Born in
Ipswich, Nicholls began his speedway career in
grasstrack racing becoming National Schoolboy champion in 1993. His first international appearance came in 1996 when he was selected to ride for
Great Britain in the
Speedway World Cup final. He then became
British Under-21 Champion in 1998 and again in 1999. Nicholls was the most successful ever
Coventry Bees captain, skippering them to five trophies in three seasons between 2004 and 2007, including two
Elite League championships. Nicholls led his home club, the Ipswich Witches for the 2010 Elite League season, as well as riding for Vargarna in the Swedish league and Miskolc, a Hungarian team in the Polish league. With Ipswich dropping down a division, Nicholls signed for
Swindon Robins for 2011. He signed to ride for
Belle Vue Aces in 2014 and extended his contract in 2015. After spending 2017 with
Rye House Rockets, he started the 2018
SGB Premiership season with them, and rode for
Peterborough Panthers in the
SGB Championship. He was part of the Peterborough team that won the
SGB Championship Fours, which was held on 1 July 2018, at the
Media Prime Arena. The Rockets folded mid-season in 2019, but he was signed by
Leicester Lions, with whom he stayed with for the remainder of the 2019 season and helped them win the
SGB Championship 2019. After the
COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2020 season, he won the league title with Peterborough for the 2021 season. During the latter part of the 2021 season he also won the
Olympique. Nicholls was appointed captain of the
Oxford Cheetahs for the
SGB Championship 2022 season. The Cheetahs were returning to action after a 14-year absence from British Speedway. In addition he rode for Peterborough in the
SGB Premiership 2022. He remained with the Oxford Cheetahs for the
SGB Championship 2023 and
SGB Championship 2024 seasons. ==Major results==