Hibbert failed to capture the holeshot of the Pro Super-Stock final for only the second time this season, emerging from the turn one traffic jam in sixth position in the 25 lap Pro main event. Perhaps even more surprising was Hibbert was the number two qualifier on the day, as first year pro Brett Bender claimed the top qualifier honors with an impressive heat race victory earlier.

But before the first lap was completed, Bender was ejected from his sled while attempting to negotiate a nasty section of moguls coined the “manufacturer’s land mine”. That allowed another first year pro and last year’s semi-pro year-end champ, Andrew Johnstad (Polaris) to take over the lead followed by TJ Gulla (Polaris), Carl Schubitzke (Cat), Garth Kaufman (Cat) and Tucker Hibbert (Cat). By lap four, Tucker had already worked around Kaufman and Schubitzke for the third position, while further upfront, Gulla shuffled past Johnstad for the lead.

With just three seconds separating Hibbert from the front of the pack, it took Tucker only three more laps to find himself sniffing on the bumper of Gulla for the lead. And it was on lap 9, that Tucker and Gulla skied the finish line jump side-by-side with Tucker tucking to the inside of Gulla on the landing to allow Tucker to find himself at his usual position on the track – at the front.

“I didn’t have a great start,” said Tucker after the race. “The track was nasty and I had to check-up a few times; there was a lot of carnage and yellow flags out there. When I saw TJ (Gulla) in front of me I thought, man how did he get there from the back row. But I knew there was a lot of laps left and I was patient and kept charging.”

By mid-race the running order up front was Tucker, Gulla, Johnstad and Kaufman. With a significant gap behind Kaufman, a pack of sleds ridden by Schubitzke, Matt Piche (Cat), Brett Turcotte (Cat), Robbie Malinoski (Doo) and Ryan Simons (Cat) battled for the remaining top five position.

Back at the front, Tucker continued to click-off smooth, consistent laps and TJ Gulla kept pace with Hibbert just 6 seconds back, but was unable to gain ground as the race wore on. Behind them, Kaufman worked his way around Johnstad on lap 13 and also kept pace with the leaders, 13 second back. It was as a running order that would hold until the checkered flag on lap 25. They were followed by an impressive ride by Johnstad for fourth and Ryan Simons in fifth.

“I made a few mistakes early in the race,” said TJ Gulla from the podium box after the race. “After he (Tucker) got around me I started to follow his lines and learned a lot. My lap times actually picked-up as the race went on.”

Kaufman, who led a strong showing for Christian Brother’s Racing who placed three sleds in the final top ten, was pleased with the run. “We’ve got such incredible teamwork going right now,” said Kaufman. “It’s not just with Christian Brothers but the entire Arctic Cat racing effort. It makes it a lot of fun to know everybody is working together.”

(Pat Bourgeois, ISOC Report #12, February 7, 2009)

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Winter X Games 13 SnoCross Final Video

Final Results:
1) Tucker Hibbert
2) Robbie Malinoski
3) Dan Ebert
4) Levi LaVallee
5) Ryan Simons
6) Dave Allard
7) Bobby LePage Matt Piche
9) Brett Bender
10) Matt Morin

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Early in the race, Eckstrom found his way off the track leaving him in bad positioning. Malinoski (Doo) lost 5th place to TJ Gulla (Pol) making the top order Hibbert, Turcotte, LaVallee, Martin and Gulla. This is how it remained until lap 13 when LaVallee and Martin battled for 3rd, exchanging the spot several times in the laps to come.

Malinoski continued to run a strong 6th place until he ran right off the track, causing a red flag and forcing a single file re-start with just 7 laps to go in the 26 lap final. This was everyone’s chance to knock Hibbert out and claim a victory. Unfortunately (for them), Hibbert had a clean shot back into first and solidified a victory. Gulla made one last go of it, with final top spots going to Hibbert, Turcotte, Gulla, LaVallee and Martin. Once again giving the podium spots to Arctic Cat and Polaris.

