Hibbert Sweeps Again at Northern Clearing Snocross

Tucker Hibbert followed up his opening weekend masterpiece with two more wins on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross tour at Michigan’s Blackjack Ski Resort this past weekend. His second win tied him with Blair Morgan for the all-time lead.

Qualifying in the No. 1 position on Friday, Hibbert (Big Snow Country, Monster Energy/Arctic Cat/Ram) cruised to two heat race wins and, by virtue of his 1st/1st effort, selected the outside gate pick. But that’d all be for not as Hibbert false started – along with Kody Kamm – and ISOC officials sent both to the back row for the start of the night’s final race.

Pulling the Stud Boy Holeshot in the main was Red Bull/Mystic/Polaris/Team LaVallee Pro Open class racer Jake Scott. Last year’s overall AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Lite champ, Scott led the race through the first couple laps before making a mistake on a tricky uphill section turn and running his Polaris out wide into the fresh deep snow on Blackjack’s front ski run. Ross Martin (DuPont/Jack Links/Polaris), who was on Scott’s tail heading into the turn, appeared to have the hand in taking over the lead. However, Hibbert darted seemingly from out of nowhere (passing seven sleds in the first lap) on the inside and led Martin up the hill. It was a lead Hibbert would never relinquish.

“I thought I was going for the lead and got snuck under,” says Martin kind of half laughing on the podium. “He (Hibbert) just took me by surprise!”

Battling frigid temperatures and chocking snow dust that settled above the track for the entire race, Hibbert put his head down and rode his typical consistent, fast and, most importantly, mistake-free ten laps. And when he and Martin got past Scott, Kamm (Monster Energy/Hentges Racing/Polaris) did as well and the three separated from the rest of the pack.

“It was a gnarly race,” says Hibbert. “I was able to make up a bunch of places in the first couple of turns, but man – that was tough race. The conditions were brutal and I was just glad when it was over.”

AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sports/Ski-Doo‘s Tim Tremblay, the 2012 ACS Pro Open overall champion, made some amends for having to qualify for the main through the LCQ at Blackjack by placing a hard-earned fourth. Rounding out the top five would be Kyle Pallin (Mystic/Polaris/Team LaVallee).

Temperatures dropped even further on Saturday, but Hibbert was able to keep up his red-hot pace with his fourth consecutive win to start the season. The win was the 84th of Hibbert’s career, tying the great Blair Morgan for the most ever.

Despite his lowest qualifying position of the year (third), Hibbert caught a break on the start when the racer lined up next to him, AMSOIL/Scheuring Speed Sport/Ski-Doo’s Robbie Malinoski, false started and was moved to the back row. This gave Hibbert a bit of extra elbow room off the start and he used that to his advantage to move up to second place early, right behind Kyle Pallin (Mystic/Polaris/Team LaVallee) – who pulled the Stud Boy Holeshot.

“We got a good start and got into some lappers pretty quick, and it got a bit scary (due to the poor visibility issues),” says Hibbert. “But the track was better tonight, not as much ice underneath.”

With the No. 1 and No. 2 qualifiers – Martin and Kamm – getting hemmed in at the start and out of the top five, Pallin, Hibbert and Tremblay broke away from the rest of the field.

Hibbert made his way past Pallin with a slick inside move on the left hander at the base of the “Dirty Dozen” jumps, breaking away down the start straight unchallenged. By then end of the next lap (lap two) Hibbert already built a 3.5-second lead.

Pallin stayed on it as well, motivated in part by the legions of Upper Peninsula snocross fans that packed the Blackjack lodge and balcony to cheer on the local product.

“This is so special, to do good here in front of my hometown fans – I can’t thank them enough,” says Pallin.

With Pallin up 2.5 seconds on Tremblay, Kamm and Martin would charge through the pack – in horrible conditions (due to the lingering snow dust) – and up to fourth and fifth places, respectively. But the lead that Hibbert, Pallin and Tremblay held strong over the ten-lap contest.

“It was really hard, really cold and the vision was real tough,” says Tremblay. “So I’m just happy to be up here on the podium tonight.”

Pro Lite

Friday’s support Pro Lite class at Blackjack would go to Andrew Lieders

Pulling the holeshot and leading the Pro Lite field on Friday night to the top of Blackjack’s centerpiece ski run, Andrew Lieders (Mystic/Polaris/Team LaVallee) was on a mission to make up for what he felt was a rather poor showing at Duluth.

“I can’t thank Levi (LaValle) and his crew enough for bringing me on board this year. We struggled in Duluth and I’ll admit it a lot of it was me,” says Lieders. “But I’m glad we could get up here tonight and I hope we can carry this momentum.”

Right there with Lieders early – and possibly in front of him at times (although it was difficult to tell due to the massive snow cloud) – was Andrew Carlson (Sportech/Polaris) and John Stenberg (AMSOIL/Ski-Doo). But Lieders quickly distanced himself from the two riders and began to work on a three-second gap he carried through the checkers.

Stenberg put a bit of distance between himself and Carlson for second, while Carlson had to fight off a hard-charging Corin Todd (Polaris) late in the race. Carlson would end up third, saying: “I’m glad I could prove Duluth wasn’t a fluke. I like it up here (podium) and I’m here to stay.”

Lieders continued his impressive racing on Saturday, completing the weekend sweep of Blackjack, running green-to-checkers for the second-straight night aboard his Team LaVallee Polaris.

Following Lieders off the start up the steep pitch of Blackjack’s front ski run were Carlson (Sportech/Polaris) and Zak Mason (Leighton Motorsports/Polaris). The early podium run soon welcomed another racer when Todd came charging up and into third place on the second lap (of seven).

While Lieders opened up his lead up front, thanks to his error-free riding, Todd caught up to Carlson with two laps to go, then passed his fellow Polaris mount on the last lap on the top section of the course.

“I had such a good race going with Andrew, we both made some mistakes and I was able to finally get past him with a clean pass on the last lap,” says Todd.

Carlson held off a spirited charge from his Carlson Motorsports teammate, Marcus Johansson, for third place – his fourth podium in four races on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross tour this year.

“I’m just pumped to be up here for the fourth time in a row,” says Carlson. “I know I’ve got to work on my speed, but have some time to do that before Canterbury.”