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NBL Grands
Louisville, KY
September 4-6, 2009

One thing that all of the NBL Pro classes have in common is the consistency of their newly found Number One title holders. In all four of the classes (Elite Men, Elite Women, Masters and Super Ex) the rider going in to the Grand Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky came out on top. In fact, only one of the 3 classes had someone move into the top three spots who weren't already there; that class being Elite Women and that rider being Amanda Geving moving from the Sixth Position up to the Third Position. Even still, points were tight enough and this led to an exciting weekend of racing.

Elite Men

This time last year, most of us had only heard of Free Agent's elusive Maris Stromberg because he had become the first ever Elite Men's Olympic champion. Throughout this season however, Stromberg has showed us all exactly why he is an Olympic Champion. Sitting in the number one spot coming into the Grand Nationals, Maris was a safe bet to win the title. He proved that by going out and winning every lap of the weekend, until an unfortunate crash in Saturday's main event took both him and Celly Smelly's Matt Pohlkamp away from having a shot at the podium for the day. This will not be the last we see of Stromberg; he is currently ranked number one in the ABA with a comfortable lead going into the ABA Grand's taking place this November.

However, once the dust was settled, both figuratively and literally, GHP's own Randy Stumpfhauser found himself standing atop the podium with the day's award next to Free Agent's Cristian Becerine in second and Answer's Bubba Harris in third.

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Elite Men Race Results
1. Randy Stumpfhauser (GHP)
2. Cristian Becerine (Free Agent)
3. Bubba Harris (Answer)

Elite Men Series Final
Maris Stromberg (Free Agent)
Randy Stumpfhauser (GHP)
Cristian Becerine (Free Agent)

Elite Women

All I have to say about Elite Women is Dominique Daniels. Riding for Avent/Bombshell, Daniels has been making a big name for herself all year, not only as an extremely skilled rider, but also as a great role model. It's not a surprise that she walked away with the Elite Women's title, going to the race with a 25+ point lead. With that, she never let it get to her all day. I didn't see one race all day where she wasn't out front leading the way. It's no wonder that she is also point leader in the ABA series and looking like she may have a second professional title in her future.

Rounding out Saturday's main event were Supercross/On The Gate Films' Krystal Hime and Intense/Dyna Pep's Amanda Geving. Geving also managed to be the only professional rider who didn't come into the NBL Grands with a overall podium position, but went home with one.

Elite Women Race Results
1. Dominique Daniels (Avent/Bombshell)
2. Krystal Hime (Supercross/On The Gate Films)
3. Amanda Geving (Intense/Dyna Pep)

Elite Women Series Final
1. Dominique Daniels (Avent/Bombshell)
2. Alise Post (Redline)
3. Amanda Geving (Intense/Dyna Pep)

Super Ex

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Coming in with a lofty 29 point lead and a 2008 amateur title in his pocket, Excaliber's Joshua Meyer had all eyes on him Saturday evening when the Super Ex class was on the track. But when it came time for the main event, he was lost in the pack leaving Dan's Comp's Weston Pope to show everyone around the first half of the track before being bumped back into third by Kovachi's Matt Kelty who took the win and Clayborn/Outback's Logan Collins who followed him in for the second.

When it came time for the Series Final podium however, there was no stopping Meyer from standing on top, and letting everyone know that next year, he is looking for his third title in a row, this time in Elite Men.

Super Ex Race Results
1. Matt Kelty (Kovachi Wheels)
2. Logan Collins (Clayborn/Outback)
3. Weston Pope (Dan's Comp)

Super Ex Series Final
1. Joshua Meyer (Excaliber)
2. Matt Kelty (Kovachi Wheels)
3. Logan Collins (Clayborn/Outback)

Masters

Dale Holmes. Wikipedia defines him as "a British professional "Old/Mid School" Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racer whose prime competitive years were from 1990-2004." Riding for Free Agent, Dale Holmes definitely had a solid 2008/2009 season, so he might have to ask someone to update the Wiki article about him. Holmes held it together for the whole season, but when the main event came around Saturday, he was lost midpack, leaving the newschool (Felt's Joey Albright) versus oldschool (GHP's John Purse) battle to take center stage. Purse prevailed with a hard move in the last turn, and Albright was forced to settle in for second with Rennen/Intense's Will Murray following him in for third.

Masters Race Results
1. John Purse (GHP)
2. Joey Albright (Felt)
3. Will Murray (Rennen/Intense)

Masters Series Final
1. Dale Holmes (Free Agent)
2. Tim Dinger (Hornball)
3. Tome Opincar (Intense/Dyna Pep)

For more race action from the NBL Grands, check the gallery.