Hibbert Reasserts Himself At Canterbury

Lessons in survival: Don’t get between a momma bear and her cubs; don’t tug on Superman’s cap; don’t try to take food away from Warren Sapp; and don’t antagonize Tucker Hibbert.

            The Arctic Cat racer known as T Train steamrolled the competition Saturday night in rainy conditions at Shakopee, Minnesota’s Canterbury Park, grabbing an early holeshot and winning in truly dominating fashion – crossing the finish line 32 seconds ahead of second-place Dan Ebert to claim his 51^st victory in national snocross racing.

            Hibbert suffered his only defeat of the past season-and-a-half a couple of weeks ago at the ISOC national near Salt Lake City, Utah. He entered this weekend ultra-determined, and it showed. He entered the final as the number one qualifier, and made a mockery of his competition in the final.  

            Off the starting line, the co-holeshots went to Polaris’ Brett Bender, who rocketed through the first turn on the outside, and Hibbert, who used a more central line. While Bender got caught up in some loose snow, Hibbert got traction and rocketed into the next set of turns. In the pack, Ebert traded paint with some other competitors and emerged in third.

            It took another lap for Ebert to move past Bender, but his efforts to chase down his mentor proved very much in vain. Lap after lap, Hibbert gained one or two seconds over the rest of the field, leaving everybody far, far behind. Four laps into the 20-lap final, Hibbert’s lead was 4 seconds. Four laps later, the lead was 8.5 seconds. Four laps after that, the lead was 13.8 seconds – and growing.

            While other racers tired, Hibbert got faster, slicing through lapped traffic with ease. Four laps later? The lead was now 22.3 seconds – and still growing. Ebert, the winning of the cross-country Red Lake I-500 one week earlier on his No. 60 Arctic Cat, ran a very solid race, and outran a very talented field to claim second, but he was no match for Hibbert.

            Bender similarly held third through most of the race and earned podium exposure with a third-place finish. Polaris racer Levi Lavallee held fourth through most of the race but couldn’t hold off a late challenge by Ski-Doo’s Tim Trembley, the winner at Utah who claimed fourth with two laps left and held the spot to the finish. Lavallee ended up fifth.

            The rest of the top 10 were Ross Martin (Pol), Emil Ohman (Doo), Corey Davis (Cat), Robbie Malinoski (Pol) and Matt Judnick (Pol).

            The Pro Open final will be run Saturday at Canterbury.

            In Semi-Pro Stock racing Saturday night, Logan Christian of Fertile, Minnesota, took the victory on his Arctic Cat. Combined with his second in this class at Duluth, third at Milwaukee and foruth in Utah, Christian is setting himself up well in the points race in this class. Justin Broberg finished second, followed by Dylan Martin and Matt Pichner.

Wahl Opens Season On Top

If you are a snowmobile racing fan within an easy drive of Minnesota’s Twin Cities, shame on you for missing a fabulous event.

            The WSA Pro-Ice season opener December 19-20 at Shakopee, Minnesota’s Raceway Park was a really good racing event at a really cool facility. Sadly, it was missed by most, as only a small crowd was on hand to see some very exciting racing, particularly in the Champ 440 class.

            Sixteen of the very best drivers in the Upper Midwest, including World Champions PJ Wanderscheid (2002, 2003, 2006), Gary Moyle (2005, 2007) and Bryan Bewcyk (2008, 2009) battled it out on the ice-covered blacktop racing track, but in the end the winner was a second-generation driver that many are expecting to be a future World Champion.

            Dustin Wahl of the Greenbush, Minnesota-based Wahl Bros. Racing Team opened the season on top, first claiming the super-exciting 600 class Saturday afternoon and then the event-closing Champ 440 final Sunday afternoon in front of a fast field.

            Wanderscheid got the holeshot and held the point for the first half of the race, but standing trackside it was obvious that it was only a matter of time before the talented Cat racer gave way to the faster Polaris-powered mod being driven by Wahl. Just past the halfway point, Wahl claimed the lead by driving under Wanderscheid on the front stretch, then he pulled away. Wanderscheid finished a solid second. Moyle was mired back in traffic on his new, tubular chassis machine, and Bewcyk didn’t make the 12-sled final.

            Wahl’s victory was more dramatic Saturday, when he used a last-lap pass to slice past Mike Schultz for the victory.

          After the race, Dustin’s father Dave Wahl reported that the sled the team was using was actually last year’s chassis. A new chassis has been completed, but “we thought this one was fast enough,” said the retired three-time champion. We guess so. 

            Check back with SnowGoerRacing.com later this week – we took a ton of photos and will upload a bunch from snowmobile oval racing, ATV racing on the same surface and, yes, even lawn mower racing. Stay tuned.

Tate, Broberg earn undercard wins at Milwaukee

The Pro Super Stock final at the ISOC National at the Milwaukee Mile is about to begin, but here’s a quick update on the last two finals.

       In the Fox Shox-sponsored Pro Plus 30 Super Stock class, Justin Tate is already threatening to take the season over. For the second time in as many rounds this season, “Tator” easily pulled away to a commanding victory, though at Milwaukee his level of domination even topped what the Scandia, Minnesota-based Polaris rider accomplished last weekend at the Duluth Nation.

       Lap after lap, Tate pulled further and further ahead in the 12-lap final, winning the race by more than 15 seconds over second place Earl Reimer on the No. 100 Ski-Doo.

       Even more impressive, Ontario’s Reimer – a seasoned Pro himself – was the only other driver on he lead lap. Paul Bauerly took the third spot on the podium, after finishing as the lead sled of the only two sleds to finish one lap down. That’s right – in a 12-lap final, Tate lapped all but the top four twice.

       The Semi-Pro Open final featured an early leader, a middle leader and a winner. The holeshot and early leadwent to Justin Steck, the No. 8 qualifier who pulled off to a surprising early lead ahead of a star-studded field. It didn’t last long, though, as he crashed within the first two laps. That handed the lead to Dylan Martin on his Ski-Doo, and he held the point for the next 10 laps.

       Behind him, his Warnert Racing teammate Justin Broberg was clicking off strong, consistent laps and working through lapped traffic with ease. With three and a half lps to go, he claimed the point and eased away from Martin to claim the win. Logan Christian overcame a mid-air paint swapping with Duluth winner Cody Thomsen to finish third, with Thomsen fourth.

       Earlier, Kylie Abrahamson continued her domination of the Pro Women’s class, earning a win ahead of Carly Davis,  with Nikiya Adomaitis claiming third.

Oval Racing Season Starts In Minnesota

Oval racing is back. This image of PJ Wanderscheid is from Eagle River last eyar.

At long last, the snowmobile oval racing season is about to start, thanks to the opening round of the WSA Pro-Ice circuit, held this year at the famous Raceway Park car racing track near Shakopee, Minnesota.

Traditionally, the opening of the oval racing season in the Upper Midwest has been at Beausejour, Manitoba, but that early December race was cancelled due to warm weather. The weather also ate into testing time for most teams. With a couple of cold weeks behind us, however, racers are eager to face off on the track.

Now, the ice is in place, the haybales are being stacked and the racing action is on its way. Racing will be held Saturday, December 18 and Sunday, December 19. Featured racing action will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. each afternoon. Gate fees are $20 either day, or $30 for the full weekend pass. For more information, visit www.pro-ice.com.

Hibbert Completes Pro Sweep In Duluth

The T-Train kept rolling Sunday at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minnesota, as Tucker Hibbert rolled over the competition in the Pro Open final.

Hibbert, 25, was unbeaten last year in ISOC racing action, and he started this season with the same dominating style, winning every time his Arctic Cat sleds took to the track. He now has 48 wins as a Pro on the national circuit.

Originally slated for the traditional Thanksgiving weekend but postponed due to unseasonably warm weather, weather today on the shores of Lake Superior was cold, making the racetrack hard and fast with thick snowdust that challenged the racers.

The early lead in the 22-lap Pro Open final was claimed by Robbie Malinoski, riding his first weekend as part of the Amsoil Schuering Speed Sports team in the Amsoil sponsored Pro Open class at the Amsoil Duluth National on the Amsoil Championship Snocross Series across the harbor from Amsoil’s headquarters in Superior, Wisconsin.

Pressure? Maybe, but the real pressure was being mounted by Hibbert. Within a couple of laps Hibbert moved into the lead and never looked back. He ended up winning the final by eight seconds, but it was never close, as he built a full straight-away lead within the first eight laps and then held it through lapped traffic.

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