Howard wins first at BMX racing event

Former Junior Miss Tehachapi Samantha Howard recently decided to join the rest of the BMX racing family and won in her firstever attempt at a USA BMX National the weekend of July 16-18 at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas.

After a fifth-place finish on Friday, Sammie, representing Liberty BMX, was able to pull off a win on Saturday racing against boys and girls to bring home the big 4-foot-tall trophy!

Sammie was able to overcome her nerves and snapped out of the gate the fastest of the final eight racers who made it to the main event.

She held off the other racers who were feverishly trying to pass her, crossing the finish line in first place in the 15-year-old Novice class. Samantha is also a competitive cheerleader and can routinely be found working out at the local gym. Her hard work paid off!

Also competing in Las Vegas were dad Nate; brother Alex and sister Sydney and teammates Samuel De La Cruz from Hercules, Calif., and Rylee Ireland, also of Tehachapi. They all raced hard and had a great weekend.

Also this past week, longtime Tehachapi resident and wrestling coach Curtis “Mohawk Grandpa” Nelson decided to join his grandson, Kayden racing BMX.

Nelson will be joining us on Team Liberty BMX with his

brand new Avent/Bombshell Cruiser. We all get to

yell at him to “PEDAL” now, like he does to us.