NW Ontario Snowmobile News December 2012

December 2012

2012 Amsoil Duluth National Snocross presented by Bully Dog Exciting!

Snowmobile Safety Course at Snowmobileed.com is Now Mobile Ready 2013 SNOWARAMA FOR EASTER SEALS KIDS CROSSES BORDERS! Haydays Event Shows Interest in Snowmobiling

Haydays Event Shows Interest in Snowmobiling

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Polaris Experience Centre at Roseau, MN Fun To See!

Polaris Experience Centre at Roseau, MN Fun To See!

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SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

www.slednews.com 2013 SNOWARAMA FOR EASTER SEALS KIDS CROSSES BORDERS!

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Grab your helmets and winter gear because the coolest snowmobile event hits the trails on Saturday, February 2, kicking off the 2013 fundraising season for Easter Seals Ontario.

Once again, the Thunder Bay Snowarama for Easter Seals Kids will head south of the border to Grand Portage, 45 minutes from Thunder Bay, attracting snowmobilers from across northwestern Ontario and Minnesota to enjoy some of the finest groomed trails in northern Minnesota. The event is generously sponsored by Grand Portage Lodge and Casino, the Grand Portage Trail Riders, and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

“Snowarama is one of our most popular fundraisers in the winter season, bringing together the community and a passion for winter sports, all for a great cause,” says Carol Lloyd, President & CEO of Easter Seals Ontario. “We are grateful to the community of Grand Portage for their longstanding support, helping kids with physical disabilities experience greater acceptance, independence and integration.”

All Snowarama participants will enjoy a complimentary dinner and the Saturday

night dance, featuring Westside.

Snowarama is truly a family event - participants can enjoy the trails, heated pool and sauna, as well as other amenities at Grand Portage Lodge & Casino. Minnesota trail permits are $16 (available at Ryden’s 66) and will be required for those riders that venture off the Grand Portage Reserve trails.

Over the past 10 years, Grand Portage Lodge and Casino Snowarama has raised over $230,000 for children and youth with

physical disabilities across Ontario.

Proceeds help provide financial assistance for costly mobility and communication equipment, as well as fully accessible summer camp opportunities. For more information, please visit snowarama.org or easterseals.org.

Frank Vecchio of Grand Portage Casino “ It is the 10th anniversary of this event and we are going to give away $10,000 in prizes to those that are participating. For every $100 of pledges you get you receive

a ballot and we will give away those prizes during the evening. There will be a great supper and then a dance with a band called Westside based out of Minneapolis. The riders can stay at Grand Portage or Hollow Rock cabins located some 3 miles south of Grant Portage.”

Tony from the Grand Portage Trailriders Club “ We have 100 miles of trails at Grand Portage and access to the state trail at the Gun flint. There will be a long ride of 65 miles one way and the short ride near the reservation of about 30 miles one way.

There will also be a fire on the trail with sausage roast. Our club like to help the kids. We look forward to it every year.”

Zak, Easter Seals Kid had his first snowmobile ride last year. “ It was fun and exciting. I like the wind in my face.”

Rhonda Harrison of Easter Seals. “ We have raised over $230,000 with this event for Easter Seals Kids in 9 years and want to break records this year and get as many riders as possible.

Jason Johnstone of Smith’s RV Centre “ We are very supportive of the event. It is good to be tied in to a charity, help them and give back to the community. Part of our mission statement and values is to give back to our community. “

Haydays Event Shows Interest in Snowmobiling

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News The Haydays snowmobile event is one every snowmobilers should visit at least once in their lifetime. It is really the biggest event in the sport all year in my opinion and was a fun day for me this

past September. “ We are supported by the manufacturers and have a 145 acre site and about 100 useable acres. It started out as grass drags on hay and then a swap meet was added. Today there are 280 vendors and 1600 swap spots that people buy. The swap spots sold out a month ago in 6 weeks. A 20 by 30 feet goes for $35,” said Steve Seviola, who handles advertising and media at Hay days 2012, their 46th year. “ The manufacturers bring out their 2013 models. Saturday was a real good day and we get usually 40,000 people out per weekend. We do profit and put money back into our property that

we purchased 10 years ago. We donate to racing sponserships and donate to different clubs for trails. My dad got me into it 12 years a go. I take a weeks vacation to set up here. This is the official start of winter.”

SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

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Ross Martin Hopes for a Championship Snocross Season

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Last year was a good one for Judnick Motorsports rider Ross Martin. The 28 year old rider finished second in the season long points championship with some great wins. “ The season went pretty well with some ups and downs for the most part. It ended pretty strong and we are looking forward to start this year the same as late last year,” said Ross Martin during an interview in the team hauler at the Duluth season opener. “ We had a few glitches last year but are looking forward to being in the hunt again this year. The second last race last season in Elk River hurt the most.

