There have been 18 Duluth Nationals and the 2009 version was perhaps one of the most unique Duluth events ever to go down. We all know the race usually takes place on Thanksgiving weekend, but this year warm weather forced ISOC to postpone the event two weeks. The race has been postponed before, but this year it competed with two other snocross events that effected rider turnout. Fan turnout was low, too, but the racing went off anyway and, as usual, the rider put on a hell of a show. Read on to find out what we saw and what you might have missed.
T.J. Gulla Is Tougher Than We Are
A shot of Gulla's helmet pre-stud marked
During Pro Stock racing Saturday evening T.J. Gulla came off his sled. As he was stumbling though the soft snow trying to get to the side of the track and out of the line of fire he got hit by Andrew Johnstad’s sled. It looked like Gulla’s head pretty much took the brunt of the blow and it ragdolled him, spinning him around 180 degrees. It didn’t look good. Next morning we ran into Tim Bender, T.J.’s crew chief and he confirmed T.J. was conscious, alert and moving all his parts. Initial reports said he broke the same bone at the base of skull that Bobby LePage broke a few years back at Canterbury. T.J. didn’t have the bleeding Bobby did though, so things look good for him. No doubt T.J.’s super-fit conditioning and bred-in toughness had something to do with the outcome on this one.
Two Weeks Make a Huge Difference
First reader who can tell us who this guy with the hot coffee is wins something
Duluth was postponed because it was too warm to make snow. Two weeks later it goes down and what’s the weather like? How about a -8 Fahrenheit reading Sunday morning on the official sledRacer.com race support rig’s thermometer?
Tucker Hibbert Is Fast
He looks like just another racer in this photo, doesn't he?
Yeah, he swept Duluth. Yeah he’s fast. Anyone with a pulse and a Monster sticker on their truck window can see that. So what’s the big deal, you ask? Tucker only seems to go as fast as he needs to. So, our question is, how fast is he? Unless someone steps up we may never know.
Steve Scheuring: Eternal Optimist
Those aren't cool LEDs lighting up the inside of the No. 4 sled, that's fire!
We ran into Steve in the pits Sunday morning and said, “Steve, have a better day today.” To which Scheuring replied, “We had a good day yesterday until our sled flipped over and started on fire.” Seems when Robbie Malinoski tried to go for the pass on Brett Bender for a podium spot in the Pro Stock final the sleeve of his Klim pullover got caught on his handlebar and he was stuck. He came off and his sled wound up on the mag side. “Musta got some fuel on the brake and it caught fire,” was Steve’s assessment.
Speaking of Robbie Malinoski
Robbie runs Rockstar stickers because they pay him to.
Die-hard Robbie Malinoski fans know his brother Rusty is a pro wakeboarder. Rusty is sponsored by Rockstar. Robbie rides for Scheuring. A few weeks back Rusty gives his contact info to Scheuring, phone calls are made and a few days later they’re laying Rockstar vinyl on the hauler at the Scheuring Speed Sports headquarters. Nice job.
Twenty Riders In A Final Doesn’t Work
Throw about 12 more riders into this photo and you get the idea.
There were 25 Pro riders signed up to race Duluth. Christian Salemark didn’t show because he broke his collarbone during testing and T.J. Gulla was out after he got hit by a sled in qualifying. We’re not that great with numbers but by our calculations that makes 23 riders in the Pro class. If 20 make it to the main only three get eliminated. Umm, why not just run them all? What’s three more riders on a track that’s too small? Oh, and if you’re going to start that many make starting line wide enough to handle it.
Snow Dust
How many riders do you see in this photo?
It was cold and when it’s cold the snow is “dry” and that means snow dust. Everyone hates snow dust because when there’s snow dust you can’t see. The Pro Open main went down at dusk when there was low ambient light and the artificial lighting didn’t really do anything. Probably not a good idea to put 20 riders on mods without headlights on 25-second track and turn them loose. Just sayin’.
Emil Ohman
Straight outta Sweden.
There’s always someone who thinks bringing the latest Eurpoean snocross champion over here to clean up on the Americans is a good idea. Sometimes it is, I mean that Toni Haikonen guy did pretty good. Tomi Ahmasalo was able to keep up OK too. There have been a bunch of others who stunk up the joint though, like that guy Yamaha brought over from Norway, and the guy Hentges Racing was supposed to run a couple years ago, and that other guy – well, you get the picture. So who is Emil Ohman? He won it all over on some scandinavian circuit last year and now he’s racing for Warnert Racing. We’re here to tell you he looks like the real deal.
Cody Thomsen Bandwagon
This is the view most of the Semi-Pros had of Cody Thomsen.
Yeah, we’re on the Cody Thomsen bandwagon. Last year the kid cleaned up in the Sport classes. This year? He wins Semi-Pro stock at Duluth. The big question is what brand will buy him away from Cat for next year?
Duluth Isn’t The Same Two Weeks Later
Can you spot the sledRacer.com hauler?
The Duluth National on Thanksgiving weekend just works. Even before we got involved in the industry and started really raking in the cash we would drive up to the race on Saturday and hang out. Seriously, what else was there to do? Everyone’s got all kinds of time off, the wife’s out getting trampled at the mall and you’ve already got a football fix from Thanksgiving day. Duluth in the middle of December doesn’t have any of that. People work on Friday, shopping is a more serious and pertinent business and the football season is heading into the playoffs. Plus there were Rock Maple and CSRA races going down. You could see it on Friday when the pits are usually spilling over with trailers this year there was more than enough room to do some clutch testing. Duluth in the middle of December? It just doesn’t work.
Get complete race results here: http://www.isocracing.com/NationalTour/Race-Results
