Tremblay (Ski-Doo) holds off a wild charge from Tucker Hibbert (Arctic Cat) to win a thrilling Silverdome Pro Open main event; Derek Ellis’ tops in Pro Lights
For more information contact:
Pat Schutte, PR Director, ISOC Racing
Pat@ISOCRacing.com
PONTIAC, Mich. – (Feb. 10, 2012) – The largest crowd of the 2011-’12 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series season gathered indoors at the stately Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome for round seven of the series – the Western Power Sports Michigan Snocross National, presented by Tim Hortons. Securing the premier class Pro Open win in front of an estimated crowd approaching 20,000 snowmobile racing fans was Canada’s Tim Tremblay (Ski-Doo).
In the support Pro Light division racing North Dakota’s Derek Ellis (Ski-Doo) took top honors with a thrilling win over Polaris’ Kody Kamm.
Pro Open
After Ski-Doo’s Justin Broberg pulled the Stud Boy Holeshot, the Pro Open turned into a classic cat-and-mouse chase between Tucker Hibbert (Arctic Cat) and Tremblay. Hibbert would work his way back up the charts after getting caught up at the start, clicking off fast lap after fast lap before catching up to race leader Tremblay by lap 11 (of 28).
Whittling Tremblay’s lead down to three seconds – much because Tremblay ran into lapped traffic on the tight, 20-second lap, all-left-hand-turn course. A Tremblay mistake in the first turn after the finish line would put Hibbert into the lead momentarily, but Tremblay grabbed it right back. Hibbert would lead once more before Tremblay charged back to the front. Then, on lap 22, Hibbert got into the back of Tremblay’s sled and tipped over – dashing his chances for the win. Hibbert would re-mount and charge back towards the podium, but fellow Arctic Cat pilot Logan Christian would shut the door on Hibbert’s attempts at 2nd place.
The final Pro Open podium at the Silverdome read: 1st – Tremblay; 2nd – Christian; 3rd – Hibbert
“This was such a good night, I’m really happy to be up here,” said Tremblay. “It was really hard to pass those guys (lapped traffic). Almost crashed once, but my Ski-Doo team worked very hard we won the race and I’m very happy for it.”
Added Hibbert: “Pretty rough at the end there, but pretty exciting.”
Pro Light
In Friday’s Pro Light final at the Silverdome Polaris’ Kody Kamm looked to have ‘er in the bag, taking a multiple-second lead into the white flag lap – before a mechanical gremlin stopped Kamm’s sled mid-lap in last of the 16 lap main event. Ironically, Ski-Doo’s Derek Ellis’ sled seemed to be belching smoke for the entire main, but Ellis soldiered on – never losing much time on Kamm – and was there in second place when Kamm’s sled quit to take the win.
“Wow. That was a wild race,” said Ellis, the sizable Silverdome crowd cheering him on. “My Ski-Doo was there in the end. Pumped with the win.”
Wrapping up the Pro Light podium at the Silverdome was John Stenberg (Ski-Doo) in 2nd and Chase Rosemeyer (Ski-Doo) in 3rd.
