Recap courtesy of ISOC, Photos: Gary Walton
Deadwood, S.D. ~ A steady snowfall greeted those in attendance at the Days of ’76 Rodeo Grounds in Deadwood, S.D. on Friday night, creating a near-perfect backdrop for round five of AMSOIL Championship Snocross.
On track for the Air Force National Snocross, it was a night of near perfection for several riders as the overall points race was shaken up like a handheld snow globe. It’s nothing new for the Bullring, the tight, technical track that has bounced more than one rider from atop the leader boards over the years.
Kamm Keeps Up Winning Ways by Taming Deadwood’s Bullring
AMSOIL Championship Snocross series announcer Robbie Malinoski said during the qualifying heats that the Deadwood track was nearly perfect for Kody Kamm’s riding style. His ability to time tight jumps, and work through the rough terrain would make him one of the favorites on Friday night.
That bold prediction became reality in the Pro final. Kamm, who opened the season with a win in Fargo, returned to the top of the box with a ride that was vintage Kamm. He came out of the first turn clean, alongside Travis Kern, but stayed under control and powered into the lead. From there, he delt with lapped traffic with ease late in the race as he picked up his third career win in Deadwood.
“I had a rough weekend in Canterbury and so showed up in Deadwood and I usually like the racing here with the small tight track,” said Kamm. “Just great starts all night and I can’t thank the team enough for that. They worked really hard today.”
Adam Peterson and Kern dug into an early race battle for the runner-up spot. Peterson finally wrestled away control of the second position from Kern halfway through the race. He would close Kamm’s five second gap down to just two but needed more than the 28 laps that were featured to gain the remaining time. For Peterson, who entered the night fifth overall, it was his first podium of the year.
Logan Christian slipped into podium contention after Kern slowed late in the race and the number one qualifier was in the right spot at the right time. Christian’s third place finish was a testament to his ability to find quick lines throughout the day. He crossed the line just ahead of his teammate and rounds three and four winner Hunter Patenaude.
Legend of Lebel Grows in Deadwood
Give an inch and they’ll take a mile. So many times, that has been the case for Jordan Lebel and the Pro Lite field. Over the past few seasons, if he finds the slightest advantage, he turns it into a dominant win. That narrative was once again in play in Deadwood on Friday night.
Lebel came through turn one even with Eric Downs but found a hidden line and launched into the lead. After that, he was riding on clean lines, leaping and spinning his way around the taut track towards his fifth straight win to open the season. The five wins is just one off his start of six straight victories last year.
“This year we have a really good strategy, and are getting good starts,” said Lebel. “Tonight, it was a good race, and yeah, overall, this year is going really good for now.”
Andy Pake was buried off of the start. He was stuck in tenth and was looking to move up the ladder quickly but didn’t start making his march to the podium until lap 12. He was able to find a quick line that put him into the top five on lap 19 and into podium position on lap 21. His final move was a last lap pass on Downs for the runner-up spot, finishing just a half-second ahead of Downs at the line.
Cottew Regroups for Fourth Win in 2023
For most of the Pro AM Women’s final on Friday night, it looked like Malene Cottew was going to pick up an uncontested fourth win this season. But late in the race a red flag came out and parked the field back at the start line and made things interesting off of the restart.
Cottew appeared to get the jump on the restart, but a bobble opened the door for Inanna Hauger to take the lead. Cottew had to regroup and chase down Hauger, finally regaining the lead with just over a minute left on the clock. From there, Cottew pushed forward, finally finishing off her fourth win of the year.
Hauger would have her hands full with round three winner Taven Woodie for the rest of the race. Woodie, who was running second before the restart, had to regain the runner-up spot late as the clock was winding down. Hauger kept charging, finishing just behind Woodie in third.
FXR SPORT: After three straight podium finishes, Tyler Archambault broke through with his first FXR Sport win of the season.
Archambault took control of the final from the green light, leading from start-to-finish for his first career class win. Drew Freeland was able to get around Cameron Cole on lap eight and ran in the second spot for the remainder of the race. Points leader Crayden Dillon finished third, securing his fifth straight podium finish to start the season.
SPORT LITE: Isaac Peterson has been knocking on the door of the Sport Lite’s top spot all season, and the Polaris rider broke it down on Friday night in Deadwood. He set the race’s quickest lap on the second lap and didn’t look back.
Three time winner and points leader Brandon Nelson looked to close the gap with Peterson but had to hold on for a second place finish. Dylan Lebel made his first trip to the podium, finishing third ahead of Connor Campbell.
Rox Speed FX Stock 200 (Friday): Gvanni D’Antonio’s third start of the 2023 season ended on a winning note on Friday night. Underneath the bright lights in Deadwood, D’Antonio led from start-to-finish in the Stock 200 final, besting Bodee Craig who finished second. Tayte Blasey held off a hard charging Jack Gelinas for third.
Transition 8-10 (Friday): Jack Gelinas put together a winning run in Friday’s Transition 8-10 final. Gelinas took the lead on lap two and led the remainder of the race for his first win of the season.
Hudson Kuhn worked through traffic to notch his best finish of the season in second. Logan Bruch held down the third place spot for much of the race, matching his best finish of the year.
Transition 9-13 (Friday): Tavin Knudson has won the past two Friday night Transition 9-13 finals and has now won three straight Transition 9-13 races. Kendall Rose was stalking Knudson all race, crossing the line just .001 behind Knudson. Points leader AJ Skogquist rounded out the podium in third.
Jr. 14-15 (Friday): Gustav Vesterlund made his season debut in Friday’s Junior 14-15 class and capped it off with the win. Vesterlund led wire-to-wire, staying in front of a two-sled battle behind him featuring second place finishing Caiden Pflipsen and third place finisher Isaac Peterson.
Up next for AMSOIL Championship Snocross: U.S. Air Force Snocross National in Deadwood, S.D. on Sunday, January 28, 2023.
