Monster Energy / Arctic Cat / Ram Truck’s Tucker Hibbert returned to his winning ways at the first event of the 2014-2015 ISOC National Snocross tour in Duluth, Minn.

Hibbert’s raw speed and skillful ability to navigate a snocross course were on full display at the 23rd annual Duluth National as he won all his qualifying rounds and both final events.

In Saturday night’s Pro Open final, Hibbert put on an action-packed show for the record crowd gathered on Spirit Mountain. With a sixth place start, he had his work cut out for him on the tight, big-air track.

Known for his expertise to seek out lines, he moved around the track, picking off riders, one-by-one, while gaining time on the leader. He took over the lead on lap 13 of the 20-lap, 15-rider race, and pushed on to win the first Pro Open final of the season.

Sunday morning’s temperature drop and wind sucked the moisture out of the snow, making the top layer of the track light and powdery. Knowing snow dust would be a major battle, Hibbert focused on winning his qualifying rounds to secure a good start line pick for the final event.

His strategy paid off. He was second off the line and quickly took the lead. By riding smart, he moved through the snow dust and lapped traffic without an issue to capture his 97th Pro National victory.

The Duluth National will be highlighted during the ISOC Snocross special on CBS Sunday, December 7 after the NFL game. The full races will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network December 14 and 21. Next up for Hibbert is his home race in Glyndon, Minn. December 12-13.

“I’m really excited about my performance at Duluth. I didn’t have nearly as much preseason ride time as I did last season before Duluth so I wasn’t totally comfortable and dialed-in. Being able to get the wins and have the weekend we(the team) did is rewarding. We’ve been working really hard with the time we’ve had on snow and it worked out.”

“I didn’t get the greatest starts, especially in Saturday’s final. I pushed really hard in that race to make sure I got to the lead group as quickly as I could. I knew I had to keep reeling them in to get close enough to make passes and get to the front.”

“It was challenging to pass all weekend. I was in the first heats in all my qualifying rounds so I was on a smooth, groomed track with flat corners. It tough to find lines to pass until the track gets rough and the corners get pushed up. I had to ride smart and work hard to make it happen.”

“I’m looking forward to the next round and racing close to home. It cuts down on travel time on each end of the race so we can put more time into testing and riding. Plus, it’s always fun to have a lot of friends and family at the race cheering me on.”

Visit tucker-hibbert.com to view his complete race schedule.

If there were any questions about which brand would reign supreme at the 2014-2015 ISOC National Snocross opener in Duluth, Minn., Team Arctic delivered a resounding answer: We’re the ones to beat!

It was an answer that echoed among the 20,000 race fans atop Spirit Mountain who witnessed Team Green victory in 8 of 15 classes, as well as 20 out of 45 possible podium finishes.

Leading the charge for the beginning of his 15th season atop the Pro category was Tucker Hibbert, who stomped his particular brand of authority on the premier class with wins in every heat and both Pro Open finals to notch his 96th and 97th career victories.

David Joanis and Logan Christian also delivered inspired performances in the premier class, setting the stage for a strong season.

Montana Jess returned to competition for the first time since suffering what was nearly a career-ending hand injury last season, taking an emotional win in the Sport final.

Other Team Arctic class winners at Duluth included Lee Butler in ProAm Plus 30, Trent Wittwer and Colin Kernz in the Amateur classes, Carson Alread in Junior Novice, and Anson Scheele in Transition.

“With the talented racers and mechanics on our team matched by the more potent 2015 ZR6000R SX in the ProCross chassis, we expected to do well at the season opener,” said Mike Kloety, Team Arctic Race Manager, “But you never know until it all plays out. To win more than half of the classes while taking 45 percent of the podium places proves that we are the ones to beat for the 2015 season. We’re proud of all the Team Arctic racers, crew and fans who made Duluth the perfect season opener.”

The next stop on the 2015 ISOC National tour is Dec. 12-13, 2014, in Fargo, ND.

Arctic Cat Inc., based in Thief River Falls, Minn., designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and snowmobiles under the Arctic Cat brand name, as well as related parts, garments and accessories. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ National Market under the ticker symbol ACAT.

More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available on the Internet at arcticcat.com.

Polaris snocross racers started the 2014-2015 ISOC National season with a powerful performance as they earned three of the weekend’s six Pro Open podium spots, and they dominated the Pro Lite class – including finishing first through fourth in the weekend’s second Pro Lite final.

The ISOC National tour opened Nov. 28-30 in Duluth, Minnesota, with the AMSOIL National at Spirit Mountain.

