Ross Martin looked like he might make it a weekend sweep, but Tucker Hibbert had other ideas as he tracked down the early race leader to win the AMSOIL Pro Open final on night two of the Vision Kia Eastern Nationals in Farmington, New York.
The temperature rose throughout the evening as heavy snow fell in front of an overflow crowd at the Finger Lakes Casino and Racetrack. Martin, Hibbert and Robbie Malinoski lead the parade on the opening lap with Tim Tremblay and Dan Ebert in tow. Early into the event, Hibbert pressured Martin while Tremblay, the fastest man on the track, moved to within a few sled lengths of the leaders.
With 14 to go, Hibbert moved along side Martin, but had to back down for a local yellow flag. In the next corner, he made the pass stick and set sail. On the next lap Tremblay made his way into second and looked to have the snort to catch Hibbert.
The running order remained the same for the next several laps then, with four to go, the wheels fell off. Hibbert made an off-track excursion all on his own, allowing Tremblay to close in and pass the Arctic Cat rider momentarily. Tremblay then suffered a mechanical failure approaching the finish line jump and was parked. Martin closed briefly before Hibbert regained stride, while Malinoski claimed third. At the finish, it was Hibbert, Martin and Malinoski, with Logan Christian turning in a great performance for fourth and Christian Brothers teammate Garth Kaufman completing a stellar weekend in fifth.
Race Notes: For the second day, TJ Gulla was only able to take starts after suffering a shoulder injury at the Winter X Games one week ago. Ryan Simons was out of action all weekend after bruising his heel in Aspen.