With ample amounts of snow and Michigan’s No. 1 Casino & Resort as the backdrop, a perfect stage was set for the World’s Greatest Snocross Racers to show off their talents to the many motorsport enthusiasts in attendance at the Soaring Eagle Snocross National. Like Jacob Yurk and Lincoln Lemieux have done many times in there career, the Pro riders would dominate in the two penultimate classes of Snocross. Jacob Yurk would execute perfectly and earn his first Pro Lite win in his home state. Lincoln Lemieux would have great battles with his teammate Tim Tremblay and Johan Lidman en route to his first victory of the season. As the stellar racing action ended on Friday for Round 11 of AMSOIL Championship Snocross Powered by RAM, racers and teams start to prepare themselves for another day of action packed Snocross racing tomorrow. Round 12 will once again take place at Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mt. Pleasant, MI and with the points championships continuing to take shape, this epic event is one you will not want to miss.
Pro Lite
Round 1
In the first heat of Pro-Lite qualifying at the Soaring Eagle Snocross National, Nisse Kjellstrom would pilot his Sunoco Fuels Arctic to the front of the pack early in the race. Kjellstrom would pull the holeshot and lead the entire race flag-to-flag. This is Kjellstrom’s second heat race win of the season where he would lead every lap contested. Behind Kjellstrom, Cole Cottew and Zak Mason would battle for the second place position. Andrew Lindhom was able to pass both of the Polaris riders early in the race but due to a mechanical, Lindholm would not be able to finish his first round of qualifying. At the end of the race, Cole Cottew crossed the finish line in second and Zak Mason third. Hunter Patneaude would nab the holeshot in heat two and dominate the field. The AMSOIL/Air Force rider was unstoppable as he won the heat race by nearly five seconds. Alexander Berglund would once again have another great heat of qualifying, as he finished in the second spot. Evan Daudt would put on a late race charge trying to catch the second place rider of Berglund but would fall short and round out the top three in heat two. In the final heat of qualifying for round one, Jacob Yurk made a statement and finished ahead of the points leader Daniel Benham. Yurk lead the race from start to finish and by doing that, cut down the points championship lead of Benham. Benham would start the race in the fourth position and ride his Factory Arctic Cat to a second place finish. Nickolas Lorenz is coming off from injury this weekend and the Judnick Motorsports rider earned himself a top three finish in his first race of the 2017-2018 season.
Round 2
The final round of qualifying for the Pro-Lite class started off with an epic battle between Jacob Yurk and Daniel Benham. Benham would lead nearly the entire race before Jacob Yurk made the late race pass to himself his second qualifying race win of the day. The win for Yurk would solidify the first qualifying position for the main event later in the evening. Benham would finish his race in second, while Pro veteran Andy Lieders was third. In the second heat, the start was full of excitement. The riders would get through clean but not without much bar-to-bar action. Cole Cottew would edge the field early and take his Polaris to victory. The best battle of the race was for second. Korbyn Anderson and Martin Moland would rode intensely, nearly on one another’s bumpers, but when the checkered flags flew it was Anderson finishing in second. Martin Moland would round out the top three. In the final heat of qualifying for the Pro-Lite class, Hunter Patenaude picked up where he left off from round one. Patenaude would battle through the field and earn his second heat race win of the weekend. This race featured a major tangle between many of the Pro Lite riders. Nisse Kjellstrom along with Zak Mason and three other riders found themselves tangled intwine with one another. This really helped the leader of Patenaude secure a top qualifying spot and the heat race win. With the bad luck of many of the racers in this heat, Kevin Wallenstein and Oskar Norum benefitted as they finished second and third.
Final
When the light went green for the Pro-Lite final, Jacob Yurk snuck through the pack to earn yet another main event holeshot. The Christian Bros. racer was challenged early by the points leader, Daniel Benham. Benham would execute the pass early in the race and move his Factory Arctic Cat into the lead. In the pursuing lap, Benham would battle again with Yurk, before having an issue in a corner, forcing him to tip over and drop outside of podium contention. Nisse Kjellstrom would slide into the second spot while Andy Lieders found himself in third. On lap five, Yurk had already extended his lead to nearly five seconds over his fellow Arctic Cat rider, Nisse Kjellstrom. Reigning champion Aki Pihlaja would not make it into tonights final and had to watch Round 11 from the sidelines. Martin Moland found himself inside the top five during the middle stages of the race and started to make a move on the third place rider of Lieders. Hunter Patenaude did not have the best of starts and had to battle his way from tenth to seventh as the racers are halfway through their final. After the halfway point, Benham has already started to charge through the field and now found himself in the fourth position. As the laps winded down Benham moved passed Moland for fourth and started to charge to earn himself a podium spot. With only three laps to go, Jacob Yurk had extended his lead to over five seconds while Nisse Kjellstrom is battling through the lap traffic. Daniel Benham would nearly take over the final spot on the podium but had another issue dropping him to last place in the final. As the checkered flags flew it was Jacob Yurk earning yet another Pro-Lite win and extending Arctic Cats victory streak to 11. Nisse Kjellstrom would cross the finish line in second and Andy Lieders would round out the podium finishers. Martin Moland would run in the fourth spot and Korbyn Anderson has a strong night in fifth.
