Presented by Stud Boy
Tucker Hibbert and Team Arctic continued their domination of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross tour as the number 68 Monster Energy/RAM ZR swept both Pro finals at a new venue in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Cat racers Jacob Yurk and Dan Benham took turns besting the Pro Lite class, while AJ Stoffle and Trent Wittwer each stepped on top of the box in the Sport division.
Hibbert’s wins came in contrasting fashion as he charged from deep in the field on Friday to edge out DOC/Country Cat rider Logan Christian at the finish after making a move under Christian at the top of the Snow King Mountain course and then flying over the downhill moguls to take the checkers. The Pro final was one of the most exciting races in recent history and not without controversy, as the battle included as many as four riders dicing at the front of the field and a late-race caution that effected then challengers Christian and Kody Kamm.
With just four laps to go, a yellow flag came out at the peak of the large uphill triple jump just as the leaders where hitting it at full clip. Christian saw the flag at the last second and hit the brakes nearly going over the bars. Kamm, who did not see the flag until it was too late jumped passed Christian momentarily before seeing the incident ahead of them. Kamm then immediately paused allowing Christian to retake the lead as the two resumed the battle. However, at the bottom of the hill, Kamm was black flagged and held for what ended up being two spots, before rejoining the race.
As the confusion sorted itself out, Hibbert, who was nearly a half track behind and unaffected by the yellow, reeled in the lead riders. As Christian climbed the hill for the last time it looked as if he had a safe enough margin to secure his first career win in the elite division. But Hibbert, who had used an outside to inside corner entry to his advantage all day, erased the gap and shot under Christian to take the point. Kamm raced his way back into third place at the checkers, with Lidman holding on for a very respectable fourth ahead of charging Tim Tremblay.
On Saturday, Hibbert jumped to a resounding lead on the first lap disappeared from the field, riding at a comfortable pace that was never challenged. Kamm and Christian rounded out the podium swapping positions from the previous night with Kamm scoring the runner-up finish. Kyle Pallin had a strong comeback from the previous night, racing to his best finish of the season in fourth, casting a positive light on what had been a rather inauspicious start to his season. Lidman was fifth with another strong effort that has the Woodies Racing team in a great position with their first real Pro effort as the series heads into the pivotal rounds five and six at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota.
The Pro Lite finals were a sea of green on each night with the aforementioned Yurk and Benham on the podium both rounds, joined by rookie Nisse Kjellstrom on Friday and Martin Molland on Saturday. Hunter Patenaude and defending champ Aki Pihlaja both turned in admirable performances on their Ski-Doos on night one. Neither had anything for the new Arctic Cat off the start but they were able advance a couple of positions to finish fourth and fifth respectively.
On Saturday Cole Cottew and Max Taillefer traded spots twice during the final to round out the top five with Cottew getting the better of the fight.
There was a lot of concern and speculation heading into the weekend with a city council that didn’t want the event and many team owners not happy with the cost to travel and test half way across the country for a race at a unproven site. In the end the event came of better than expected, on every front. There was literally no snow on the ground in Jackson but late snow making efforts produced a more than acceptable track that, while a bit narrow and limited in creativity, held up well throughout the weekend. There were a fare number of spectators who turned out both days with Saturday’s crowd lining the downhill from top to bottom.
One of the only real concerns in quantifying the venue is a lack of pit area or parking. Teams and rigs were held in a staging area a couple blocks away before being shoe-horned into the city streets around the base of the ski hill. The actual move in went rather smoothly and given the circumstances, the street parking made for a pretty cool way for spectators to walk among the factory team rigs. It’s also safe to say the numerous hotels, c-stores and restaurants in Jackson will have a stronger voice in support of the event should it return in 2018, after realizing just how loud the cash registers ring when the snocross circus is in town.
