Sioux Falls, S.D. ~ The warm weather did nothing to damper the enthusiasm and competitiveness of round nine of AMSOIL Championship Snocross in Sioux Falls, S.D.
A near-perfect Friday of sun and fun was followed up with a temperature bump, hovering just below the 70-degree mark. With more than 100 races on Saturday, the Sioux Falls Snocross National track kept its base, even with the edges washing away from the sunshine. That was enough to crown a repeat Pro winner, a rebound in Pro Lite, and a few sweeps across the classes.
A Calculated Harr Sweeps Weekend
Emil Harr has only missed two podiums this season. They both occurred in New York two weeks ago. He still finished sixth and fourth in the Pro class that weekend, but he came to Sioux Falls determined to get his championship quest back on track.
South Dakota proved beneficial to Harr’s title chase. After sweeping all three rounds of the Triple Crown on Friday, Harr kept the good times rolling through the first two rounds on Saturday. He won both races, including one of the best Pro races of the year, when he chased down an unyielding Yurk in the second round.
Harr led Yurk heading into the final round by two points and got out front and in position for a three-win night. But Daniel Benham broke up the winning streak, with Harr knowing a second was good enough for the overall. His 1-1-2 game him four points, three better than Benham and four over Yurk, leading to the weekend sweep and his fourth win.
“I had a good weekend, right,” said Harr. “It feels great, and New York was hard, and we were struggling a little bit. But this week everything worked well, and I had some great battles with the (Arctic) Cats out there, and the guys were riding fast, but I was able to be a little bit faster and take the overall again tonight.”
Yurk had positioned himself for the overall runner-up spot, entering the final round with a pair of second-place finishes. But Benham was extremely fast in both rounds but had to work from outside the top five in both heats to finish a very close third in each. In the third round, Benham got a better start, which put him in a position to get around Harr. His 3-3-1 was one point better than Yurk, who finished fourth in round three, ending the night 2-2-4. After starting the year with only one podium between them, it marked the fourth straight podium for both riders.
A First As Beaulieu Holds Off Dillon
There were a pair of impressive rides in Saturday night’s Pro Lite final, and both were major players at the finish line.
The first came from Jeremy Beaulieu, who started the weekend outside the top ten and had one podium finish this season. Beaulieu used terrific throttle response and determination to edge out a deeply talented Pro Lite field heading into the first corner, turning the hole shot into a race-long advantage.
The second drive of the night came from rookie Crayden Dillon. The current points leader came in looking to regain the form that led to a season-opening win streak of seven straight races. The start wasn’t what he wanted, but he went on a tear after the third lap, moving from seventh to third in three laps and then charging to second with five laps remaining.
The last position became the hardest. Dillon caught Beaulieu with two laps remaining as Beaulieu was navigating a thick scrum of lappers. With the white flag out and the final corner in sight, Dillon pulled up to Beaulieu’s mud flap, but Beaulieu didn’t flinch, keeping Dillon in the runner-up spot and taking home his first career Pro Lite victory.
“We’ve been working so hard all year,” said Beaulieu. “It’s just paying off right now, and it feels so great.”
While Dillon’s ride through the field came up short, it was still worthwhile, especially on a tight track like the one in Sioux Falls. Dillon had his hands full for several laps with Tyler Archambault, who was unwilling to relinquish the runner-up spot. After Dillon moved into second, Archambault locked down his second podium of the year, thanks to a great start after being the 13th qualifier and having to start in the back row of the final.
Cottew Completes Weekend Sweep
The short track brought an extremely competitive Pro AM Women’s race to Sioux Falls faithful on Saturday.
Inanna Hauger grabbed another holeshot, and Malene Cottew had to find another option to get around the early race leader. Cottew, who had won eight finals this year, was able to get past Hauger on lap four. But Hauger found a few new lines and spent most of the race less than two sled lengths behind the defending champion.
Cottew would hold on for the weekend sweep, with Hauger finishing with a pair of second-place podium finishes. Cerissa Blessum was able to hold off Ava McCurdy for her third straight podium.
PRO AM PLUS 30: It’s been nearly a month since current Pro AM Plus 30 points leader Corin Todd and defending class champion Andy Lieders went head-to-head in a final.
With Todd out in Sioux Falls, Lieders returned to action after missing the last two rounds and took care of business Saturday night. Lieders got the preferred line over Devin Denman heading into turn one and rode to his second win of the season.
The rest of the podium shuffled back and forth throughout the final, but Adam Johnson secured the second spot, and Justin Gaudet finished third.
