RACE REPORT- Lake Geneva, WI

Neilson Enterprises Grand Finale
March 14-16, 2008

Friday Pro Super Stock Double Header
The 2007 WPSA Nielsen Grand Finale was the final round of an exhilarating BOSS Race season. Friday brought the Pro Super Stock event, and kicked off the start to a double-header weekend with 10 races possible including two 20 lap finals on the grueling terrain park style track. With 50 degree temperatures, and a bright sun, the track was soft but offered plenty of snow for the intense race packed weekend.

Robbie was up first in heat one on Friday, qualifying 6th, 6th, and rebounding to 3rd. Jeff qualified 6th, 5th, and 6th. The Last Chance Qualifier gave Robbie a 4th place transfer finish to the final and Jeff a 6th place finish, just barely missing the first of two big stock finals on Friday. Robbie finished 12th for the first final, only to gear up and do it again.

Jeff started off the second round of qualifying with a 5th, 6th, and 5th place finish and Robbie qualifying 6th, 4th, and 6th. Through the LCQ Robbie made it through to the final where he finished 10th. During the final Robbie came from 15th in last place to finish 10th after intense bar banging battling with fellow racers. Friday had set the tone for the weekend, and it proved to be one of the toughest competitions for BOSS Racing all year; Jeff broke a shock in his first race of the weekend in the very first corner. The Weekend was on its way to be one of the toughest weekends of racing all year.

Saturday Pro Open Round 1
The weather took a turn for the worse with colder temperatures, cloud cover, and strong winds as Team BOSS Racers and crew welcomed the favored Modified racing. The grandstands were full and a sea of people continued to pour in.

Robbie was up first qualifying coming out strong in his first heat in 2nd out of the hole, finishing in 4th, which he followed with two 3rd place finishes to qualify 9th for the final. Jeff would finish 3rd, 6th, and 4th, leading 2 out of his 3 races halfway or more. Through the LCQ, Saturday’s final would have both Team BOSS Pro Riders set to throw down for the final.

The 15 lap final was unleashed at 3:00pm after a picturesque fly over from a C-130. As the green flag dropped, Robbie came out of the first turn mayhem in 9th with Jeff following in 15th. The poor visibility produced a brutal race for man and machine. Robbie got tangled up with another rider and fell out of the race due to mechanical issues. Robbie’s last lap of the race before his mishap was logged as the final’s fastest lap time, scorching the next fastest lap by 2 seconds! Team BOSS Pro Rider Jeff Snow battled from last place to finish in 10th place; an unworthy demonstration of the team’s motivation to dominate this weekend.

Sunday Pro Open Round 2
Skin-burning sunshine and the largest crowds of the weekend, set the stage for the final high octane day of the season. Jeff was up first in qualifying, finishing 6th, 5th, and 7th in a trouble-filled day. Things started out tough for Jeff in his first qualifier. He was violently ejected off his sled when the #16, Brett Turcotte swiped the front of Jeff’s machine; bending the frame, a-arms, pipes, and steering stem. To the audience’s disbelief, Team BOSS was able to completely transfer Jeff’s custom parts onto a new mod sled and make it in time for his 2nd heat, unlike the number 16 machine. For the rest of the day, Jeff was also plagued by mis-launched landings that spun his bars in his 2rd heat and cost him a motor in his 3rd heat to finish the day. Robbie qualified 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd in his rounds, running in the front of the pack every race. With Robbie’s steam rolling performance qualified him t10th on the front row. The atmosphere was super tense and thick with anticipation.

With athletes staged, the green flagged dropped and 15 rocket sleds climbed the steep ski hill and soared 8 wide – 3 deep – over 20 feet in the air at 60 mph. The first lap put Robbie in a maintainable 10th place. He climbed lap by lap up to 7th place chasing the leaders down. At the end of the front whoops section Robbie crossed paths with #16 Brett Turcotte sending Robbie to the back , 2nd from last place. With half the race gone, Robbie grabbed a fistful of throttle and pushed his Team BOSS Racing Ski-Doo FXR Machine again to a10th position. Robbie went on to finish in the top ten in Pro Open Points finishing in 10th place highlighting the BOSS Racing Team efforts throughout the season. Labeled “The Dark Horse” by “Snow Week Magazine”, Robbie Malinoski and Team BOSS came from the back in the start of the season and set a timely and professional pace, to finish out the year strong.