It seemed like just about every weekend this winter, we were writing about an Arctic Cat sled on top of a podium. With snowmobile racing all wrapped up until next fall, Arctic Cat says its racers have claimed more high-point championship titles than anybody else.

“When you win most of the battles, you’re likely going to win the war,” says Team Arctic Race Manager, Mike Kloety. “In USXC cross-country especially, yet also in ISOC snocross and RMSHA hillclimbs, we won more than our share of the battles and, as a result, took home most of the championship high point titles.”

Arctic Cat found its greatest success in the USXC cross-country circuit, where Team Arctic racers claimed high-point titles in 13 of 20 classes. Headlining the cross-country domination were Christian Brothers Racing Pros Ryan Simons and Zach Herfindahl, who finished 1-2 in both Pro 600 and Pro Open championship tallies. Other stand-out title performances in USXC belong to Benjamin Langaas, who won both Expert 85 and Improved 85 titles; And Jolene Bute, who won all 10 Women’s finals (and the Championship title) during the season.

Arctic Cat rider Ryan Simons bested the field in the grueling three-day, 500-mile I-500 cross-country race.

The I-500 was hosted by Seven Clans Casino and USXC (United States X-Country Snowmobile Racing) in Thief River Falls, Minn., February 7-9. Riders left Seven Clans Casino each day on three different courses, each approximately 160-miles and each eventually bringing them back to the casino.

The Day 1 course brought riders to the fuel stop in Plummer, Minn., just south of Thief River Falls. After a race delay due to fog, riders enjoyed clear skies and excellent visibility. Simons set the pace with a time of 2:15:43.844, almost three minutes ahead of Arctic Cat rider Cody Kallock (2:18:25.460) and nearly four minutes ahead of Arctic Cat rider Wes Selby (2:19:28.806). After Selby came Aaron Christensen (2:20:30.707), Justin Tate (2:20:35.194) and Corey Davidson (2:22:15.360). Perennial favorite Gabe Bunke was mired in 10th position after leading out and breaking trail most of the day. Notable scratches were 2011 winner Brian Dick (engine) and Chad Lian (engine).

Tucker Hibbert and his team celebrate his sixth straight X Games gold medal. (photo courtesy John Hanson)

It was a gold-medal weekend for Team Arctic Racing, with emphatic wins by Tucker Hibbert at the ESPN X Games.

Hibbert’s historic seventh gold was also his sixth in a row, the first X Games athlete to achieve this feat. When the then-15-year-old catapult himself into the world spotlight by winning his first X Games gold in the year 2000, it was clear that Hibbert was destined for further snocross greatness. Including his seven gold medals, Hibbert has won 11 medals in his X Games career.

Team Arctic racers Derek Ellis and Logan Christian earned eighth and 14th finishes in the Snocross final; Cory Davis took a silver medal in Speed & Style, a fourth in Best Trick and fifth in Freestyle; and Chris Heppding scored seventh in Snocross Adaptive.

Arctic Cat continued its dominance of the 2012-13 USXC cross-country snowmobile racing season as Ryan Simons swept the Pro classes at this past weekend’s Oslo 100.

The weekend was the first ditch race for the circuit and racers battled the clock through ditches that got brutally rough as well as on the Snake and Red Rivers where speed and handling ruled the day.

Simons set the pace in the first race of the day, the two-lap, 56-mile Speedwerx Pro Open race finishing over a minute ahead of the second place Polaris of Bobby Menne. Polaris rider Aaron Christensen came in third and Arctic Cat rider Brian Dick, who was battling the flu, finished fourth. Simons held the pace later in the day in the DRIFT Racing Pro 600 race. After four laps and a mandatory fuel stop, Simons’ lead was at nearly one minute and 38 seconds over the second place Arctic Cat of Zach Herfindahl. Brian Dick finished third and Polaris rider Spencer Kadlec came in fourth. Kadlec had to borrow the sled of his Pro Women-class teammate Jen Fuller after his sled suffered a mechanical breakdown in the Semi-Pro 600 race.

Round three of the USXC series took place this past weekend at the Willmar Area Lakes 1000 in Willmar, Minn. and Arctic Cat racers continued their early-season dominance by sweeping the podium in both Pro classes.

The USXC crew laid out roughly a 10-mile course on the frozen surface of Foot Lake. Racers set up shop at the Kandiyohi County fairgrounds and fans lined up on the ice along the shore Saturday to watch the action from the warmth of their vehicles.

Arctic Cat rider Zach Herfindahl started the day off by claiming the first Pro win of his career in the Speedwerx Pro Open class. The 16-year-old rookie Pro is spearheading the youth movement in cross-country snowmobile racing and laid down the fastest time in the five-lap, 50-mile race (47:37.106) besting his teammate Ryan Simons (47:42.328) by over five seconds. Brian Dick, another one of Herfindahl’s teammates, finished in third with a time of 47:44.148.

Riders left in flights of two in the 10-lap DRIFT Racing Pro 600 class. After the 100-mile race that included a mandatory fuel stop, Brian Dick rode his Arctic Cat to victory with a time of 1:34:40.222, seven seconds faster than second place finisher Herfindahl and over a minute faster than the third place Arctic Cat of Wes Selby. Just behind Selby was Simons and rounding out the Top 5 was the Arctic Cat of Chad Lian.