FXR SPORT: It is difficult on a track as short as the one in Sioux Falls to get out in front and open up a big lead, but Cameron Cole did just that on his way to his first win of the season.
Cole was quick on the trigger Saturday and found the clean air to his liking. He drove a smooth race and managed lapped traffic and yellow caution flags with ease while picking up his fourth FXR Sport podium.
Points leader Brandon Nelson held off Brady Freeland for the runner-up spot. The two finished just over a second apart and are separated by only five points in the standings. The top four riders in the class leave Sioux Falls sitting with only 13 points of separation.
SPORT LITE: Points leader Trenton Hilmerson and Friday night winner Lawrence Eeg went bar-to-bar off the start of Saturday night’s Sport Lite final. After some early race jockeying, Hilmerson pushed ahead of Eeg and kept the challenger at bay through the finish.
It marked Hilmerson’s first win of the season, but a late race penalty was assigned to Hilmerson for a yellow-flag infraction, dropping his points down to fourth. That gave Eeg the official win and additional points, moving him to 23 points behind Hilmerson for the class lead. Shade Meyer officially finished second behind Eeg, and Colin Taggart was third.
120 CHAMP: Kody Krantz picked up some valuable championship points on 120 Champ overall leader Ryan Shimanski this weekend, thanks to a big win on Saturday night that showed off the finish line fist-pump of the weekend.
Krantz and Shimanski were nose-to-tail for much of the race, with Krantz holding off a late push from Shimanski that saw the two cross the finish line less than a second apart. The pair entered the day just 14 points apart, making the three extra points Krantz picked up valuable with three rounds remaining on the 2024 schedule. Henry Dillon finished third, his first podium of the year.
ROX SPEED FX STOCK 200: Koy Maruska separated from an early tight pack of racers before finding clean air and completing the Rox Speed FX Stock 200 weekend sweep.
Zoie Smith worked into the runner-up spot and made it a tight race during the final turns to finish second, her first podium of the season. Tessa Naastad was right in the mix, finishing third for her second podium this year.
TRANSITION 9-13: Tavin Knudson and Jimmy Stanisich were fully committed to the start of the Transition 9-13 final on Saturday. Knudson ran a smoother line early on, gaining the lead and continuing to this fifth win of the season.
The points leader, Stanisich, made a charge but found his way through late lappers to lock down the runner-up spot. Stanisich came into the weekend only eight points ahead of Knudson.
Ryder Hayes held off Friday night winner Lincoln Meyer for the final podium spot, his first trip to the winner’s circle this season.
JUNIOR 14-15: Colin Taggart missed the New York rounds two weeks ago but made up for it with a pair of podium finishes in South Dakota. That includes a close win in the Junior 14-15 class on Saturday, one night after finishing second.
AJ Skogquist brought a very close race over the final laps and finished less than a second behind Taggart in the runner-up spot. Points leader Kamden Duffy backed up his Friday night win with a third on Saturday, thanks to a last-lap pass for the final podium position.
TRANSITION 8-10: Tripp Knudson and Noah Gillis went bar-to-bar off the start, but Gillis would grab the holeshot as he railed around the outside of turn one for the early lead. But Knudson found the same line and some additional smooth groove to overtake the lead a few laps later, driving to the weekend sweep in Transition 8-10.
Gillis settled into the runner-up spot and picked up his first podium since his round three win in Shakopee. Dedric Schwahn’s return to action this weekend proved a success as he finished third at the end of Saturday’s final.
JUNIOR GIRLS 9-13: Number one qualifier Victoria Dillon used an inside line in the first turn to move into the lead over Eleanor Schmidt. After that, Dillon didn’t relinquish the lead as she drove to her first win of the season.
The victory cut into Avery Hemmer’s nine-point lead as Hemmer crossed the line in second. Schmidt, who sits third overall, finished third.
JUNIOR 10-13: Tavin Knudson entered Saturday’s Junior 10-13 final as the number one qualifier and tucked inside McCall Anderson for the early race lead. He locked the top spot down as he stretched out his lead with each passing lap.
Knudson would take his third straight win, finishing ahead of Charlie Lucas, who picked up his first podium of the season. Porter Jacklitch found his way around Anderson on the final lap to earn his first trip to the podium this year.
AMSOIL Championship Snocross heads to Wisconsin on March 15-16 for the Lake Geneva Snocross National presented by Hayes. The event will take place at the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva.
For more information about the 2023-2024 AMSOIL Championship Snocross season, visit www.snocross.com. You can tune in all season long, live on www.FloRacing.com. Event day schedules and tickets will become available in the coming months at snocross.com.