Sleds return to BIR
Last weekend may have been a sign of things to come for Baxter's Josh Goble.
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Goble, who is in his first full year of racing the two professional classes of the United States Cross Country Racing Association Series on his Ski-Doo MXZ 600 RS, qualified seventh in both the Pro Open and Pro 600 classes en route to finishing seventh in the four-lap Pro Open final and 13th in the 18-lap Pro 600 in the USSC's Mille Lacs 200 on Garrison Bay on Lake Mille Lacs. He also qualified a second behind last year's Pro Open points champion Dave Bunke on his Polaris and ahead of veteran Cory Davidson on his Yamaha.
Josh Goble of Baxter soared over a jump Sunday in the Pro Open final of the Mille Lacs 200 on Garrison Bay on Lake Mille Lacs. The event, sanctioned by the United States Cross Country Racing Association, goes to Brainerd International Raceway this weekend.» Purchase reprints of this photo.
Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
"It kind of hit me that maybe I'm not too bad at it," Goble, a veteran snocross racer who has been racing in the series for the last two years, said Wednesday.
Goble also will demonstrate this momentum to the hometown crowd this weekend. He will among the more than 300 racers competing in the USSC's BIR 200 at Brainerd International Raceway. This event also is Round Two of the series high stakes Sledhead 24/7's 2008 Amsoil Triple Crown Series that has a $25,000 payout for the professional races in each of the three rounds in the series.
Scott Quick, vice president of BIR, said BIR's round could be "the biggest of the Triple Crown events."
Josh Goble
The course will be run on a 4.5-mile course with the start/finish line at the former snocross track used for the World Powersports Association's regional event held last December. The course also will wind through BIR's infield.
Racing at BIR is special to Goble because he said he can remember watching the ISOC snowmobile races at BIR when he was a youngster.
"It is nice to bring (snowmobile racing) back," he said.
He said he also will like racing on this type of course because his snocross experience will play a part.
"Once you get a shorter lap course like that, it tends to get a little rougher so the more bumps the better for me," he said.
He said also his favorite class to race in is the Pro 600, the finale of every event. This final is the longest, sometimes lasting for more than two hours.
"I like racing the Pro Stock better because when you do that many laps there is room for not finishing ... more problems are likely to happen in that long of a race," said Goble, who is eighth in Pro Open season points and 16th in Pro 600 points.
He said overall he enjoys cross country racing because it tests both the driver and the snowmobile.
And when it comes to the Triple Crown Series, he gets somewhat reimbursed for damaging his snowmobile along the way.
He said he told the owner of USSC after his finish in the Pro 600 Sunday, "it was nice to hit a tree, roll your sled and still get a payday."
And maybe Goble will make even more money this weekend in front of the hometown crowd.
Notes:
The Pro Open final is at 10 a.m. on Sunday and this kicks off the racing. The Pro 600 finale is slated to start at 2:30 p.m.
Brainerd's Steve Emerson raced his Yamaha to a third place finish in the Sport 85 final and Nels Danielson also of Brainerd raced his Yamaha to a sixth-place finish in the Masters 40+ final Sunday during the Mille Lacs 200.
Emerson, Trevor John of Crosslake on his Yamaha and Danielson is third, seventh and 16th in Sport 85 season points, Danielson also is 16th in Masters 40+ and Shane Danielson of Brainerd on his Yamaha is 18th in 440 season points.
Dan Ebert of Lake Shore on his Arctic Cat, who has won several WPSA regional Semi Pro class finals this season, has registered to race at BIR.
The International Ice Racing Association returns to BIR this weekend, too. Spectators who purchase a ticket for the BIR 200 will get into this event free.
clint wood may be reached at clint.wood@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5869.