Free Agent’s Maris Strombergs, the Olympic Gold Medalist from Latvia, quickly proved that he is the man to beat, edging out GHP’s Randy Stumpfhauser for the wins in Elite Men both days. Dominique Daniels of Arizona made her NBL debut a successful one as well - She beat out Raceplace BMX/Intense’s Stephanie Barragan and BMXTruth/GHP/Fly’s Madison Pitts for the double. Free Agent’s Dale Holmes kicked off his NBL Masters campaign winning both days while his team mate from Ecuador, Fausto Endara and Excalibur/TLD’s Josh Meyers split wins in Super-Ex.
Once again a group of riders took to the track after Saturday’s national and continued to ride until sundown. They all echoed the same feeling about the Estrella Mtn. Track. “Somehow, it’s even better than last year. I love the flames on the Pro section… that’s the coolest thing I’ve seen on a track in a long time!” said one of the riders. NBL continues to elevate their presence in the West and the Coyote National provided a golden opportunity for western-based riders and teams to earn valuable national points and qualify for the 2009 NBL Grand National. Amateurs require only six National scores plus the Grands to earn a NBL National number and two of those scores can come from NBL Regionals. Best of all there’s three more big NBL weekends coming up in the West - The Jackpot Nationals, March 14-15 in Las Vegas (Nellis BMX), the All American Nationals, May 16-17 in NorCal (Fresno BMX) and the Golden State Nationals, August 1-2 also in Norcal (Manzanita Park BMX, Prunedale).
Excalibur BMX took top honors in the National Team division with back-to-back wins and pocketed a handful of valuable team points with the double-victory. They are ranked just behind Factory Felt/SC Action Sports and with their full time commitment to the National series, they will be challenging for the #1 Title come September. The Team NBL title will once again come down to the Grands - RaceplaceBMX/Intense scored back-to-back wins ahead of Lost Racing and BMX Bombers who each earned a 2nd and 3rd place result. They have a ways to go but expect this Las Vegas-based team to in the running this year too.
A huge thank-you goes out to all of the staff and volunteers from Estrella Mtn BMX who truly made this an amazing event. A custom painted pro section…. Wow. A job well done! Check out the full story in the March issue of BMX Today Magazine. Visit the NBL website at www.nbl.org for full results and view more details on the series and the full schedule.
Top 5 Standings after Coyote Nationals
Elite Men
1. Maris Strombergs, LAT 50 *Olympic Gold Medalist
2. Randy Stumpfhauser,CA 44 *2008 NBL Elite Champion
3. Mike Day, CA 36 *Olympic Silver Medalist
4. Jarrett Kolich, CA 36
5. Yvan Lapraz, SUI 31
Elite Women
1. Dominque Daniels, AZ 50
2. Stephanie Barragan, CA 40 *2008 NBL Elite Champion
3. Madison Pitts, FL 40
4. Rachel Smith, OH 32
5. Carley Young, PA 30
Super-Ex
1. Matthew Kelty, DE 42
2. Nicholas Long, CA 42
3. Fausto Endara, EC 41
4. Logan Collins, PA 36
5. Corey Reid, ID 29
Masters
1. Dale Holmes, CA 50
2. David Bittner, CA 44
3. Eric Rupe, CA 38
4. Domingos Lammoglia, FL 34
5. Adri Patrico Koolman, AB 30
NBL COYOTE NATIONALS ROCK ARIZONA - AGAIN OLYMPIC MEDALISTS CLASH WITH NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
Feb 10, 2009
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The NBL Coyote Nationals, held at the popular Estrella Mountain BMX track in Goodyear, Arizona, continues to grow and has become a must-race event on the West coast NBL circuit. It was also the season opener for the NBL Elite Series and a larger-than-expected turnout that included Olympic medalists, National stars and fast amateurs, raced their way around the smooth and fast course. Under sunny skies west of Phoenix Arizona, the Coyote National featured more than 80 motos of great racing action to kick off the 2009 ‘League of Champions’ Elite Series. 
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.