Hibbert Wins Thrilling Race In Front Of Huge Crowd

Twenty-four hours after a fabulous Pro Open final on a rough track at Shakopee, Minnesota’s Canterbury Park, the best snocross racers on the planet did it again – putting on a spectacular final in front of a huge crowd at the ISOC National sponsored by Traxxis and Jimmy John’s.

.       Weather that has been mega-depressing for snowmobilers in southern and central Minnesota proved to be excellent for snowmobile racing. Under a full moon on a perfectly clear night, the crowd exceeded promoters expectations both nights. Virtually every seat inside and outside of the horse racing track was filled, and hundreds if not thousands of additional fans crowded the standing area near the track.

.       After two rounds of qualifying heats and a last chance qualifying race, Saskatchewan-native Robbie Malinoski and Vermont-based TJ Gulla were the top qualifiers on their Scheuring Speed Sports Ski-Doo and Hentges Racing Polaris, respectively. The 15 who made the final (out of 25 entries) included six Ski-Doos, five Polaris sleds and four Arctic Cats.

.       On green for the 22-lap final, the black Amsoil-backed sleds of Malinoski and teammate Darrin Mees lurched into the lead, with Tucker Hibbert’s Cat and Tim Tremblay’s Ski-Doo hot on their heels, and points leader Ross Martin right behind them.

.       The first couple of laps, Malinoski pulled out to a 2.5 second lead, but there was a war behind him. Mees struggled to hold off Tremblay, while Hibbert was running fast and loose in fourth on his Monster Energy Arctic Cat. Then came the three Polaris of Martin, Gulla and Mike Bauer, with Logan Christian, Mathieu Morin and Bobby LePage rounding out the top 10.

.       By lap 4, Hibbert was on the move, literally flying past Tremblay at the starting line tabletop jump, then chasing down Mees and knifing past him with a block pass on lap 8. The winningest racer in modern snocross history spent the next five laps searching for lines while reeling in Malinowski. The two flew past flagman Bruce Mosher virtually tied on lap 15, but then Hibbert held the gas deep into turn one, doubling over a big hole that had gotten worn in by other riders and sailing into the lead.

[Read more]

Hibbert Wins Sunday ISOC Final

Tucker Hibbert apparently didn’t want to leave any questions unanswered on Sunday afternoon in Michigan.

.        After starting slowly and staging dramatic charges in both finals in rounds 1 and 2 in Duluth, Minnesota, last weekend, and then giving up the lead due to a mechanical problem Saturday in round 3 in Michigan, Hibbert got the early lead and absolutely checked out in Sunday’s Pro Open final at the ISOC Amsoil Championship Series Blackjack National.

.       With the victory, the winningest driver in snocross history has slotted himself firmly in second place in the season point and, more importantly, served notice to all who may have thought his run was over with a dominating performance.

.       Hibbert won both of his heat races on his Monster Energy/Speedwerx/Stud Boy Arctic Cat and went into the final as the No. 1 qualifier. That allowed him to choose his starting position in the final, and he didn’t waste the opportunity. He was one of a pack of sleds that launched into the first kink, but then his sled power surged ahead and climbed the hill much faster than his competition. Coming down the hill the first time, he already had a 5-sled-length lead on points leader Ross Martin’s Dupont-backed Polaris, with Tim Tremblay third on his Warnert Ski-Doo, Emil Ohman fourth on another Ski-Doo and then Robbie Malinoski and his Polaris fifth. [Read more]

Martin Wins Duluth National Final Sunday

Ross Martin proved that his Friday night victory was no fluke, while three-time defending Pro Class sweeper at Duluth Tucker Hibbert proved he and Arctic Cat have some work to be done as the Amsoil Duluth National wrapped up in northeastern Minnesota Sunday afternoon. It was the first round in what should prove to be a very interesting and competitive ISOC Amsoil Championship Snocross Series this winter.

.         After rugged qualifying rounds and a star-studded LCQ race (which saw Saturday night’s Pro winner Robbie Malinoski fall one spot short of qualifying for Sunday’s final) is was race time. Martin grabbed the Stud Boy holeshot award but ended up chasing Tim Tremblay’s Foremost Insurance-sponsored Ski-Doo down the hill for the first time and, in fact, for the first lap and a half. Behind them, carnage reigned, as first-year Pro Justin Broberg – the surprise No. 1 qualifier based on his excellent heat race results – tumbled in front of the pack while crowd favorite Levi LaVallee and LCQ winner Brett Bender also got caught up in the mess. Other sleds dove everywhere to stay out of the mess. LaVallee and Bender would rejoin the race in the back, but Broberg’s day was done.