Pro Super Stock was packed with action as early leaders Ryan Simmons, TJ Gulla, Ross Martin and Andrew Johnstad lost their footing and fell deep into the pack. This leveled the playing field for eager contenders to stake claim to the top spots. LaVallee (Pol), Brett Bender (Pol), Garth Kaufman (Cat), Eckstrom (Pol), Turcotte (Cat) and Shaun Crapo (Pol) held the top seven spots after the first lap with Hibbert just on their heels.

This order continued for nearly half the race while Hibbert consistently made his way to first; eventually lapping every racer up to the top four. The final saw Hibbert in first, followed by Kaufman who had an impressive struggle making his way to second, LaVallee, Bender and Eckstrom rounded out the top five.

Ski-Doo finally got their first major win of the season, falling into the hands of Tim Trembly in the Semi-Pro Super Stock final. Dan Ebert (Cat), Derek Ellis (Pol), Paul Bauerly (Doo), and Matt Pichner (Cat) held the remaining top five spots. A last lap on-track incident in Semi-Pro Open delayed the official Semi-Pro Open results. The top five posted results are now as follows: Dan Ebert, Tim Tremblay, Derek Ellis, Paul Bauerly, Chris Kafka.

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Hibbert won the Pro Stock the same way he did in Duluth, nailing the holeshot, making consistent lap times and not letting a soul pass. Fellow Arctic Cat rider Ryan Simmons made a good case for second but a bobble in lap six knocked him back two spots to fourth. Polaris riders TJ Gulla and Levi Levalle rounded out the top three now with Hibbert still in the lead. Gulla lost his footing at a torturous downhill portion of the track allowing teammate LeVallee to take over the second spot and Dj Eckstrom into third. Simmons help his ground at forth and Ross Martin ended up in 5th to round out the top five in the Pro Stock.

Hibbert had to show everyone he has the talent to work his way to the top in the Pro Open final. He spun out and got dusted in the opening and ended up mid pack by the end of lap one. Brett Bender found his way on top after a great holeshot but quickly lost his advantage after taking a spill in the downhill portion of the track. Gulla followed by Simons, LaVallee and Martin soon rounded out the top four. Hibbert was in the wings, stalking…making defined passes. He kept on the gas and made his way to first before half of the race was over. After he got it, he wasn’t letting it go and lead the remainder. At the checkered Hibbert’s Cat was followed by Polaris’ piloted by Gulla and LeVallee. After them it was Garth Kaufman and Ross Martin finishing off the top five. Yamaha found their way into the finals for the weekend and Steve Taylor made a respectable 8th place finish. The highest finish for Ski-Doo for the weekend was 11th with BOSS Racing’s Dave Allard.

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There was some added excitement before kicking off the Pro races at Friday night’s Slednecks Invasion Tour by Monster Energy. The segment showcased some of the best snowmobile stunt riders around, nailing superman’s and backflips all to the tracks of their own personal DJ.

As far as manufacturers are conserned, Arctic Cat and Polaris definitely led the pack. Tucker Hibbert swept both Pro Finals to capture his 39th and 40th career victories. And whether it was the new 30 lap finals or his sheer skill, he found himself lapping nearly have the field in both events.

Hometown favorite Bobby LePage won the Semi-Pro Open and Martin Dylan captured the Semi-Pro Super Stock top podium spot. Leaving both top Pro spots to Arctic Cat and both top Semi spots to Polaris. By the end of the weekend Cat had the most podiums (7) (4-Pro, 3-Semi) with Polaris at 5 total podium spots (2-Pro, 3-Semi), leaving the Doos and Yamahas in the dust. Heightening the manufacturers competition is the added Sled Head 24/7 Manufacturer’s Cup, adding an additional $10,000 to the manufacturer who accumulates the most year-end points in the four main event classes.

