Contact: Pat Schutte
PR Director, ISOC Racing
pat@highprofilepr.com
Minneapolis (Nov. 29, 2013) – The sport of snocross’ most thrilling one-off promotional races of the year – the third annual AMSOIL Dominator – kicked off the opening round of the 2013-’14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram on Friday. And taking top honors in the Dominator with a ‘dominating’ performance was former AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Open champ Tim Tremblay (Scheuring Speed Sports/Rockstar/Ski-Doo).
Tremblay would use a powerful start in the new three-man final format, beating Scheuring Speed Sports teammate Malinoski out of the Air Force Fly Zone turn and leading both he and Cody Thomsen (Christian Brothers/Arctic Cat) through the checkers in the two-lap main event.
“It feels awesome to get the win. It was really, really close between me and Robbie, but I was all about the start and I was able to get the holeshot,” said Tremblay, proudly hoisting a check for a cool $10,000 while being presented with a custom trophy from AMSOIL’s Jeremy Meyer as fireworks filled the sky above Spirit Mountain.
The opening round of the AMSOIL Dominator would come to a quick end for two-time defending champion Ross Martin (Polaris) as he lost control of his sled, allowing Thomsen the easy pass to the quarterfinals. Others making it through round one to the quarterfinals were defending AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Open champion Tucker Hibbert (Monster Energy/Arctic Cat/Ram), Justin Broberg (Hentges Racing/Polaris), Petter Narsa (Jimmy John’s/Ski-Doo), Logan Christian (Christian Brothers/Arctic Cat), Kyle Pallin (LaVallee Racing/Polaris), along with Tremblay and Malinoski.
In the quarterfinals the consensus pre-race favorite, Hibbert, cased the landing on the uphill double leading into the Air Force Fly Zone and got pitched over the front of his sled. Unfazed, Hibbert still managed to complete the two-lap quarterfinal race – which was won by Broberg.
The highlight of the quarterfinals, and quite possibly the night, was the battle between Arctic Cat teammates Thomsen and Christian. The two traded the lead multiple times on the first lap before Thomsen threw his sled on the edge coming off the AMSOIL finish line jump and railed the inside of the turn – nearly right over the top of Christian’s skis. Thomsen would recover quickly (from nearly putting his sled on its side) as Christian was forced to check up. Thomsen parlayed the move into the lead over Christian coming out of the corner and ran ‘er home to the checkers.
Malinoski and Narsa would match each other bar-to-bar in the opening moments of their quarterfinal race, with Malinoski taking the lead from Narsa on the back side of the AMSOIL finish line. Then, after a quick start from holeshot artist Pallin, Tremblay took the lead in the last quarterfinal round on the uphill double and raced to the checkers.
Setting the stage for the finals, Malinoski and Broberg went at in hard in the opening semifinal round, banging into each other on two occasions before Malinoski was able to get out in front, running clean through the checkers to make the finals. Tremblay would see a good run from Thomsen through the Air Force Fly Zone – with the two nearly coming together – before Tremblay put the hammer down through the downhill section and brought his Ski-Doo home with a convincing win – and a ticket to the finals. Based on his fastest lap time of the two semifinal losers, Thomsen would get a spot in the finals, but had to line up behind Tremblay and Malinoski and was not a factor in the last race.
Action gets underway Saturday at Spirit Mountain with the opening round of the 2013-’14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram. Action gets underway at 9 a.m. Tickets for the event are available at the gate, $27 for adults, $22 for youths and seniors and children five and under are free. For more information call 1-800-4-DULUTH or link to www.visitduluth.com
2013-’14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram
Round/Date City/State
1 – Nov. 29-Dec. 1 Duluth, Minnesota
2 – Dec. 6-7 Bessemer, Michigan
3 – Jan. 3-5 Shakopee, Minnesota
4 – Jan. 31-Feb.1 Deadwood, South Dakota
5 – Feb. 7-8 Salamanca, New York
6 – Feb. 21-22 Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
7 – March 7-8 Fargo, N.D.
8 – March 14-16 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Beginning with AMSOIL Championship Snocross’ season-opening round in Duluth, Minn. and running through the season finale in Lake Geneva, Wis. CBS Sports Network will air 16 half-hour programs of the ACS races.
Photos courtesy of Lissa Marsolek/ISOC
About ISOC Racing
The International Series of Champions (ISOC) is the premier snowmobile race sanctioning organization in North America and sanctions national AMSOIL Championship Snocross, in addition to affiliating with nine regional circuits. Visit snocross.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.