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STI's
Nic Granlund took the win at Speed World
MX WORCS in the SxS 850 Production Class
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Phoenix, AZ (4/19/2012) -
In only his third ever SXS race Granlund claims
his first victory beating 17 other competitors
in the super competitive SXS production 850
class at Round four of the Worcs racing series
in surprise Arizona.
As Nic is beginning a new venture into the
SXS world he has chosen the WORCS series to
hone his driving skills. The Worcs series has
grown tremendously in the UTV market, At round
two it was almost a total of 70 entries between
the classes. After not competing in round one
due to not having a UTV to race, Nic chose to
begin at round two in Primm Nevada. Beginning
by complying to all the safety rules including
a pro-armor five point harness and racing a
completely stock RZR's with the exception of
a set of Fox's 2.0 racing shox, Nic was ready
to go racing . After finishing an impressive
fourth place in his first ever SXS race Nic
was looking forward to the new challenge.
As round three at crazy horse campgrounds in
Lake Havasu came around Nic
was still learning about the car.
At this point Nic was pleased to start working
with STI tires and wheels as
it will be a great relationship for the season.
After breaking a belt in testing Nic decided
to upgrade the clutch system.
After some broken parts Nic drove to round three
with a car in pieces.
Thanks to some fellow competitors and the great
crew at Dragonfire racing
allowing Nic to borrow some parts from them
so that he could compete in the
race, Nic's pit crew, Mike G and Ted K worked
feverishly to get the car
ready for the race.
As the race started Nic was running in fifth
place and made some moves and managed to get
into third place. As the first lap was coming
to an end Nic
got caught in a unexpected rut and rolled a
car over on its side.
While other competitors drove by some spectators
came to assist and rolled
the car back onto its wheels. At this point
Nic put the hammer down and
drove as smooth and hard as he could making
up time and finishing a
respectable fifth place.
As round four was getting closer Nic decided
to do some engine upgrades to
be more competitive. Nic contacted longtime
sponsor CT racing to come up
with a game plan, Between NGR ( Nic Granlund
Racing) and CT a great package
was selected. To finish it off a Dragonfire
exhaust system was installed.
In the week prior Mike G with got tools racing
was an incredible help in
getting the car ready for round four of the
works racing series.
Heading to the race with some brand-new STI
tires and bead- lock wheels and
fresh Torco synthetic oil in the engine Nic
was excited for the weekend.
During Friday's practice Nic was geting the
car dialed in and with the
great help from Rick at the Fox shox trackside
support did some final
tuning on the shocks.
When the green flag drops Nic goes into the
first turn in fourth position, Then within the
next few turns Nic moves in to third place.
The course was over 6 miles with lots of tight
turns and fast straightaways, In the back section
the leader made a mistake and sliped back to
3rd . Nic was now in second the as new leader
pulled a slight advantage, Nic put his head
down and made up some great time, coming into
the MX section Nic was right on the rear bumper
of the leading car, A short while later Nic
made a move and took over the lead. At that
point Nic's Dragonfire racing teammate in the
999 drove hard and aggressively to take over
the lead. As the leader was pushing hard, Nic
was keeping a steady and controlled pace.
Coming back into the MX-section the 999 car
had pulled a few seconds advantage but then
suffered a mechanical failure and Nic assumed
the lead again. Over the next few laps the Fox
2.0 Shox and STI Black Diamond tires worked
great as Nic drove mistake free and had a great
flow going. As the final lap was ending Nic
made no mistakes and cruised to take the win.
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Former
Pro ATV Racer Nic Granlund also won the
40+ A/Expert ATV class |
To finish off a great weekend Nic decided to
race his quad in the 40+ A/Expert ATV class
on Sunday. The race went off without a hitch
and Nic took first place in the 40+ class, Also
managing to beat all of the 30+ A riders whom
started 30 sec ahead.
All photos by Jill Teixeira
Nic would like to thank Mike Geiger for all
his help before, during and
after the races. Nic would also like to thank
his sponsors.
NGR , Fox racing shox, STI tires and wheels,
Torco oil, Dragonfire racing,
Lone Star racing, Got tools racing, CT racing,
Motoactive, Swick,
Skat-Trak, Weller racing, Triumph motorsports,Quad
tech,Hinson