THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS, AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN - Jones was in big trouble here.

FRIDAY, FIRST ROUND

Everybody was having substandard runs, then Jones came out and took a commanding lead. Several riders later, however, Dustin Miller went out and beat him.

SECOND ROUND

Bartram won the 2nd qualifier by .7 points over John Distler. Nate Adams was 3rd.

FINAL

In the final, after the first four riders had gone, Bartram had the lead on the Yamaha 250 four stroke. Then Robert Distler went out and did a run that was 3.5 points better. He is really awesome.

Jones then beat him by 3 points! It looked to be another Jones victory until Dustin Miller came out. His routine was strong, but he finished 1.2 points under Jones.

Jones wins again!

SATURDAY, FIRST ROUND

Drake McElroy went first and held on to his position until the fifth rider, Jones, beat him by 1/2 a point. Then the 10th rider, Robert Distler, went out and set the course on fire. He started his routine with a Super Nac to Heel Clicker, whipped. Very, very sweet. Then a Stalefish to Saran, well done, and the next one was a No Footed Can with his latissimus dorsi (armpit area) on the seat. He did an arched back Hart Attack, which doesn't look as good as a perfectly vertical Hart Attack with good posture, but it's not bad. His next trick was a well-thrown No Footed Can to Heel Clicker to One Hander Lander. I love it when a rider triples up with a cool looking combo. Then it was a Helicopter, more like Cauliflower, with his legs all crinked up in a ball - it would be great if he did the splits and rotated his hips, a la Kris Rourke. Time will tell if he evolves the trick to that level. Then, an unusual trick, a No Footed Can to Candy Bar to Saran. He finished with a Whip. He won by 1.5 points. He showed lots of skills.

It was on.

SECOND ROUND

Kenny "The Flying Oklahoman" Bartram went first, and his routine beat a lot of the riders who followed him: Jake Windham, Jimmie McGuire, Dave Turner, Jason Thorne, Jeff Tilton and Andy Bell.

Then it was Nate Adams' turn. He took the lead and the win for this qualifier with tricks like a Rodeo, a Superman Double Grab and a One Handed Superman Seat Grab.

FINAL

The qualifying order was reversed, where the top qualifier from the first round went last and the lowest qualifying rider went first.

It came down to the last two riders, Jones and Distler.

Jones won by .7 points. His mistakes were minimal. Again, like in Little Rock with Turner, Distler had some strong tricks, but made some mistakes. It all came down to mistakes. Distler is another who will be winning some contests, believe me.

Jones is in big trouble, that's for sure. There is a new crop of jumpers right on him like dogs on a piece of meat, and they want to win. They are going to win contests, it's just a matter of time, and they are going to win big. For now, though, Jones remains undefeated in 2001 (except for qualifiers). That is a huge accomplishment, considering the competition.