Kyle Pallin (Team LaVallee) reached the podium in both Pro Open finals with third- and second- place finishes, which put him second in Pro Open points after two rounds of racing.

Ryan Springer (Carlson Motorsports) won one Pro Lite final, and Andrew Carlson (Carlson Motorsports) finished fourth and third in the weekend’s finals, making Carlson the points leader.

Pro Open: Pallin & Kamm Have Sights Set on Title

In the weekend’s first Pro Open final on Saturday, Nov. 29, Kody Kamm (Hentges Racing) finished second and Kyle Pallin took third. Justin Broberg (Hentges Racing) finished sixth and Jake Scott (Team LaVallee) finished 11th.

In the second Pro Open final held on Sunday, Pallin once again reached the podium with a second-place finish, and Kamm finished fourth after making it into the final via the last chance qualifier (LCQ). Jake Scott finished eighth and Justin Broberg (Hentges Racing) finished 10th.

After two rounds of Pro Open racing, Pallin was second in points while Kamm was third. Broberg was in eighth, Jake Scott was in ninth, Ross Martin (Judnick Motorsports) was 12th, and Andrew Lieders (Team LaVallee) was 13th.

Pro Lite: Podium Dominance & a 1-2-3-4 Sweep

In the weekend’s first Pro Lite final, Jake Angove (Fort Fremont Racing) reached the podium with a second-place finish. Andrew Carlson was fourth, Travis Muller (Cottew Motorsports) was fifth, and Zak Mason (Leighton Motorsports) was sixth.

In Sunday’s Pro Lite final, Polaris Terrain Domination was on full display as Polaris racers finished 1-2-3-4. Ryan Springer (Carlson Motorsports) earned the victory, Zak Mason took second, Andrew Carlson was third, and Trevor Leighton (Leighton Motorsports) finished fourth.

Andrew Carlson, who finished second overall in Pro Lite points last season, left Duluth as the class points leader. Zak Mason was third in points after two rounds, Trevor Leighton was fourth, Jake Angove was sixth, Ryan Springer was eighth, James Johnstad (Judnick Motorsports) was 10th, and Travis Muller (Cottew Motorsports) was 11th.

Ross Martin Takes Second in AMSOIL Dominator

In the AMSOIL Dominator, the non-points feature traditionally held on Friday night of the Duluth racing weekend, Ross Martin reached the final by winning the LCQ and finished second in the finale.

Martin, a two-time winner of the AMSOIL Dominator, had to start one row behind the other two racers in the final, and his determined bid to win the special trophy and $10,000 winner’s purse fell just short. The AMSOIL Dominator field is made up of the weekend’s top Pro Open qualifiers.

They face off in three-lap head-to-head duels until just three racers are left for the final.

More Podium Finishes in Pro-Am & Sport Classes

In the weekend’s Pro-Am +30 final, Justin Tate (2-Eight Motorsports) finished second as five Polaris racers earned top-10 finishes. Patrick Brodeur (Walls-Unlimited) took fifth, Luke Routh (RF3 Industries) was seventh, Bruce Jesionowski (Snirt Racing) finished ninth, and Scot Adams (Never Enough Racing) took 10th.

Four Polaris racers finished in the top 10 in the Pro-Am Women’s final, led by Janell Smith (Team NorthStar) in fourth. Amanda Duitsman (Plaisted Racing) finished sixth, Jakki Farmer (Farmer Racing) was seventh, and Jessica Martel took 10th.

Jacob Yurk (Team Vermillion) won the weekend’s first Sport final, and Jake Geeseman (Wollenberg Motorsports) took second in the second Sport final. Geeseman had finished fifth in the first final, which left him third in Sport points after the season’s first two rounds of racing. Yurk was fourth in points, and Cole Cottew (Cottew Motorsports) was fifth.

The second round of ISOC National racing will be the U.S. Air Force National at Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon, Minnesota, near Fargo, N.D. Racing will be held Dec. 12-13.

Polaris is a recognized leader in the powersports industry with annual 2013 sales of $3.8 billion. Polaris designs, engineers, manufactures and markets innovative, high quality off-road vehicles, including all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and the Polaris RANGER and RZR side-by-side vehicles, snowmobiles, motorcycles, and on-road electric/hybrid powered vehicles. Polaris is among the global sales leaders for both snowmobiles and off-road vehicles and has established a presence in the heavyweight cruiser and touring motorcycle market with the Victory and Indian Motorcycle brands. Additionally, Polaris continues to invest in the global on-road small electric/hybrid powered vehicle industry with Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), Goupil Industrie SA, Aixam Mega S.A.S., and internally developed vehicles. Polaris enhances the riding experience with a complete line of Polaris Engineered parts, accessories and apparel, Klim branded apparel, and ORV accessories under the Kolpin and Cycle Country brands. Polaris Industries Inc. trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PII, and the Company is included in the S&P Mid-Cap 400 stock price index.