.         Up front, Tremblay quickly built a nice lead, with Martin in tow and then a gap back to TJ Gulla (Polaris), Johan Lidman (Cat), Justin Tate (Polaris), Darrin Mees (Ski-Doo) and Dan Ebert (Cat), with cousins Tucker Hibbert (Cat) and Garth Kauffman (Cat) eighth and ninth.

.         It only took a couple of laps for things to change dramatically, and it started up front. Tremblay coasted off the track with an ill-running sled – an engine problem would end his day early and slot him into 14^th spot overall. Moments later, Justin Tate got separated from his sled just short of the start/finish line. Bender pulled off shortly thereafter – he reported having vision problems after his first lap crash.

.         Tremblay’s troubles left Martin all alone up front on his DuPont/Jack Links Polaris, and he didn’t spoil the opportunity. He put down one good lap after another with precision and pulled far ahead.

Ross Martin, right, pictured here with Colorado Rob Powers at Eagle River last year, earned two big victories at Duluth over the weekend. Look for photos from Duluth on this site later this week.

.         Deep in the pack, snocross dominator Hibbert was making a charge. He got a horrible holeshot and had to fight through traffic, similar to Saturday night’s final, but he was making it work. He worked his way past Mees on about lap 9, then sliced past Lidman into third on lap 11. He would spend the next 9 laps in pursuit of Gulla.

.         Gulla was making time on a track that almost ended his career two years earlier. On December 12, 2009, Gulla got separate from his sled in a qualifying race, scrambled to his feet and was running toward his machine when another sled landed on him. He ended up with a fractured skull that kept him off a sled until last November. A couple of weeks after that, he finished fourth here at Duluth last year. [Read more]

Five Can’t Miss, Current Hall Of Fame Racers

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about honors given to people who accomplish a lot in a given sport.

          Some sports have longstanding, famous halls of fame where just mentioning its hometown means a lot – baseball players talk about being “inducted in Coopertown” as much as using the actual words “National Baseball Hall of Fame.” Similarly, being “inducted in Canton” is synonymous with being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

No official records exist (at least, that we can find), but it's easy to suggest that Jacques Villeneuve is oval racing's winningest driver.

          The most interesting one to me right now is the NASCAR Hall Of Fame in Charlotte, because it are starting from ground zero with its first couple of classes. It hardly seemed fair the first year (2010) when folks who were very obviously going to be in the hall eventually like David Pearson, Ned Jarrett and Darrell “boogity boogity” Waltrip (what a dork!) missed the cut. But such is the nature of having limited classes of inductees each year. Plus, it creates chatter and buzz for following years.

          Being a snowmobiling geek, of course my hall of fame thoughts turned to snowmobiling. I went to the Snowmobile Hall Of Fame website and started thinking: “OK, if we had to start over with a blank sheet and have a first-year class – just five racers or racing-related people to induct as our first class, who would I pick.”

          Interesting idea for a column, right? Well, my head almost exploded!! Having to pit a Bob Eastman against a Mike Trapp, a Gerard Karpik against a Larry Rugland, a Yvon duHamel against a Stan Hayes, Tim Bender against a Brian Musselman, a Mike Houle against a John Wicht III… well, you get the idea, it’s damn near impossible, and I’ve just touched on a fraction of the racers who are in there now. And that’s before you work in guys behind the sport and the racers like J. Armond Bombardier, Edgar Hetteen, Roger Skime, John Alward…. Again, you’ve got the idea. Just among the 14 names I’ve listed here, go ahead and try to narrow it down to five – it blows one’s mind.

          So, I’ve officially chickened out on that blog topic – not forever, maybe, but for today! Instead, here is my list of five CURRENT racers who should be “first ballot” hall of famers when they retire and become eligible. Drum roll please:

Tucker Hibbert has won 66 Pro Snocross finals in 122 starts, and 6 X Games gold medals.

• Corey Davidson – the racer from Holt, Minnesota, has won 10 500-mile races — seven Soo I-500s and three cross-country 500s (one when run by ISOC, two under USCC) as the lead or solo driver, and also was a part of another winning Soo team as a relief driver. He’s also won at snocross and laketop ice lemans/cross country. The facts speak for themselves.
• Tucker Hibbert – the son of another hall of famer in Kirk Hibbert, he’s done the seemingly impossible – he started exceeding his father’s fame in our sport. He’s now won six X Games gold medals in snocross, including the last five in a row, and has won 66 national pro snocross finals in 122 starts, while snowmobile racing part time. His domination has threatened to make high-flying snocross boring. [Read more]

Hibbert Wins Fifth Straight X Games Gold In Snocross

If Tucker Hibbert keeps this up, he’s going to have to put an addition onto the house he and wife Mandi are building, just to hold all of his medals, trophies and other racing awards.

