That was fast: An hour after we gave a breakdown of the snowmobile snocross Pro teams for the 2023-24 season, two big announcements were made.
Most notably, five-time defending points champion Elias Ishoel announced in a video that he was moving to the Skogquist Race Team for next winter.
At roughly the same time, another announcement hit our email in-box. It said that Evan Daut was jumping up to the Pro class, and doing it with Boss Racing. Oddly, these two announcements are unofficially linked. The last time Boss Racing competed in the Pro division, it was when Ishoel wrapped up his third Pro points championship in the 2020-21 season racing for that team.
Get caught up on the very recent Thene, Warnert and Cottew announcements here. Below, we’ll cover the news from Monday night, September 4, then re-set the Pro class.
Snocross Star Ishoel To Skogquist
We had just gotten done posting our story about the big news from the Thene, Warnert and Cottew teams – including the fact that Ishoel was without an announced ride. After a quick dinner, we fired up the computer. There it was – a video with Ishoel’s big announcement.
The video was hosted by Amsoil Championship Snocross series announcer Haley Shanley and posted on Facebook. In it, Ishoel tells of taking his talents to Skogquist.
“In 2024, I am still going with Ski-Doo but I’m changing to Skogquist Racing Team,” Ishoel tells Shanley. “I’m really excited for that, and the winter can’t come fast enough.”
The Skogquist team was formed a mere 13 months ago. It was August 10, 2022, when its creation was announced. It featured Petter Narsa as its Pro driver in its first year.
“Of course it’s going to be a big change but I feel I have been coming through a lot in my career and I’m real excited to see what we can do together,” said Ishoel. He raced Pro Lite for Warnert Racing, won three points championships for Boss Racing and then switched to Thene Motorsports in 2021-22. “Sometimes it takes big changes to gain and be better, and I want to be the best I can in my job and to be the fastest snowmobiler in the world,” the Norway native said. “It takes some risks some times. But I believe we can do something good together, and I’m looking forward to working with the whole team.”
Ishoel said he still considers everybody at Thene friends, and said it was going to feel odd competing against them. “But it’s just how the world works,” he said.
Ishoel said he was very happy to be remaining within the Ski-Doo family. He added that he is healthy this summer for the first time in four off-seasons. So, he’s been having some fun rather than spending all his time rehabbing. Get the full interview with Ishoel and Shanley here.
Snocross Racer Daudt Turns Pro For Boss
Meanwhile, Boss Racing announced it was returning to the top level of snocross racing this coming winter. And it will be doing it with a first-year Pro class rider.
Evan Daudt from Longville, Minnesota, will follow Pro Lite riders Jordan Lebel and Ryley Bester up to the Pro ranks. He’ll be switching from the Polaris-based KC Motorsports Team. He finished fourth in Pro Lite points last year and has been in that class for many years. He first appeared in Pro Lite in the 2016-17 season. By our count, we believe he’s 26 years old now.
In its announcement, Boss Racing/Team North Motorsports co-owner Garry Querel said, “The Boss is back. We took a step back over the past couple of seasons after not being able to travel from Canada with COVID restrictions and trying to sort out the direction we wanted to go with our team… We think Evan Daudt is going to be the perfect fit for the team as he is a great starter, a proven winner and feels like he really has something to prove now that he is finally getting a shot in the Pro class.”
“I’m very excited for this opportunity to join Boss Racing,” Daudt said. “I feel more confident than ever moving up to Pro after my last season.”
The team will continue with Ski-Doo. It will also feature Dylan Roes and Cale Callen in the Pro Lite class. Nikella Callen will make her debut for the team in the Women’s Pro class. A satellite Boss team in Canada will feature Taylor McCoy in the Pro ranks, presumably on the CSRA circuit.
Resetting The Snocross Field
So now let’s re-update the Pro field, as it sits on Sunday night, September 4. The biggest questions marks left are the Arctic Cat racers and the Green Mountain Motorsports team.
- Elias Ishoel – newly signed with the Skogquist Race Team, departing Thene Motorsports.
- Emil Harr – staying with Judnick Racing Polaris on a new contract.
- Kody Kamm – newly signed with the Judnick Polaris team after the shutdown of Hentges Racing
- Hunter Patenaude – back with Scheuring Speed Sports.
- Francis Pelletier – newly signed to Thene Motorsports Ski-Doo, departing Warnert Racing.
- Adam Peterson – back with Team LaVallee Polaris
- Daniel Benham – Unsigned after the shutdown of All Finish Racing.
- Logan Christian – retired.
- Petter Narsa – Rumors are floating that he may not return to the U.S. Won’t be back with the Skogquist Race Team.
- Aki Pihlaja – No official word yet on his status. Competed for Green Mountain Ski-Doo team last year.
- Cole Cottew – Joining Thene Motorsports Ski-Doo team, leaving his family Cottew Racing Polaris effort.
- Travis Kern – Returning with Cottew Polaris team.
- Gustav Sahlsten – Signed with new Elite Motorsports Ski-Doo team after fill-in work with Green Mountain last year.
- John Malmstrom – After racing as a fill-in for an injured racer last year, there’s no official word on whether he’ll return to North America.
- Oskar Norum – Signed with KC Motorsports Polaris team after the shutdown of Hentges Racing. Was injured early last season.
- Jacob Yurk – Unsigned after shutdown of All Finish Racing. Past winner was injured entering first weekend of racing last year.
Other Notables
- Jordan Lebel – Back with Warnert Racing Ski-Doo team but jumping up to the Pro class after dominating Pro Lite.
- Ryley Bester – Back with Team LaVallee Polaris team but jumping to Pro after finishing second to Lebel in Pro Lite.
- Evan Daudt – Turning Pro with Boss Racing/True North Motorsports (Ski-Doo) after racing Pro Lite for KC Motorsports in recent years.
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