Is Hibbert’s Excellence Good For Snocross?
April 30, 2010
When you’re watching competition in person or on TV, which would you rather see: Excellence in action, or an event where anybody could win?
I could take either side of that argument, so that’s why I’m asking you. Some of you are probably already seeing through my opening lines to the real question: Is Tucker Hibbert’s domination good for snowmobile racing?
Tucker Hibbert at the Duluth Snocross
In the 2008-09 racing season, Hibbert won every single final he entered. He carried that run over into the 2009-2010 season, where he was beat only once on the track – when he had some troubles in Utah and had to watch Tim Tremblay be the first one to see the waving checkered flag in Pro Open. In each of those seasons, Hibbert raced for half the season, claimed an easy looking gold medal at the Winter X Games and then checked out of snowmobile racing to pursue his motocross racing dreams.
Watching Hibbert race is like seeing a great artist work – in high speed. The way he selects lines in the rugged snocross courses, the smooth efficiency with which he slices through traffic on his Monster Energy-sponsored Arctic Cat, the amazingly soft way he lands his sled after catching big air – it’s almost poetic the way he dances with his snowmobile.
Each lap, he pulls another two seconds away from his very talented competition, building a seemingly insurmountable lead by mid-race. The only hope for the competition seems to be waiting for a mistake, but they very rarely come.
It really is awe-inspiring, and to some, it’s like watching the way Michael Jordon impacted the NBA in the 1980s, Jeremy McGrath took over motocross in the 1990s, or Tiger Woods’ impact on golf in the 2000s.
To others, however, it lends a level of predictability that may keep them away from races. I’ve heard it from a few of my friends – I’ve asked “Are you going to the Canterbury Snocross this weekend?” and heard, “Why? To see Tucker run away from everybody again? No thanks” in reply.
The Pro Stock podium was all Arctic Cat, with Tucker Hibbert at the center, his young friend Dan Ebert on his right and counsin Garth Kaufman on his left.
Hibbert Takes Gold at Winter X Games
January 31, 2010
Hibbert walks away with gold.
Ten years ago, then semi-pro racer Tucker Hibbert, 16 at the time, shocked the snowmobile racing world by beating a star-studded field in his first pro race at the Winter X Games in Vermont, claiming a gold medal in the made-for-TV event.
Sunday, the racer from Goodridge, Minnesota, reiterated that, as an adult, he’s the most dominant racer in the sport. He absolutely destroyed the competition, winning by more than 48 seconds in the 20-lap final. In doing so, he earned his fifth X Games gold medal in snocross, including the last four in a row, and his ninth X Games medal overall.
Heat 1 of qualifying had Ryan Simons taking the holeshot and he was followed by Cory Davis and Dan Ebert. Davis quickly passed Simons to move on to win Heat 1. The top 5 racers to move on to the final from this heat were: 1. Cory Davis 2. Ryan Simons 3. Tim Trembly 4. Dan Ebert 5. Levi Lavallee.
In Heat 2 of qualifying, Tucker Hibbert took the holeshot and never looked back. By lap 7, Hibbert had a twelve second lead on the field. On lap 19, Bobby Lepage used the 18-foot Talladega turn to pass Colby Crapo for the final transfer spot. The top 5 to advance in Heat 2 were 1. Tucker Hibbert 2. Brett Turcotte 3. Paul Bauerly 4. Matt Piche 5. Bobby LePage.
Hibbert Reasserts Himself At Canterbury
January 22, 2010
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 51st 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.
Hibbert Takes National Win No. 50 Saturday Night In Milwaukee
December 19, 2009
This just in, Tucker Hibbert is human – and he was actually beat at the snowy and windy Milwaukee National.
Tucker Hibbert took Pro win No. 50 in his career at Milwaukee
The problem, at least for the competition, is that Hibbert’s defeats came in heat races. When it was time to chase the cheese, Hibbert again schooled the field in both Pro Stock on Friday night and Pro Open on Sunday night.
For Hibbert, the driver who swept every Pro weekend last year before leaving the circuit to chase his motocross dreams, it was another weekend sweep to start this season after doing the same thing last weekend in Duluth, Minnesota. It was win number 50 on the national snocross scene – between WPSA and ISOC – for Hibbert.
Saturday night, Hibbert again scored a come behind victory. The holeshot and early lead was claimed by Brett Bender on the No. 19 Polaris of New York, Bender held the point for the first three laps in the 22 lap final before being passed in the air over the main tabletop jump by Hibbert. Hibbert again methodically pulled away on his Monster Energy Drink Arctic Cat, pulling away to a 9 second victory.
On the podium, Hibbert said about the only problem he has was with the roost, reporting that one time he got a mouthful of snow when pulling up behind a sled he was about to lap that made it hard for him to breath. From the outside, though, nobody could tell, as Hibbert again looked close to perfect.
Bender held second the rest of the race – fellow Polaris racer Ross Martin closed within .8 seconds a couple of times, but he never got close enough to truly challenge. Those two took the last two spots on the podium.
