By Lane Lindstrom
Photos by Lane Lindstrom, David Peterson
At least, that's what we here at SnoWest think.
And from the buzz going around the SnoWest forums and in snowmobile circles, plenty of other folks agree.
The one-day ISOC national event drew published reports of 9,300 fans who witnessed some incredible racing at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT, Jan. 9, including an upset in Pro Open, where No. 68 Tucker Hibbert's 51-race winning streak was snapped by Tim Tremblay.
Hibbert extended his Pro snocross winning streak to 51 races with an impressive win in Pro Super Stock, leading from start to finish. One of the most impressive race feats of the night took place in Pro Super Stock by Hibbert.
No. 67 Ryan Simons and No. 58 Matt Judnick got tangled up in turn number three and couldn't get their sleds apart. The two racers had to leave their machines on the course and walked to the edge of the track to wait for the race to finish (it took 11 men to pull the two machines apart after the race finished). For the rest of the Pro Super Stock final, other Pros negotiated around the two machines in the turn. As the race wore on, Hibbert, as he tried to negotiate lap traffic, was pushed into some soft snow in the middle of turn three and found himself and his sled in the air aiming for the two disabled sleds. As he landed on one of the machines, he grabbed the throttle and used one of the sleds as traction as he shot over the other machine and went on to victory.
After he won the race, Hibbert, in comments from the winner's podium, said, "It was more like monster trucks or demolition derby. I thought I was done."
In the Pro Open final, Tremblay grabbed the holeshot and led from start to finish in the 22-lap race. Not bad for the first year Pro who was No. 9 in points going into the race. Hibbert, who was in third with eight laps remaining, had an untimely dismount from his sled and finished seventh.
Mountain West Racing and Xtreme Mountain Racing were there in force with its racers, who competed in several Junior, Sport and Masters classes.
Complete race results are available on www.isocracing.com.