            The king of snocross was at it again today in Aspen, Colorado, where he won his fifth straight X Games gold medal in snocross and sixth overall on his Monster Energy Drink, Castle Racing, Stud-Boy and Speedwerx (among others) sponsored Arctic Cat.  

            Much like the last four years, there was very little drama in the event once things got rolling. Hibbert got out front, pulled away and was never seriously challenged, adding to the legend that he has built.

            Hibbert’s dominance of snocross has caused some to cheer against him – just so the finishing order isn’t so darned predictable. The career Arctic Cat racer now living in Pelican Rapids,  Minnesota, addressed that when interviewed on ESPN immediately after the race, with a “sorry if it was a little boring,” quip.

            “It feels amazing, that was an awesome race,” Hibbert said.

          The field for the 15-lap final was set with a set of qualifying races and a last chance qualifier. Bobby LePage of Duluth, Minnesota, racing on a Levi LaVallee Race Team Polaris, ran away with the first semi final in surprisingly easy fashion. Tim Tremblay (Ski-Doo) finished second, with fellow Canadian Robbie Malinoski (Ski-Doo) third, Johan Lidman (Cat) of Sweden fourth and semi-pro bump-up Kyle Pallin (Cat) super-excited to finish fifth and earn a bid into the final.

[Read more]

Tucker Hibbert Wins Piranha-X Western Nationals In Utah

PRESS RELEASE: Tucker Hibbert made his new sponsor proud winning the Piranha-X Pro Super Stock final at the third round of

Tucker Hibbert takes flight. Photo by Wayne Davis, courtesy of ISOC

competition in the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series at beautiful Rio Tinto stadium in Sandy, Utah. Just as it has played out at each of the previous two rounds this season, Hibbert backed up his performance with a win in the AMSOIL Pro Open, sweeping the Piranha-X Western National presented by Fly Racing.

Ross Martin has been the quick starter at most of the rounds so far, but Saturday night it was Bobby LePage who jumped to the lead on his LeVallee Racing Polaris. This on the heels of a first lap red flag restart that saw several riders pile up on the back straight. Once in the lead, LePage stretched his margin with Ross Martin in tow. Midway through the final, Martin worked his way by LePage, while Hibbert began his charge.

[Read more]

Hibbert Sweeps Again, This Time In Fargo

We’re two full weekends through the International Series of Champions Amsoil Super Snocross season, and the pecking order has taken shape.

            Combining Pro Open and Pro Super Stock, there have been four finals. In all four, Tucker Hibbert won the race on his Monster Energy-backed Arctic Cat. In all four finals, Ross Martin has finished second on his Dupont-backed Polaris. And, in three out of four, Tim Tremblay took third on his Warnert Racing Ski-Doo.  

            In Fargo, North Dakota, this weekend, Hibbert continued his domination of the national snocross scene, but Martin made it clear that he isn’t going to go down without a fight.

            In a change from the norm, the Pro Open class ran first this weekend, and Robbie Malinoski was the top qualifier after a couple rounds of heats. In the final, however, Martin was first off the line and jumped out to a lead he would hold for the first 16 laps. Hibbert actually dismounted briefly while in chase, but remounted and ended up taking the lead late and pulling away to a 4.8-second victory.

            If that sounds familiar, it’s because Hibbert followed Martin at Duluth in Pro Open, took the lead late and had a 4.4 second victory there.

            Tremblay overcame his own dismount and hung on for third, with Malinowski forth on his Amsoil-backed Ski-Doo. Finishing one lap down but in fifth place was first-year pro Justin Broberg. The rest of the top 10 were TJ Gulla, Dan Ebert, Christian Salemark, Zach Pattyn and Johan Lidman.

            It was chilly for the Pro Open final Friday night, but it was downright wicked cold Saturday for Pro Super Stock. The sun was shining, but the wind was howling, creating a windchill of minus 25. The area was spared the monster snow found across the border and further southeast in Minnesota, to the delight of race officials who wanted a crowd, but we’re guessing most riders in the area would have welcomed the fresh white stuff.

            Once again, Martin lead early but Hibbert overcame an early battle with Malinoski, then chased down and passed Martin late en route to a 3.6-second victory. A tussle in traffic resulted in a front suspension damage and an early end to Malinoski’s day. Tremblay held on for third. TJ Gulla was the only other sled on the lead lap and claimed fourth on his Polaris, with Cat’s Garth Kaufman fifth.

