Snowmobile racing action got underway Friday at Spirit Mountain with the AMSOIL Dominator match race - the opening event of the 22nd annual AMSOIL Duluth National Snocross.
Taking the victory and the check for $10,000 was Canada's Tim Tremblay (Ski-Doo), who topped his Minnesota-based Scheuring Speed Sports teammate Robbie Malinoski of Stacy, Minn., and Cody Thomsen (Arctic Cat) in the final.
Tremblay tapped on all the power in his Pro Open class sled to pull the uphill holeshot in the final race of the night. Tremblay, the 2012 AMSOIL Championship Snocross overall Pro Open champion, ran fast and consistent through the checkers in the two-lap final race to secure the win.
"It feels awesome to get the win. It was really, really close between me and Robbie, but I was all about the start and I was able to get the holeshot," said Tremblay, presented with a custom trophy from AMSOIL on the podium as fireworks filled the sky above Spirit Mountain.
The opening round of the AMSOIL Dominator saw two-time defending champion Ross Martin (Polaris) fall to Thomsen. Others making it through to the quarterfinals were defending AMSOIL Championship Snocross Pro Open champion Tucker Hibbert (Arctic Cat) from Pelican Rapids, Minn., Justin Broberg (Polaris), Sweden's Petter Narsa (Ski-Doo), Logan Christian (Arctic Cat) from Fertile, Minn., Kyle Pallin (Polaris), along with Tremblay and Malinoski.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the second round, pre-race favorite Hibbert crashed when he hit the knuckle on the uphill double landing area and was thrown over the front of his sled. Uninjured, Hibbert still managed to complete the two-lap quarterfinal race (which was won by Broberg). The best race of the round - and easily the best race of the night - was between Arctic Cat teammates Thomsen and Christian from the Minnesota-based Christian Brothers Race Team. The two traded the lead multiple times on the first lap before Thomsen threw his sled on the edge coming off the finish line jump and railed the inside of the turn - nearly landing on top of Christian's skis. Thomsen recovered quickly and took the lead coming out of the corner.
Malinoski and Narsa matched each other hip-to-hip in the opening moments of their quarterfinal race, with Malinoski taking the lead from Narsa on the back side of the finish line. Then, after a quick start from holeshot artist Pallin, Tremblay took the lead in the last quarterfinal round on the uphill double and raced to the checkers against the Ironwood, Mich. native.
Setting the table for the finals, Malinoski and Broberg went at it hard in the opening semifinal round. The two banged into each other on two occasions before Malinoski was able to get out in front and run clean through the checkers to make the finals. Tremblay saw a good run from Thomsen, but Tremblay put the hammer down through the downhill section and brought his Ski-Doo home with a convincing win and a ticket to the finals. Based on his fastest lap time of the two semifinal losers, Thomsen earned a spot in the finals, but had to line up behind Tremblay and Malinoski and was not a factor in the last race.
Action gets underway again today at Spirit Mountain with the opening round of the 2013-'14 AMSOIL Championship Snocross beginning at 9 a.m. Tickets for the event are available at the gate, $27 for adults, $22 for youths and seniors and children five and under are free. For more information call 1-800-4-DULUTH or link to www.visitduluth.com .
