Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/422004
SNOWMOBILE www.PowersportsBusiness.com Powersports Business • December 1, 2014 • 37 Tucker Hibbert will enter his 15th profes- sional snocross season with a proven program focused on success. With the same core crew members and a familiar sponsor lineup behind him, Hibbert is in a solid position to defend his ISOC National Pro Open title, continue his X Games Aspen gold medal streak and claim his 100th Pro National victory. For the 2014-15 season, Hibbert will compete under the Team Monster Energy/Arctic Cat/Ram Truck banner. Monster Energy will continue to lead the program as the title sponsor with Arctic Cat providing factory support with its potent 2015 ZR 6000R SX. In addition to returning as the official truck of Hibbert and his crew, Ram Truck will be added to the team name. As earlier announced, Hibbert is back with the race gear brand he began his professional career with — Arcticwear by Arctic Cat. Long-standing sponsors completing Hib- bert's program include: Stud Boy Traction, FLY Racing, Speedwerx, FOX, Leatt, Hot Stuff Pizza, C-TEC2 Oil, TekVest, SPY Optic, Kicker Audio, Digital Ink Design & Graphics and CTi. Hibbert will begin his 2014-15 snocross campaign Thanksgiving weekend at the ISOC Duluth National in Duluth, Minn. "My program is solid — from my equip- ment, to my crew, to each and every sponsor that stands behind us. We're all passionate, competitive and dedicated to doing our best. I couldn't ask for a bet- ter group of people in my corner," Hibbert said. " L a s t y e a r w a s unreal, but I know there's still room to improve. That's the best part about rac- ing — it's constantly evolving. My team and I never stop testing or fine-tuning because that's what it takes to stay on top. We have another big year ahead of us, but I know we're prepared and ready for the challenge." PSB Cat's Hibbert prepares for 15th Pro Snocross season Tucker Hibbert will be aboard Arctic Cat's 2015 ZR 6000R SX during the Pro Snocross season. PHOTO COURTESY OF ARCTIC CAT Yamaha snowmobile race team partners with Elka Suspension Yamaha's snowmobile race team announced a new shock absorber sponsor, Elka Suspen- sion, Inc. The team will be using Elka's ultra- lightweight Stage 5 coilover shocks on both the cross country and hillclimb circuits. "What we are most impressed with is the Elka team's level of commitment in helping our racers get on the podium," said Yamaha snowmobile product manager Rob Powers. "Our goal in working with the Yamaha snowmobile race team is to push our Stage 5 platform development even further in the snowmobile market. The Stage 5 is a proven winning product in other sports," said Elka president Martin Lamoureux, himself an off- road racing champion. "We know it will be a winner in snowmobiling as well." Patrick Tellier, Elka's marketing director, added, "We will be continuously developing and improving our products with the Yamaha snowmobile race team, then offering those products to the general public, so they can have access to the same high-performance sus- pension as the factory riders." Both race team crew chiefs, Brian Strawsell and Troy Johnson, recently paid a visit to Elka's facility outside of Montreal to meet with the engineering team and begin building shocks. FORMER SKI-DOO EXEC DAVIS GETS NEW GIG IN EAGLE RIVER Russ Davis has been named vice president of sales and marketing for the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby pre- sented by FirstPlaceParts.com. Chuck Decker, president and track owner of Eagle River Derbytrack, describes Davis as "one of the true gentlemen of our sport, extremely knowledgeable and a prime mover in our snowmobile world. There is probably no more respected snowmobile industry executive then Russ Davis. We are looking forward to having him on our staff." Davis says, "I am very excited to join a recreational sports-orientated business with opportunities that are unlimited. Chuck Decker and the Decker Family have built the World Championship Derby and the Vintage World Championship events into a year-round world class venue. This along with young Nat- alie Decker's car racing career will challenge me to put a strategic plan together that makes sense to all involved. I will be out looking for future sponsors and partners that want to help take advantage of this great opportunity." Davis's lifelong association in the snow- mobile arena began when he was the owner of a retail store in Sayner, Wis., and started as salesman for Snowmobile Sales Inc., sell- ing Scorpion snowmobiles. Shortly after, he became national sales manager for the Scor- pion factory in Crosby, Minn. Next came a move to Duluth, Minn., to become sales manager for the Central U.S. for Ski-Doo. After closing Ski-Doo's office in Chicago, he brought the team to Wausau, Wis., to open a distribution center for Bom- bardier Ski-Doo/Sea-Doo for North America and became national sales manager for this expanded entity. He later was promoted to VP of sales and marketing for snowmobiles worldwide, which included snowmobile manufacturing facilities in Finland. He also enjoyed early success as a snowmo- bile racer, winning the 1969 Stock Class "B" on a Ski Doo 292, at the Eagle River World Cham- pionship. He was inducted into the Interna- tional Snowmobile Hall of Fame in 2012. ARCTICFX GRAPHICS RELEASES 2014-15 CUSTOM SLEDWRAP DESIGNS ArcticFX Graphics, a manufacturer of cus- tom sledwrap and snowmobile sticker kits, has its own version of Fashion Week in Sep- tember every year. After months of studying trends and then designing, the AFX Top Ten sledwrap concepts are released on the web- site and featured on AFX's Facebook page, in plenty of time before the start of the new 2014-15 snow riding season. "Having one of your own designs chosen for our release is a big deal," said designer and AFX marketing director Bryan Flinker. "We design all year, and the competition here is friendly but fierce. I see potential sledwrap and sticker kit designs every day, and I snap pictures with my cell phone and store them. At some point I'll review all such photos, and start to pull elements out, and pull together a new wrap concept as it would need to be to fit a snowmobile. In August we all sit down and start to review each other's work. Our focus is quality, not quantity. We discuss and debate, then ultimately decide which 10 will be this year's spread of new AFX custom designs. As soon as a new design is released, it can be purchased." Although ArcticFX Graphics began as an online company offering set design color- ways, founder and company president Jordan Yankee soon learned that riders and sports enthusiasts in general tend to have strong ideas about outfitting their rides. "Probably because I ride myself, I was not surprised that our buyers would contact us to ask if they could get a certain design, but in totally different color schemes," Yankee said. "That's what has led us to creating our propri- etary app called SledWrapR. We tried to think of every possible angle we enjoy when design- ing, and to make custom designing equally as enjoyable for our customers. Our customers can buy a design from us 'as is' without even establishing an account. But if you want to make your sledwrap truly unique, you can sign in and create one from the ground up with SledWrapR. I don't know of another website that offers that ability to the power sports community." Another service available at AFX is custom sledwrap design, which can incorporate local logos and/or team colors for multiple sleds. PSB DIGEST ArcticFX Graphics unveiled 10 custom sledwrap designs for the 2014-15 season.