It was a star-spangled weekend for Cameron Bramer at the Stars and Stripes USA BMX nationals at South Park BMX in Bethel Park.
Bramer, a 19-year-old from South Park, won against a field of racers from all over the country in the expert class for the 17-20 age group Friday and Saturday and settled for second place in Sunday’s race. The track consisted of four straights and three asphalt turns.
Bramer, who grew up just five minutes from the track he has raced on for most of his life, said he definitely he enjoyed a home-course advantage.
“I went pretty fast,” he said. “I felt more comfortable than I normally do.”
In all it was a successful weekend for the folks who run the South Park BMX track, including Cameron’s mother Rhonda. Some 1,248 racers from around the country competed and the events drew over 4,000 fans.
“The sport is growing. This was, by far, our largest nationals,” she said. “It was a record-breaking one for South Park BMX. There was some bad weather earlier in the week and despite airport cancellations, we had a pretty stellar turnout and we were very excited about it.”
Cam’s next race will happen in Las Vegas in two weeks, and then it’s on to the Netherlands for the UCI BMX World Championships at the Papendal Olympic Center Aug. 14-22. He qualified for the race back in March.
“I’m really excited, that’s for sure,” Bramer said. “I don’t have any expectations, and if I do, it’s to finish in first place. I’m really competitive and all I want to do is win. I haven’t raced in an event like this since 2019 (Pan American Games in Lima, Peru) so I’m pretty hyped to be honest with you.”
Next year Bramer moves up to the elite professional class, where he’ll compete against more experienced racers including Olympians.
Paul Guggenheimer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paul at 724-226-7706 or pguggenheimer@triblive.com.
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