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Something electrical broke in my snowmobile when I was running second so I didn’t finish. There are so many good competitors you have to stay consistent to win the championship.”

determine how long you can keep doing it.

There are some young kids coming up but I feel as strong as I have ever been, maybe even a little bit better. You want to stay on top of the fitness all the time.” said Martin.

Ross started riding snowmobiles when he was 15 and began racing snowmobiles with Judnick in 2004. He started in semi pro for 1 1\2 years and then moved up to pro.

Ross races motocross in the summer and is a fast guy locally but not nationally. His background racing motocross along with determination, staying focused and making sure he is the best he can be has made Ross Martin successful. “ It is pretty cool be able to do both sports of motocross and snowmobiling but with the snowmobiling being able to travel all over is fun and the competition is pretty tight.”

“ It has been an awesome career. I can’t complain about anything. We have awesome equipment and it is a blast. It is how well you take care of yourself and how many times you have been hurt that will

The Polaris race sled used by Ross Martin is pretty bullet proof and has been

refined over the years. “ It is pretty top notch now. There is some new young competition coming but they are still pretty young and have some things to learn. I couldn’t ask for a better team. They take care of me 110% and we get along so well,” said Martin. “ Both mentally and physically racing takes a lot out of you.

You have to be prepared with the sled, be confident and mentally know you can run up front. My goal is to get on the podium each and every race, try to win as many as we can and take over the points championship.”

Ross Martin will race the full 2012/2013 ISOC National schedules, the Winter X Games and Eagle River Derby this season.

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SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

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2012-'13 AMSOIL Championship Snocross' Rd. 2 @ Duluth - Malinoski does it again!

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News The Scheuring Speed Sports team sweeps the entire Pro Open podium on Sunday w/ Tim Tremblay in 2nd & Darrin Mees 3rd It was only a matter of time before Scheuring Speed Sports - snocross' version of the NBA's Miami Heat - put all three of their superstar racers up on the box in an AMSOIL Championship Snocross, presented by Traxxas, event.

Doo's Robbie Malinoski this past weekend at Duluth. The powerful veteran racer - who hadn't doubled up at an AMSOIL Championship Snocross weekend since 2006 - swept both Pro Open main events at Duluth in convincing fashion, taking the points lead into rounds three and four of ACS in Bessemer, Mich., along with mak-

sleds. Malinoski railed into the first turn and rode mistake-free, through countless lapped riders in the lack-of-snow-shortened race, and through cleanly to the checkers. There was never a doubt.

ing a serious statement in regards to whether Malinoski still had what it takes to win at snocross' highest level.

guys up front in the pack, mainly because the usual front-running suspects - Martin, Hibbert & Tremblay - started outside the top four. Polaris' Martin, the winner of Friday's $10K AMSOIL DOMINATOR速, was all the way back in 12th qualifying position.

Behind Malinoski early were Mees and Polaris' Justin Broberg. Two relatively new

And that time was Sunday at the Duluth National, presented by Bully Dog. Wrapping up the CJ Ramstad Cup weekend at Duluth's Spirit Mountain in front of one of the largest crowds to gather for a snowmobile race in this hemisphere, Robbie Malinoski (SkiDoo) made it two-in-a-row by pulling the Stud Boy Holeshot and leading the weekend's final race wire-to-wire for the win.

Malinoski was joined on the box by teammates Tim Tremblay (2nd), who also podiumed on Saturday (3rd), and a first-ever Pro Open podium finish for Darrin Mees (3rd).

And in Pro Lite racing action Canada's Andrea Renaud (Ski-Doo) would take advantage of a late race crash by Sweden's Marcus Johansson (Polaris) to win his firstever AMSOIL Championship Snocross main event.

Pro Open Quite literally, there was no stopping Ski-

"With everybody up here from Scheuring Speed Sports - this is pretty exciting," said Malinoski. "Everybody came through.

Darrin's up here with this first-ever podium.

Tim raced great - again. My Ski-Doo pulled another great holeshot ... I'm speechless!"

When the green light shone on the start of the weekend's final even Malinoski was gone. Down the Spirit Mountain straight like he was racing against a field of stock

Tucker Hibbert (Arctic Cat) and Tremblay would collide on lap one, though both managed to rail back out of the turn where they got together. But this set the multi-time former ACS champ Hibbert back to 8th place early on in the 24-lap contest ... a position you don't want to be in on such a small track with so many sleds (15). Tremblay,

who qualified back in the 9th position, had a much better run at it, moving up to 3rd before getting past Mees for 2nd on lap 13 of the roughly 24-second laps.

