinch the 2015/16 title with a victory on Saturday in Jyväskylä-Laajis Finland but he has seen other racers in past seasons tripped up by mid-season complacency so he has purged all those thoughts from his mind. With Croxall, the defending champion, and Dean Moriarity breathing down his neck in the sport where riders race at speeds of up to 80 km/h, Naasz knows he will need to be in top form on the longest track ever, 630 meters of natural ice, on Saturday to stay in front.
"No, I haven't been giving any thought to that," Naasz said of the chance he could win his first title on Saturday after taking second overall last season and third overall in the two seasons before that. "The way I see it is that I want to win every race and especially (the season final) in Saint Paul. I'm just sticking to my game plan of one run at a time and the rest will happen on its own."
Cameron Naasz is top dog at the moment, as he chases his first world title. Photo: Sebastian Marko/Red Bull Content Pool.
With victories in the first two Red Bull Crashed Ice races of the season in Quebec City and Munich as well as the final stop of the 2015 season in Edmonton, Naasz has a three-race winning streak going into Finland that equaled the record of three straight wins set by Finland's own Arttu Pihlainen in 2011 en route to the title. Naasz could be the first racer ever to win four in a row.
But he also saw how Croxall's older brother Kyle won the first two races in 2013 but struggled in the second half of the season and was eclipsed by Switzerland's Derek Wedge for the title. With the two Croxalls, Wedge, Austria's Marco Dallago and Germany's Martin Niefnecker, there are five former World Champions in Saturday's race.
"My eyes are always on Scott," said Naasz, referring to his nemesis from Canada who is attempting to become the first racer to win back-to-back championships. "Just because I have more wins than him this season doesn't mean I see him as less of a threat. He's the current world champion for a reason and he's always an athlete to watch out for."
Croxall is in ascending form after taking third in Quebec City, second in Munich and winning last weekend's Riders Cup race in Rautalampi, where Naasz finished ninth after falling in the quarter-finals race trying to pass Moriarity. He was trying to get back up when another racer skated over his hand, cutting open his glove and gashing his thumb. "Thankfully I was wearing quality gloves or it would have been much worse than a few stitches," he said. "My thumb is still swollen and it's not working great yet but it won't affect my racing. I'm looking forward to getting back on the track against those boys again this weekend."
Croxall, who did extremely well in Finland with three wins in his last three races here going back to last season, is confident he can win a fourth in a row in Finland on Saturday and still overtake Naasz. He won last year's Red Bull Crashed Ice race in Helsinki and the Riders Cup stop last year here in Jyväskylä-Laajis.
"I've had a good history of wins here, so I'm just going to try to do the same thing," said Croxall, who has also often finished in front of Naasz this season in the team competition where they are both on the same "Living the Dream" team even though Naasz had been in front in the two Red Bull Crashed Ice finals where they went head-to-head. "Cameron has had a few strong races and a couple of number one spots and yeah, I've beaten him before in lots of races and I know I can do it here."
Croxall believes he can still win the title with a strong finish in the second half of the 10-race season, the biggest in the sport's history, that kicks off on Saturday with two Red Bull Crashed Ice and three Riders Cup races still to come.
Fresh from his recent Riders Cup win in Rautalampi, Scott Croxall continues to hunt leader Naasz. Photo: Armin Walcher/Red Bull Content Pool.
"Anything is possible in this sport and it's my goal to be number one and defend my world championship -- no one has ever done that twice and that's obviously in the back of my mind," he said. "But right now I just want to win races and try to get as many points as possible. There are still two more Red Bull Crashed Ice races left and I know I can be number one so I just got to put my mind to it and get it done. I just won the Riders Cup race so I'm confident going into this one."
Also putting pressure on Naasz will be France's Tristan Dugerdil who is fourth overall in the championship and Austria's Luca Dallago, who is fifth. The natural ice track in Finland is the longest and most grueling ever in the sport's history – 630 meters with a 66-meter vertical drop and 17 obstacles featuring a tunnel, rock drop along with the usual assortment of jumps and bumps.
The women's championship is also shaping up into an exciting battle with Canada's Myriam Trepanier leading the way with 1,800 points ahead of compatriots Jacqueline Legere in second (1,450 points ) and Maxi Plante in third (1,160).
WATCH IT LIVE: Red Bull Crashed Ice Jyväskylä-Laajis will be live on redbullcrashedice.com and Red Bull TV at 7:15pm CET on January 30. 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.
US fans please note that the live webcast and replay is geo-blocked in the US due to an exclusive broadcast deal with FOX Sports. The event will air on FOX Sports 1 on Monday, February 15 at 4:30pm EST. Following this it will be available on demand at Red Bull TV.