Elko, Minn – Ross Martin did everything he could to close the gap on Tucker Hibbert in the race for the AMSOIL Pro Open championship, but in the end it was Hibbert having the final say in the main event.

The Air Force National at Elko Speedway delivered big on all levels.

Day two of AMSOIL Champioship Snocross Series action from Elko Speedway saw HIbbert and Martin each go undefeated in their qualifying rounds, putting even more pressure on Martin to win the final to have any hope of reducing HIbbert’s lead in the class. Martin grabbed an early lead over Bobby LePage, Brett Bender and Hibbert, setting sail with destiny in his own hands. Just two laps into the 20 lap race, Hibbert advanced to second but was still several lengths back of the Jack Link’s Polaris rider. Tim Tremblay, who had an outside shot at catching Martin coming into the weekend, was caught up in a first corner tangle, rolling his sled and dropping him well to the back of the field.

Time is running out on Ross Martin, but winning races remains priority number one.

Martin would lead by as much as 15-20 sled lengths just prior to the halfway point as Hibbert looked to be regrouping for a run. “I actually got roosted and just made a big mistake in the berm,” said Hibbert.  I have dropped back like that in the past and it can help. But in this case I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t in a panic when I got going again because I knew there was time, so I guess it did work out that way.”

Meanwhile, Bender and Robbie Malinoski were waging their own battle for third. Malinoski would have issues while trying to pass Bender, with LePage looking strong until suffering his own woes on lap 17. It was on this same lap that Hibbert made his way around Martin at the end of the main straight, as he would go on for the Monster Energy Arctic Cat team’s second win of the weekend. Martin locked up the number two spot, with a battered Brett Bender highlighting the back half of his season with a third. Emil Ohman and Logan Christian rounded out the top five.

Arctic Cat Tag Teams Semi-Pro Again

Ebert Arctic Cat riders Cody Thomsen and Kyle Pallin reversed the order of Saturday’s main event with Pallin taking the win on day 2. Thomsen got the holeshot and lead a good portion of the race in front of AMSOIL Ski-Doo mounted Darrin Mees. Pallin was able to get by Mees at the two-thirds mark and then moved to within range of Thomsen. The leader then bobbled with three to go allowing Pallin to slip by for the win. Thomsen retained the number two spot ahead of Mees and Derek Ellis who have their own battle going for the third spot in the championship chase.

Number two title contender Mike Bauer suffered a serious set back to his efforts when he broke a right front shock in the first corner of the final. Bauer muscled the sled around for 10 laps but was ultimately credited with 15th position. Pallin’s win now has him within 14 points of Bauer, while Thomsen has all but sealed the title.

Sportech Arctic Cat racer Andrew Carlson was only able to take starts today after being injured in a main event crash on Saturday night.