1. #727 Jacob Yurk
2. #27 Nisse Kjellstrom
3. #57 Andy Lieders
4. #75 Martin Moland
5. #17 Korbyn Anderson
6. #208 Hunter Patenaude
7. #63 Zak Mason
8. #58 Marcus Ogemar
9. #201 Travis Kern
10. #413 Evan Daudt
11. #144 Max Taillefer
12. #114 Alexander Berglund
13. #21 Cole Cottew
14. #221 Daniel Benham
15. #40 Oskar Norum
Pro
Round 1
As the riders approached the starting line for round one of Pro qualifying in Michigan, all eyes were on the “New Guy” in the Pro class, Montana Jess. Jess would jump out to the early lead with Petter Narsa and Jake Angove close intact. On lap three, Tim Tremblay moved passed the third place rider of Angove and solidify a top three position. Petter Narsa took advantage of Jess’s mistake in the Polaris corner and made his pass stick to move into the lead. Tim Tremblay would also get by the Pro rookie, Montana Jess, and found himself now in the second position. As the checkered flags flew it was Petter Narsa taking the win, Tim Tremblay a close second and Montana Jess third. In the second heat of round one, reigning champion Kody Kamm pulled the holeshot over a stacked field. As the riders crossed the finish line after the first lap in was Kamm leading, Tucker Hibbert in second and Lincoln Lemieux in third. This is the race everyone was hoping to see, Kamm and Hibbert battling for the five bonus points given to the heat race winners in the Pro class. The two riders up front started to gap the field as Johan Lidman moved into third place. Hibbert would push hard and search for lines but as the checkered flags flew, it was Kamm upsetting the 10x champion of Hibbert. The top three finished as followed: Kody Kamm, Tucker Hibbert, Johan Lidman.
Round 2
As the final qualifying races for the premier class of AMSOIL Championship Snocross Powered by RAM arrived to the starting line, Kody Kamm once again nailed another holeshot and secured the early race lead. Jake Angove would start the race in second while Johan Lidman raced into the third spot. Kody Kamm yet once again dominated the qualifier and earned himself his second heat race win in Round 11. Jake Angove and Johan Lidman would have a great battle for the second spot but when the race was over it was Angove in second and Lidman third. Round one winner Petter Narsa was also in this first heat but had an off, taking him out of the race. The final heat race for the Pro class showcased the endurance and speed of the 10x champion, Tucker Hibbert. Hibbert executed a flawless race as he would lead every lap of the qualifier. Early in the race, championship contender Logan Christian had a crash with a fellow racer, forcing him to the rear of the field. Lincoln Lemieux would have a great holeshot as well and rode in the second place position for the entire contest. Lemieux picked up on Hibberts superb lines and started to close the gap of the leader late in the race. As the checkered flags flew it was, Hibbert taking the win, Lemieux second and Kristoffer Holm in third.
Final
As the large crowd at the Soaring Eagle Snocross National gathered for the last race of the day, Johan Lidman would grab the holeshot and lead early in the Pro Round 11 main event. Kristoffer Holm would have his best start of the season and find himself in second while Lincoln Lemieux races in third. Lemieux’s teammate, Tim Tremblay, also started in the top five being in fourth and Pro rookie Travis Muller started the race in fifth. Tucker Hibbert and Kody Kamm both found themselves in carnage at the beginning of Round 11 and would have to battle their way from the rear of the field, if they wanted a podium spot in Michigan. As the early laps start to tick away, the Scheuring Speed Sports riders start to gain on the first and second place competitors. As the halfway point Lidman still lead the race while Kristoffer Holm is challenged heavily by Lincoln Lemieux. Lemieux would make the pass on Holm and moved into the second position. Tim Tremblay also was able to move past Holm pushing Holm out of podium contention. Thirteen laps into the final, Lemieux is bar-to-bar with Lidman. The two would go back and forth for nearly an entire lap before the AMSOIL Ski-Doo racer would execute the pass cleanly. With five laps to go, Lemieux starts to pull away from the field as him teammate of Tremblay moves passed Lidman for second. Kody Kamm has battled hard to now find himself in fifth while Hibbert achieves the eight spot. Adam Renheim has arguable the best fitness out of any Snocross racer in the world, so when he started to make moves late in the race it was no surprise. On the last lap the two Scheuring Speed Sport riders would be out front with ease while Renheim tried to make the podium a Ski-Doo sweep. Lidman would eventually hold on to the position and earn his first podium of the season. Tim Tremblay would tie his season best finish with a second and Lincoln Lemieux would earn his third career victory.
1. #13 Lincoln Lemieux
2. #11 Tim Tremblay
3. #52 Johan Lidman
4. #311 Adam Renheim
5. #1 Kody Kamm
6. #68 Tucker Hibbert
7. #54 Petter Narsa
8. #436 Travis Muller
9. #541 Ryan Springer
10. #98 Nick Pattyn
11. #610 Kristoffer Holm
12. #27 Leo Patenaude
13. #248 Brett Nastala
14. #765 Montana Jess
15. #177 Jake Angove
Pro AM Women
Megan Brodeur extended her points lead in Round 11 as she was victorious yet again here in Michigan. Malene Anderson would also have a strong showing as she would finish the final in second. Jakki Farmer took advantage of fellow racers mistakes and earned herself a third place podium finish.
Duluth, MN // November 24-27, 2017
Jackson Hole, WY // December 8-9, 2017
Shakopee, MN // January 5-6, 2018
Deadwood, SD // January 19-20, 2018
Salamanca, NY // February 16-17, 2018
Mt. Pleasant, MI // February 23-24, 2018
Dubuque, IA // March 9-10, 2018
Lake Geneva, WI // March 16-17, 2018
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