            Dan Ebert was sixth on his Cat, with Andrew Johnstad a strong seventh on a Polaris after being let go from the Schuering Speed Sports Ski-Doo team after the Duluth event. Pattyn, Lidman and Wes Selby rounded out the top 10.

News & Notes From The Duluth Snocross

As with any event, several things occurred at the season-opening ISOC Amsoil Duluth National that didn’t make the main story. Here’s a notebook dump of sorts, plus a look at some of the stats behind the race.

• The Pro Super Stock final Saturday night included 6 Polaris sleds, 5 Arctic Cats and 4 Ski-Doos, which reflected their driver entry numbers fairly well, as Polaris had 12 entries in the class, Cat had 11 and Ski-Doo had 6. In the Pro Open, Cat had 7 of its 10 sleds in the final, Polaris had just 4 of its 10 and Ski-Doo placed 4 of its 6 entries.
• Each day, the Pro podium looked the same, from a brand standpoint, with a Cat driver on the top step (that’s Tucker Hibbert), a Polaris driver on his right (second-place Ross Martin each day) and a third-place Ski-Doo Canadian driver on his left (Tim Tremblay in Stock, Brett Turcotte in Pro Open).
  

  Before Sunday's Pro final, (from left) Garth Kaufman, Tucker Hibbert and TJ Gulla searched the race track on foot, looking for good lines.

• The top 9 drivers in the Pro Open final come from 9 different places. In order of finish, you’ve got Minnesota (Hibbert), Wisconsin (Martin), British Columbia (Turcotte), Sweden (Johan Lidman), Quebec (Tim Tremblay), Alberta (Ryan Simons), Idaho (Garth Kaufman), Vermont (TJ Gulla) and Ontario (Iain Hayden). It wasn’t until we got to Quebecois Matheiu Morin that we had our first repeat in terms of state or province. 
• From the “friendly faces” department, it was good to see Justin Tate back out at the snocross races again this year. The 34-year-old now living in Scandia, Minnesota, won every time he hit the track in Pro Am Plus 30, and he missed the regular Pro Super Stock final by one spot after finishing sixth in the LCQ.
  

  Kody Kamm (center) is flanked by James Johnstad and Brett Nastala in the all-Polaris Sport Super Stock podium

• A total of 48 drivers were entered in the Semi-Pro Super Stock class, but there was a clear pecking order at Duluth, as the same five drivers finished in the top five positions both days – you’d think at least one of them would have had trouble in a heat race or something in such a crowded field. Again, there was a lot of geography covered: Minnesotan Cody Thomsen won the final in the class Saturday night on his Cat ahead of Darrin Mees (New York, Ski-Doo), Mike Bauer (Wisconsin, Polaris), Derek Ellis (North Dakota, Ski-Doo) and John Stenberg (Sweden, Ski-Doo). Sunday, it was Ellis winning, followed by Thomsen, Mees, Stenberg and then Bauer. They may be setting up a season-long battle to be the new Semi-Pro Super Stock champ after last year’s title holder, Logan Christian, moved up to Pro this year. [Read more]

Martin Gets Tuckered Out At Duluth

Tucker Hibbert completed his opening weekend sweep with the Pro Open snocross victory Sunday afternoon in Duluth, Minnesota. But, before you yawn and think “some-old, same-old,” you should know that this is shaping up to be a very interesting season on the ISOC circuit.

Tucker Hibbert examines the track before Sunday's Pro Open final. Apparently, he found the right lines...again!

           Defending Pro Open point champ Ross Martin gave Hibbert everything he could handle, leading 16 of the 18 laps in the final. Beyond that, guys like Brett Turcotte and Johan Lidman proved to be tough competition. Yes, Hibbert is still the class of the field, but there appear to be more drivers capable of giving him a challenge this year.

            Unlike in Pro Stock the night before, Hibbert looked strong in his heat races Sunday afternoon and came into the final as a high qualifier.

            The final was held under blue skies decorated with high wispy clouds. The sun was hanging low in the sky behind the chalet, leaving most of the track in the shade.

            On green, Martin nudged ahead slightly as the 15 qualifying sleds powered into the tight first turn, but Hibbert was right with him. As they came past the flagman the first time, it was Martin’s Jack Link’s sponsored Polaris, then Hibbert’s Speedwerx Cat, followed by Ryan Simons’ Cat, Turcotte Ski-Doo and Garth Kaufman Cat. Martin eased out to about a five sled-length lead on the second time through the downhill moguls.