As the podium position leaders spread out, Martin put on the best charge at race's end as he moved past Broberg into 2nd and set his site on Mees. With two laps to go Malinoski had all but checked out and the fans' attention focused on Martin and Mees - with Mees holding off the hard-charging Martin for his first-ever podium. Hibbert then managed to round out the top ten.

Quotes Mees: "To get up here with my other two teammates - everybody crying - this is just so exciting. My adrenaline was going on the first few laps, then Tim (Tremblay) got by me and that was OK. But nobody after that was going to!"

Tremblay: "He (Mees) didn't let me get by him that easy. But no dirty stuff ... we're all teammates. I just held my line and the rest was pretty good."

Official - AMSOIL Duluth National Presented by Bully Dog - Pro Open #2 11/25/2012 Final 1. 4 Malinoski Robbie Ski-Doo Lino Lakes MN 2. 11 Tremblay Tim Ski-Doo Ste Jeanne D'Arc Quebec 3. 9 Mees Darrin Ski-Doo Stanchfield MN 4. 837 Martin Ross Polaris Burlington WI 5. 68 Hibbert Tucker Arctic Cat Pelican Rapids MN

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Kenora Snocross Racer Signs With Polaris Racing

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Sixteen-year-old Brady Love has been riding and racing snowmobiles since the age of 4 and just loves the sport. This past weekend at the ISOC National opener in

Duluth Brady won several heats and finished on the podium with a second and third out of a field of 110 sport riders. This caught the eye of the Polaris Race Team and Brady was signed to their program that weekend. I talked to his father and

mechanic in the staging area before a heat race. “ We had great day yesterday. Brady won both of his qualifying heats and in the final got a second. In the first qualifying heat we are pretty sure he has two broken bones in his hand where it attaches to his wrist.

Today he has a lot of swelling and pain but it is part of snocross. 90 % of the time something hurts,” said Rick Love from Kenora. “ He just loves snocross. The race manager from Polaris was in the trailer yesterday discussing Brady’s future.

Duluth is where you come to showcase what you’ve got and that is what he did yesterday. In his sport class there were over 100 kids qualifying for 15 spots. In the finals” Brady is in grade 11 and wants to make a career of snocross and fall back and be an electrician when he is done. “ We are gong to try and do the remaining nationals with some support from Polaris

and other corporate sponsors to help us with mainly fuel and parts. We will also do the entire ISOC regional series for a total of 15 races this winter,” said Rick Love. “ We have some good sponsors already on board including TYCON of Thunder Bay with Shannon Campbell, FXR and Ray solar from Kenora who helps us. The cost to race a season is $25,000 to $30,000 between buying machines, fuel parts and hotels. Brady has two 2013 Polaris 600 race sleds, one we haven’t taken possession of yet.”

Brady Love runs the Sport class at ISOC National events while in Canada he is at the Pro level. He races Pro Lite in the ISOC regional in US. He continued to race even with his hand injury at Duluth and according to Rick Love will be fully looked over at a sports specialty medical facility in Winnipeg on the way home from Duluth.

It will be fun to follow the progress of up and coming snocross racer Brady Love

Snowmobile Safety Course at Snowmobile-ed.com is Now Mobile Ready

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Students who need to complete a snowmobile safety course and get their safety certificate can now take that training on their smartphone, tablet or laptop at snowmobile-ed.com.

“People complete a wide variety of tasks on their smartphones and tablets nowadays, so it makes sense for snowmobileed.com to be mobile ready,” said Edward Cossette, user experience director for Kalkomey, parent company of snowmo-

bile-ed.com. “Responsive web design lets the pages at snowmobile-ed.com automatically resize according to the device being used. There’s no app needed, making it very user-friendly.”

Another benefit of snowmobile safety classes being available on any device is students can access their course on the Web even if the only way they have to connect to the Internet is via their smartphone. Plus, the new mobile-ready site features realistic illustrations and interactive animations that make it easier and more fun to learn how to safely operate a snow-

mobile.

The training offered at this site is approved by the state agencies responsible for snowmobile safety education, and it’s the same material that’s taught in the classroom. Studying at snowmobile-ed.com is free. Students who must be certified before operating a snowmobile pay a one-time fee, which is due only if they pass the test.

Online snowmobile safety courses are available in participating states, so visit snowmobile-ed.com for a state-specific course.

About Kalkomey Kalkomey, parent company of snowmobile-ed.com, is an official provider of recreational safety education materials for all 50 states. An American company based in Dallas, Texas, Kalkomey produces print and Internet courses that have provided official safety certification since 1995.

