The biggest threat to Scott Croxall's Ice Cross Downhill World Championship chances on Saturday is his older brother, Kyle, who is second overall in the standings and eager to become the first double title holder of the world's fastest sport on skates – even if it means it could destroy his brother's championship dreams. There will be no "team orders" with Kyle helping Scott, both brothers said.
Kyle Croxall (pictured, below) had been the dominant Croxall in Red Bull Crashed Ice for years and looked like his reign could continue this year after he won the season opener race in Saint Paul, Minnesota. But Scott won the last two major Red Bull Crashed Ice races and is now in the driver's seat to win the title in Edmonton. He has 500-point lead over Kyle, with 1,000 points up for grabs on Saturday.
"It's always the goal to be number one and I'm going to be focused on getting that number one spot here in Edmonton," Scott said, even though he could still win the championship with a third-placed result. "We want to push each other and hopefully we'll finish one-two and have a clean run. I want to come first."
Both Croxalls insist they will be going all out to win the 2015 season finale in Edmonton.
"We both want to win it," said Kyle, scornfully dismissing any suggestion that he could be content with anything less than his eighth career victory. "We're always going to go all out to win and I'm sure both of us will be giving 100 percent all the way to the bottom."
Both brothers adamantly ruled out any kind of tacit "team orders" agreement in which Kyle would try to help Scott take the overall title, perhaps by being an "enforcer" on the track. "It's pretty hard to help anyone in a race track," said Kyle.
There was some speculation in the past that Scott may possibly have tried to help Kyle win the 2012 championship when Scott suddenly stumbled while racing in second place near the end of the final race in Quebec City, a dramatic crash that allowed Kyle to unexpectedly move up from third to second in the race behind Arttu Pihlainen and thus just edge past the Finn for the overall title. Whether Scott's crash was intentional or not has fuelled speculation, even though those who know both dismiss the notion Scott deliberately fell to help Kyle.
Other racers are confident that Kyle will go all out to beat Scott on Saturday no matter what. "They have a complicated relationship," said another title contender, who noted that Kyle was among the last to congratulate Scott after his career-first win in Helsinki last month in the finish area after Kyle ended up in fourth place.
"We are both going to give 100 percent," said Kyle. "We should both be in the final. Maybe we'll pass each other on the way down, who knows? We're going to try to avoid making contact. But we both want to win it."
Kyle could become the most successful Red Bull Crashed Ice racer of all time with a victory. With seven wins now, he shares the title for "most wins" with Pihlainen and Sweden's Jasper Felder.
For more information about the event, including how to watch the final race live, visit redbullcrashedice.com/edmonton
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