After racing at local and regional Gold Cup races throughout the year, we're finally down to the real #nittygritty - for the DK Bicycles #GoldCupFinals. For the South Central Gold Cup Championship finals, USA BMX returned to DeSoto, Texas - and while it's under the same roof, there has been a few changes since we'd last been here. For starters, it's now called DeSoto BMX (no longer Metroplex), and we've got new track operators (former super-fast girl racer Casey Haar and her husband Chris). And we've also got a refreshingly rebuilt track that everybody seemed to love.  

USA BMX has been coming to DeSoto since 2000, and over the past seventeen years, we've seen some mighty fine racing go down under the big metal roof. This Gold Cup weekend would be no different. 

One of the most common things we see each year at the Gold Cups are riders who have plotted out their year with an on-point schedule, hoping to time things perfectly in order to win a Gold Cup and move up to the next level at the same time. This year, we saw plenty of Novies and INters getting that final win, earning a jacket as well as a move-up letter, all at the same time. 

Among some of the largest classes who went to war this weekend, with plenty of racers in contention, were the following: