The lunch destination for the Arctic Cat 68 group ride was a facility located in Minocqua, Wisconsin with a snowmobile rich history, and a new name. A group bought this facility which used to be the testing home for Mercury and Yamaha snowmobiles. It is now called AREA 31 and is available for hosting events and renting units to explore their trail systems. I hadn’t been here since the media introduction of the Yamaha RX1 snowmobile in 2002 and thoroughly enjoyed my revisit.There was ample, comfortable space inside the facility to house all of the Group’s riders, and a nice lunch was catered in for all to enjoy. I mentioned in the first story, the best part of the SHOF weekend, is the opportunity to talk with the Champs. Here are two of my heroes…Blair Morgan (L) and Tucker Hibbert (R). It was great to see these two together again and awesome to see Blair join the group ride. The race series name, ISOC, is probably one you’ve heard, if you have followed Cross Country racing, or Snocross, as we know it today. The driving force behind ISOC, is John Daniels (L) who was one of this year’s SHOF inductees. John referenced Carl Schubitzke in his induction speech, and for those who don’t know, Carl is the current President of ISOC, and was also one of my favorite Team Arctic snocross racers. The atmosphere within AREA 31 is comfy, and many gathered around the big screen tv to watch a replay of the ISOC Snocross National from Deadwood, SD. This snocross race, was truly a Race of a Lifetime, and one that garnered Tucker Hibbert his 100th Pro National win. When the replay of the race was finished here, John Daniels was the first to start clapping and the room followed his lead. This is a moment Ill always remember, as Tucker, his family, and crew, were all in the room to watch.
After the Deadwood video, the party moved outside and I got the chance to take a photo of the Hibbert family. Over the years, Ive had some fun times with this group and their extended family, and Im glad snowmobiling and Arctic Cat gave me the opportunity to know them all as friends. In Tucker’s induction speech, he thanked his wife Mandi, his dad, Kirk, and then thanked his mom, Teresa, who has played a supporting role (mainly behind the scenes) for many years as a race wife and mom. This big fella got a little teary-eyed when Tucker acknowledged that, and said something like, “Moms are important. And should be recognized.” (L-R) Teresa, Kirk, Tucker and Mandi HibbertA handful of weeks ago, I shared a story where Tucker and Mandi joined a customer ride at Thomas Sno Sports piloting some fancy Arctic Cat Jags. This time, Tucker brought his 2015 ZR6000 replica, but also the Jag LT he had at the TSS ride. Mandi primarily rode the Jag…ya kinda have to when you’re sporting the matching gear! At the 2000 Winter X Games, Tucker was 15yrs old, and became the youngest gold medal winner after finishing first in the snocross final. This was the helmet he wore during the race, and the one he donned during the Ride with the Champs.
This is a photo of Team Arctic race manager, Mike Kloety, piloting a new 2024 ZR 600 137. I should have asked what year his race suit was from (98?)…I thought it was cool he wore it for the ride. High Performance engineer, Ben Langaas, pulled the bodywork off one of the CATALYST ZRs, so everyone could get a closer look.Tucker (R) walked over and congratulated Zach Herfindahl (middle) on his fifth I500 win. Greg Herfindahl (Zach’s dad) relives some of the recent races they’ve competed at including the I500, SOO 500 and Eagle River Derby. Its important to mention, Greg is also on the SHOF board.
Before everyone departed, we got the Arctic Cat 68 Group together for a photo. Seated on the snowmobiles (L) is Jamie Anseeuw and Blair Morgan. Ill share a video of the group departing some time this week. The tail end of the video captures Blair and Tucker racing around the snow oval in a friendly battle. Who will win?
Is damn cool to see the video of Tuckers first Winter X Games win back in 2000, wearing the same helmet he wore last weekend. I think I have seen clips of that video somewhere…but it has been a looong time. This past weekend was definitely over the top!
Awesome pictures and article Kale! It was was great ride with even better people.
Enjoyed both part 1 and 2. Nice report and great pictures. Thanks Kale for sharing your Hall of Frame weekend with us.
Awesome story kale, I def. Woulda liked to see blair on a cat instead. That’s how I remember his race days, as a cat pilot.
Is damn cool to see the video of Tuckers first Winter X Games win back in 2000, wearing the same helmet he wore last weekend. I think I have seen clips of that video somewhere…but it has been a looong time. This past weekend was definitely over the top!