Nic Granlund Back On Top

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 making sure he complied with all the safety rules, including a Pro-Armor five point harness, and racing a completely stock Polaris RZR with the exception of a set of Fox’s 2.0 Racing Shox, Nic was ready to go racing. The race went well, and after finishing an impressive fourth place in his first ever SXS race, Nic was looking forward to the next 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 Wheels and Tires 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 more testing resulting in more broken parts, Nic drove to round three with a car in pieces. Thanks go to some fellow competitors and the great crew at Dragonfire Racing, who allowed 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 to third place. As the first lap was coming to an end Nic got caught in an unexpected rut and rolled the RZR over onto it’s 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 WORCS 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 getting the car dialled 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 dropped Nic got to the first turn in fourth position, then within the next few turns Nic moved into third place. The course was over 6 miles long with lots of tight turns and fast straightaways, and in the back section the leader made a mistake and slipped back to 3rd. Nic was now in second, with the new leader pulling a slight advantage. Nic put his head down and made up some great time and coming into the MX section Nic was right on the rear bumper of the leading car. A short while later Nic made the move and took over the lead. At that point Nic’s Dragonfire racing teammate in the 999 car  drove hard and aggressively to take the lead position from Nic.

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 the win.

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.

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.

All photos by Jill Teixeira