1996 Arctic Cat ZR 440 - Kirk Hibbert I-500

This is the very snowmobile that Kirk Hibbert rode convincingly to a second-place finish in the 1996 Amoco Ultimate I-500 cross country snowmobile race, bested only by his teammate Brad Pake whom took top honors that year. This is also the same snowmobile that 11-year-old Tucker Hibbert rode to one of his first ever snocross wins later that season in West Yellowstone Montana. At the Canterbury event Kirk had the crowd on their feet cheering as a last-lap blown belt had him pushing this sled across the finish line! Always a master sled builder, engineer and competitor this sled shows Kirks attention to detail from one end to the other. Kirk competed with at least one other snowmobile during this season but this one shows up in many of that season's Snow Week articles. Studio images courtesy of Pat Bourgeois, autumn 2020. Original race images courtesy of John Sandberg.