'I tell you what, I really enjoy going upside-down and twisting around.'
March 24, 2009, 12:56 PM
By: Tim Mutrie
Wayne Davis Photography/ISOC
Garth Kaufman and Levi LaVallee, at center, entered the final Super Stock final neck-and-neck in the points championship race. So a good hug was in order afterwards.
Levi LaVallee was back at the Wausau, Wisc., Polaris race shop this morning, packing up his gear for the year—with a huge heckuva smile on his face and an unusual spring in his step. After celebrating his first overall points championship—Pro Super Stock from Saturday at Lake Geneva—Levi got to celebrate Hentges Racing teammate TJ Gulla's Pro Open-class points championship that followed on Sunday. [Sunday's race presser follows.]
So things are good for Levi, even though his foampit back home is too soggy to consider, as Levi has been considering, picking up Project Double Backflip once again. "I can't even get near my pit right now," he says, "it's so muddy."
But there's a silver lining: The guy who just won his first pro points championship is now considering another first—Hawaii, vacation-style.
Congrats Levi. LEVI LAVALLEE: "Thanks. I'm so pumped about it. Our team was super successful this year and all our equipment and stuff was working awesome. The crew does such a great job with our sleds, we all click together and hopefully it's showing here."
Wayne Davis Photography/ISOC
Will trick for checkered: Levi takes the Pro Super Stock win and season points championship at Lake Geneva Saturday.
It came down to the wire: the final of the final. Walk us through.
"Story book the way it turned out. I had a decent lead in points going into Hayward, but I had some issues there so Garth [Kaufman] and I went into Geneva tied. We worked on some things that went wrong for us and felt pretty good coming in. But then I won my heat race and Garth won his and it came down to the final and we were lined up side-by-side at the start. Garth put up a heckuva fight, so it was quite a fun deal."
What now? "I think I'm vacationing. I think Hawaii is going to be the destination of choice. I've never been to Hawaii and I was just talking to a buddy who just could not believe that; he said I must go there. So I just may try to make that happen in the next two weeks."
Project double backflip? "I was thinking about trying to go for another double, but I can't get into my pit right now, it's so muddy. But, who knows, I might get a bug up my butt and go for it after it dries out again. ... For now I've got my eyes set on vacation and relaxing."
Balancing a full race schedule with freestyle, somehow, worked out into your first pro points title this season. How? "It was a hectic season for me, for sure. But snocross is my main concern. I'm a racer and that's always been my first priority. But I've also been thinking about this double flip since last summer and I knew I wanted to try and tackle that. So I started working on that in December. But obviously that's a big project and it took a lot of time, during a break from my snocross season, in December, right up until X Games. Then I was able to, mostly in one piece, get back to snocross. I struggled a bit right after X Games 'cause I was still a little beat up from the double flip, but I came back strong and everything worked out well."
Wayne Davis Photography/ISOC
Levi LaVallee = pumped.
"It does feel pretty good to finally bring it all together to win a championship. And to sneak some freestyle stuff in and be somewhat successful in that too, it feels good. Hopefully we can continue to do both successfully. But the freestyle guys are stepping up their game and the race is always on on the track."
How about TJ? "It was an awesome season for Hentges. And, no, it doesn't happen very often that teammates split the championships. When I was on the podium after the stock final I told TJ, 'No wonder you like being up here. It feels great to take a championship!' And he just smiled, but of course went out and locked up the Open championship the next day. TJ's an animal and he motivates me. Seeing how hard he works, it's really elevated my own program."
How many championships for TJ now? "Two of 'em before this, so this is No. 3."
What's the more coveted title—stock or open or any of the above? "Any of the above. You're racing the same guys and you're on the same equipment, relatively, in both, so it doesn't matter which way you go. It's a good day if you one of them."
Back to the foam pit? "I though right away after X Games, well, I want to get this done. But the way things are—our snocross season ran a bit later than last year, and last year we still had some snow back home after. But it's pretty warm and muddy nasty at home right now. I'd still like to try and tackle it, but the way it's looking I won't be able to touch that baby until next year. Then on top of that I've got some other cool ideas I want to pursue for other tricks between now and next X Games, so..."
"But I'll tell you, I'm itching to get back in that thing [foam pit] and to start doing some new stuff. And I'm actually hoping to get my dirtbike in there too, maybe try to get to Summer X Games. But I don't know about that. Those moto guys at X Games are in a different league. They're crazy."
So this foam pit is a permanent installation type deal? "It's there to stay for sure. I was just saying, it's by far the coolest toy/work tool that I have. I really enjoy wakeboarding and boating in the summer but I think I'm going to be missing a few lake days this summer because, I tell you what, I really enjoy going upsidedown and twisting around into that foam pit."
"When I was building it I remember going to Justin Hoyer's, and he was saying, you know what, if you don't have good foam and you don't do it right, it's no fun. And I jumped into Travis Pastrana's foam pit too. And it's true, it really makes a big difference, doing it right. So I took that to heart. It's going to cost me quite a bit more, but it's going to be nice having it the way I want it, and being safe jumping into it. So well worth the investment."
So where to in Hawaii? "I don't know yet. But I'm really liking the sounds of some sort of tropical vaca. I haven't done one in a while. So I'm going to start checking into it when I get home, doing some Internet action, and figure out what'll work."
"As crazy as this season's been, X Games—I mean, I was runnin' 'er wide open with all the events there—and then jumping right back into snocross and then this points championship. It's been great, super fun, but I need a breather."
