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ALPINE — After an injury took him out of racing for several years, an Alpine man got into Endurocross motorcycle racing and has been invited to compete in the 2015 X Games.
Nick Thompson said he got interested in BMX bicycles when he was seven years old and that he began racing other kids in his neighborhood. That passion transitioned to dirt motorcycles and he worked to save up money to eventually buy his own motorcycle.
“My dad had a motorcycle when I was little,” Thompson said. “He helped me with side jobs and stuff when I was a little kid and made the deal if I paid half, that he would pay the other half. So I worked until I saved up enough to pay (for) a half a motorcycle and it kind of all went from there.”
When he was 11, Thompson began competing in local Motocross races. He said he also began doing off-roading motorcycle racing in the desert, and when he was 17, he was selected to compete on a DH1 team in the WORCS Racing series, a hybrid between Motocross and off-road racing. However, he had an accident during a race at Rocky Mountain Raceways and broke his leg.
Thompson said he got surgery and had to quit racing to recover. Then, he began college and his hiatus from racing continued.
“Then, I ended up getting another motorcycle here four years ago because I couldn’t stay away any longer,” he said, laughing.
He began competing in desert racing again and won the 2011 expert class championship in the Utah Sports Rider Association Desert Race Series. In 2012, Thompson began doing Endurocross racing — high-intensity, dirt bike racing on an indoor course including obstacles like logs, tractor tires and rocks.
Photo credit: Drew Ruiz
“It’s an all-out sprint until the finish line,” Thompson said. “(Endurocross) took my Motocross intensity and my off-road skillset and kind of combined those and I thought it was… where I could excel.”
Thompson competed at the Endurocross race series in Daytona on March 6, but finished one spot short of qualifying for the X Games. So he competed again in Salt Lake City at the EnergySolutions Arena on March 21 and finished seventh, his career high. Thompson said shortly after that he received his invitation to compete at the X Games.
“It was really cool because basically since I started that was my overall goal,” he said. “When I got that invite, I was extremely excited and so I hope to go down there and do well as well.”
The X Games will be held in Austin, Texas, from June 4-7.
