The following is from LocoX.com…Three short weeks after Daytona and it’s already time for Round 2 of the XDL Championship series brought to you by LocoX.com. I haven’t been to Arizona in the spring and the minute I got off of the plane I realized that I needed to be out West more often during this time of year. Ninety-two degrees and sunny already with no humidity? I just knew this was going to be a great stop. Randy Grube and Thomas Evans really put a great event together in the heart of Downtown Scottsdale. The venue was on a closed-off section of the public roadway right in the heart of the bar district; just like our last and probably favorite stop of the year, Indy! That means packed stands, which makes the competitors ride harder and the sponsors happy as well. Upon further inspection, the road that the athletes would be riding on was going to be the equalizer. Huge cracks, uneven rough sections dubbed “The Grand Canyon”, and a crowned center of the street would play a big part in this event.As the qualifying field were preparing and getting warmed up, I couldn’t help but think how I was not at all envious of my fellow riders who had to compete on what “appeared” to be a tough city street. Ha, who was I kidding? That street didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell against the best riders in the country! The saying “Anywhere, Anytime” totally applied here as I watched the qualifiers work that street like a hooker on a busy Friday night! Right off the bat, Bill Dixon and his high-powered riding style, Nick Apex with his tech tricks, and Chris “Teach” McNeil on the monster horsepower BMW S1000RR were all looking great.Out of 25 athletes trying to qualify, we only take the top 15, and man, was that a tough field. Racing 905 rider, Luke “Duke” Emmons came out swinging and grabbed the number one qualifying spot in the FMF Cup, while Shin Kinsohita was close behind in second. Nick “Apex” Brocha was a solid third, with two-time XDL Champ Bill Dixon in fourth and Rick Hart rounding out the top five.The Racing 905 Speed & Style Challenge is a new event this year. It combines the speed of racing with the stunt-riding discipline tossed into the mix. Drag racing, burnouts, circle wheelies, sharp corners and a stoppie to finish the course all make this a very fun event. Round 1 in Daytona left Aaron Colton and Dan Jackson wanting a shot at redemption. Colton’s rev limiter drag launches gave him the holeshot but Dan Jackson is able to blaze through the burnout cones like a man possessed.Scottsdale was Chris “Teach” McNeil’s first time at this event and the Beemer is just unreal. So much power it’s violent to watch, which can get you into trouble quickly and it did just that. Teach went out early in the pack, the rest of the competitors knocking the field down one by one and leaving just the showdown I was looking for. “Crazy” Dan Jackson, the O.G from Kansas City, and the youngest of the XDL field Mr. Aaron Colton. Can you say “photo finish?”, because the judges had to go back to the camera on that one. After reviewing the footage, it was clear that Colton had edged out Dan Jackson by a front tire!The K&N Circle challenge was up next and Atlanta, Georgia’s Aaron Twite took first place, with Nick “Apex” Brocha in second, Ernie “E-Dub” Vigil in third, and Bill Dixon in fourth.The Wheelie Teach Wheelie race is always great to watch too. How fast can the competitors wheelie side by side, straight down the course 200 feet, turn 180 degrees around a cone and come back while still in a wheelie? FAST! Jesse Toler was looking good in this event, as was Kris Higdon, but Nick Apex and his Empire teammate, Ernie Vigil, were smoking everyone with their aggressive styles of coming in hot and exiting leaned way off of the side of the bike. But Apex’s technique proved to be the winner against his teammate and Nick took the win.Back to the FMF Cup finals, going through the three final rounds, it was anyone’s game here in AZ. The difficult street was starting to take its toll on some of the technical tricks as well as anything with speed. By the final run of the night everyone was looking sharp and had figured out the different lines to take. The top 15 qualifiers were going all out for the packed stands. The cheering crowd was behind every competitor who came through the Red Bull arch, which was awesome to see. At the end of it all, the FMF Cup standings were tough but much deserved.FMF Cup Final Results
1. Nick “Apex” Brocha
2. Luke “Duke” Emmons
3. Shin Kinoshita
4. Bill Dixon
5. Alex FloresThe last event of the weekend is the Stuntride.com Sickest Trick comp. This event is the “go big or go home” challenge and I haven’t seen so many people enter it in quite a while.The crowd really got behind hometown hero “Savage” Lin Eshalom and he went BIG! Having just crashed in his final FMF Cup run, he looked pretty banged up but wasn’t going to let down his friends or family who were in attendance. Having the XDL staff remove the hot pit barricade from behind the Red Bull arch he went all the way back to the fence to gain speed for his new trick called the “Savage endo”. Wide open in second gear, Lin came in with no hands on his handlebars and proceeded to roll a 100 foot endo while holding onto the tail section of his bike by using his custom front brake lever hidden under the subframe. An endo with no hands? Really?!? Yes, and it was more than worthy of the Sickest Trick title.Shin Kinoshita came in second with a Switchback Elevator jump and Bill Dixon did a backwards version of the Savage Endo but it wasn’t enough to top Lin with his speed and distance.The weekend in Scottsdale Arizona was an amazing one and I can’t wait until next year so we can do it even BIGGER! See you guys in Nashville, Tennessee for Round 3!-Rowdy
