2019 Snocross Pre-Season Power Rankings

With the snocross racing season starting this week and picks soon due for the Fantasy Snowmobile Racing Challenge game, now seems like the perfect time to rank the field of Pro racers heading into the 2018-19 season opener in Duluth, Minnesota, on the Amsoil Championship Snocross (AMS) circuit.

Below, rated from 1 to 16, are the racers who, at this point, are scheduled to run the full season in the Pro class on the AMS circuit. The rating were made after polling a couple of dozen snocross racing industry insiders and combining them with the opinions of the SnowGoer.com staff.

A special note to racers and race teams: If you don’t like where you/your team got rated in this pre-season poll, use it as motivation and prove our pollsters wrong!  

1. Kody Kamm, #53 Polaris, from Kenosha, Wisconsin – He’s talented, aggressive and is the most recent former champion (2017) who’s still racing. Maybe (just maybe) some of the recklessness with which he raced in his earlier years has faded with experience – as evidenced by the results last year, when he had 11 podiums in 17 rounds, including five victories and five second-place finished behind the now-retired Tucker Hibbert. He’s 24 and finished second in Pro points last year.
2. Lincoln Lemieux, #13 Ski-Doo, from St. Johnsbury, Vermont – Every respondent to our survey put this Scheuring Speed Sports driver somewhere between second and fourth on their list. He’ll turn 25 on Sunday at Duluth and continues to impress. Finished fifth in Pro points last year, despite some injuries, and had 1 win and 5 podiums.  

   

3. Logan Christian, #43 Arctic Cat, from Fertile, Minnesota – The racer affectionately known as “Logie” steps into the No. 1 spot for Arctic Cat. He podiumed seven times last year and will have very good equipment. He’s 26 and finished third in Pro points last year.

   

4. Tim Tremblay, #11 Ski-Doo, from Drummondville, Quebec – The former champion has switched back to the Warnert Racing team and has been a consistent top-3 driver when healthy, but at 32 he’s also the oldest driver in the Pro class. Finished eighth in points last year, despite missing two rounds and starting the season banged up. Finished in the top five 10 times in 15 starts.
5. Petter Narsa, #54 Polaris, from Moskosel, Sweden – A former X Games gold medalist who finished fourth in points last year, thanks to a lot of heat race victories and eight top five finishes in finals. He’s Kamm’s teammate at Hentges Racing and is 26 years old.
6. Johan Lidman, #52 Arctic Cat, from Pitea, Sweden – Lidman returns for a second season with Woodie’s Racing after disappearing from the North American race scene for a while. Finished seventh in Pro points last year but that’s after missing the last three rounds of racing – before injury, he was poised to finish much higher.

   

7. Adam Renheim, #311 Ski-Doo, from Lima, Sweden – The talented Swede had a second-place finish last year on the season-opening weekend in Duluth, and two second-place finishes at the season-closer in Lake Geneva but was mid-pack for the rest of the season. He’s 29.
8. Elias Ishoel, #200 Ski-Doo, from Oppdal, Norway – Epitomized the “pin-it-to-win-it” attitude in previous years en route to some dominating performances in Pro Lite. The 20-year-old Norwegian racer has as much talent as anybody out there, as long as he can harness it and drive with more control. Was out injured most of last season.
9. Kyle Pallin, #324 Polaris, from Ironwood, Michigan – The popular Yooper with the big smile returns with the Lavellee Racing team. At any given event he can ride toward the front and collect a podium finish, but then he seems to disappear for a couple of weeks. Got rolling at mid-season last year but then was injured and missed the final eight rounds. He’s 27.
10. Corin Todd, #36 Polaris from Otego, New York – After starting last year as an independent, the plucky Todd earned his way back into a factory-backed trailer this year with Judnick Motorsports – a team that knows how to build winning sleds. The 25 year old could move up the power ranking list fast if he starts this season as good as he started last year. Finished 9^th overall last year.
11. Daniel Benham Jr., #221 Arctic Cat from Deer River, Minnesota – A former Pro-Lite champion who is stepping up into the Pro ranks.
12. Aki Pihlaja, #128 from Rovaniemi, Finland – It will be his first year racing the top-level Pro class, but Aki is not your typical wet-behind-the-ears rookie. He’s pushing 30 years old and is a former Pro-Lite points champ
13. Monana Jess, #765 Arctic Cat from Westminster, Massachusetts – Another former Pro-Lite champion (2016), Jess stepped away from snocross last summer but then the allure of the sport pulled him back into the scene in the middle of last winter. Now, the 21-year-old is looking for big things on his Woodie’s Racing entry.
14. Nick Pattyn #98 Arctic Cat of Ravenna, Michigan – Entertaining racer for the Stud Boy team built some momentum toward the end of last season and is only 24 years old, despite a wealth of experience.
15. Travis Muller #436 of Windom, Minnesota – Racing as a privateer, Muller could move up the list fast this year if he shows some of the skils that made him some a strong Pro-Lite racer. Age 25
16. Brett Nastala #248 Arctic Cat, of Edgerton, Wisconsin – Somebody has to be last on this list, but don’t sleep on the 26-year-old. Had only one top 10 finish last year, despite running a full schedule.

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