Bad Luck Prevails In Michigan

Bad Luck And Black Flags Prevail In Michigan Luck, both good and bad, can play a big role in racing. And, while we are firm believers that you make your own luck with hard work and great preparation, sometimes things just don’t go your way. Unfortunately, that was the story in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan last weekend where both Ross Martin and James Johnstad had just about every possible scenario go wrong during rounds 13 and 14 of the AMSOIL Championship Snocross tour.

Martin started the weekend with a rare tumble while running at the front of his first qualifier on Friday night. He rebounded nicely for a second place finish in the second round and was racing through the field in the main event, when he was penalized for double jumping in a yellow flag zone. ” I went passed the yellow and thought I as clear,” said Martin. Then I doubled as I got to the bottom of the downhill and there was a course worker standing on the track. There was so much snow dust you couldn’t see anything. Once I got the black flag I pulled over to let everyone go by but when I came around on the next lap they waved me in and said I was done. It wasn’t anything intentional it was just so crazy with the snow dust and traffic you couldn’t tell.”

On Saturday, Martin was involved in another heated battle at the front of the main event when a broken ball joint on the front suspension dropped him from contention, resulting in an eighth place finish.

James Johnstad endured similar luck over the weekend when, after winning his first heat race and qualifying for the final, he was caught up in a first turn crash that claimed three of the Pro Lite championship contenders. By the time he was able to remount, Johnstad was only able to salvage a ninth place finish. On Saturday, James again made his way into a front row starting spot, only to get caught up in another incident on the first straight that caused enough damage to his Polaris snowmobile that he was unable to complete the race.

We now have only one weekend remaining on the schedule, the three race Grand Finale at everyone’s favorite venue, the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This has traditionally been a great event for Ross as it is just down the road from his hometown and we are all looking forward to closing out the season on a strong note March 13-15.

Team Sponsors: Polaris Racing, Axalta, Jack Link’s Meat Snacks, AMSOIL Synthetic Lubricants, Rockstar Energy Drink, Klim, SSi Decals, Fly Racing, Walker Evans Racing, Midwest Industrial Coatings, Inc., Stud Boy Traction Products, Renton Coil Springs, C&A Pro Skis, Jeff Foster Trucking, Airgroup, Hayes Brakes, Kutzler Express, Camoplast, MBL, Champion Spark Plugs,  Factory Pipe, Holeshot, Link Ford, CTech, V FORCE, Mo-Flow