XDL Round 3 Nashville

Known as the best track on the XDL circuit, Nashville Superspeedway gives the riders a lot of room and a smooth surface to fully unfold their creativity. 2010 has seen an evolution towards a new display of aggression and flow and the large competition area was conducive to exciting and dangerous runs.

The highlight of the weekend was the FMF Cup event that featured Shin Kinoshita from Japan and reigning champion Bill Dixon. They exhibited two completely different styles that were both equally exciting because they combined speed, fluidity, innovation, athleticism and aggression into a cohesive two-minute package. Both runs left the audience awestruck. Dixon took the win in FMF Cup and Kinoshita was a close second for his best ever XDL finish in three years. Kinoshita said that he started feeling confident after the first practice sessions when he realized he was on a good bike: "This was the first time I had a good bike to ride in a long time and I built more and more confidence as the event went on. If I could bring my Japan bike to the US and leave it here, who knows, I might be contending for the win consistently."

As always, the Speed and Strength Sickest Trick competition ended the weekend and it was once again a showcase for the rapid progression of tricks in the sport. Bill Dixon stole the show with a big, fast trick. He performed a switchback stoppie, but started it 400 feet outside the competition area so that by the time he was passing under the Red Bull arch he was already at about 70 mph-backwards. Dixon admitted afterwards that it was the most scared he had been in some time. He said he messed up the stoppie on his first attempt because his heart was beating so quickly he couldn't concentrate. He had the opposite effect on people in the audience, making everyone else's hearts stop.