Now that the first one’s under the belt, all the focus is on this weekends race in Ironwood, Michigan. In hopes to keep the fans and families attention’s grabbed, this weekends Pro and Semi races will all be ran all on Saturday. Talk about an action packed day, this will be qualifying, LCQ and finals running back to back. Looking forward to it. (BB)

Day-to-Day, Heat-to-Heat Coverage from Duluth

AMSOIL Duluth 2008 Day 1

AMSOIL Duluth 2008 Day 2

AMSOIL Duluth 2008 Day 3

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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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This year the Semi Pros are pushed to the limits in a 20 lap final. The Semi Pro Open final was off; Christian Salemark (#666) pulled off in front with his Cat followed by Bobby LePage (#244) and Chris Kafka (#991) both on Polaris. It was a real tight race between the top three for most of the first half with a large gap between 3rd and 4th. Then the gap started to close as the rest of the pack got on the top three’s tail. Lepage was able to pass Salemark for first and gain a substantial lead. Then Salemark lost more ground and Kafka took second to finish off the Semi Pro Open Final. Bauerly got a tough place in the holeshot and steadily worked his way from 8th to 7th place to finish the race. All in all the race was exciting and the competition in Semi Pro continues to grow more aggressive.

Heat 1 of the Pro Super Stock qualifier drove right into the professional action and just before they got started, the snow started to flyl and didn’t stop till just before the final. Shaun Crapo (#3, Polaris) pulled out in first place followed by Levi LaVallee (#108, Polaris). LaVallee was able to take the lead and create a good gap to solidify a win. There was a tough race for third between two Arctic Cats throttled by Garth Kaufman (#48) and Carl Schubitzke (#6): Kaufman was able to stay on top for the entirety of the race, but just couldn’t pull off a qualifying spot. LaVallee, always striving to please, pulled off a heel clicker on his checkered flag tabletop jump and slowed down for a quick hand stand on his sled while passing by the grand stands.

Heat 2 started off with Ryan Simons (#67, Arctic Cat), T.J. Gulla (#44, Polaris) and D.J. Eckstrom (#25, Polaris) rounding off the top three spots. Andrew Johnstad (#255, Polaris) was involved in a crash that added to the intensity. Gulla soon passed Simons and widened the gap from 1st to 2nd place by capitalizing on a fast line out of the abyss.

Heat 3 began with Ross Martin (#837, Polaris), Mike Schultz (#5, Ski-Doo), Tucker Hibbert (#68, Arctic Cat) and Robbie Malinoski (#4, Ski-Doo) in the top for spots. Martin found his way off the track but amazingly was able to hold his place. It almost seemed as is Hibbert was taking his time slowly stalking each rider in front of him getting in the way of his goal…1st. First he slipped by into second, almost unnoticed. Then he snaked his way into first, making a very decisive, aggressive pass just before descending into the abyss. Hibbert now held the top spot with Martin in second, Shultz in third and Malinoski in fourth. Malinoski seemed to be loosing a little ground with Brett Turcotte (#16, Arctic Cat) close on his tail. It was announced after the race that Robbie was running without any goggles on, but was still able to hold his position…impressive.

Pro Stock LCQ Heat 1 ended with Bobby LePage (#244, Polaris) in first, already with a Semi-Pro Open win for the weekend. Carl Schubitske (#6, Arctic Cat) in 2nd and Mathieu Morin (#27, Ski-Doo) rounding of the final qualifying spot.

Turcotte found his way to the top spot starting off the Pro Stock LCQ Heat 2 and held his ground the entire race. Malinoski got into the 4th spot, a typical starting point for him for the weekend it seemed, but ended up dropping back to 5th and not advancing to the final. The battle for second between Matt Piche (#51, Arctic Cat) and Matt Judnick (#58, Polaris) is where it was at for the LCQ heat 2, making it a very exciting race.

