To heck with Tucker Hibbert: There were far-more important championships decided this past weekend in the world of snowmobile racing…
The third annual Snow Goer Snowmobile Racing Challenge game came to a conclusion on Sunday with the final round of the ISOC Amsoil Championship Series. It’s true, there are a couple of sled races left this season in some facets of the sport (most notably the Jackson Hole Hillclimb), but for the fantasy racing crowd, it’s all over except for the celebrating, or the pouting depending on where you fell in the standings.
Now, it’s time to recognize the winners and award some prizes (also known as: get rid of some of the stuff that’s been cluttering the Snow Goer offices! See prize packages below).
Wrapping up the nine-round Fantasy Snocross title was Bob Dockman from Dryden, Michigan. He vaulted into the lead at mid-season and carried a healthy lead into the last round at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and then salted the victory away with an 81-point round. Dustin Timm finished second, with John Prusak third in snocross. Notably, 10th place T Jay Young actually had a higher average finish for the rounds in which he competed (78.3 vs. 77.1 for Dockman); however, T Jay skipped two rounds, and that cost him in the end.
Top 10 Snocross (9 events)
1) Bob Dockman (694)
2) Dustin Timm (663)
3) John Prusak (650)
4) Chunk (646)
5) Austin Leeck (633)
6) Shannon Dockman (606)
7) Andy Stadtlander (596)
8) Dan De Zorzi (583)
9) Joe Leibel (581)
10) T Jay Young (548)
In the six-round Oval Racing Challenge, Taylor Soli came flying out of the gate with an amazing 104-point opening round for picks based on the races at Beausejour, Manitoba, in December. Decent but not overwhelming picks followed, but then the victory was secured with another first place finish at the Challenge’s season-closing race at the Grand Prix de Valcourt in February. The Iceman went into the last two races within striking distance but faded and finished second, just ahead of Beth in third.
Top 10 Ovals (6 rounds)
1) Taylor Soli (397)
2) The Iceman (356)
3) Beth (351)
4) Craig Wilson (344)
5) Isanti (343)
6) Kevin Thune (333)
7) Denis Weidemeier (325)
8) Champ Crazy (323)
9) John Prusak (319)
10) Quadstar4 (316)
The Cross-Country Challenge had but three races this year (originally scheduled for four, but a little computer snafu ended it after the 7 Clans Casino I-500). Ending it at three worked out in Russell Miller’s favor – he secured a 12-point victory over Am Farms, with John Prusak third. The hard-luck story in this challenge? That belongs to “zrxf” who played just two rounds but averaged 70 points per round to finish at 140. If he (or she?) even would have collected 44 points in the round he (or she?) took off, he (or she?) takes the championship and is the king (or queen?) of the Cross-Country Challenge.
Top 10 Cross-Country (3 races)
1) Russell Miller (183)
2) Am Farms (171)
3) John Prusak (162)
4) Jesse Littleton (148)
5) Zrxf (140)
6) Nick Swanson (122)
7) Tom Berning (121)
8) S. Miller (120)
9) Dustin Timm (112)
10) Austin Leeck (109)
There was only one other challenge, but it was for one of the coolest races in the sport – the Soo I-500 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Brian Kaven gathered 60 points by picking not just the winning Bunke Racing sled, but a handful of others in the top six as well. Second place Tim Leeck actually picked more top six finishers, but he had the Bunke sleds finishing fifth and sixth rather than first and second. Third place went to Jesse Littleton.
Top 10 Soo I-500 (1 race)
1) Brian Kaven (60)
2) Tim Leeck (56)
3) Jesse Littleton (55)
4) Bob Dockman (54)
5) Jasper 243 (53)
6) Chris McKee (50)
7) Chad Colby (49)
8) Proton (48)
9) John Prusak (46)
10) Kevin Hooper (42)
So take all four challenges, add them together, and you’ve got the grand champion in the Snowmobile Racing Challenge game. And the winner is (drum roll please): ME! That’s right, your author (John Prusak) didn’t win any over the four segments, but consistently made picks each and every week in each facet of the sport, and garnered 117 more points than anybody else. In this case, “anybody else” is named Dustin Timm, followed by Bob Dockman, Jesse Littleton and Champ Crazy. Admittedly, the overall points system is skewed toward the snocross results, as there were more snocross races to collect points in than any other facet and, frankly, snocross was generally more easy to pick (read: Always put Tucker Hibbert first!).
Overall (19 events)
1) John Prusak (1177)
2) Dustin Timm (1060)
3) Bob Dockman (1033)
4) Jesse Littleton (934)
5) Champ Crazy (924)
6) Dan De Zorzi (917)
7) Austin Leeck (889)
8) Isanti (866)
9) Gordie (852)
10) Zrxf (817)
The Prizes
So, we cleaned out our offices and came up with four prize packages: one each for each segment winner . Here’s the catch: We’ve emailed the four winners, and whoever emails us back first will get their choice of the four prize package; whoever gets back to us second gets the first choice of what’s left, etc. Here’s a brief description of each:
- A gallon of Spectro Platinum Syno-Sno Full Synthetic two-stroke oil.
- A copy of the Warriors of Winter book, plus a white Snow Goer T-shirt available in any size as long as it’s XL.
- A one-year subscription to Snow Goer magazine, plus a gray, size XL Snow Goer T-shirt autographed in invisible ink by somebody famous (OK, not really, it’s just a Snow Goer T-shirt, but it is new).
- A copy of Braaap Films Old Iron V, a can of Amsoil white lithium spray grease and a cap from Lumpy’s Sports Bar & Grill in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
Thanks to all 295 players who entered the Challenge; we look forward to doing it again next winter.