With the 41st edition of the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch approaching, we will spend the next few weeks running through some of the names you might not know raced Loretta Lynn’s. Of the thousands of people who have raced at the Ranch, not everyone has gone on to race at the professional level. But several are industry members, the parents/siblings of current pro racers, and people who became well-known outside of the motocross industry. So, in this year’s countdown we are going to highlight some names that make you say, “Wait, they raced at Loretta’s?!”
When you live in the great white north, specifically Minnesota or Wisconsin, winters can be long and tough. Unless you want to move south or west to ride during the snowy months, you will be missing out on a lot of seat time. A good solution to this would be to switch seats. Trade that dirt bike in for a snowmobile during the winter and work on cross-training. Or on the flipside, if you are a snocross rider you might find luck switching to motocross in the summer.
Tucker Hibbert has been racing snowmobiles since he was two years old. It’s obvious snocross was his original passion, but as the great Blair Morgan, who came before him, showed to the scnocross world, motocross can help with speed and conditioning. Tucker surpassed Morgan as the winningest snocross rider of all time with 138 wins (49 more than Morgan). Even though he is a legend in the sport of snocross, most motocross fans will know his name, as he used to race select pro nationals from 2000-2015. His best finish was at Spring Creek in 2008 when he went 15-12 for 12th overall. For someone who raced a lot of outdoors he only made the trip from Minnesota to Loretta’s once in 1997, when he finished 19th in the 85 12-13 Stock class.
![Tucker Hibbert]()
Tucker Hibbert ![Hibbert at the 2013 Spring Creek National.]()
Hibbert at the 2013 Spring Creek National. Simon Cudby ![Hibbert at the 2013 Lake Elsinore National.]()
Hibbert at the 2013 Lake Elsinore National. Simon Cudby
Ross Martin is third on the all-time wins list for snocross. The Wisconsin native started riding snowmobiles at the age of ten and racing snocross at the age of 14. A couple of years later he showed up at The Ranch, where there is definitely no snow falling during the August heat. In 2000 he raced 125 B and 125 12-15, and a year later he came back and finished 16th overall in the 125 A class. Although he did not go to as many Pro Nationals as Hibbert, he did qualify for Kenworthy’s and RedBud in 2004.
Kody Kamm is the only rider on this list whose main focus started off as motocross. In fact, he didn’t start riding snowmobiles until he was 14! Kody is also the only guy on this list who has actually WON Loretta’s! He has also won two snocross championships and could possibly win more as he is still competing every winter. To have national championships in both sports is quite the feat.
Kody looks back at his time at Loretta’s fondly, saying, “Winning Loretta’s was awesome!! Going there every year from the 50 JR class all the way up to racing 250 A and pro sport. Many years! I have had a lot of success there over the years. 2004 in the 65 stock 7-9 class I was able to win with moto scores 1,3,4. I will always remember that!”
When we asked Kody how he went from winning Loretta’s to winning Snocross Championships he said, “My transition from moto to snocross was something I had never planned on. I was about 15 when I moved up to A class to chase pro-am events and eventually get my pro motocross card. Around age 14 I started riding and practicing on a snocross sled in the winter just for some fitness and training. I rode for almost two years before we even thought about going to a race. After the first race weekend and winning both classes, there was no turning back from there. So, my rolls have switched on me and now I’m a snocross champion while I was chasing the motocross dream!”
Even though snocross pays the bills, Kody still pursued his motocross dreams, qualifying for select nationals between 2011-2019. His best finish came in 2014 at the Ironman National with 23-17 moto scores for 20th overall.