From ISOC, courtesy Pat Bourgeois: Gulla Crowned Pro Open Champion; Bender Wins Again Cory Davis Captures Semi-Pro Open Crown; Carly Davis Wins Pro Women; Justin Tate Gets Long Awaited Championship in Pro Plus 30
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (March 23, 2009) After coming up just one point shy of winning the year-end title a year ago, TJ Gulla (Polaris) who came into the Pro Open final Sunday afternoon with a 15-point lead over teammate Brett Bender (Polaris), was not about to let history repeat itself. One day earlier, Gulla's teammate Levi LaVallee had brought home his first championship in Pro Super Stock to the Hentges Racing Team. Now it was Gulla's turn to do the same on what would be the final race of the year in the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series.
One thing was for certain when the top riders in Pro Open came to the line late Sunday afternoon at the base of the Mountaintop Ski Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Polaris would win the title as Levi LaVallee (Polaris) joined his teammates Gulla and Bender atop the point standings. The mission for Gulla however was simple, finish 13th or better and the title was his.
As racers grabbed a handful of throttle at the start of the 14-lap final, it was Bender who emerged from a turn one tangle involving three sleds at the top of the hill to take the lead as he plummeted back down the hill. Close behind was Ian Hayden (Yamaha) who along with his teammate Steve Taylor (Yamaha) used the Yamaha four-stroke power to slingshot to second and third respectively. Following the Yamaha duo was Brett Turcotte (Arctic Cat) in fourth, Gulla in fifth and Garth Kaufman (Arctic Cat) in sixth.
In the early going, Turcotte was all over Taylor like a blanket as he tried to take over the bridesmaid position. But soon the blanket turned to a battering ram, as Turcotte pushed Taylor up and over the berm coming into the finish line jump, thereby shuffling Taylor well back in the mix and earning Turcotte a black flag for his efforts.
The exit of Turcotte gave the third place position to Kaufman, who had worked his way around Gulla and had his sights set on a podium finish. Not long after, Kaufman got by Hayden for second and settled into a groove behind leader Brett Bender, who continued to lay down a consistent pace up front.
While the championship was virtually secured for Gulla, he wanted more and executed a beautiful inside-out pass at the bottom of the hill to get by Hayden. The move by Gulla settled the top of the field into their final finishing order, with Bender nabbing back to back wins in as many races, Kaufman coming home second and the 2008-2009 Pro Open Champion, TJ Gulla grabbing the final podium spot in third.
"I knew exactly where I had to finish," said Gulla as he celebrated his year-end title. "The year started out a little shaky but we stuck with it and got stronger near the end of the season. After losing the championship last year by one point I really didn't care if I won it this year by one point or twenty."
Davis Captures Semi-Pro Super Stock Title; Salemark Wins Final
The task for Cory Davis (Arctic Cat) was simple as the Semi-Pro Super Stock final came to the line. Keep Tim Tremblay (Ski-doo), the winner of the Semi-Pro Open championship on Saturday, behind him. In doing so, Davis would assure himself the year-end crown in Semi-Pro Super Stock.
Lining up on the far outside of the starting grid, Davis was along side Dan Ebert (Arctic Cat), while Quebec rider Tremblay chose the opposite side of the grid for the long up-hill charge towards the first turn. As sleds launched from the line, it was the green of Ebert and Davis cresting the hill first. Tremblay looked to disappear over the top on the fly-away jump in sixth, but a parking lot at the top of the hill saw Tim loose more ground as he made his way back down the hill in ninth place.
At the front of the pack, as the field sorted itself out, was Matt Pichner (Arctic Cat) followed by Dan Ebert in second, Cory Davis in third and Swedish rider Christian Salemark (Arctic Cat) in fourth. But just two laps into the 12-lap final, Ebert unloaded while negotiating one of the treacherous downhill portions of the course. That shuffled Davis and Salemark up behind Pichner.
Not long after, Davis slipped past Pichner for the lead, and Salemark followed suit one lap later. Much deeper in the pack, Tremblay was putting on a clinic of passing prowess, working his way up from ninth to fourth by lap seven. As he had for so many times this season, Tremblay was forced to overcome a bad start and was executing the fastest laps on the track by as much as 2-seconds a lap.
With Davis apparently content to ride smart, Salemark tucked his Ski-doo up under Davis with a smooth crossover pass near the starting grid to take over the top spot. Tremblay also had one more pass in him, slicing under then third place rider Logan Christian (Arctic Cat) for the final podium spot. At the line it was Salemark with the win; Davis in second for the year end title; and Tremblay in third.
"Coming into the final I knew where I was at in the point chase," said Davis after the race. "I was thinking about the championship the entire time I was out there. I was so nervous and Christian (Salemark) was so fast, I just wanted to stay clean."
Carly Davis Wins Pro Women Title; Justin Tate Claims Pro Plus 30 Championship
In other action on what was the last day of racing on the national tour for the 2008-2009 season, young gun Carly Davis (Arctic Cat) from Soldotna, Alaska took home top honors in Pro Women with another win on the season. In Pro Plus 30, long time pro racer and fan favorite Justin Tate (Ski-doo) won his first year-end championship and notched another victory in the Plus 30 class with a win Sunday afternoon.
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Contributors
Tim Mutrie
As a retired ski patroller and Aspen Times staffer, Tim Mutrie has been deciphering two-stroke transmissions since '07. He also covers big mountain skiing in the ESPN Freeskiing Blog.
Vince Castellanos
Vince has been covering action sports for ESPN since 1998 (that makes him, like, old and stuff). He is not the funniest man in the industry, but he has interviewed Mike Mason. Look for Vince's FMX coverage to be ramping up.
