Stateline SuperMoto 2008
- Updated: August 17, 2008
The Southern Nevada Stateline SuperMoto Challenge attracted some of the fastest racers from around the country. The event was held on April 4 – 6 in Primm, Nevada. ATV SuperMoto pro, Nic Granlund, won every race he entered over the three day weekend, winning the team race on Friday night and remaining undefeated through the Quad 450 Pro Main Event on Sunday afternoon.
The weekend began on Thursday with the Nic Granlund Racing School. Proving a wise investment, students that attended the School prior to the event received immediate payback over the weekend. Jason Anderson won the Quad Vet 25+ Main Event. Tye Ham won the novice class, Patrick Clark won the intermediate class, and Mike Gieger held a commanding lead in the beginner class until a lapped riders shock reservoir burst causing Mike to crash. Brock Sizemoore won the 90cc class, DJ Noer won the 14 – 25 main event. “Having so many of my students either win or place in almost every event proves that we are doing something right. We are very excited that our collective team won seven main events over the weekend.”
Friday was the first race day and brought one of the most fun events of the weekend – team races. Riders piloted their own ATVs in a “tag team” style event. Nic and his partner, Jason Anderson, went wire to wire and dominated the team race winning by over 30 seconds. Second place in the team event went to SuperMoto professionals Frank Batista and Zac Willet.
Saturday brought individual heat races and accompanying main events. Nic was entered in the Unlimited Quad Pro/Am class and the Quad Vet 25 + class. Nic began the Pro/Am heat race in the fifth row behind 20 racers. With an aggressive riding style, he charged his way to first place within four laps and picked up a win for the heat. The first main event was the Unlimited Quad Pro/Am. Nic took the lead on the first lap and pulled away from the pack quickly. It was fortunate that Nic built more than a ten second lead as his transmission failed late in the race and the huge lead allowed him to finish the race with only first gear working. Rather than risk missing the Sunday Pro event, Nic opted to skip the 25+ Vet main event and save his remaining Quad for Sunday’s pro event. Not to worry, Nic’s partner Jason Anderson picked up the slack and won the Vet 25+ main event.
Sunday brought the 450 Pro Main event. Riders came from all over the country to race this event. Pro riders Jason Anderson, Zac Willet, Frank Batista, Polaris Pro Doug Eichner, John Schafe, and Dennis Capogni were all vying for the first place trophy. Jason Anderson rode smooth and fast to win heat race number one. Nic started Heat 2 on the inside position in the second row behind KTM Pro Shaun Moore who was forced to ride his brother’s Cannondale rather than his tried and true KTM. Nic battled from eighth place in turn number one and took the lead by the second lap.
Winning the heat race put Nic in the best starting position he had all weekend. Nic started the main event in third place behind Chris Riley and Jason Anderson. On the second lap, Nic maneuvered around Jason for second position. On the next lap he used his superior braking skills to pass Chris on the most technical part of the course coming off the fastest straightaway. Never looking back, he easily distanced himself from the field picking up at least one second each lap. Winning the 450 Pro Main Event gave Nic a clean sweep of the Pro events for the weekend. This marks the 3rd Stateline SuperMoto championship for Granlund in four years.
Nic would like to thank his sponsors: NGR, Fox Shox, AC Racing, Skat Trak, TORCO, DWT, CT Racing, Quad Tech, Laeger, Fasst, Precision, Hinson, ITI, Maxxis, Velocity Filters, Squirly Industries, Streamline, Lonestar, Dragon, Arp, SHIFT, Triumph, Full Bore, JSR. A shout also goes out to Marche Karger and his crew for putting together a great race.
