AMSOIL Duluth National 2008 – Day 3
It was definitely colder. We had to get into the pits early before it got too clustered, but Semi Pro Stock qualifying wasn’t scheduled till 10, and they were running a little behind. We took a few minutes to chat with Robbie and the other riders at BOSS racing. He felt the Ski-Doos were running a loose which made them not as smooth over the bumps and obviously left them at a disadvantage. This is the first race of the year and the best time to fine tune those small issues for the next race.
Semi Pro Stock Qualifier Heat 1: Ryan Carey (#483, Polaris) pulled out in front followed by Joey Sagan (#202) and Kyle Murphy (#284). It was a tight race for the top spots. Sagan fell back to the 4th spot as Darrin Mees (#170) passed into second place to finish the race in the last qualifying spot.
Semi Pro Stock Qualifier Heat 2: Corey Davis (#160, Arctic Cat), Tim Tremblay (#127, Ski-Doo) and Paul Bauerly (#324, Ski-Doo) had the top three spots, respectively, pulling out of the holeshot. Bauerly had some damage to his sled after connecting with a few other riders in a mash up after the holeshot, he quickly fell back to 5th. Derek Ellis (#106, Polaris) moved his way into 3rd and while Davis solidified the top spot by a 10 sled lead, Ellis found his way to 2nd to qualify. Bauerly kept fighting the entire race and came over the finish line jump just a fraction of a second behind 4th place Colby Crapo.
Semi Pro Stock Qualifier Heat 3: Dylan Martin (#937, Polaris), Christian Salemark (#666, Ski-Doo) and Wesley Selby (#155, Arctic Cat) took the top three spots at the beginning of the race. Martin kept consistent lap times and widened his lead. Selby passed Salemark for second and they fought for the final qualifying spot the entire race. Salemark perseverance came through and he finished the race in second to qualify.
Semi Pro Stock Qualifier Heat 4: Chris Kafka (#991, Polaris), Mike Kieper (#296) and Chase Rosemeyer (#675) started the race in the top three spots. Rosemeyer moved into second and Kieper lost ground taking a spill in the abyss, making room for Justin Parnell to take over 3rd and leaving him in last. Kafka never left 1st and Parnell found his way to the final qualifying spot.
Paul Bauerly muscled the final qualifying spot by taking 1st in the final LCQ heat, his second LCQ 1st for the weekend.
Semi Pro Stock Final: Most of the qualifying winners found their way into the top spots early on. The race finished off with Dylan Martin in 1st, Corey Davis 2nd, Logan Christian 3rd, Christian Salemark 4th, Chris Kafka 5th and LCQ winner Paul Bauerly in 6th.
Pro Open Qualifying Heat 1: T.J Gulla (#44, Polaris), Mike Schultz (#5, Ski-Doo) and Matt Piche (#51, Arctic Cat) start off in the top three spots. This heat turned out to be a good one for Ski-Doo with Mathieu Morin (#27, Ski-Doo) passing Piche for 3rd to finish off the race in the final qualifying spot.
Pro Open Qualifying Heat 2: Ross Martin (#837, Polaris) and Tucker Hibbert (#68, Arctic Cat) were top two to kick off the heat. Hibbert passed Matin for 1st and Ryan Simmons (#67, Arctic Cat) got the final qualifying spot. Robbie Malinoski was out of the race after a spill in the “crash magnet” abyss.
Pro Open Qualifying Heat 3: Levi LaVallee (#108, Polaris), Iain Hayden (#93, Yamaha) and Matt Judnick (#58, Polaris) pulled out in the top three spots Judnick passed to 1st. Hayden started off good on the Yami but his machine just couldn’t keep pase and left room for D.J. Eckstrom to pull into 3rd. Dave Allard (#167, Ski-Doo) didn’t get the greatest start, he fought his way to 5th place, but that just wasn’t enough.
Pro Open LCQ Heat 1: Malinoski came out of the holeshot with a vengeance, taking first and leading nearly the entire race. Brett Turcotte (#16, Arctic Cat) was close on his tail and he finally got his opportunity to take first toward the end of the race. Garth Kaufman (#48, Arctic Cat) finished the race in the final qualifying spot, disappointing Steve Taylor (#2, Yamaha) who missed his qualifying spot by coming in 4th.
Pro Open Final: No surprise Tucker Hibbert, the top qualifier, was first out of the holeshot; followed by T.J. Gulla, Ryan Simmons and Ross Martin. As Hibbert solidified his dominating 1st place, the battle was for second with Simmons moving into the second spot and Gulla falling back in the pack after dismounting his sled in the newly added “abyss” portion of the track. Malinoski got hung up with a few riders taking him out of contention and finishing in 13th. Tucker “T-Train” Hibbert won the race by over a 12 second lead, lapping nearly half the field. Simmons finished in second, Martin in third and Brett Turcotte got the fourth place spot.
Overall an extremely impressive weekend with record attendance. Lots of ups and downs for racers and manufacturers. The first race of the season is out of the way and everyone has their eyes focused on Ironwood Michigan for number two. (BB)
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