“Right before the race I was telling my dad [hall of fame racer Tim Bender] and everybody [on his team] that if I just got through the first corner I’d be excited because it seems I haven’t got through that first corner yet this year,” said Bender, who had gotten tangled up with riders early in the other three finals this year.
“As soon as [Hibbert] got by me, I though, OK, just calm down and try to stay with him and see what he’s doing,” Bender said. But Bender bobbled a couple times and allowed Hibbert out of his sights.
Hibbert, meanwhile, admitted being human on the podium, saying that sometimes he struggles to find the motivation to keep training for riding. But, between devine inspiration for the religious rider, a desire to not let his team down and the threat of competitors sneaking up on him, Hibbert continues to push to improve.
“I’d like to say thanks to the fans, the whole team, and thanks to the guys on the podium for giving me the motivation to keep working hard,” Hibbert said.
Robbie Malinoski (Pol) finished fourth, followed be Brett Tucotte (Doo), Cory Davis (Cat), Tim Tremblay (Doo), Emil Ohman (Doo), Dan Ebert (Cat) and Paul Bauerly (Doo). Crowd favorite Levi LaVallee struggled deep in the pack before coming off his ride with about five laps left.
Earlier, Logan Christian claimed a very entertaining Semi-Pro Stock victory.
Hibbert’s Chase Of Perfection Continues In Milwaukee
December 18, 2009
If you like to watch perfection, keep your eyes on the ISOC racing series for the first half of this season. If you like to watch close finishes and various people winning? Well, it might be a long season.
The Tucker Hibbert show continues Friday night at the Milwaukee Mile, where Hibbert again watched for a couple laps, then stormed away to an easy-looking victory in the Pro Super Stock final. It was the Goodrich, Minnesota, racer’s 49th Pro victory on the national series, and it continued an upbeaten string that dates back a couple of years.
Polaris racer Ross Martin actually gave Hibbert a decent challenge in a heat race, but when the money was on the line, local boy Martin could only hold back Hibbert for a couple of laps after grabbing the early lead. Six laps into the 22-lap final, Hibbert chose a different line on his Monster Energy Cat down the backstretch, swapped to the inside line in the far turn and then took a lead he’d never relinquish. Then, lap after lap, Hibbert pulled away, adding about a second each lap over the talented Martin.
Martin held second for the rest of the event, but behind him, there was chaos, as drivers swapped positions, there was a small fire and racers battled for the final podium spot. Levi LaVallee held third for the first third of the race before fading to an eventual eighth place finish. Steve Taylor grabbed the third spot on his Ski-Doo at the midway point but he faded to fifth.
Garth Kaufman, meanwhile, was going the other direction on his No. 48 Cat. He held eighth for several laps early, then started picking his way through the field. He claimed third with five laps left and held on. Robbie Malinoski started strong, faded in the middle, then came back to claim fourth on his Polaris. Tim Tremblay (Doo) was sixth behind Taylor, and second-best qualifier Emil Ohman overcame a first-lap tie-up with Brett Bender, among others, to work up to seventh ahead of LaVallee.
More huge racing tomorrow, including the Pro Open final.
Sunday morning notebook in Duluth
December 13, 2009
It’s Sunday, and we’re getting ready to head to the track. Here are some quick notes from yesteday:
- Tucker Hibbert’s victory in Pro Stock is his 47th Pro victory in the national snocross scene, according to ISOC officials. Even more impressively, it continues an unbeaten string for the racer that goes back a couple years. He won every regular season Pro final he entered last year, and won the ESPN Winter X Games before leaving to go chase his motocross dreams.
- Today is the Pro Open class, but it likely will be run without the defending points champion, TJ Gulla. Gulla left the track on a stretcher yesterday afternoon after being hit in the head by a passing sled as he scrambled to get off the track after a crash. Unofficial reports say that Gulla did wake at the hospital and does have use of all of his limbs, which is obviously fabulous news after a scary looking crash.
- The crowd is down slightly here in Duluth due to the move from Thanksgiving weekend until now due to the weather, but it’s still quite impressive. And the biggest crowd, we’re sure, will show up today.
- Check back later today for a rundown of Pro Open and Semi-Pro Stock — we’ll be posting updates from the media room right at Spirit Mountain.
Hibbert Wins Pro Stock At Duluth
December 12, 2009
Tucker Hibbert’s complete domination of the snocross racing world doesn’t look like it’s going to come to a close anytime soon, but his win Saturday night at the season-opening Amsoil Duluth Snocross came after he chased down his child protégé and held off a charge by his cousin.
The Pro Stock podium was all Arctic Cat, with Tucker Hibbert at the center, his young friend Dan Ebert on his right and counsin Garth Kaufman on his left.
In the end, it was a one-two-three finish for Arctic Cat, and an all-Hibbert tied podium. The Pro Open final is Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m.
The Pro Stock final started with an incredible holeshot by Dan Ebert – the son of legendary Arctic Cat wrencher Russ Ebert, the man who just-so-happened to be Tucker Hibbert’s mechanic in his first 10 years as a racer. Robbie Malinoski slotted into second, and Hibbert third, followed by a hard-charging Brett Bender, who started in the second row. Garth Kauffman and Cory Davis followed.
Ebert built a couple second lead while Hibbert worked past Malinoski by lap four and set his sights on the No. 60 Polaris. It took Hibbert six more laps of following Ebert before his sliced into the lead in turn one as the two approached lapped traffic.
Huge Canterbury Crowd Witness Hibbert Romp
January 12, 2009
Shakopee, MN (January 10, 2009) – With one of the biggest crowds on hand in over ten-years at Canterbury Park, Tucker Hibbert (Arctic Cat) continued his season unbeaten streak in the Pro ranks with two driving away victories. Fans also got a taste of the new one-day three-hour main event format, which featured an all-final show with back to back to back Pro and Semi-Pro finals.
Tucker Drives Away Twice for Victory in Pro-Open Final
With his unbeaten streak on the line and the competitors hungry to end it, Tucker foiled their efforts once again by gaining the lead on the first lap by overcoming the holeshot lead of fellow Cat rider Brett Turcotte and proceeding to check-out. In his wake, a swarm of Polaris red lead by Levi LaVallee, DJ Eckstrom and Ross Martin followed Turcotte.
In the early laps, DJ went wide and off the track, shuffling him back in the pack while TJ Gulla (Pol), picked off Malinoski and settling in to the fifth place position. The running order remained Tucker, Turcotte, LaVallee, Martin and Gulla until lap 13, when Martin and Levi began to battle for the third place position, swapping the spot several times over the course of five laps.
Best Snocross Racers in the World Set to be at Canterbury
January 2, 2009
MINNEAPOLIS (January 2, 2009) – The top professional snocross racers on the planet, as well as the leading freestyle athletes anywhere will invade Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota for Round 3 of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series. More than 15,000 fans are expected to witness the world’s best snowmobile riders compete side-by-side for more than $250,000 on a racetrack littered with huge jumps and insane terrain. Racers will fly more than 80-feet in excess of two-stories high as they negotiate a course laid out in front of the heated Canterbury Park venue.
Winter X Games Champions including Minnesota’s own Tucker Hibbert and Levi LaVallee as well as freestyle king Chris Burandt will be there, giving area fans one of the few opportunities of the year to see these incredible riders in person.
The weekend heats up fast Friday night at 7:00pm with a FREE Monster Energy Slednecks Invasion Tour freestyle showcase. The top freestyle athletes in the world including Chris Burandt and Paul Thacker will perform some of the most insane tricks ever seen on a snowmobile including a back-flip! Riders will launch their snowmobiles from two freestyle ramps to a backdrop of infused rock and free swag for the fans. Joining them will be the biggest names in snocross racing for an evening of hospitality, autographs and family fun.
Competitive juices flow early Saturday morning with support class racing, culminating with the Main Event from 4:00pm to 7:30pm. This all-out showcase of the top Pro and Semi-Pro riders anywhere will be bar to bar non-stop action, with Pro and Semi-Pro finals running back to back. During the action, the heated Canterbury Park facility will host displays from leading snowmobile manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers along with food and beverages. There’s also free snowmobile demo rides or the kids with a chance for one lucky participant to win a new Arctic Cat kids snowmobile.
Capping off the weekend will be Sunday support class racing, with local racers competing on a national track. Racing gets underway at 9:00am both Saturday and Sunday, but race fans will want to be sure they are in the stands 4:00pm Saturday for the Main Event. Advance weekend passes are just $30 with kids 12 and under FREE! Visits www.isocracing.com for more information and tickets.
Best Snocross Riders in World To Compete in Ironwood
December 8, 2008
Posted on behalf of ISOC
MINNEAPOLIS (December 1, 2008) – Tucker Hibbert threw down a challenge to all other professional snocross riders on the planet during round one action in Duluth over Thanksgiving Weekend, and the stage is set for intense competition December 12-14 in Ironwood, Michigan. After sweeping the Pro Main Events in Duluth, other top snocross pilots are have their sites set on Hibbert and the top box on the podium.
The weekend heats up fast Friday night at 7:00pm with the Monster Energy Slednecks Invasion Tour. The top freestyle athletes in the world will showcase the most insane tricks, launching their snowmobiles from two freestyle ramps to a backdrop of infused rock and free swag to the fans. Joining them will be the biggest names in cross including Hibbert, Levi LaVallee, Robbie Malinoski, Iain Hayden and others for an evening of hospitality and autographs.
Competitive juices flow early Saturday morning with support class racing, culminating with the Main Event from 4:00pm to 7:30pm. This all-out showcase of the top Pro and Semi-Pro riders anywhere will be bar to bar non-stop action, with qualifying, last chance qualifiers and finals running back to back to back.