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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

Aspen Times Staff Report
Aspen, CO Colorado
January 27, 2008

ASPEN — Twelve sleds jockeyed their way through a boisterous start at Saturday’s Snowmobile snocross final, and within a few moves, Goodridge, Minn. native Tucker Hibbert shot to the front.

He never looked back.

Hibbert led for all 25 laps of the race, and ended up beating his closest competitor – Brett Turcotte – by more than 15 seconds.

The win marks Hibbert’s second consecutive gold in the snocross at Winter X Games. He now holds seven total Winter X medals.

“I knew in my head I could win gold, but it’s really easy to get distracted here in Aspen,” Hibbert joked to ESPN.

“I knew it was just about getting a good start, and I got it,” he explained. “Once I was out in front of the pack, I knew I had the inside track to the medal stand.”

Silver medalist Turcotte was ecstatic after the race. “It really hasn’t hit me yet,” he told ESPN. “It probably won’t for a few weeks, until this metal is on my shelf.”

Snowmobile snowcross final results

1. Tucker Hibbert, Arctic Ca, 1066.714
2. Brett Turcotte, Ski-Doo, 1082.377
3. D.J. Eckstrom, Polaris, 1083.251
4. Steve Taylor, Yamaha, 1083.897
5. Zach Pattyn, Ski-Doo, 1087.964
6. Levi LaVallee, Polaris, 1098.450
7. Ross Martin, Polaris, 1099.000
8. Robbie Malinoskii, Ski-Doo, 1103.446
9. Shaun Crapo, Polaris, 1106.862
10. Willie Elam, Ski-Doo, 1210.261
11. Dave Allard, Ski-Doo, 1328.764
12. T.J. Gulla, Polaris, 2924.387

Courtesy of The Aspen Times

Check out Brett as he tails Tucker around the track! Watch the intense battle to the finish line!

Video courtesy of ESPN.com

Whats up all!! Brett here just droppin a few words about this past saturdays’ silver medal achievement!

     Going into X Games this year, i had a huge bit of motivation from a past tragedy and i knew things were going well, having a really good couple weekends leading up to X, i had some confidence and momentum on my side.
Testing and practice went really well leading up to the first round of qualifying friday night, the sleds were ripping, and i felt great! Early Friday afternoon i had a look at who was in my heat, and mentally started preparing on how the was going to turn out for me.

    I had picked a good start line gate and line up second to the inside of 837 Ross Martin and the nerves started to set in, i just kept invisioning myself getting a clean start and letting the rest decide itself! I did just that, my start went really well and i got the holeshot and pulled out in the lead for the next 8 laps winning my qualifier, and scoring the a top 3 fastest lap time of the night!  I was stoked.

  Saturday morning rolled around and it was hard to do anything but try and relax, i had practice  at noon so i went out and just checked out lines for the final and put on a little bit of a show for the fans, just having fun with the big jumps on the track and super fun finish line jump!  As the hours wound down and it was closer to final time, i secluded myself from any distractions and went to the lounge and chilled my nerves a little.

     At 715pm it was time…all the riders in the final went out for our 6 lap warm ups, i checked lines and cruised around for a while!  At 730 it was time…i had third gate pick so i lined up beside TJ Gulla third from the inside and next to Levi Levallee. When the green flag drew i sensed me getting tipped so i slammed the brakes and dove up the inside coming out of the first corner i was 4th. I settled in and put my head down reading my pit board that Blair was running lap after lap, just “breathe” i kept thinking and i threw down a pass into third on about lap 4, then focused on closing in on second place. On lap 16 i made a block pass on DJ Eckstrom for second place and started to settle in after that. Tucker was on fire, by the time i had gotten by DJ he was long gone, so i just focused on pushing ahead and keeping the pace. Lap 24 of 25 was pretty exciting, it was hard to stay focused but i managed to keep on my sled and put the BMRT Ski-D00 across the line in second place, scoring my first ever Winter X Games medal!

   The fact that i have a silver medal hanging above my TV stand hasn’t really kicked in yet, it still seems surreal, all my friends back home are pumped and im sure it will kick in when they all come over for my birthday tonight and i realize how pumped everyone is going to be to touch the bling!

Thats all for now!

BT16
 

The West Yellowstone round of the WPSA National Tour was all about the weather.

The area has enjoyed above average amounts of snowfall and on this weekend, the snow continued to fall, with accumulations of 12 inches over Saturday and Sunday. It snowed so heavily on Sunday that racing had to be stopped part way through the program and continued on Monday morning.

Sunday morning’s first race was the Pro Stock final and BMRT riders Kaufman and Turcotte rode hard in the poor visibility to 8th and 13th positions.

The poor visibility caused havoc in pro open qualifying, with the riders not being able to see the bumps on the challenging course, many found themselves un-expectantly upside down. Race officials wisely post-phoned Sunday’s racing until Monday morning.

Clear skies greeted the racers Monday morning, but it was also very cold, which caused heavy snow dust conditions. The visibility was still extremely poor but with racers and officials eager to leave West Yellowstone with the races complete and the x-games competitors wanting to get to Aspen to prepare the races went on.

Tucker Hibbert added the Pro Open win to his Pro Stock victory from Sunday. BMRT riders Kaufman, Morgan and Turcotte finished up 9th, 10th and 11th.

All the x-games racers quickly packed up and a caravan of Featherlite transporters headed south for Aspen, where BMRT expects big things from its four qualified riders!

Can you guess which racer is which by their kiddie photo? Try our poll now and see how others are guessing too. Poll ends next week, so stay tuned for the answers.

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The Pledge Incentive Program allows you to raise money and get some sweet gear like the Snocross “Hotzone” Helmet, Ski-Doo Altitude Backpack, X-Team Quick-dry Jersey or the Ski-Doo Racing Cap. Find out more by checking out the Blair Morgan Fantasy Camp!

Download the Pledge Incentive Program and Pledge Sheet today.

Meet Us At Each Event To Win A Spot At The Camp

In addition to the Blair Morgan Fantasy Camp, charity partners PowerSports Snowmobile Tour and Ski-doo have helped to present a contest at each National snocross event with a Grand Prize of a trip to the Blair Morgan Fantasy Camp. Donations are also being accepted at the events.

Are you in it to win it? Enter to win a Team Hoody, Cap or T-Shirt by visiting our contest page and downloading our first BMRT Crossword Contest. With 5 winners per item, that’s 15 winners in total and one of them could be you!

Clues to finding the correct answers can be found by looking around our website and visiting our partner sponsors’ websites. Entries must be correctly answered, entry form completed and received before January 31, 2008. Winners will be announced on February 4, 2008. Please read the contest page for terms.

The second and third rounds of the WPSA Nationals were in Canterbury Downs this past weekend. It had been over six weeks since the Duluth WPSA opening round, a long time in the racing world, but the BMRT crew was busy during this time. With a new REV600 stocker and generally new Open sled there is a lot of testing and preparation to do. The real test of course is in competition against the best in the world.

At X-Games qualifying races throughout December BMRT pro riders, Iain Hayden, Brett Turcotte, and Garth Kaufman all qualified for Winter X and will join their teammate Blair Morgan in Aspen at the ESPN X-Games in late January.

Back to Canterbury…

Being early in the season and after such a long break from national competition the racing tuning and setups for the new XP platform still need to be sorted out and tested in real competition, particularly the stocker as the new XP600 is an all new sled from the predecessor 440 REV. Fridays Pro Super Stock competition at Canterbury found BMRT struggling a bit during qualifying to find the best setups. Morgan and Turcotte transferred to the main finishing 8th and 11th. The second round of Pro Super Stock in this double header weekend did not go as well for the team. Some trial and error in tuning and setups combined with some frustration in the racers did not get us the results we were looking for. Still the season has 8 rounds remaining and the experience we gained in competition this weekend with the stock class will help us improve our results in the coming rounds.

In Pro Open, our sleds seem to be more competitive, Morgan, Turcotte and Hayden all made the main, finishing 4th, 5th and 10th. In the second round of Pro Open, all four BMRT riders made the 15 man field of the main …. Things were starting to look up!

Bad starts had our guys working hard from the back, but their hard work paid off with a 3rd place for Morgan, 4th for Turcotte, 9th for Hayden, and 10th for Kaufman.

So there were no wins for BMRT on this weekend, but we did get Skidoo’s first podium of a so far, trying season. More importantly, we finished off the weekend strong, gaining momentum heading west to the fourth round in West Yellowstone MT.