Seems the Death Squad team is full of self-made types with nutty nicknames. Nick "Apex" Brocha is a prime example. You could say the hulking stuntah - who now calls Sin City home - came up through the system: he started out as a camera guy ripping around Seattle on an R1. With his hardcore love of riding it was only natural that Apex started producing streetbike videos, and from there, it was just a matter of time before he was tearing up vacant lots, practicing tricks. The years of training paid off last year, when he racked up a slew of trophies both solo and with his Death Squad buddies at XDL events across the country.

That's fine, but how'd he manage to kick ass so fast? "Well, I hunkered down and trained. I have that fire inside that needs to win. I want my riding to dominate and set the bar for aggressive US Freestyle", says Brocha.

Based on last year's epic results, we'd say ol' Apex is delivering the goods as promised. Look for him to continually bang the rev limiter in 2009 too: "I'm 30% of the rider I want to be right now, and I'm really looking forward to finding the other 70%. "