Contact: Mike Roth
PR Director, ISOC Racing
mike@isocracing.com
SPIRIT MOUNTAIN – DULUTH, MN. (November 29, 2015) – Once again we are greeted with Mother Nature’s blessing with a gorgeous day in Duluth MN for the final rounds of the AMSOIL Snocross Championship 2015-2016 season opener. As expected, snocross fans were not disappointed with Round 1 of competition seeing some intense action in the mighty PRO OPEN division where Tucker Hibbert (68) continues to show why he is a force to be reckoned with.
Carving and dicing in the PRO LITE division we saw Elias Ishoel(200) come from a back row start to lay down a dominating performance for his first win of the season. Is there any chance at all that we will not once again witness epic battles on the final day of competition, no, we don’t think so.
PRO LITE – HEAT RACES
Plenty of racing action in the heat races as the PRO LITE field rides hard to make it into the Final race of the day. First round of heat races it is Montana Jess(765), Kevin Wallenstein(122), Elias Ishoel(200) and Zak Mason(63) all taking the checkers. Eetu Karjalainen(555) finds his way to the podium after battling with Travis Muller(436) for the first time of the weekend in round two of the heat races. Montana Jess(765) on fire all weekend crosses the AMSOIL Finish Line in first along with Nick Pattyn(98) in Heat 2, Marcus Ogemar(58)in Heat 3 and Martin Moland(751) in the final heat race of the day.
PRO LITE – LCQ
On the line for a final shot at the big show, the Last Chance Qualifiers wait for the signal to drop the hammer. Tyler Adams(705) aboard the Christian Brother Racing Arctic Cat sled takes the holeshot and the win for the transfer followed by Travis Kern(201), Mikko Osmo(463), James Johnstad(14) and Brett Nastala(248) fills in the grid for the PRO LITE Final.
PRO LITE – FINAL
Pack’em high, pack’em low, front to back this race is stacked with the top runners of the day. Coming off the win in Round 1 from last night’s PRO LITE Final, Elias Ishoel(200) the young gun from Norway is watching close as the ISOC Official Starter prepares to let them loose. As expected Ishoel is up in the mix coming into the first turn, but it is Maxime Taillefer piloting the 144 Ski-Doo who takes the Stud Boy holeshot. Six laps in the books and Ishoel is still trying to reel in Taillefer, but is unable to make the move, as they head into the CAT Turn off the Air Force Fly Away jump, Ishoel comes in hard and gets into the back of Taillefer taking both riders out of the race, as the pack goes by, neither rider would be able regain enough ground to be in contention for the podium.
But it is a great day for the Levi LaVallee team rider, Zak Mason(63) who has been training all summer with Levi in preparation for the season. Mason finds himself in the top spot after capitalizing on the misfortune of Taillefer and Ishoel. Riding clean and smooth, Mason is the Dominator of the Day in the PRO LITE division and takes home the first win of the season.
Winding down to the final lap, Montana Jess(765) and Travis Muller(436) battle bar-to-bar with each lap but it will be Jess in the runner up spot followed by Muller taking third on the podium. Rounding off the Top Five is Martin Moland(751) in fourth and Kevin Wallenstein(122) in fifth.
PRO LITE FINAL – RESULTS
- Zak Mason (63)
- Montana Jess (765)
- Travis Muller (436)
- Martin Moland (751)
- Kevin Wallenstein (122)
- Marcus Ogemar Hellgren(58)
- James Johnstad(14)
- Nick Pattyn (98)
- Eetu Karjalainen (555)
- Tyler Adams (705)
- Travis Kern (201)
- Maxime Taillefer (144)
- Mikko Osmo (463)
- Elias Ishoel (200)
- Brett Nastala (248)
PRO OPEN – ROUND 2 HEAT Races
Ideal racing conditions all day long as it doesn’t get much better than this. Kody Kamm (53) aboard the Hentges Racing Polaris takes the first holeshot and heat win of the day. David Joanis(115) and Tucker Hibbert(68) will both find the checkers as well, in the first round of heat races. Veteran rider Ross Martin(837) has a bit misfortune in the first heat race, but is able to capture first in the second heat race and transfer to the show through the LCQ.
