2010 September

Predicting The Future?

Old vs. new, Eckstrom leads Gulla in a heat at Michigan International Speedway on an IQ prototype in 2004.

February 29, 2004, a noteworthy day not only because it was a leap day, it was also the day Polaris sent D.J. Eckstrom out onto the track at the WSA National at Michigan International Speedway on a prototype race sled. The sled was an early version of the IQ race sled which would debut to the public at Haydays later in the year.

The Mod Eckstrom rode at Michigan was a hand-fabbed prototype and, looking back, it had a pretty accurate version of what would be the production front suspension. The tunnel looked like a Pro-X tunnel and it looked like a Pro-X skid. Under the hood was a hand-fabbed bulkead. Since it was piloted by Eckstrom, it wore the black paint of Scheuring Speed Sports and the casual observer may not even have noticed it.

The IQ race sled was originally released in 2005, that makes it six years old this season. With the sled so long in the tooth, will we see a 2012 prototype on the track again this season like we saw the 2005 prototype that day in Michigan? Read on as we look at this sled (and one other one) that look old now, but when they debuted they foretold the future.

sledRacer.com Interview: Gabe Bunke

If there’s a case to me made for genetics being involved in snowmobile racing success its Gabe Bunke. Son of famed Polaris racer Jerry Bunke, Gabe was not quite two-years-old when his dad passed away while racing sleds in Beausejour, Manitoba, but Gabe is every bit as successful as his Snowmobile Hall Of Fame-inducted father. Some 32 years later, Gabe has two Soo I-500 victories to his name, a bunch of wins on the USCC cross-country circuit and is one of the fastest cross-country racers on the planet. This season Bunke will be fronting his own team at USCC events and he’s taken on Semi-Pro racer Bobby Menne IV as his teammate. Read on as sledRacer finds out the key to success in cross-country, how to juggle life vs. racing and why Gabe thinks the RUSH is superior to the IQ race sled.

Boost 5 Teaser

New teaser for Boost 5 from Far West Films:

Filed Under: Snowmobile racing News Tagged With: Arctic Cat, far west films, hillclimb, snowmobile backcountry, snowmobile freeride, snowmobile freeriding, snowmobile hillclimb, snowmobile racing

The Fox Experience

If it says Fox on it you automatically have access to a world of suspension knowledge.

The difference between a really bad day with crashes, blistered hands and a sore back and a really good day of skipping over the rough stuff on a buttery-smooth ride and sailing over the doubles can be a short walk from your truck to the Fox Racing Shox race support rig. A well-tuned suspension can transform a sled and can make a good rider a better rider. Look at all the top riders and behind them are the best suspension guys in the industry, tuning their sleds. One of those guys is in that black and wite Fox Racing Shox support rig and he’s available to tune your suspension just like he does for the Pros. Shocks are all Fox does and as long as you’re running Fox Shox you don’t have to know squat about how they work, just keep track of what’s going on with your suspension so you can tell them what’s going and they do the rest. So follow along as we try to calm down, take our shocks off and walk them over to the Fox rig to get them sorted out by the experts.

Daniel Bodin Rides A River In Russia

Not sure how we missed this one. We’re guessing this wasn’t legal:

Filed Under: Snowmobile racing News Tagged With: daniel bodin, polaris, Red Bull, slednecks, snocross, snowmobile freeride, snowmobile freestyle, snowmobile racing, winter x games

sledRacer.com Interview: Jesse Strege

Jesse Strege brings over a decade of top level snowmobile racing experience.

When it comes to Yamaha’s racing efforts there has always been a certain amount of mystery surrounding the program. From the days when Tim Bender was dominating on the Vmax 4 to when Nathan Titus brought Blair Morgan down to the final race for the snocross championship in 1999 to 2006 when Robbie Malinoski won the first snocross National race on a four-stroke, sharp-eyed observers have known that not everything was always how it seemed in the blue camp. Oftentimes the machines on the track were far from what you’d find on the showroom floor. Yamaha racing has always been predominantly about marketing with R&D and prototyping also a huge part and that’s true today, but Yamaha has a new focus, this time its on cross-country racing – in the stock class. Veteran snocross, cross-country and one-time ice oval racer (seriously, he only went ice racing one time up in Beausejour) Jesse Strege is in charge of the race program. sledRacer.com sat down with Jesse to find out who will be their top racer, why he’s not PC and what big race he thinks Yamaha has a chance to win this season.

2010-2011 Polaris Racing Info

The new Polaris racer boasts a red and black color scheme and a new front end.

The Sled:

The 2011 Polaris 600IQ race sled will feature a new front suspension that promises “easier, more responsive handling.” The front has new spindles, new control arms and a new steering post. Polaris said the changes are a result of racers saying they wanted a sled that handled better. Polaris swapped the air shock they were using as the center shock for a needle shock, saying most racers were doing that anyway. Apart from the new red and black look the rest of the sled remains virtually unchanged.

Snocross Riders

Hulten Speed Sports/Island Water Sports North: ISOC National – Christian Salemark (pro), Jake Scott (Sport); ECS Regional – Danny Poirier (pro), Andrew Bailey (semi-pro), Michaela Lemiuex (Women)

Haydays World Record Run

Last year One Stop Performance set a world record of 3.800 seconds at 137mph in 500ft at Hastings, Michigan. This season OSP set out to build another world record machine starting with a new chassis with a center of gravity 8-inches lower than the previous chassis. OSP completed the new chassis, loaded it up and headed Northwest to Sunrise Township, Minnesota, for 2010 Haydays. There, Glen Hall took that record away from OSP running a 3.79 at 137mph in 500ft. Right after that OSP came out with their new chassis and rider Bret Huff laid down a 3.781 at 140.53mph. Then it was Glen Hall against OSP in the semifinals. With both sleds running High 3s it was bound to be a tight race and Bret Huff from OSP came out on top pulling a 3.765 at 142.69MPH. That’s a new world record sledRacer fans. Check out the vid:

http://www.onestopperformance.com/

Filed Under: Snowmobile racing News

2010-2011 Ski-Doo X Team Riders

Tim Tremblay won the Pro Super Stock points last season. He's fast.

Someone in the Ski-Doo booth at Haydays must have thought we were important because they shoved an up-to-date list of Ski-Doo X Team riders in our hands. One thing to note is there were no cross-country or hillclimb riders on the the list so we’ll have to wait for those. So, we bring to you, the list. Re-typed:

Warnert Racing: Kaven Benoit (semi-pro), Justin Broberg (pro), Emil Ohman (pro), Tim Tremblay (pro)

Scheuring Speed Sports: Robbie Malinoski (pro), Andrew Johnstad (pro), Darrin Mees (semi-pro), Garrett Mees (semi-pro)

BOSS Racing: Brett Turcotte (pro), Derik Ellis (semi-pro)

Ski-Doo Race School Info

“The new 2011 Ski-Doo MX Z 600 XRS is coming and BRP is all fueled up and ready for a brand new season of Ski-Doo X Team racing with excitement and innovation. With new race-specific sled configurations and calibrations for nearly every system its ready to dominate the circuit.”