By Tim Mutrie (Archive)
January 27, 2008, 8:41 PM

Tucker Hibbert’s superiority cannot be questioned. Leading up to tonight’s SnoCross Final, Hibbert had dominated the early season SnoCross National races. And he thoroughly dominated WX practice sessions and qualifying rounds. But how? Why? What makes a guy that good?

Hibbert seems to enjoy the same advantages as his top rivals: factory support, a shiny semi-trailer and a slew of sleds, a dedicated crew and, of course, well-developed talent and a certain moxie for racing. So what differentiates him? Is there something else at play? Something sinister perhaps, like a nuclear-powered hamster wheel under his hood?

Trevor Brown Jr.

Speedy delivery courtesy Tucker Hibbert.

Kirk Hibbert, Tucker’s dad and crew chief, provided some insight on the matter prior to the Final tonight: “We’ve got a rider who knows the equipment well enough to communicate to the tuners what the sled is doing-or not doing. I don’t think we’re any better tuners than a lot of the other guys here, but we’ve got a better [driver/tuner] connection than anybody else.”

Not to suggest that any race is over before The Fat Lady sings, but a rotund woman was spotted at the venue tonight. And she was singing. Blair Morgan, who failed to qualify for the Final, might have heard her, too.

“He’s just running really, really strong now,” said Morgan, before the event. “I think he’s gonna lap the whole field.”

So was it a race for second place? “Yup. I’m gonna say TJ [Gulla], Levi [LaVallee] and hopefully my guy [Brett] Turcotte,” Morgan replied.

Morgan was right on both counts… sort of. Hibbert won the hole shot at the start and stretched out a comfortable lead midway through the 25-lap race. Only a lapse in concentration or freak wreck could have derailed his bid for a gold-medal repeat. And that just wasn’t going to happen (cue Fat Lady).

Meanwhile, the aforementioned race for second place got spicier when both Gulla and LaVallee fell off their sleds before Lap 10, erasing their podium hopes. D.J. Eckstrom and Turcotte ran together in the 2nd and 3rd spots, and Steve Taylor-driving a Yamaha Nytro, the first four-stroke machine in WX SnoCross Final history-hung strong in fourth.

Trevor Brown, Jr.

Brett Turcotte won the race… for second place.
Then Turcotte, a first-year pro who turns 20 on Tuesday, saw an opportunity in Lap 16: “I just turned it on and got closer and closer. I took a line that I thought was gonna be faster, and I ended up taking [Eckstrom’s] line in one of the corners before the uphill. It felt pretty good,” said Turcotte of the one notable pass of the night.

And that’s how they finished: Hibbert, Turcotte and Eckstrom on the podium, with Taylor and Zach Pattyn filling out the top five.

For Turcotte, who races with the Blair Morgan Racing Team, it was an emotional moment on the podium. “I was sad to see Blair not make the final, because I would’ve liked to duke it out with him, but I’m glad to be up here for the whole team,” he said. “Everyone who’s part of my team is a winner right now, but I did this for my buddy [Jeremy]. He passed away December 15th. I told him I’d come away with a medal, and I did. I know he’s watching from above, and he’s just telling me to pin it every time I get on my snowmachine.”

So maybe there is something to the intangibles elements of success in SnoCross. From the podium, Hibbert actually admitted that he can be beaten, and is not infallible. “Anybody can beat anybody at any time,” he said. “It’s just a matter of the right circumstances and preparation. But I feel my team does more to prepare than anyone else, and that’s why we’re able to be ahead of the game.”

‘Nuff said.

Courtesy of EXPN.com