Information about the complete line of Polaris products, apparel, and vehicle accessories is available from authorized Polaris dealers or anytime at polaris.com.

Ski-Doo X Team riders opened the snocross season in Duluth, MN at the ISOC season opener in winning fashion with Tim Tremblay of Scheuring Speed Sports capturing his second straight $10,000 prize at the Friday night Dominator race.

The annual Spirit Mountain race is always a high energy affair as snocross racers gather from across North America, on what is the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend, for their first taste of competition.

On Saturday, Makita/GMC/NSK/Warnert Racing rider Elias Ishoel stole the spotlight, winning his first ever Pro Lite main event.

Ishoel is a 16 year-old racer from Norway who was scheduled to compete in the first three rounds of ISOC national snocross competition. His impressive rides throughout the weekend might have altered plans for the remainder of his winter.

Despite being involved in a first lap pile up on Sunday that took him out of podium contention, he fought back to an ninth place finish with another hard charging ride.

The big win added to a weekend of excitement for the Warnert Racing team as, just days prior to the event, they announced a new partnership with Makita Industrial Power Tools and GMC Trucks.

Marica Renheim added to the win tally on Sunday when she scored the Women’s Pro class victory in her first ride of the season for her new team Jimmy John’s/BOSS Racing. Renheim, who is the defending class champion, made it interesting as she grabbed an early holeshot but then went off course as she raced to the top of the giant uphill straight.

It was only a matter of time, however, before the speedy Swede caught the leaders and made her way to the front.

In the final main event of the weekend, young Lincoln Lemieux of St. Johnsbury, Vermont earned his first Pro Open podium with an impressive ride against the world’s best racers, taking a third place finish on his Scheuring Speed Sports sled. Lemieux made his debut with the team as a fill-in rider for Tremblay late last season and is off to a great start in his full rookie year.

The national snocross series will have a one week break before resuming action in Fargo, North Dakota on December 12-13.

For more information on Ski-Doo snowmobiles visit ski-doo.com

Professional snocross’ all-time winningest racer, Monster/Arctic Cat/Ram’s Tucker Hibbert, has been racing at Duluth’s Spirit Mountain for 15 years.

And today, round two of 2014-’15 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram, Hibbert tapped into that vast experience to top the rest of the field in the premier Pro Open class.

“It was rough out there today,” said Hibbert in logging his second main event win of the weekend. “The snow dust made visibility very difficult. I rode a lot on memory.”

And winning the Pro Lite class support race was rookie pro racer Ryan Springer of Carlson Motorsports/Polaris.

Pro Open

With snow dust lingering across the track as the afternoon winds died down atop Spirit Mountain, Hibbert dance through a field of lapped traffic, more or less unable to clearly see what was ahead of him.

Enduring the conditions better than anyone on the track, Hibbert managed to still put time on the 2nd and 3rd place racers, Mystic/Loctite/Polaris’ Kyle Pallin and AMSOIL/Scheuring/Ski-Doo’s Lincoln Lemieux.

“I was able to grab the holeshot, but once Tucker got out in front there was no catching him,” said Pallin, who scored his second podium of the weekend with a 2nd place today.

Hibbert would employ a different strategy off the start, one that looked to pay off with a 2nd place run up the hill and into the first corner for the defending Pro Open champ.

Using the center pole of the starting structure as a bit of a basketball-like pick on the rider staged to his left, Hibbert avoided being pinched off on the start – like what happened to him on Friday night – and came out of the first turn in 2nd behind Pallin.

One turn later on the oval course Hibbert dove into the inside of Pallin, beat him to the apex, and the pulled Michigan native up back up to the top of the ski hill through the rhythm section. From there Hibbert clicked off fast lap after fast lap, eventually winning by 12.5 seconds. Pallin rode a great race for 2nd, as did Lemieux – scoring his first-ever podium in the Pro Open class (3rd).

Starting out of the back row after suffering mechanical issues earlier in the day (then winning the LCQ) was Hentges/Polaris’ Kody Kamm.

Last year’s Pro Open overall point runner-up to Hibbert, Kamm put on a spectacular ride in today’s main event, rocketing from 11th to 5th place by the fifth lap.

