polaris racer levi lavallee wins
Amsnow
Levi LaVallee elevated his status in the world of snowmobile racing when he blew away the competition on his Polaris race sled to win the 2004 Winter X Games HillCross championship on January 27 in Aspen, Colorado.
Named WSA's Pro Rising Star a year ago, LaVallee is now regarded as a full-fledged Pro star with his dominating victory on the steep, jump-lined HillCross course at Aspen. The race was televised live by ESPN, which hosts the annual X Games, so they got to see his victory back in his hometown of Longville, Minnesota (pop. 224). HillCross is a point-to-point race up a mountain on a course with snocross-style jumps and turns.
It was only the second HillCross competition ever for the 21-year-old LaVallee. He finished about three seconds ahead of silver medalist and fellow Polaris racer Justin Tate while Polaris racer D.J. Eckstrom finished fourth and TJ Gulla was sixth.
Polaris dominated the HillCross competition, putting four sleds into the six-man final.
In the preliminary rounds of the HillCross, LaVallee found a smooth way to handle the three sets of double jumps that were bunched up in one section of the course. He rode through the first doubles, and then sailed over the next two sets, an approach that was faster and smoother than most other racers managed.
In the final, he got a tremendous start that put him immediately out in front. He and Tate fought for the lead, but after the triple doubles, the race was all LaVallee's. Tate was appearing in his eighth X Games, the most of any snowmobile racer, and his silver medal finish was his first trip to the podium. Tate raced with his right eye almost totally swollen shut, the result of a practice crash, so his strong showing was especially rewarding.
"The effort that Levi, his race team and his teammate TJ Gulla put into the X Games was certainly incredible," said Polaris Race Manager Tom Rager, Sr. "They were not going to be denied. They were going to come home with a victory, and they did. We're very, very proud of Levi. After what he's been through and how hard he has worked, I couldn't be happier for him."
LaVallee and Gulla are teammates on the Polaris/TEAM Industries Race Team.
Since the top six finishers earned automatic entries into next year's X Games HillCross, LaVallee, Tate, Eckstrom and Gulla will all be invited back.
Gulla, who finished fourth in the X Games Snocross final, reported that his engine dropped a cylinder about halfway through the HillCross final, which pushed him to the sixth position. LaVallee finished eighth in the X Games Snocross final after qualifying in the 11th-best position.