Kalkomey offers safety courses in boating, hunting, bowhunting, and off-road vehicle and snowmobile operation. For more information, visit www.kalkomey.com.

Owners Marvin & Joanne Picard

126 Queen Street, Longlac, ON

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SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

FIM World Champion Tucker Hibbert Talks Snocross

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News A tradition for me each year is to have a nice sit down interview with Tucker in his hauler at the season opener at Duluth. Here is our interview.

How has the off-season been for you Tucker?

should be my best. I just have to focus on getting through the season healthy and having a good off-season training.

It means a lot to be healthy as a snocross racer?

It is like a snowball effect when you are healthy and keep training you just move ahead. When you have injures you have to regroup and start over. I had a lot of years

“The off season was good, better than recent years. I had an injury at the end of the season at Lake Geneva that I had to deal with which took a while. Fortunately I healed up well and was able to get on the motocross bike and do some racing, which I haven’t done for a few years. I am happy to be healthy and ready to rip on the snow again.”

What makes you be able to perform so well on the track at these races?

The crash at Lake Geneva last season looked pretty bad? “ It was gnarly crash at Lake Geneva, pretty high speed down the big drop where I got swapped out and crashed. I didn’t think it was that bad at first just getting the wind knocked out of me. I felt I may have cracked some ribs but it got worse from there and I ended up at the hospital. It wasn’t much fun.

I have had my share of injury in recent years and am ready for a healthy season.”

Do you feel like a veteran rider out there now? “ This is my 10th year as a pro at Duluth. I started racing at 8 years old and am 28 now.

It has been 20 years and 11 as a professional.

I feel like I am well experienced but I don’t feel like I am old. It is always exciting to come to Duluth each year for the start of the season. Being in shape and prepared for racing is what gets you through injuries and keeps you from getting injuries and pushing forward at the head of the pack. I have been focused on being fit and training all year round. Right now I feel I am at the top of my game and ready to go racing. I don’t have a set plan as to how many years I have left to race but just going to do it until I am not enjoying it or something like that. I feel I am still in my prime and the next few years

to this race prepared to win. I have been spending lot of time testing and spending time on the sled and honestly it didn’t take that long. I think we made some great improvement and it showed up right away.

That shows up in our confidence as well.

When everything works well from the start it gives you time to fine tune instead of trying to regroup. My goal is to improve the sled and rider so you are going round the track faster. It is crazy the amount of work that goes into being prepared to gain 1/2 second a lap here and there. At this level it is not like you are going to go out there and be way faster than the next guy. It is a ton of work and the engineers at Arctic Cat and my team and sponsors have been working super hard to come here and battle for the win and I think we are ready.”

with a lot if success but the injuries slow you down a bit. You just have to get going again to be 100% where I am now and I want to stay there. My fitness is my own secret. I work really, really hard. This racing deal I take very, very seriously and I want to be prepared to be the best I can be and to avoid injury. Racing and training for me is a 100% all the time, full time.”

How do you like the 2013 Arctic Cay SnoPro 600 race sled?

Our race sled this year, the SnoPro 600, is really, really good. I felt last year we struggled a little bit with the set up and just trying to figure out how to make the sled work the way we wanted it to. It was super challenging with the season starting in November and not much time to test with the warm temperature. We learned last year what we needed to know to make the sleds better and took all of our notes and improved the sled a lot. We have been working super hard on it to come

“ Experience is the biggest thing on the track. Having been in situations a lot in my career, it prepares me for circumstances that come up. The practicing and testing allow you to be out there and on autopilot where everything is on reactions. The testing, practice and preparation allow you to be ready for anything. I feel we have done a good job at preparing and can go out there and take on whatever comes up.

What do you enjoy the most about racing? “ I enjoy the checkered flag the most! All the work and time during the week isn’t always fun but when you are on the racetrack that is what it is all about and you are having fun. The preparation is difficult.”

This year Arctic Cat has produced a Tucker Hibbert replica sled, the F800 SnoPro. That must make you proud? “ We are excited to do the Tucker Hibbert replica snowmobile and launched it at HayDays. People are starting to get them this week I hope. I worked on the line last week helping them put some parts on the sled.

Hopefully I didn’t mess things up! It is fun to go to the factory, see the sleds go down the line and talk to the people building them. It

SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

was a big day for me and hopefully the consumers will enjoy riding it. It is about giving something back to my fans that have followed me over the years. If they want they can be part of the race team. The chassis and a lot of the stuff are parts and things that just come off my race sled. We worked on it for quite a long time to get some of the products I race with every weekend to give it a unique appeal. Our 600 motors are pretty fast when all tuned up so the replica 800 engine is pretty close to the race engine. Maybe one day I’ll get it out and see if they let me line it up at one of the races. I got number 1 and 68 serial number sleds and will ride one and keep the other for collection.”