Then, when Ross Martin (DuPont/Jack Links/Polaris) suffered a mechanical issue in the middle of the rhythm section on lap six, Kamm inherited 4th place – and some important overall points.

Duluth Sunday Pro Open Results

1 – Tucker Hibbert, Pelican Rapids, MN, Arctic Cat
2 – Kyle Pallin, Ironwood, MI, Polaris
3 – Lincoln Lemieux, St. Johnsbury, VT, Ski-Doo
4 – Kody Kamm, Kenosha, WI, Polaris
5 – David Joanis, Cochrane, Ontario, Arctic Cat
6 – Tim Tremblay, Ste Jeanne D’Arc, Quebec, Ski-Doo
7 – Logan Christian, Fertile, MN, Arctic Cat
8 – Jake Scott, Port Jefferson Station, NJ, Polaris
9 – Adam Rhenheim, Norway, Ski-Doo
10 – Justin Broberg, Mukwonago, WI, Polaris

Overall Pro Open Points (2 of 16 rounds)

1 – Tucker Hibbert, 90
2 – Kyle Pallin, 81
3 – Kody Kamm, 68
4 – Tim Tremblay, 68
5 – Logan Christian, 68

Pro Lite

All kinds of chaos off the start of Saturday’s Pro Lite main event saw Judnick Motorsport/Polaris’ James Johnstad, who won at the AMSOIL Duluth opener last year, get sideways at the start of the uphill rhythm section and collect at least five sleds. But making it through the carnage and into the early race lead was Carlson Motorsports/Polaris’ Ryan Springer.

The rookie racer out of St. Francis, Minn., would be unstoppable on the day, leading the entire race and winning over teammate Andrew Carlson (3rd).

“Yesterday was a tough day, ended my night in the LCQ,” said Springer, who became the weekend’s second rookie racer to win a Pro Lite main event after Elias Ishoel won on Friday. “So to take the holeshot and the win is a good feeling.”

Springer raced clean and fast, handling everything the Spirit Mountain track could throw at him. His mastery of the rugged course would earn his more than a second-a-lap on his teammate Carlson, along with eventual runner-up Zak Mason (Leighton Motorsports/Polaris).

With Springer checked out in the later laps, Mason made a charge on Carlson. The two would dice a bit heading into lap 11, with Mason eventually getting by Carlson and locking down 2nd place through the checkers. Following Carlson to round out the top five were Pro Lite’s No. 1 qualifier on the day, Trevor Leighton (Leighton Motorsports/Polaris) and Canada’s Corey Watkinson (Watkinson Motorsports/Arctic Cat).

Duluth Sunday Pro Lite Results

1 – Ryan Springer, St. Francis, MN, Polaris
2 – Zak Mason, Gaylord, MI, Polaris
3 – Andrew Carlson, Big Lake, MN, Polaris
4 – Trevor Leighton, Eagle, ID, Polaris
5 – Corey Watkinson, Port Carling, ONT, Arctic Cat
6 – Matt Pichner, Owatonna, MN, Arctic Cat
7 – Travis Kern, Palisade, MN, Arctic Cat
8 – Michael George, Pine Planes, NY, Arctic Cat
9 – Elias Ishoel, Norway, Ski-Doo
10 – Jake Dasilva, Moultonboro, NH, Ski-Doo

Overall Pro Lite Points (2 of 16 rounds)

1 – Andrew Carlson, 73
2 – Elias Ishoel, 71
3 – Zak Mason, 68
4 – Trevor Leighton, 68
5 – Travis Kern, 67

AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram, returns to action on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12-13, at ERX Motorsports Park just outside Fargo, N.D.

Beginning with AMSOIL Championship Snocross’ season-opening round in Duluth, Minn. and running through the season finale in Lake Geneva, Wis., CBS Sports Network will air 17 one-hour programs of the ACS races.

2014-15 AMSOIL Championship Snocross, powered by Ram, season schedule:

Duluth, Minn.: Nov. 28-30
Fargo, N.D.: Dec. 12-13
Shakopee, Minn.: Jan. 9-10
Deadwood, S.D.: Jan. 30-31
Salamanca, N.Y.: Feb. 6-7
Chicago, Ill.: Feb. 20-21
Mount Pleasant, Mich.: Feb. 27-28
Lake Geneva, Wis.: March 13-15

The International Series of Champions (ISOC) is the premier snowmobile race sanctioning organization in North America and sanctions national AMSOIL Championship Snocross, in addition to affiliating with nine regional circuits.

Visit isocracing.com for more information, fan and racer memberships, schedule details and more.