Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Harlee Luther, 8, of Ironwood shakes hands with professional snocross driver Kyle Pallin of Ironwood during Pallin's meet-and-greet at Maplewood Steakhouse in Ironwood.
IRONWOOD - Kyle Pallin's infectious smile was on display almost the entire night at his Meet and Greet at the packed Maplewood Steakhouse on Wednesday night. And he had reason to smile.
In his third year as a professional snowmobile racer on the AMSOIL Championship Snocross circuit, Pallin had his best season in 2013-14.
"To sum it up, it went great and I was really happy with my season," Pallin said. "It was my most successful year to date as a pro. And I'm glad to still be in one piece."
Pallin has improved each year he has raced as a professional and he was most happy with achieving his first pro podium (top 3 finish). He followed that up by reaching the podium five more times out of nine total races.
Another highlight for his numerous hometown fans was finishing second on a Saturday night at the Blackjack National in Bessemer Township in December.
And the young Pallin couldn't resist using one of his favorite words.
"It was awesome," Pallin said. "And in New York, I was leading for 10 laps, but Tucker Hibbert caught me."
In the final AMSOIL point standings, Pallin made a big jump to third place with 550 points. Hibbert was the overall point leader with 727 points on an Arctic Cat and Kody Kamm finished with 584 points racing a Polaris.
Pallin already has been working on next year. He will return to ride for Polaris and he said he "feels good" to be back with Team LaVallee.
Next year, Pallin said he wants to keep building on his success this season.
"I want to be a better racer and be more of a complete package," Pallin said. "I'll keep working hard and constantly keep searching for ways to improve and get better."
