Carrie Sheinberg for EXPN.com

SnoCross superhero Blair Morgan made Winter X history Tuesday night, winning his record fifth gold medal in stunning come-from-behind fashion. Amid the deafening buzzsaw of 12 high-octane engines, Morgan bee-lined his way to victory, working his way up from nine seconds back to overtake Levi LaVallee in the final seconds.

Aye, the luck o’ the Irish. Another gold at the end of the rainbow. Allow me to show ye my lucky charm.

First-year pro Ross Martin finished third to take home the bronze.

Despite this year’s new SnoCross format—the final featured 12 men instead of 10 and 15 laps instead of six—the veteran rider Morgan didn’t seemed phased at all. “I didn’t have a very good start,” says the 30-year-old Canadian who emerged from the first turn in fourth place. “I was just giving it all I had. I knew anything can happen.”

Much had been made about the youth movement in this year’s field, and Minnesota’s LaVallee was indeed the story for most of the race. The 23-year-old jumped out to a commanding lead early, followed by 21-year-old Ross Martin. Morgan, sitting in an unlikely fourth, rode like a man among boys.

With age, comes experience—and confidence. And one-by-one Morgan reeled in the riders ahead of him, all of whom had to know that The Great One was on their tail. Like a cheetah picking off the weak, Morgan dropped 20-year-old Matt Piche on the fourth lap. By the sixth, he’d passed Martin. But nobody—not even Morgan himself—thought he could catch LaVallee, who had been cruising since lap two with a lead that reached nearly nine seconds.

“I thought I was going to have to settle for second,” he said. “But still, I wasn’t going to give up.”

It seemed LaVallee’s lead wasn’t going away. Then, with real estate running out on the final lap, and Morgan waiting like a hungry shark, the kid slipped up.

“I had a mental fade, I guess. I didn’t know what lap I was on,” said LaVallee. “When I didn’t get over that double clean, it kind of threw me into the next one and completely pitched me sideways. Maybe had I known it was the last lap, I would have cooled it a little bit.”

LaVallee bounced off his sled, and as he was plugging his kill switch back in, Morgan pounced, devouring him instantly and moving into the lead. He took his checkered flag soon after.

At least LaVallee could soothe the pain of giving up a seemingly insurmountable lead knowing he’d lost to the best. And that piece of silver’s not a bad hunk of jewelry to take home from his fourth trip to Winter X.

“I’m still pumped,” said LaVallee. “My goal was to get on the podium, but a lap away from gold? Yeah, that’s pretty tough to swallow.”

12 dudes out of the gate means a whole lot of machinery flying. Somebody could indeed poke an eye out or lose a finger.

Hey, it could have been worse.

Morgan had no sympathy for the young rider.

“He’s got more years than I do to have a crack at it now,” he said with a grin, not that he’s planning on handing over the reins anytime soon.

“I have room for five medals at home, maybe 10,” he said. “I want more.”

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