Hibbert Opens Snocross Season with Sweep at Duluth

With more than 17,000 snocross fans in attendance at Duluth, Minnesota’s Spirit Mountain, Tucker Hibbert put on a show to remember. The defending Pro Open champion started the season by lapping the entire field on his way to victory on Saturday night. The Monster Energy/Arctic Cat rider followed it up with another dominating performance on Sunday, giving him a sweep of the opening weekend’s races.

“I haven’t done so well at Duluth the past couple years that I really needed to make a statement,” Hibbert said after Saturday’s win. “I needed to get back where I should be – and I did. You couldn’t ask for a better night. We just had an awesome race.”

Tucker Hibbert put on a performance to remember on Saturday night.

Railing his Arctic Cat from the No. 1 gate pick to the Stud Boy Holeshot, Hibbert more or less checked out on the opening lap. The crowd was going crazy, cheering Hibbert on as he lapped up through the pack, picking off one after another of the world’s greatest snocross racers before catching Kyle Pallin and Cody Thomsen on the white flag lap to complete the first-ever entire lapping of an AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Open class field.

“There were a lot of crashes in the uphill rhythm section – which was easily the most technical portion of the track,” says Hibbert. “I had to be real careful through there, not miss any yellow flags with all the carnage (crashed sleds). But it was also in that area that I was able to make up the most time.”

The two racers most likely to challenge Hibbert, former Pro Open champs Ross Martin (DuPont/Jack Links/Polaris) and Tim Tremblay (Scheuring Speed Sports/Ski-Doo), both were non-factors. Tremblay left the race early with what looked like a mechanical issue while Martin crashed and was momentarily pinned under Pallin’s sled (though uninjured).

While he didn’t lap the entire field on Sunday, Hibbert did manage to win in dominating fashion, crossing the checkers with a 17-second cushion over second place.

The Mystic/Polaris/Team LaVallee duo of Kyle Pallin and Levi LaVallee got off the starting line ahead of everybody to open Sunday’s Pro Open main with Pallin pulling the Stud Boy Holeshot and leading the pack up through the Air Force Fly Zone. Hibbert would play it safe from the inside start position he selected as the No. 1 qualifier, getting out of the blocks in third.

Coming down the Ram Rhythm Section Hibbert got by LaVallee, then stalked Pallin until the second lap where Hibbert cut up the inside of the AMSOIL Finish Line table top jump and squared off the ensuing corner, forcing Pallin to the outside and taking the lead.

Hibbert sprinted past the rest of the field on Sunday, winning by an impressive 17 seconds.

From there it was academic as two laps later Hibbert clicked off the day’s fastest lap – a 27.417 smoker – that cleared him from the rest of the field.

“You couldn’t ask for a better weekend. Good starts, strong riding and my Arctic Cat ran perfect,” says Hibbert, who is now three wins away from breaking Blair Morgan’s all-time pro snocross win record of 84. “These are the kind of weekends you try and hold on to forever.”

The action heated up behind Hibbert early on when Cody Thomsen  was black flagged for running Tim Tremblay off the track. Tremblay, the 2012 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Open champ, would regroup and finish eighth, while Thomsen had to leave the race with a DNF.

As Pallin rode a strong and consistent race in second place, much like he did in Saturday’s third place run, Ross Martin made a spirited charge through the field, passing Darrin Mees (Jimmy John’s/Boss Racing/Ski-Doo) and fast rookie racer Kody Kamm (Hentges Racing/Polaris) to move up to third place midway through the contest.

With three laps to go the three frontrunners – Hibbert, Pallin and Martin – were out of touch with the rest of the field. Hibbert had a near 20-second lead and was cruising, choosing not to make a run at Martin and Pallin to possibly lap the entire field again – like he did on Saturday. The podium would be populated by Hibbert (first), Pallin (second) and Martin (third), with Kamm and Logan Christian (Christian Bros Racing/Arctic Cat) rounding out the top five, respectively.

“It’s hard to get up here and ever harder to stay up here,” says Pallin. “I’ve just got to keep my head down and work hard and enjoy the times we can get up here.”

Pro Lite

James Johnstad (DuPont/Jack Links/AMSOIL/Polaris), who was injured last season, blasted off the start of Saturday’s 15-lap Pro Lite event, pulling the holeshot and leading the rest of the field up the hill and into the Air Force Fly Zone. He led the field through the entire race, finding the right speed combination through masterful throttle control and corner setup aboard his Polaris sled, securing his first career Pro Lite victory.

“I’m coming off an injury last year and it was a long off season,” says Johnstad. “But I felt great coming into today’s heats and the main event and was happy I could ride well and get the win.”

James Johnstad (center) celebrates Saturday’s Pro Lite victory on the podium. Andrew Carlson (left) and Marcus Johansson (right) finished second and third.

Close behind Johnstad off the start was Andrew Carlson (Sportech/AMSOIL/Polaris). Both Johnstad and Carlson would avoid a massive wreck on the second lap that collected four of the sleds near the front, but the carnage would play in the favor of Lincoln Lemieux (Ski-Doo) and Corin Todd (Polaris) – who (Corin) won the opening Pro Lite heat race, but was forced to start in the back row of the main event when he broke the start light before the green light.

Johnstad would run clean through lap three and continued to put time on Carlson and the rest of the pursuers, running a clean and mistake-free Pro Lite main event at Spirit Mountain. Carlson, though not as fast on this night, would limit the mistakes as well and placed easily into the second position at the checkers. The third and final position on Saturday’s Pro Lite podium would be a toss-up at the end – with Sweden’s Marcus Johansson (Polaris) rounding out the podium.

Sunday’s Pro Lite final was all Carlson all the time. Never a question from the green flag through the igniting fire pots above the AMSOIL Finish Line banner, Carlson’s first place performance was masterful.

“I’m so pumped right now – my first Pro Lite win,” says Carlson. “Coming back from an injury (knee), I couldn’t be more excited. Thanks to my trainer, Kurt, for getting me back into shape.”

Andrew Carlson secured his first career Pro Lite win on Sunday.

With the top spot on the rostrum never in question, a number of good battles played out chasing the final two trophy spots. Justin Parnell (Ski-Doo) and Max Taillefer (Ski-Doo) would get together on the second lap, hitting the deck in their bid for the front of the pack. The middle-of-the-track accident held up a few riders just long enough to let Kevin Wallenstein (Ski-Doo) and Corin Todd (Polaris) break away in pursuit of Carlson.

Clicking off fast lap after fast lap, Carlson would put four seconds between himself and the next-fastest racer, which happened to be Todd by the race’s midway point.

On lap 11 (of 14) Carlson was further in control, while Corin and Wallenstein space themselves out comfortably from Andrew Lieders (Polaris) and Dan Dolecki (Ski-Doo). The five front runners would hold position through the last three laps, avoiding a number of tip overs (that brought out yellow flags) with Carlson (first), Todd (second) and Wallenstein (third) making up the round two Pro Lite podium.