Lincoln Lemieux(13) rides a near flawless race in heat 2, round 2 holding off hard charger Kyle Pallin(324) for all but the last lap when he has mechanical issues and falls back to a fifth place finish. Hibbert(68) lands a fourth place finish in the second heat and transfers to the show. Top finishers of the last round of heat races will be Ross Martin(837), Kyle Pallin(324) and Cody Thomsen(62).
PRO OPEN – LCQ
It is fly time or bye time, make it stick or load it up for the trip home. Ten riders lineup for the chance to make it in the PRO OPEN Final. Finding himself in unfamiliar territory in the LCQ, Ross Martin(837) on the newly redesigned Polaris Sled in dominating style, will easily take the win and the first transfer spot. It will be Justin Broberg(168) and John Stenberg(259) who will battle throughout the race for the second spot, but it will be Broberg finishing in second and Stenberg in third. Taking the final two transfers are Petter Narsa(54) who had sled troubles in Heat 1 and Corin Todd(36).
PRO OPEN FINAL
After months of preparation and countless hours of planning your goal is to make it all come together when it counts, the perfect start off the line that rockets you to the holeshot and into the first turn. That almost happened for rider Kody Kamm(53) on night one of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series PRO OPEN Final race. Well, as we said, almost…with a twitchy finger Kody jumped the start and was sent to the back for the start, but tonight, night two there will be no mistakes to be made, lesson learned.
Kamm shoots off the line when the green flag drops, down the rhythm section and over the Air Force Fly Away jump for the Stud Boy Holeshot. This young rider is on rails lap-after-lap as the battles behind him take shape, up front he is in the grove where at one point has an almost 9 second lead. It isn’t until lap 18 that the defending champion Tucker Hibbert(68) reels him in each time he crosses the AMSOIL Finish Line, into the FXR Turn, over the Air Force Fly Away jump and around the CAT Turn, he inches the Monster Energy/Arctic Cat/ Ram Truck sled closer to the back bumper of Kody Kamm.
With a yellow flag at the top side of the track on the last lap, it is the opportunity for T-Train (Tucker Hibbert) to make his move, he shoots on the inside to make the pass and put an end to a near perfect race by Kamm. Unable to make the transfer, Hibbert chases down Kamm in a drag race to the finish, but it will be Kody across the AMSOIL Finish Line first with a .477 second lead.
Finishing up the field in third is Tim Tremblay(11) who battled with is team mate Lincoln Lemieux(13) much of the race, however Lemieux would fall back to 15th place. Rounding off the top five is Adam Renheim(311) and Kyle Pallin(324).
PRO OPEN FINAL – RESULTS
- Kody Kamm(53)
- Tucker Hibbert(68)
- Tim Tremblay(11)
- Adam Renheim(311)
- Kyle Pallin(324)
- Corin Todd(36)
- Ross Martin(837)
- John Stenberg(259)
- Justin Broberg(168)
- Petter Narsa(54)
- David Joanis(115)
- Cody Thomsen(62)
- Corey Watkinson(173)
- Trevor Leighton(3)
- Lincoln Lemieux(15)
It is a long road home for many as the weekend draws to a close and another one is in the books for the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series. For some a bitter sweet end to first round of racing, for others a near perfect weekend. No matter rather you are the weekend warrior or the heavily sponsored Pro rider, there is nothing more satisfying than to be able to do what you love, and to be able to do with the best of friends and closest of family.
Snocross racing is a tradition that goes back generations where for 24 years, Spirit Mountain in Duluth, MN has been the host of the Thanksgiving Day weekend opening race. With a big smile on her face, Lake Superior will wait for next years race fans, competitors, crews and supporters to once again greet her with the same passion and excitement that continues to grow every year.
A special thanks to all of the ISOC Crew and absolutely everyone that makes this event possible. It is only with the hard work and dedication to the sport by these loyal individuals, that each of us is able to find the smile on our faces as we hear the sweet sound of sleds rocket off the starting line for the first time. Hell yeah, it’s race time!
UP NEXT
The AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series heads off to Fargo, ND for the RAM Trucks Snocross National presented by Country Cat of Fargo, ND on December 11-12.
Watch all the action by tuning into the LIVE Stream at www.snocross.com/livestream. For a complete list of results visit the official AMSOIL Championship Series Snocross website – https://snocross.com/race-results/
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 www.isocracing.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.