By the time the Pro Stock finalists made their way to the track, it finally stopped snowing; but there was some good accumulation built up and the track was a mess. ISOC decided to push back the final a little to finish up the youth and Plus 30 classes; thinking the groomers wouldn’t have enough time to put the track back together after the Pros did 30 laps of damage. Makes sense. The track was in definite need of a good grooming; unfortunately, a wheel popped off a groomer while servicing the track and didn’t get much done. They decided to move forward with green flag racing.

The top three leaders, Hibbert, LeVallee and Gulla, pulled out in front shortly after the holeshot and aimed to solidify their dominance. That’s nearly how it stuck all 30 laps. Until Ryan Simmons made a race for the final podium spot. Fans “ooohhed” as he made a last lap pass to 3rd on his Cat. Hibbert was not only staying consistent, but his lap times were slimming down; running a good 5 seconds ahead of second place LeVallee and lapping last place and more.

It was a great day of racing and an even better night. By this time it was well over pitch black, cold as hell and we were ready for a hot shower and some good food. We packed it in for the night and called it good. We had a full day of racing tomorrow and the temps were supposed to be colder. (BB)

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In a professional sport with only 8 races the stakes are extremely high at every event, and Spirit Mountain probably tops that list, setting the pace for the entire season. Not only is it the season opener but it’s also the place where the manufacturers get to debut their new race sleds and work out any kinks for the season (and for future production for that matter). For some racers, this could also be the first time they get some laps in on real snow. Any way you look at it, Duluth is the most anticipated race of the season and it could be a chance for either a lesser known racer to breakout from the pack or a seasoned veteran to solidify his dominance. Speaking of which, here’s some top racers to keep your eye on.

Ross Martin, Polaris, #837
If you want to talk about a safe bet, this guy should have consistency painted on his helmet; not to mention Polaris racing all together on the track. Martin’s team, Judnick Motorsports, was on the podium 10 times last year – four being first place wins. Martin held the Pro Open top spot last season and the previous; this season he really has his eyes set on holding both the Pro Open and Pro Stock championship titles. He nearly hit that mark last year coming only in second place for the Pro Stock title.  Last year in Duluth, Martin won Pro Stock and he was one of very few riders to earn a spot at the X Games without having to qualify. He was named “Pro racer of the Year” last season and probably won’t fall short this year.

Robbie Malinoski, Ski-Doo, #4
Last season was a tough one for Malinoski and although Ski-Doo ranks as the number one manufacturer for units sold, their race outfit has some bumpy ground to cover. Although Malinoski hit some bumps of his own, he was the only pro-level rider to take home a win for Ski-Doo. He is also the only rider in history to take home a win on a four-stroke. Malinoski won both the Pro Open and Pro Stock national titles in the 05-06 season and he’s looking to wow everyone again. Now his second year at BOSS Racing under a Ski-Doo, all the kinks should be silky smooth and he’s got the talent to make it happen.

Tucker Hibbert, Arctic Cat, #68
Hibbert was definitely on top of his game last season and is going to be a force to be reckoned with.  Last year at Duluth, he swept the Pro Open qualifiers and won the event. By the end of the season he secured the Pro Stock points race even while missing one event. He also had a most impressive Winter X Games gold medal win where he held the top spot for the entire race; that was also his third Winter X gold medal. Snocross is the sport that has made Hibbert a household name and I’m sure he’s not interested in just drifting in the wind.

Steve Taylor, Yamaha, #2
You can’t count Team Yamaha out. Now with plenty of time back on the race track, the leaders in 4-stroke technology have a good outfit going and Taylor is top dawg. With some impressive finishes, including two fourth places (one at West Yellowstone and one at the Winter X Games) Taylor may have a good run at it. And since it’s been two years since Yamaha pulled out a first place on the podium, they’re pushing real hard this season.

PS. If you’re planning on attending, keep an eye out for SledBrite snowmobile cleaners roaming the field; snapping shots and covering the events daily. (BB)

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