XDL Round 2 Brings The Heat To Nashville - Bill Dixon Repeats FMF Cup Win

The FMF Cup main event was a showcase of the most difficult and exciting riding that can be performed on a street bike. Throw in a dose of human drama and you had an action packed hour of competition. Dan Jackson, who took 4th in Havasu and qualified 4th, looked set to again take a top 5 but couldn't find his rhythm and ended in 10th. '07 champ Alex Flores also had high hopes after a 3rd place qualifying run, but could only manage 9th. '08 champ Nick Brocha had recovered from the injury that prevented him from riding in Havasu but had an unfortunate practice accident that sent his bike into the wall, bending the frame. He was able to somewhat straighten it with the help of his fellow competitors, a bus and a truck (you had to be there), but the bike issues kept him from scoring higher than 5th, effectively killing off any chance at repeating as champion. Fourth went to Racing 905 rider Warren James who put on a crowd pleasing, high risk run that included a no handed high chair stoppie, which he was able to hold for almost 120 feet. The trick has never been attempted in competition and only two riders, Dan Jackson and "Crazy" Martin, are know to have pulled it off, but for much shorter distances. James' flow and variation were excellent and he received a perfect "20" for execution, making him the only rider other than Joe Dryden to have ever done so. If Warren keeps up the way he has been going he should be able to contend for a win before the end of the season. Lin Eshalom was able to repeat his third from Havasu and Rick Hart rode to his full potential, netting him a well-deserved second place. The overall win went to Bill Dixon who had to overcome a serious head injury received in a parking lot accident the day before. The injury was so severe that Dixon was briefly hospitalized and received stitches. In fact the swelling in the back of his head was so bad that he had to cut the padding out of the rear of his helmet to make it fit. Riding in substantial pain, Bill still put on and executed an incredibly difficult run to take the overall win and a solid lead in the points championship. (read the complete report)