Tucker Hibbert spent his formative years in Thief River Falls -- home of snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat -- so it's perhaps no surprise that he has been atop that brand for his entire life, including a professional career that includes 10 Winter X Games medals and a 2010 world championship.
Hibbert won his first Winter X Games gold medal at age 15, vaulting him into the spotlight -- and causing him to miss plenty of high school class time.
"My teachers were a little more lenient on me," Hibbert said with a laugh, "than they would have been if I was racing a different brand."
These days, Hibbert, 27, is a seasoned veteran and perhaps the signature competitor in snocross. He is based in Pelican Rapids but will be at Canterbury Park this weekend for an AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series event. Hibbert has won six overall series championships.
"It's one of my biggest races in terms of fan support," Hibbert said.
For the uninitiated, Hibbert (@Hibbert68 on Twitter) and fellow riders will race on a course filled with moguls, tight turns and other obstacles. They'll fly through the air on their machines -- which Hibbert also does as a motocross competitor.
Hibbert has been doing both for pretty much his entire life. He entered his first motocross race when he was 8, and shortly thereafter he was competing on a snowmobile. "I started as early as I could," he said. "I was jumping on anything I could get my hands on."
It helped, of course, that his father, Kirk, was a dual-threat competitor as well. Kirk was also a professional and "one of the all-time success stories" in racing, Hibbert said. Kirk, who moved the Hibbert family to Thief River Falls to compete full-time, is still involved -- as a key member of Hibbert's race team.
