Brainerd wins make him a perfect 8 of 8, Bender notches first Pro podium too
Arctic Cat's Tucker Hibbert completed his perfect season over the weekend by winning both the Pro Open and Pro Super-Stock race at the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series in Brainerd, Minn.
The wins left Hibbert 8 of 8 in Pro finals this season as the motocross racer now leaves the circuit to prepare for the national AMA motocross season. "It's been a lot of fun and I'll be back next season, but this is less about championships and more about enjoying life and doing what makes me happy," Hibbert said after the race.
He added that he has no plans to return for the final AMSOIL snocross race of the season at Lake Geneva, Wis. "If we're going to Geneva this sled will have a 41 on it and my dad [Kirk] will be racing and I'll be running the pit board," Hibbert said.
Weekend of firsts In addition to Hibbert's impressive win, there were a number of firsts at Brainerd, including Brett Bender's first Pro podium in the Pro Open, and the first race final of the season with both factory Yamaha sleds in the event.
"To be standing here (on the podium) with these guys is awesome," said Bender. "I've been watching some of them since I was a kid and this is a goal I've been working toward for a long time."
Bender got the holeshot at the start of the 25-lap race, just ahead of TJ Gulla (Polaris), Brett Turcotte (Cat), Levi LaVallee (Polaris) and Shaun Crapo (Polaris). But Gulla's throttle cable broke on the first lap, ending his podium hopes.
Meanwhile, Hibbert moved up from seventh on his Team Arctic / Monster Energy sled, pushing past several riders to second place behind Bender.
"The warm temps made the track sticky and the snow heavy," said Hibbert after the race. "The roost was going to be an issue so I wanted to get out front as fast as I could." He overtook Bender in turn one of the second lap.
Ultimately that's how they finished, Hibbert, Bender and LaVallee taking the top three spots. Behind them at the line were ?? Piche, Garth Kaufman, Robbie Malinoski and Andrew Johnstad. Steve Taylor's Yamaha suffered a mechanical problem and was forced to pull off on lap 22.
Pro Super-Stock On Saturday, Hibbert failed to capture the holeshot in the Pro Super-Stock final and emerged from the turn one traffic jam in sixth. Bender had claimed the top qualifier honors with an impressive heat race victory earlier, but was ejected from his sled while attempting to negotiate a nasty section of moguls. That allowed another first year Pro and last year's Semi-Pro champ, ?? Johnstad (Polaris) to take over the lead followed by Gulla, Carl Schubitzke (Cat), Kaufman and Hibbert.
On lap 9, Hibbert and Gulla skied the finish line jump side-by-side.
"I didn't have a great start," Hibber said after the race. "The track was nasty and I had to check-up a few times; there was a lot of carnage and yellow flags out there. When I saw TJ (Gulla) in front of me I thought, man how did he get there from the back row. But I knew there were a lot of laps left and I was patient and kept charging."
"I made a few mistakes early in the race," said Gulla after the race. "After he (Tucker) got around me I started to follow his lines and learned a lot. My lap times actually picked-up as the race went on."
Kaufman, who led a strong showing for Christian Brother's Racing who placed three sleds in the final top 10, was pleased with the run. "We've got such incredible teamwork going right now," said Kaufman. "It's not just with Christian Brothers but the entire Arctic Cat racing effort. It makes it a lot of fun to know everybody is working together."
Semi-Pro
Arctic Cat's Cory Davis battled and won first in Semi-Pro Super Stock against Ski-Doo rider Tim Tremblay, who won the Semi-Pro Open at Brainerd, Minn.
Davis led nearly flag to flag while Tremblay battled through the pack for second and Brainerd area hero Dan Ebert (Cat) overcame a first lap bobble to round out the top three.
At the drop of the green it appeared Ebert got the holeshot, but he shuffled back to eighth place due to a miscalculation exiting the long stretch of moguls on the far side of the track. Tremblay was in ninth place after a poor start.
Up front it was Davis followed by Derek Ellis (Polaris), Mike Bauer (Polaris) and Paul Bauerly (Ski-Doo), as the field laid down some blistering lap times in the 20 lap final.
A yellow flag incident which just missed Davis but caught Tremblay forced him to slow, and it gave Davis the breathing room he needed to complete the win.
In Saturday's Semi-Pro Open, Tremblay came out on top in a hard fought battle with Ebert.
Ebert won the holeshot at the start of the 20-lap final, and appeared to have the advantage early as he opened up a small gap over the rest of the field that included Tremblay, Christian Salemark (Cat), Mike Bauer (Polaris), Paul Bauerly (Ski-Doo) and Davis.
On lap 13, Tremblay finally made a charge for the lead stick, as lapped traffic played a role and Tremblay used it to his advantage to pass Ebert on the exit of the non-rhythmatic mogul section.
Salemark hung onto the third place while Davis picked off Bauerly and Bauer to move himself into fourth.
At the line it was Tremblay, followed by Ebert just a little more than 4 seconds back, Salemark, Davis and Derek Ellis (Polaris) rounded out the top five.
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