Duluth, Minn., ~ The 2023-2024 AMSOIL Championship Snocross season came to completion on Sunday in Duluth, Minn. With the winds whipping off of Lake Superior and the threat of rain in the forecast, the sun stayed out long enough to shine upon another spectacular day of racing.
With most champions already crowned, there were still titles to be won in Sport and Sport Lite, the feeder classes to the Pros. Those battles were part of a show that featured great racing in Pro and Pro Lite and rewarded the enthusiastic Duluth, Minn. fanbase with a renewed appetite for the 2024-2025 season.
Pelletier Gets First Win in Final Round
The 2023-2024 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro season started with a traditional racing format in Ironwood (two heats and a final). After that, it reverted to the Triple Crown, but with Sunday being a condensed day of racing, the Pro Riders turned to a dual moto format.
With less time on the track, every mistake would significantly impact the final outcome. Emil Harr wrapped up the Pro championship on Saturday and was looking to close the season with another race win. He had the first moto on lockdown before he put the sled on its side with two laps to go. That opened the door for Francis Pelletier to get the round-one win after he got through a long battle with Travis Kern for the top position.
Pelletier would close out the season with his second race win of the day, getting the lead three laps in and attacking the track from start to finish. It marked Pelletier’s first Pro win of the season, as he finished third overall behind Harr and Jordan Lebel.
“Being smooth out there was the key,” said Pelletier. “I had a pretty good holeshot and then just stayed smooth until I got out front and then just stayed focused on where I needed to go. I’m really happy about this win.”
Lebel wrapped up a three-podium weekend with a pair of clean motos on Sunday. He finished third in the day’s first race and held the runner-up spot in the next to finish second overall. The rookie may have finished one place behind Pelletier on the podium Sunday, but he did finish one point ahead of him in the overall standings (second).
Daniel Benham went 2-3 on Sunday for third overall. Adam Peterson finished fourth, and Travis Kern was fifth.
Lorenz Launches to Third Pro Lite Win
With the Pro Lite championship settled on Friday night, it was wide open for the rest of the class as riders were looking to end the season on a high note.
That was the reality for Nick Lorenz, who was locked into the second position in the season standings, but he wanted to add a third win to his 2023-2024 resume. Thanks to a great start and a quick pass on holeshot winner Topi Posti, he took care of business. Lorenz handled the big track and rode to his seventh podium finish of the year.
“I just knew if I did my job and I just rode my finals good, qualified good and got a good start, it would pay,” said Lorenz. “My whole West Coast Customs team has been working so hard for me, and it’s just been an unreal year.”
Posti kept Lorenz honest while not getting caught up in the position battles going on behind him. The round ten winner earned his second podium of the weekend by finishing second. Anson Scheele, who started in the back row, made his way to the back of Emeric Legendre’s sled, but Legendre was able to find some faster lines over the final two laps to finish third, his first podium finish of the year.
SNOW BIKE: The 2024 Snow Bike championship was held over three weekends and six races this season. The big bikes tackled the biggest tracks on the circuit, and when the snow dust had settled, Yanick Boucher stood atop the standings.
Boucher clinched the title with a sweep of Sunday’s motos, his fourth overall win of the season. Defending champion and Friday night winner Troy Horbaty went 2-2 on Sunday for second overall, and Bobby Pagel finished 4-3 to edge out RJ Marnoch for the third podium spot.
FXR SPORT: Heading into Sunday’s finale, Kellen Chapuran held a five-point lead over Cameron Cole and Brandon Nelson for the top spot in FXR Sport.
The difference maker was the second round of qualifying, where Cole and Chapuran won both of their qualifiers. However, Chapuran lost six points in the round and started in the back row for the final. He then got caught up in a first-turn pile-up before racing to a ninth-place finish.
Out front, there was a showdown between Nelson and Cole, with Nelson grabbing the hole shot. He would ride a clean race out front, lead from start to finish, and secure the championship by five points. Cole would finish third, with Brady Freeland finishing second.
Cole would end the season second overall, and Chapuran in third.
SPORT LITE: Early in Sunday’s Sport Lite final, several sleds got tied up at the bottom of the first big downhill section, causing a ripple effect for positioning throughout the race and the championship points.
Four Sport Lite riders entered the weekend in Duluth with 19 points of separation. After an exciting final on Saturday, that number was 26 points, led by Trent Hilmerson. Overall, Hilmerson, Lawrence Eeg, Shade Meyer, and Kamden Duffy had a shot at the title on Sunday.
None of those four were included in Sunday’s podium line-up. Aiden Beckmann started seventh and took the lead with two laps to go for his first win of the season. Pacey Zandstra started eighth but made the last lap pass on Jeremy Audette for the runner-up position. Audette held off Eeg for the third position.
The fourth-place finish was almost enough for Eeg to overtake Hilmerson for the championship. Hilmerson’s tenth-place finish gave him 11 points in the final compared to Eeg’s 18, giving him a narrow two-point championship victory.
TRANSITION 8-10: The future of the sport was on display Sunday with a pair of Transition classes, including a Transition 8-10 final.
Tripp Knudson proved unbeatable over the second half of the season, including his sixth straight win to close out the year on Sunday. Knudson, who wrapped up the championship in Elk River, nailed the holeshot and led from start to finish for the weekend sweep.
Noah Gillis and Beau Engel swapped spots early in the race, with Gillis gaining the advantage and finishing second and Engel in third. Jack Gelinas finished second overall, while Gillis finished the season third, three points ahead of Enel.
TRANSITION 9-13: Ten points separated Jimmy Stanisich and Tavin Knudson atop the Transition 9-13 class heading into the finale, setting up a greatly anticipated showdown on Sunday.
The pair rode one-two for the first half of the race, with Stanisich in the lead. But Knudson dropped out of the top three, and Stanisich drove to his fourth win of the year. Knudson finished sixth, with Stanisich clinching the season title.
Cody Moras started sixth but finished third, in the same overall finishing position. Owen Eide crossed the line in third, picking up his first podium finish of the season.
For more information about the AMSOIL Championship Snocross season, visit www.snocross.com. You can tune in all season long and watch full event replays on www.FloRacing.com.