Morgan Returns to the Top

Monday, February 21st, 2005 at 5:44 pm, filed under Latest News.

B.J. Smith for EXPN.com

“I hate losing and I didn’t want to walk out of here without the gold medal,” said Blair Morgan, while rubbing his fourth Winter X Games SnoCross gold medal between his fingers. Casual fans didn’t understand what happened in 2004, when the sport’s most dominating rider finished third. Insiders knew the Canadian was struggling to recover from a broken back and a compound fracture of his right fibula, which he suffered while motocross racing in 2003. By winning all four heat races at Winter X Nine, Morgan erased all doubt that he is still the best.

Blair Morgan (far right) takes the holeshot in the final, while Carl Schubitzke (far left) gets run wide in the first corner and loses his sled into the crowd.

With his seventh consecutive medal in the event, Morgan set an X Games record. He also became the second athlete to win four gold medals in the same X Games event. Aleisha Cline has four gold medals in Women’s Skier X. “When you start, you never expect to do this well,” Morgan said. “Once it starts going, it just kind of snowballs and you go with the flow. I’m here now and it’s pretty amazing.” Tucker Hibbert, in his one and only SnoCross race of the year, took the silver medal for the second consecutive year and young gun Steven Martin won the bronze, his first X Games SnoCross medal.

In the six-lap final, Morgan pulled the holeshot and never gave up the lead. Longtime rival Hibbert emerged from the start pack in second, his best start of the week. Morgan pulled to a second-and-a-half lead in the first lap, forcing Hibbert to chase. Hibbert kept Morgan within sight, and with two laps remaining, had drawn to within striking distance. But with the smooth track and a fast line, Morgan controlled the lead, putting Hibbert in the position of hoping for a mistake. Although Hibbert could not make the pass, he still sent a statement to the rest of the competition, considering he only races once a year. “I guess I just proved I can still go out and run up front,” Hibbert said. “On the first lap, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stay with him or catch him because I haven’t raced him in a year. I pushed hard, put down good laps and reeled him in.”

While he still feels the effects of the injury, Morgan said it’s not going to stop him from continuing to win WSA Snocross championships and X Games gold medals. His ultimate goal is the perfect season in the WSA Nationals.

During Blair Morgan’s semifinal win, he left the competition in a white out. Morgan took the victory by more than five seconds.

Notes and Quotes

  • “I’ll go home and work hard. We’ve got more WSA nationals to go, so I can’t celebrate too hard.”—Blair Morgan, when asked what he was going to do to celebrate his gold.
  • Steven Martin, 20, was pumped on his third-place finish in the final. Martin showed brilliant speed in the qualifying heat races, winning both, but had to go to the LCQ to transfer to the final. Martin’s future in SnoCross looks bright. “Well, hopefully this means I’m here to stay,” he said. “This year I’ve really proved myself and hopefully I can keep this ball rolling and hang around for a while. Ever since SnoCross debuted in the Winter X Games, I’ve always wanted to be here.”
  • For the first time in several days, it didn’t snow during the nighttime finals.
  • What question does Blair hate being asked? “Which sport I like better. SnoCross or motocross,” he said.

    The money shot: Tucker Hibbert (right) starts the sixth and final lap nearly side by side with eventual winner Blair Morgan.

  • Tucker Hibbert said he has no plans to return to SnoCross. He said he’s fully committed to his supercross and motocross career. He’s even living in Centerville, MS, with one of the sport’s best, Amsoil Honda’s Kevin Windham, to train. “It was difficult in some ways and very easy in other ways,” Hibbert said of his decision to leave snowmobiling. “I was just burned out and not having fun. I was ready for something new and motocross was something I’ve loved forever. I needed to take that on full steam. Last year I had a tough season and it makes you wonder and think back on your decisions, but I’m going to keep working hard.” Hibbert will ride for the Motosport Outlet team, with his first race coming up in Indianapolis on February 12.
  • What the heck happened to defending champion Mike Island? He was in fourth place initially and battled for third with Martin, Carl Kuster and Shaun Crapo. But he crashed about a third of the way into the race, ruining his chances of a podium spot. Earlier in the race, Jeff Snow tangled with Carl Schubitzke’s and Schubitzke’s sled blew over the berm and landed outside of the course barriers. Luckily, no spectators were injured. Snow finished eighth; Island finished ninth and Schubitzke, who did not finish the race, ended up in 10th.
  • In a regular WSA Snocross national, main events are usually 15 laps. The X Games runs a six-lap final, making it more difficult for a rider to come back from a bad start. Also, the fast, smooth nature of the course favors all riders. “In the X Games, you always get more of a Supercross style with big doubles and rhythm sections,” Morgan said. Because of the big jumps, the X Games course also gets more routine maintenance to keep the approaches and landings safe.

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