Writing and Photos by Crystal Wallem Photography

The 2019 opening Snocross weekend is one that will live in infamy. Starting Saturday morning, Mother Nature began dumping on Duluth with a vengeance—nearly 2ft of snow in less than 24 hours, accompanied by 30+mph winds, providing virtually zero visibility. The entire city was shut down, highways were closed, vehicles buried with snow drifts over their windshields—leaving racers, teams, officials, fans etc. stranded. For the safety of everyone involved, ISOC/Spirit Mountain had no choice but to cancel the remainder of the races for the weekend. They will be made up at a future event. It’s not too often you hear of a snowmobile race being cancelled because of too much snow, but it turns out there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

Despite the massive blizzard, we were able to get through all of Friday’s races as well as the AMSOIL Dominator Cup, where reigning Pro champ, Elias Ishoel, took home the 10k and 2019 Dominator bragging rights. FXR athletes had success in many classes on Friday, bringing home 9 medals in just one short day.

JR GIRLS 9-13

Naëli Lebel #518, last season’s JR Girls 9-13 points champion, started off the season strong by going 1-2 in her heats and landing 2^nd on the podium in the final.

Kendall Rose #120 is no stranger to the podium. Rose placed 2-3 in her heat races and finished 3^rd in the final.

JR 14-15

After a rough start in his first heat, Emeric Legendre Perron #144 rallied, taking the win in his second heat. Emeric kept his momentum going into his final where he claimed the top spot on the box.

JR 16-17

Chance Tietjen #500 looked fast all day, going 2-1 in his heats. Tietjen finished off the night in 3^rd.

AMATEUR SNOWBIKE

Amateur Snowbike is a new class this season, giving beginner Snowbike racers a chance to compete without having to go up against the seasoned Pro’s. Woodie’s Racing’s Taven Woodie #873 is now a crossover athlete, competing as both a Pro Women Snocross racer as well as an Amateur Snowbike competitor. Woodie made a solid start to the season by placing 2^nd in the Amateur Snowbike final after the original 2^nd place finisher was DQ’d.

SPORT LITE

Eli Epling #530 was fast and consistent, placing 2-1 in his heats and finishing 3^rd in the final.

Emeric Legendre Perron #144 made his second podium appearance of the day, placing 2^nd in Friday’s Sport Lite final.

SPORT

A frequent podiumer, Jordan Lebel #511 made quite the debut to the Sport class, going a whopping 1-1 in his heats and landing in 3^rd for the final.

Tim Tremblay, who recently announced his retirement from Pro Snocross, congratulated Lebel at the podium.

PRO AM PLUS 30

Kevin Kelly #153 went 1-2 in his heats on Friday. Kelly moved on to snag 2^nd place in the Pro Am Plus 30 final.

AMSOIL DOMINATOR

The AMSOIL Dominator Cup is a head-to-head, single elimination, bracket-style, two-lap sprint for $10,000, a sweet trophy, and Dominator bragging rights. Winner takes all. The losers from the semi-final get to race against each other in the LCQ for the back-row spot in the final.

Elias Ishoel #200 and Adam Renheim #311 advanced to the final to go head-to-head for the title. Kody Kamm #53 won the LCQ, giving him the back-row spot on the starting line in the final.

As the three racers were on the line, Adam Renheim was suddenly sent off the track, and Kody Kamm was allowed to pull up next to Elias Ishoel on the line. It was later announced that Renheim did not pass tech and was DQ’d due to illegal fuel.

It was an intense battle between Kamm and Ishoel—bar to bar racing and swapping positions throughout the two-lap final. It was a close race, but Ishoel came out victorious and won the title of AMSOIL Dominator Cup Champion for the second year in a row.

Next stop on the Amsoil Championship Snocross tour brings us to Fargo, North Dakota. We’ll see you there December 13^th – 14^th!