It’s back to the 2022/2023 AMSOIL Snocross Championship Series with 3 days of racing held December 16-18 at the Red River Valley Fairgrounds in Fargo, N.D.
In addition to the usual classes, Friday night featured the return of the AMSOIL Dominator competition. The event featured the top Pro and Pro Lite racers in a two-by-two start format.
Once again this year, we will be following the Quebecers present at the snocross races here in the United States.
The Lebel family from Chicoutimi is the most representative with three brothers and sisters involved.
All three are members of the prestigious Warnert Racing team based in Saint Cloud, Minnesota.
Brothers Mark and Ron Warnert appreciate the Quebecers. They have successfully raced Tim Tremblay, and this year they welcome Francis Pelletier #220 in Pro and the whole Lebel family with Jordan #511 Pro-Lite, Naeli #518 Pro Women and Dylan #522 in Junior 14-15 and Sport Lite.
Also present were Emeric Legendre Perron #144 Ski-Doo from the Thene Motorsports team in Pro Lite, as well as Théo Poirier #728 Arctic-Cat Woodie Racing in the same category. Jeremy Beaulieu of Saint-Denis will join them in the next competition.
The Pro AM plus 30 class welcomes two Quebecers, Maxime Bellerive #407 from Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel and Frederick Godcher from Shawinigan.
The Sport class welcomes three local drivers with Nathan Mailloux #111, Samuel Lavoie #100 from Degelis and Justin Bolduc #25 from Scott, who is also registered in Sport Lite, along with Gabriel Couture #220 from Cantley, and Dylan Lebel.
Travis Bellerive of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel is following in his father’s footsteps and is the youngest Quebecer present, registered in Stock 200 (6/12 years old) and Transition 8/10.
The races :
Pro : In the first final race of Saturday. Francis Pelletier was involved in a spectacular collision between 5 snowmobiles at the start. His Ski-Doo was destabilized and went down on its side, taking Francis with him. Fortunately, he got up immediately and raised his hand to reassure everyone, but he lost big points in the battle. On Sunday he managed to get into the top 10, but it wasn’t enough to save the weekend. Francis left with the last place. Anything can be made up for, and Francis Pelletier is capable of doing it.
Pro Am Women: Odd, there is no Pro Women class, but Pro Am, which is one level below, technically, and with lower purses. Where is the feminism in Snocross. What would our three-time champion and one-time runner-up Megan Brodeur say after a controversial race?
This Women’s class is well represented with 16 drivers registered. Naeli Lebel takes the 5th position and will have to be watched because she is used to fight against the best and her potential is real. She is part of the Warnert team, and she is part of the Lebel family that lives for snowmobiling!
Pro Lite: Jordan Lebel is the defending champion and he comes in as a strong forward. Riley Bester was his most offensive competitor. He had started one heat in the lead, while Jordan was in fifth place. By the second lap, he was closing in on the lead and passed Bester after 5 minutes. As a reminder, the Pro Lites races are run over eight minute heats plus two laps.
Jordan Lebel finished the weekend at the top of the class, as he did last year. He will now look to repeat his six race winning streak from last year.
“At home in practice, we worked a lot on short qualifying runs and passing, and I think it paid off today,” he said.
Pro AM plus 30: Maxime Bellerive #407 of Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, had a very good weekend and climbed on the podium in 3rd place. Frederick Godcher of Shawinigan takes the 7th position.
Sport : This class welcomes 30 drivers ! Nathan Mailloux finishes the first weekend in the middle of the table in 15th place. Samuel Lavoie is 21st and Justin Bolduc follows in 26th place.
Sport Lite: There are 31 competitors in this class. Justin Bolduc enters the top 10, while young Dylan Lebel is in 13th place. Gabriel Couture follows in 20th place.
Junior 14-15: The youngest of the family, Dylan Lebel, also made sparks fly. He finished 3rd on Friday and on Saturday, he flew over the race. He took the holeshot and ran away to victory. He leads both days in front of Peterson.
Stock 200 (6/12 years old) and Transition 8/10: Travis Bellerive from Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel gets his best result in Transition 8/10 on Saturday, with a 4th place. In Stock 200, in a competition of 37 competitors, he obtained the 12th place on Friday.
The next stop for the AMSOIL Snocross Championship, the Pirtek Snocross National will be held in Shakopee, Minn. on January 13-14, 2023.