Western Powersports Michigan National Pro Open Friday results
| 1 | 11 | SKD | Tim Tremblay | Ste Jeanne D’arc, | ||
| 2 | 43 | ATC | Logan Christian | Fertile, MN | ||
| 3 | 68 | ATC | Tucker Hibbert | Pelican Rapids, MN | ||
| 4 | 168 | SKD | Justin Broberg | Waukesha, WI | ||
| 5 | 4 | SKD | Robbie Malinoski | Lino Lakes, MN | ||
| 6 | 837 | PLS | Ross Martin | Burlington, WI | ||
| 7 | 170 | SKD | Darrin Mees | Long Island, NY | ||
| 8 | 27 | SKD | Emil Ohman | Pitea, | ||
| 9 | 160 | ATC | Cory Davis | Soldotna, AK | ||
| 10 | 99 | SKD | Zach Pattyn | Ravenna, MI | ||
| 11 | 324 | ATC | Kyle Pallin | Ironwood, MI | ||
| 12 | 52 | PLS | Johan Lidman | Pitea, | ||
| 13 | 48 | ATC | Garth Kaufman | Driggs, ID | ||
| 14 | 19 | PLS | Brett Bender | Colden, NY | ||
| 15 | 14 | SKD | Mathieu Morin | Val Dor, |
Pro Open overall points (after seven rounds)
| 1. | 837 | Ross Martin | 271 | 1 | ||
| 2. | 11 | Tim Tremblay | 259 | 1 | ||
| 3. | 68 | Tucker Hibbert | 257 | 1 | ||
| 4. | 4 | Robbie Malinoski | 248 | 1 | ||
| 5. | 170 | Darrin Mees | 218 | 1 | ||
| 6. | 44 | Tj Gulla | 170 | 1 | ||
| 7. | 168 | Justin Broberg | 166 | 1 | ||
| 8. | 48 | Garth Kaufman | 162 | 1 | ||
| 9. | 717 | Mike Bauer | 157 | 1 | ||
| 10. | 160 | Cory Davis | 154 | 1 |
Western Powersports Michigan National Pro Light Friday results
| 1 | 106 | SKD | Derek Ellis | West Fargo, ND | ||
| 2 | 259 | SKD | John Stenberg | Lofsdalen, | ||
| 3 | 675 | SKD | Chase Rosemeyer | Chippewa Falls, WI | ||
| 4 | 248 | PLS | Brett Nastala | Milton, WI | ||
| 5 | 999 | PLS | Colby Crapo | St.anthony, ID | ||
| 6 | 436 | SKD | Travis Muller | Windom, MN | ||
| 7 | 857 | PLS | Andrew Lieders | Colby, WI | ||
| 8 | 154 | PLS | James Johnstad | Beltrami, MN | ||
| 9 | 630 | SKD | Casey Boylan | Anchorage, AK | ||
| 10 | 42 | PLS | Jake Scott | Port Jefferson, NY | ||
| 11 | 427 | PLS | Joe Fallen | White Bear Lake, MN | ||
| 12 | 221 | PLS | Brian Ludwig | Freedom, WI | ||
| 13 | 173 | SKD | Corey Watkinson | Port Carling, | ||
| 14 | 553 | PLS | Kody Kamm | Kenosha, WI | ||
| 15 | 137 | ATC | Devin Bertoch | Baxter, MN |
Pro Light overall results (after seven rounds)
| 1. | 553 | Kody Kamm | 258 | 1 | ||
| 2. | 106 | Derek Ellis | 245 | 1 | ||
| 3. | 154 | James Johnstad | 205 | 1 | ||
| 4. | 857 | Andrew Lieders | 191 | 1 | ||
| 5. | 115 | David Joanis | 185 | 1 | ||
| 6. | 259 | John Stenberg | 171 | 1 | ||
| 7. | 436 | Travis Muller | 161 | 1 | ||
| 8. | 173 | Corey Watkinson | 156 | 1 | ||
| 9. | 42 | Jake Scott | 153 | 1 | ||
| 10. | 271 | Petter Narsa | 152 | 1 |
Next up …
Who: World’s top snowmobile racers, including locals Brett Bender & TJ Gulla
What: The Vision Kia Eastern National … round 6 of the 2011-’12 AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series
When: Feb. 24-25 (rescheduled from Feb. 3-4 due to lack of snow)
Times: Practice starts each day at 8 a.m., amateur racing begins at 9:30 a.m., pros at noon.
Where: Farmington’s Finger Lakes Casino and Racetrack
Tickets: Tickets start at just $25 ($10 for kids) and are available at the gate or online at www.fingerlakessnocross and snocross.lab.b2tech.us
ISOC/ACSS photos by Gary Walton
About ISOC Racing
The International Series of Champions (ISOC) is the premier snowmobile race sanctioning organization in North America and sanctions the national AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series, in addition to affiliating with nine regional circuits. Visit snocross.lab.b2tech.us for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.
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