With Hurricane Katrina ravaging the Gulf Coast and making its way through the middle part of the country early last week, many people were worried that the Grands might have to be postponed. Not a chance. After three days of heavy rain, the clouds subsided and left us with perfect weather for the week.

The track crew and volunteers worked late all week to get the track dry and in racing condition. They did an amazing job. By the time practice started on Thursday morning, the track was in impeccable condition and it stayed that way throughout the weekend under the hot, but comfortable Kentucky sun.

A big weekend of racing started with a stirring torch ceremony on Saturday morning. Representatives from each region showed the unity of the NBL nation by carrying an Olympic-style torch around the track to be received by the current(at that time) Elite Men’s points leader, Randy Stumpfhauser. The National Anthem made us think about the events going on around the world as racers who have been or will be deployed to Iraq held the flag. Finally, “Proud to Be An American” played while members of the national teams carried the flag around the track on their bikes. What a fitting opening to a fantastic weekend.

There were nearly 500 motos on Saturday, but they got done in record time with plenty of clean racing. However, most of the qualifying races still had to be put off until Sunday. The racers saved enough energy though to put on a great show on Sunday. In the first Elite Men’s Semi, points leader, Randy Stumpfhauser took fifth, failed to qualify for the Main and virtually eliminated himself from contention for the year-end title. In the second Semi, Mike Day just needed to qualify for the Main to all but guarantee him the title. But while he was running seventh for most of the race, the title was in jeopardy. He overtook Robert De Wilde on the final straight to take fifth and wrap up the title barring a disaster in the Main. There would be no disaster and the final top three Elite Men were Day, Warwick Stevenson who rode crazy fast all week and Stumpfhauser.

In other classes, Samantha Cools upset Kim Hayashi by passing her on the final straight to win the Elite Women’s 1^st Place prize in the second most exciting Main of the day. The most exciting Main would have to go to Superclass where Mike Lundy overtook both Derek Betcher and Nick St. Lawrence on the last straight to take it in a photo finish. Donny Robinson led the Elite Cruiser Main the entire way to take the title and Dave Bittner took the Elite Masters title in style. The most jaw dropping moment in the Mains had to be Joey Bradford taking his 15 Expert Main by almost the entire final straight, completely unchallenged. Overall, Sunday lived up to and surpassed expectations as the premiere NBL race of the season.

Special thanks to all the volunteers and workers who helped make this Grands one of the smoothest and best Grands ever. Extra special thanks to everyone who donated money to the American Red Cross at the NBL booth to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. On a weekend consumed by incredible BMX action it’s nice to see that the BMX spirit and especially the human spirit are still alive and well. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and we look forward to seeing you all next year for an even better 2006 Grands!