What will be your race schedule this season?

We will race the full ISOC National series, be back at Winter X Games, which is exciting for us, and then at the Clash of Nations in Sweden at the end of the season. We are still uncertain on the World Championship, which I won last year. It is a three race series this year with two races in Russia and one in Finland. One of the three races conflict with ISOC so we will have to see.

How do you feel the competition will be this year?

Every year there is somebody new racing. I try not to worry too much about that and focus on my own program and be ready to go. Last year was one of the best years that we have had with a good group of fast guys.

I like it better when I am winning more races but it is good for the sport and fans when we have a lot of guys battling at the top. It was something that I wasn’t real excited about, only winning at most two races last season when in past years I have won almost every race. I am out there to win the races. Last year I made some mistakes and we had some issues but this year is a new season and it has re motivated me and our team to push even harder and get back towhere I was.”

Tucker Hibbert finished 5th on Saturday and Sunday at Duluth. It will be fun to follow his progress this season!

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Team Amsoil Sweep Podium at 2012 ISOC Amsoil Duluth National little bit nervous makes me better. To win you need to be in good shape, to have a good sled and to be smart. It is a little bit of everything. You have to be in top shape and racing all summer in motocross helps.” said Tremblay.

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

NW Ontario Snowmobile News Early on in the summer I received an email from the Amsoil Scheuring Speedsports Snocross team that they had a new, Tim Tremblay. Tim had just finished winning the ISOC Pro Open National Championship so you had to feel a super team was in the making. Joining with long time racer Robbie Malinoski who finished 3rd last year in the points and Darren Mees who was 4th you have to believe this would be a powerhouse team. The results at the 2012 Duluth opener proved this to be true when the team of Robbie, Tim and Darren finished 1, 2 and 3 on Sunday after a first and third by Robbie and Tim on Sunday!

I had an interesting interview with the three racers in their team hauler just before the race action began at Duluth “ The three of us mean we have as good a shot as anybody this year. With the team and product we had last year and improvements made we are sitting pretty good. At Duluth right here we are looking for good things and if not we have to go back to the drawing board. You have to go out and prove ourselves again this year.” said Robbie Malinoski. “ Last year was awesome for me winning the championship. In the summer I moved to Drummondville near Montreal and did a lot of motocross races and practice. I was in good shape all summer and think it will be only good for me this year moving from the Foremost team to Amsoil. We have better equipment and

PAGE 8

good team mates so it is going to be good this year,” said Tim Tremblay, age 26. “ When we practice we are three riders and always pushing each other. It will just make us better when we go out. “ Darren and I do fitness together and build off each other. The number of years I have been doing this means fine tuning a few things and coming in a little bit better.

I am 31 and it was a relatively normal year for me. If you don’t have too many injuries, take care of yourself and work hard you can be there as long as your mind wants you to move forward. I feel good and healthy and having some younger guys, Tim and Darren here, inspires me to work harder.” said Malinoski.

everything goes well.” “ The new Ski Doo sled has a different look with all the new paneling so it looks cool. There is also some change in the front end geometry so it is overall a little better by taking a good piece and making it a little better. That is nice. I feel we have a dominant product but are riding with expectation and pressure is harder.” said Malinoski. “ I always feel nervous at the start of a race especially at the first race of the year, but as soon as the gate drops I don’t feel anything except for racing. I think being a

“ When the gate drops we all want to win but I would rather have a team mate win than say another brand. We all want to win and will be a strong team,” said Tremblay who enjoys the Ski Doo sled. “ I wanted to stay with Ski Doo. They are a great company from Quebec and I am from there. I hope to ride Ski Doo for the rest of my career if they still want me and

SNOWMOBILE NEWS DECEMBER 2012

“ Growing up my grand parents lived in New Hampshire and I always rode sleds at their house. I gave racing a try one time at age 14 and really liked it. Last year was my first year as a pro rider. Since I have got on Steve’s team I have gotten better,” said Darren Mees, age 23 who is from Long Island, New York but now lives in North Branch, MN. Last year Darren finished 4th in the championship and was rookie of the year. “ I am the youngest guy on the team and not expected to win the championship but do have two guys on the team to learn from. We all operate out of this trailer. Life is good. This last summer I dedicated myself to snowmobile racing, training and resting and think this year will be a good year. I am so ready to start racing.”

It will be fun to follow the progress of this super team this season!