LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (March 14, 2014) – Heading into tonight’s Grand Geneva Resort & Spa’s Nielsen Enterprises Grand Finale, presented by Coors Light, Pro Open final with 12 wins in 14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram, rounds it was a given that Tucker Hibbert (Monster Energy/Arctic Cat) would wrap up the season championship.
And Hibbert would do so before the main event was even run.
Powering to a 1st and 2nd place finish in his qualifying races, Hibbert increased his lead over 2nd place Kody Kamm (Hentges Racing/Polaris) to 122 points – with a possible 115 points remaining (qualifiers and main events) through Saturday and Sunday’s rounds, securing the title before the green flag even flew on the main event.
A bit anticlimactic? Hardly, as fans packed the grandstands and surround site lines at Grand Geneva to catch a glimpse of the world’s greatest snowmobile racers – including the newly-crowned champion, who ran way with tonight’s Pro Open main event to put an exclamation point on his eighth national championship.
“I was here to win, always give it my all,” said Hibbert. “I got a bad start and had to work hard to catch back up. The roost was so bad, but when I caught up to Kody (Kamm) we had good battle there for a couple laps. I’m happy to win the championship … this is my best year ever for me.
“But we’ve got two more races and I’m not done yet.”
Pro Open
Pulling the Stud Boy Holeshot was Petr Narsa (BOSS Racing/Jimmy John’s/Ski-Doo), who cranked off a win in one of the preliminary heat races as well (qualifying 5th). Narsa was quickly caught by Kamm, from nearby Kenosha, Wis., which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Hibbert, who started back in the pack, put on a hard charge early and was up to 4th, then 3rd place before the end of lap one.
“I got a good start and had the lead, but Tucker kept inching up on me,” said Kamm.
Kamm, who, along with Ross Martin (DuPont/Jack Links/Polaris), was the only racer to beat Hibbert this season, would cover Hibbert for the next three (of nine) laps before Hibbert out-jumped Kamm on a massive downhill section on the Lake Geneva Mountain Top ski hill. Hibbert would then brake late and squared off Kamm in the base bowl turn, forcing Kamm to slow and rocketing back up the face of Geneva’s steepest ski hill on his Arctic Cat sled.
As Hibbert checked out (winning by ten seconds) Kamm wasn’t able to mount a charge, much in part, according to Kamm, from Hibbert’s snow roost disrupting Kamm’s vision. Narsa would hold on to 3rd place, his best run of the year and 1st podium finish as well.
“The team worked hard all season and it finally paid off,” said Narsa from the podium.
Battling hard for the remaining top five spots were Lincoln Lemieux (Scheuring Speed Sports/AMSOIL/Ski-Doo) and Kyle Pallin (LaVallee Racing/Polaris), with Pallin passing Lemieux late for 4th place, while Lemieux, who was a late-season replacement racer for the injured Tim Tremblay and Robbie Malinoski, placed 5th.
Lake Geneva Friday Pro Open results
1 Tucker Hibbert
Monster Energy/Arctic Cat
68 Arctic Cat
Pelican Rapids, MN
2 Kody Kamm
Hentges Racing
53 Polaris
Kenosha, WI
3 Petter Narsa
Team Jimmy John’s/Ski-doo/BossRacing
271 Ski-Doo
Moskosel,
4 Kyle Pallin
Team LaVallee
324 Polaris
Ironwood, MI
5 Lincoln Lemieux
Amsoil/Air Force/Rockstar
13 Ski-Doo
St. Johnsbury, VT
6 Cody Thomsen
Arctic Cat
62 Arctic Cat
Nisswa, MN
7 Ross Martin
Judnick Motorsports
837 Polaris
Burlington, WI
8 Justin Broberg
Hentges Racing
168 Polaris
Mukwonago, WI
9 Jake Scott
Team LaVallee
42 Polaris
Port Jefferson Station, NY
10 Levi LaVallee
Team LaVallee
108 Polaris
Longville, MN
11 Bobby LePage
Cottew Motorsports
244 Polaris
Duluth, MN
12 Mike Bauer
Jess Racing
717 Arctic Cat
medford, WI
13 Colby Crapo
Huber Motorsports
999 Ski-Doo
St.Anthony, ID
14 Darrin Mees
BossRacing
9 Ski-Doo
stanchfield, MN
15 David Joanis
ROYAL DISTRIBUTING
115 Arctic Cat
Cochrane (Kok rane), Ontario
Note: AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Lite race returns to action tomorrow and Sunday at Lake Geneva.
AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram, continues on Saturday and Sunday – which will be shown ‘Live’ on CBS Sports, 3 p.m. EST – at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin’s Grand Geneva Resort & Spa for the Nielsen Enterprises Grand Finale, presented by Coors Light.
2013-’14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram
Round/Date City/State
1 – Nov. 29-Dec. 1 Duluth, Minnesota
2 – Dec. 6-7 Bessemer, Michigan
3 – Jan. 3-5 Shakopee, Minnesota
4 – Jan. 31-Feb.1 Deadwood, South Dakota
5 – Feb. 7-8 Salamanca, New York
6 – Feb. 21-22 Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
7 – March 7-8 Fargo, N.D.
8 – March 14-16 Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Beginning with AMSOIL Championship Snocross’ season-opening round in Duluth, Minn. and running through the season finale in Lake Geneva, Wis. CBS Sports Network will air 16 half-hour programs of the ACS races.
Photos courtesy of Lissa Marsolek/ISOC
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 snocross.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.