Ross Martin finished second in both finals at Duluth, but he races to win.

            The track was in rough shape, with odd-shaped and oddly-timed moguls creating a minefield for the racers. By the third lap, the top two started to pull away from the pack – it was clear Hibbert and Martin would settle this between themselves. Turcotte slotted firmly into third. The big mover in traffic was Carlson Motorsport’s Swedish import Johan Lidman. He ran sixth the first couple of laps, then worked past Kaufman, then Simons and even Kaufman by lap 8. Matheiu Morin was also working his way forward from the back. Logan Christian had the race’s big off, bouncing off his sled on the backstretch of lap 4.

            Throughout the race, Hibbert made several charges, getting to within a sled length of Martin, but then he’d hit a mogul wrong or Martin would find a boost of energy and charge back into a 5-10 sled length lead. At the halfway point, Martin was starting to open up even more, building his lead to over 2 seconds. Meanwhile, those top two racers continued to pull away and drive though lapped traffic.

Brett Turcotte took the final spot on the podium with a late-lap pass.

            But Hibbert isn’t the sport’s most winning driver without reason. He was spending the race finding lines and picking his spots. With 2.5 laps to go, he dove past Martin at the top of the hill and then spent the rest of the race pulling away. In the end, he claimed victory by 4.4 seconds over a somewhat dejected Martin.

            The race wasn’t over, though. Three-quarters of a lap behind then, Turcotte and Lidman were locked in a viscous battle for the final spot on the podium. Turcotte ended up retaking the third spot on a final desperate charge toward the waving checkered flag. Lidman was giving it his all though, launching himself over the tabletop jump at warp speed and slamming himself hard into the handlebars and then the ground on his landing.

            After the race, Hibbert was drenched with sweat, and was wearing a proud smile.

            “I knew we were going to have to work hard and put our head down this weekend, and we got a couple wins, so I’m pretty thankful,” Hibbert said. Later he gave away one of his secrets.

            “I had a good line up on the top of the hill where I was making up a lot of time. I was fortunately that [Martin] didn’t find it.”

Sunday's Pro Open podium -- Hibbert in the center, a dejected Martin on his right, a happy Turcotte on his left.

            Martin was smiling after the race, but it seemed forced. The racer from Kansasville, Wisconsin, admitted being less than pleased.

            “No, I’m not happy with second at all,” Martin offered. “I guess I’ve got to work harder. If I can lead that long, I can learn to lead a little longer.”   

            “Coming down the downhill [Hibbert] found a good line,” he said in explaining the pass. “It was brutal out there – I don’t think anybody had great lines.”

            Turcotte was jacked up to be on the podium, but he’s pushing for more.

            “We’ve been working so hard, we’ve been testing and training, it’s been a long time coming,” Turcotte said, before pledging to try to climb higher on the podium in two weeks in Fargo, the host of the next ISOC National.

            Lidman finished fourth, with Tremblay holding the last spot on the lead lap in fifth. The rest of the field, in order, was Simons, Kaufman, TJ Gulla, Iain Hayden, Mathieu Morin, Dan Ebert, Bobby LePage, Justin Broberg, Wes Selby and Logan Christian.

          <b>Look for more coverage, a photo essay and wrap-ups of other classes this week here on this web site.</b>

13 Drivers Earn Way To Winter X Games In Snocross

Racing has begun at the season-opening ISOC Amsoil Duluth National, but qualifying for snocross racing’s biggest stage is what highlighted Friday’s show in windy conditions at the host Spirit Mountain ski hill.

            Friday included qualifiers in some of the undercard, but the big named racers were on the track to try to qualify for the ESPN Winter X Games. The X Games qualifier had been a staple at Spirit Mountain, but the past couple of years the process changed, as the X Games was an invitation-only event.

            Back this year is the qualifying process, which allows relative newcomers the chance to earn their way in. The athletes invited back for this year’s X Games Snocross is Brett Bender, Dan Ebert, Tucker Hibbert, Levi LaVallee, Robbie Malinoski, Ross Martin, Mike Schultz, Ryan Simons and Tim Tremblay. If you ain’t one of them, you’ve got to earn your way in!

            And that’s exactly what 13 drivers did Friday night. After two quick rounds of Pro heats, two Pro finals were held, with the top five in each final advancing to Winter X.

          In the first final, Garth Kaufman of Driggs, Idaho, took an easy win on his Christian Bros. Arctic Cat ahead of Lee Butler (Polaris), with Iain Hayden (Polaris), Wes Selby (Ski-Doo) and Paul Bauerly (Arctic Cat) wrapping up the top five and advancing.

  [Read more]

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