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

Two rounds into the 2009 XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship season the explosive growth and maturation of the sport were on full display. In 2009 30 athletes from 20 states are contesting the full schedule, up from 15 in 2008. Add in the 10 regional and local riders that go up against the national competitors and the first two events have generated fields of 40 individuals, an XDL record. Since 2007 the sport has doubled in size every year. Not only that, it has matured considerably. For the inaugural event in 2006 in Phoenix, XDL arranged for a group discount so all riders could stay in the same location. The hotel was trashed, in what was then stunt riding tradition, and the practice of arranging for a group hotel was discontinued. Nashville marked the revival of the group hotel idea and this time the only complaint from the manager was a poorly parked trailer. Remarked Michael House, one of the judges who has been with the series since the infamous first event: "XDL is singlehandedly responsible for changing rider behavior. The prestige of competing in the national championship and the level of competition are both so high that riders are more concerned about getting rest and eating well, rather than partying and trashing hotels." The bigger picture is a transformation of the competitors from "riders" to "athletes". It is a trend that has been ongoing and was highlighted in an interview with Racing 905 team rider Warren James. James was injured at the inaugural Phoenix event in 2006 and had not returned to XDL competition until the 2009 season, thus providing him with an unclouded perspective of the changes since. He remarked that competing at Nashville made him feel like an athlete rather than a stunt rider because of the professionalism of the series, the quality of the facility and the high level of competition.

The Nashville weekend was part of a bike fest co-organized by Eric Kyle of Revolution MC and Brian Hill of Poppaclutch that featured pre-event bike nights on Thursday and Friday night, drawing thousands of local riders and motorcycle fans. The bike fest concept was extended into the XDL main event on Saturday featuring the CycoWheelies wheelie machine, Cycle Pilot dyno and hot local bands "The Future" and "B.L.U.N.T. Squad". It was an entertaining prorgam, but the best action as always, was on the track.

Qualifying for FMF Cup was hotly contested since 25 guys wouldn't make the main event. Bill Dixon took the number one spot and the bonus point with an 87 point run and Rick Hart, Alex Flores, Dan Jackson, Ernie Vigil, Lin Eshalom, Nick Brocha and Warren James were within 4 points of each other. Aaron Colton and Kane Friesen both took their "bye", a provision that allows an athlete to drop their lowest score at the end of the season, or to miss an event. Series regulars Dan Farris, Jesse Toller, John Michael O'Leary, Andy Niles and Aprilia rider Joe Dryden all missed the field by just one or two points. This set the stage for a nail biting main event later in the day.

Next the action turned to the K&N Circle Challenge, a bracket competition that has two riders go head-to-head to see who can complete 10 circle wheelies first. A new twist in Nashville was the creation of a "hot box" that limited the size of available space, increasing the amount of difficulty and making for an even more exciting show. On Friday several guys, including Lin Eshalom took to practicing their technique and it was clear both he and teammate Vigil had improved their game, spinning away furiously. 4-time back-to-back winner Shin Kinoshita from Japan looked on nervously remarking: "I hope he can't pull off 10 revolutions at that speed. If he does I am toast." The words would prove to be prophetic. After a fast and furious elimination, the final round of the K&N Circle Challenge saw Brian Bubash, Lin Eshalom and Shin Kinoshita go up against each other in a three-way battle. As they clutched up, an audible gasp went out from the crowd that turned to cheering as they realized the speed with which all three were turning. It was a remarkable sight. Eshalom was the first to reach 10 to take the win, but even the slowest of the three would have probably won any of the previous competitions. After his loss, Kinoshita embraced his teammate Eshalom to congratulate him in what almost looked like a "passing of the torch ceremony". Kinoshita knew he had been beaten and will have to fight very hard to regain the top spot.

The Aprilia All Star Challenge continued to grip fans with a fantastic combination of racing and stunt riding skills on a predetermined course. The athletes had to ride a rolling burnout through a set of cones, turn around, scrape the tail, complete a target stoppie, another rolling burnout slalom and finally race back to the start line. All on stock Aprilia SXV 4.5 supermoto bikes. Bill Dixon was able to avenge his Havasu loss to Dan Jackson by a half second with a final time of 26.87, tying up the points at 87 each.

The Russ Brown Freestyle Burnout competition once again belonged to Brian Bubash who showed great variety of tricks during his minute long run. It also saw the return of Ryan Suchaneck to competition for the first time since Indianapolis in 2008. Suchaneck was involved in an accident that forced the amputation of his left leg beneath the knee and he now rides with an artificial limb. Ryan is not one to let his condition hold him back and his excellent burnout skills netted him a third place finish. Bill Dixon pleased the crowd when he blew the tire on a stock Yamaha R1 in less than 11 seconds by getting it up to 180mph in sixth gear, all while the bike was standing still.

In Sickest Trick the athletes rolled out tricks that had never been performed in competition before, giving the fans an incredible show. Nick Brocha took the win with a 180 elevator to switchback christ. In plain English, it means Nick was standing on his pegs while the bike was coasting, jumped up, did a 180 degree rotation in mid-air and landed standing on his tank, facing backwards. Got that? Up, turn, land, stand. Never been done before. To top it off, Nick had tucked his bike in practice, throwing off the alignment and rake. To prevent the bike from hitting the wall in case of a fall he had riders on both sides of him that would hold the bike in case of a ghost ride. You had to be there to believe it.

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.

Nashville was an incredible event in front of awesome fans at a venue that everyone agreed set new standards for the series. Next stop is Los Angeles. Check http://www.xdlshow.com for details in the coming weeks.

FMF Cup Points Standing (Top 5)
1. Bill Dixon 91
2. Lin Eshalom 78
3. Ernie Vigil 60
4. Rick Hart 57
5. Dan Jackson 54

Aprilia All Star Challenge Points Standing (Top 5)
1. Dan Jackson 87
2. Bill Dixon 87
3. Brian Bubash 78
4. Eric Pettit 69
5. Rick Hart 36

K&N Circle Challenge Winner
Lin Eshalom

Russ Brown Freestyle Burnout Winner
Brian Bubash

Sickest Trick Winner
Nick "Apex" Brocha

Team Battle Winner
Death Squad