Who is Nick Liberatore?

Nick Liberatore is an Arizona-based BMX racer who rode for Diamondback's factory team, progressing from age-class racing in 1987 to the AA Pro ranks by 1993. He later co-hosted the RailTheBerm.com BMX podcast.

Is it spelled Liberatore or Libratore?

The period BMX record spells it Liberatore — that's the spelling in the April 1989 BMX Action magazine archive, in period ABA race footage, and in the Arizona BMX Hall of Fame's own posts about him. Libratore shows up only as an informal misspelling in a rider's social post.

What team did Nick Liberatore ride for, and what did he do after racing?

He rode for Diamondback's factory BMX race team and has been named by the Arizona BMX Hall of Fame as a potential inductee from the mid-school era. In 2016 he co-created the RailTheBerm.com BMX podcast with Brad Debusk and Bobby Motomag, interviewing pros and covering BMX racing news.

Nick Liberatore

Diamondback's Gate-to-Pro Racer of the Late '80s and Early '90s

A Legend Bike Co. rider page · researched from period magazine archives, ABA race footage, and Arizona BMX community records

At a glance

Scene Arizona, national ABA circuit, late 1980s to early 1990s
Team Diamondback factory BMX race team
Level AA Pro by 1993
Known for A six-year climb from age-class racing to the Pro mains, then a second act calling BMX from behind a microphone

A quick note on the name up front, since it's the reason this page exists: the BMX record spells it Liberatore. That's how it appears in the April 1989 issue of BMX Action archived at oldschoolmags.com, in the ABA race footage that circulates among BMX historians, and in the Arizona BMX Hall of Fame's own posts about him. "Libratore" turns up exactly once in the sources checked for this page — an informal misspelling in a fellow rider's social post — and it isn't what the period print record or the sanctioning body's own footage uses. This page keeps the web address /pages/nick-libratore so the link resolves, but spells his name Liberatore in the text, matching the record.

From the 11 Cruiser Class to the Pro Gate

Liberatore's paper trail starts young. At the 1987 ABA Reno national, he ran second in the 11 Cruiser main behind Mike Luna. Two years later, he's in the 14X main at the 1989 ABA Grands. By 1990 he'd moved up to the 15 Open main at the Grands, again finishing second. In 1992 he was racing in the Open Mains 14-and-Over bracket at the Grand Nationals, and by the 1993 ABA Eugene, Oregon national, he was lining up in the A Pro mains — a straight six-year climb from an 11-year-old in the Cruiser class to a professional racer, all documented in surviving ABA race footage from those events.

Diamondback's Factory Rider

Through that stretch, Liberatore raced for Diamondback's factory BMX team, based out of Arizona. The clearest record of that sponsorship comes from the Arizona BMX Hall of Fame's own account, which named him "Factory Diamondback's Nick Liberatore" in a post floating him as a potential inductee from the sport's mid-school era. That's a nomination-level mention, not a confirmation that he's been formally inducted — this page treats it as such.

After Racing: RailTheBerm

Liberatore didn't leave BMX when he stopped racing. In February 2016 he co-created RailTheBerm.com, a weekly BMX podcast, alongside Brad Debusk and Bobby "Motomag." The show launched with old-school racing legend Ronnie Anderson as its first guest and built a run of interviews with pros, industry people, and BMX icons, alongside race news and discussion — taped Sundays, released Tuesdays, on iTunes, SoundCloud, and the show's own site.

Where the public record runs thin

Liberatore's birth date, hometown, and full national results ledger are not documented in the sources checked for this page. The exact years of his Diamondback sponsorship, and whether the Arizona BMX Hall of Fame has since inducted him, are not confirmed — the one source found is a nomination-style social post, not an official hall record. Whether RailTheBerm is still active, and what Liberatore has done in BMX since, is also not documented in the sources checked. bmxsociety.com was searched directly and returned no dedicated thread on him; oldschoolmags.com's archive is the strongest primary source found and is cited above.

Where Nick Liberatore fits in the bigger story

Team: Diamond Back BMX. Sanction: ABA. The bigger arc is in our History of BMX series.

Sources

oldschoolmags.com — BMX Action, April 1989 issue (BMXA_8904.pdf), results listing confirming the "Liberatore" spelling. Period ABA race footage circulated by BMX archivists on YouTube: 1987 ABA Reno 11 Cruiser main, 1989 ABA Grands 14X main, 1990 ABA Grands 15 Open main, 1992 Grand Nationals Open Mains 14-and-Over, 1993 ABA Eugene A Pro mains. Arizona BMX Hall of Fame, Facebook — "Factory Diamondback's Nick Liberatore" potential-inductee post. bmxultra.com, "RailTheBerm.com BMX Podcast Coming Soon," February 2016 — podcast launch, co-hosts, and format. bmxsociety.com was searched directly for this page and returned no dedicated thread; oldschoolmags.com's period magazine archive is the strongest primary source and is cited above.

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