Last weekend, Ross Martin had a little fun after winning the Saturday Pro Open final on the ISOC Amsoil Championship Series in Deadwood, South Dakota, proudly more-or-less saying he slayed a dragon by winning a final and breaking a winning streak by snocross superstar Tucker Hibbert.
Wow, talk about poking a lion!
Hibbert’s hard-luck didn’t allow him to go head-to-head with Martin last Saturday, but the tables turned on Friday at the Turtle Creek’s US 27 Motorsports Snocross in Traverse City, Michigan. In the second turn of the final, Martin got parked by Emil Ohman when the Swedish Ski-Doo racer stuffed a ski up Martin’s tunnel and froze both sleds together. That ended Martin’s night.
Meanwhile, Hibbert was grabbing the top spot from early leader Kody Kamm and starting yet another runaway on his No. 68 Monster Energy Arctic Cat. For Hibbert, it was his sixth win in the last 7 Pro Open finals on the circuit, further solidifying his points lead in the class.
Running 32- to 34-second laps on a wide, sweeping track with limited airtime, Hibbert let Kamm stick around early but then built a 10-second lead by running smooth, consistent lines. Other than his early lead that Hibbert took away, the rookie Kamm on his Monster Energy-backed Polaris ran second throughout. He was threatened in the middle of the race by fellow Polaris racer Kyle Pallin. Then Pallin had trouble and dismounted, handing third over to defending ISOC Pro Open points champion Tim Tremblay on his Amsoil/Rock Star Energy Ski-Doo. Those three stayed in that order until the end, with Tremblay’s teammate Darrin Mees fourth, followed by Carlson Motorsports Polaris Racer Johan Lidman, Garth Kaufman, Robbie Malinoski, Justin Broberg, Pallin and Paul Bauerly.
“It feels good,” Hibbert said on the podium immediately after the race. “I was definitely motivated this weekend after kind of a mediocre finish last weekend in South Dakota.”
Kamm was excited after his third consecutive podium finish allowed him to continue his climb in the season points. “I’m feeling really good. I had an awesome start out there, then Tucker got by me early and had smoother lines than me.”
There were repeats in the other two major finals Friday night, as Jake Scott (Polaris) ran away with the Pro Lite final and earned his third consecutive victory, while Samantha Tanowski (Ski-Doo) proved that last weekend’s Pro Women victory was no fluke. This time she won in her home state of Michigan.
Racing continues Saturday in Michigan with round 8 of the ISOC Amsoil Championship Series.
