K&N-sponsored Snowmobile Racer Brett Turcotte Wins X Games Gold in Speed and Style

26 Jan 2018

Brett Turcotte at the Aspen, Colorado X Games

Gold tastes so good for Turcotte at the Aspen, Colorado X Games (photo X Games)

K&N-sponsored snowmobile competitor Brett Turcotte has shifted his focus from racing to freestyle competition, and the change has paid off in gold, literally. The Canadian snowmobiler took the top podium spot in the 2018 X Games in the Speed and Style event. He topped Levi LaVallee, of Minnesota by a margin of just 0.3 of a point to take the win in Aspen, Colorado.

Turcotte was born into the competitive snowmobile culture and the sport has become the life work and the driving force for the racer.

“Snowmobiling for me has been a lifelong passion,” Turcotte says. “It’s been something that I was just kind of born and raised doing. My dad raced snowmobiles for many years as I was a young kid and owned a snowmobile dealership. I just kind of naturally evolved into the athlete that I am now.”

Brett Turcotte wins the X Games Speed and Style event in Aspin, Colorado

Veteran snowmobiler Brett Turcotte wins the X Games Speed and Style event

Turcotte raced snowcross from 2007 to 2011. While he had a healthy measure of success in the sport, he felt the need to step away for a while.

“I took a couple year hiatus there once I retired from snowcross racing,” he says. “Now I’m back full-swing as a freestyle athlete.”

Clearly, that shift to freestyle was a fantastic career decision for Turcotte. With a few previous medals under his belt in the discipline, the gold in the 2018 X Games is a crown jewel in the racer’s helmet.

"I just busted my butt to get here," Turcotte said after the finals. "I'm speechless. All this time and effort and dragging the family across the world.”

Turcotte has a healthy set of long-term goals in his cross hairs. He wants to develop his own business over the next decade. This will enable him to share his knowledge and mentor aspiring racers. He also wants to give back to the sport that has served as his lifeblood for years.

“(I’d like to) grow the sport. I grew up in the snowmobile industry and I don’t want to see that go away. I’d like to open up some doors for some up-and-coming riders.”