Snowmobile Racing News
The 2014 Ski-Doo racer will have a new body style so it should look different than this 2013.
Wondering what next year’s Ski-Doo race sled will be like? Valcourt released a few hints as to what’s in store for the coming race season. Click here for some specs and a link to racer app.
Tucker Hibbert, Levi LaVallee and Mike Schultz were on hand for the grand opening of the FOX Museum.
A warm breeze blew through the tree branches on Disc Drive in Santa Cruz County as guests navigated its gentle curves. Hundreds of people gathered in the sun, sipping on wine and beer on the patio outside FOX’s worldwide headquarters.
Trophy trucks, rock crawlers and side-by-sides littered the front and side entrances, welcoming folks from all parts of the globe, drawn here by their love of outdoor sports and appreciation for excellent suspension.
That suspension was about to be put on display in a brand new way for FOX; this wasn’t the announcement of a new product line. For a company that’s known for pushing things forward, FOX was taking a rare moment to pause and look back as it opened its doors to the new FOX museum on the bottom floor of its Scotts Valley offices.
There was something electric in the air when this many people gathered in one place, all with a passion for riding fast and pushing the limits. Motocross racers mingled with engineers. Pro mountain bikers chatted with desert racers. X Games athletes got invited to drive trophy trucks. The passion was palatable. Combine that passion with an event like an opening, where these folks would be the first to unwrap the visual history of a company as influential as FOX, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to say it was a bit like Christmas morning.
Mike Schultz has developed his prosthetic leg designs using FOX shocks.
As the crowd grew to more than 400, so did the expectation. What would they find inside? Even outside was a feast for the eyes. A black and gold ribbon bearing the FOX logo waited to be cut, trembling from the breeze and anticipation. In a welcome befitting a company that got its start in motocross racing, the crowd was beckoned from the beer gardens to the front doors by the sounds of a revving motor. The smell of exhaust perfumed the air.
Dan Robbins, FOX’s director of marketing, welcomed the crowd briefly and brought out John Marking, one of FOX’s long-time employees and vice president and general manager of the off-road division. With longevity comes age, he joked, as he put on his glasses to read a short speech introducing the guest of honor, Bob Fox.
“For the last twenty years I’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat, watching this company evolve and grow into what it is today. What started out as a small business working out of a borrowed garage has turned into what you see before you.”
Bob Fox echoed Marking’s sentiments, putting on and taking off his glasses as he addressed the crowd. While the building with his name stood behind him, he made it clear that certain people attending the opening that made everything the crowd saw now and in the museum possible.
“Without these three guys back in the 1970s and what they did, I wouldn’t be here today, and FOX and this museum wouldn’t be here either.”
Bob Fox thanked the professional motocross racer Brad Lackey for his testing, rider feedback and unspoken endorsement of AirShox by bolting them on his bike. Kent Howerton was another motocross athlete he thanked for choosing the AirShox to race the AMA race season after a day of testing.
“I had no idea how important that decision was — how important that day was going to be for my future. Kent ended up winning the 1976 500 cc AMA National Motocross Championship that year. He won it using Fox AirShox. That really put us on the map in a big way. And we have the actual bike Kent won the race on in the museum today.”
Bob Fox extended his gratitude to Marty Smith, another motocross racer who rode Fox AirShox and won the 1977 national motocross championship.
“He did the same thing Kent did in 1976 — only difference was he did it on a Honda,” Bob Fox said. “Those two back-to-back championships are what truly what launched my career and launched my business.”
With all the current and former athletes attending, the sentiment was well-received. “It was neat to see how much he appreciated the riders that put him on the map,” Levi LaVallee, snowmobile racer, said.
Bob also took a moment to thank the employees who had stuck with him through thin years — some of whom are still with the company today.
“Several times I had to ask guys to hold their checks for a couple of days. We still have at least one of these guys here who held his check and trusted me. I’ll never forget that,” he said as his eyes welled with tears. “And you can see I haven’t. Wow.”
After rounds of hoots, hollers and applause, he was ready to cut the ribbon.
“There’s a lot more to the story than just FOX AirShox. There are more stories. There are more products. And there are a lot more talented, dedicated people who helped make it all happen. And we tried to capture the highlights with the new museum. So without further ado, let’s drop the flag and get on with it. Who’s got the scissors?”
Levi kept things upbeat for sure!
The double doors opened wide, welcoming the eager crowd into the lobby, past a mountain bike hanging in a bike stand. Each step in drew them closer to a brilliantly designed welcome sign: the distinctive FOX logo, in its original orange and black that backslashed into its present day incarnation in black and white. The exhibit was aptly named Defining Moments: Then & Now. Looking to the left, vintage Bob Fox was staring back, looking cool and unfazed, sunglasses on, cigarette hanging out the left side of his mouth. This is where it all began.
A replica of Bob’s first motorcycle sat in the center of this first display of history, telling stories of his drag racing and college days. The story moved lyrically around the walls, combining photos of Bob’s first car, a 1951 Oldsmobile, with images of other work he did after college helping to design rocket fuel devices. There’s almost a magical quality in the large quote that frames this wall: “…but then something special happened. My brother introduced me to motorcycles.”
The rest is history, so they say, and so rarely does one get a chance to see that history. The motocross bike Howerton won the AMA 500 cc championship on sat next to a replica of Smith’s bike. In between was Howerton’s jersey, in dazzling red and white. All around the bikes were magazines, press, photos and race memorabilia. But for those who love to get their hands dirty, the real beauty of this display were the cross sections of the AirShox, the spring rates and engineering work done by hand. It is one of Bob Fox’s favorite parts of the museum.
“I really like the old drawings and hand-written notebooks on display — the pre-personal computer stuff. The younger generation needs reminders of how much more difficult many things were back then — not just two or three times more difficult, but in some cases a hundred or a thousand times more difficult and time consuming. I’ve already heard comments indicating some of that awareness coming from young engineers after seeing the stuff displayed. I think that’s good. I think they need to know that.”
The AirShox were just the beginning of the display. Folks moved on as FOX moved into superbike and IndyCar Racing, experiencing more race-winning excitement and all the behind-the-scenes stories that went with it.
Tucker Hibbert may have been featured further down the timeline for his snocross six-peat at the Winter X Games, but he was more focused on the bikes hanging in the museum and the snowmobile history.
“Oh wow! Look at that old snowmobile!” Hibbert gestured toward the Polaris XCR “I didn’t know what to expect, but this is awesome. I love the mix of mountain bike and snowmobile stuff. When I look at all this old stuff — the bibs, the sled — I think of my dad.”
Hibbert’s father, Kirk, was instrumental in early snowmobile suspension with Arctic Cat in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. One of his dad’s inventions, the crosslink, was mounted on the wall.
Winding around a bit farther into the 4000-square-foot space sat a mountain bike suspension time capsule. Starting with some of the earliest forks and shocks in the ‘90s, there were plenty of cross sections, photos and old advertisements for any enthusiast to geek out about.
“It’s really cool looking back to see how far we have come. I remember being a jealous kid wanting suspension like that,” said Greg Minnaar, a downhill racer who has plenty of podiums with FOX suspension.
Minnaar was joined in by other bicycle greats like Gee Atherton, who was the first to win a downhill championship on FOX suspension.
“It is amazing to see where all the technology started,” Atherton said. “It’s easy to forget how much history there is in the company, and it makes me feel proud to be a part of it all. Racing has really been the No. 1 focus for the whole journey.
Aaron Gwin, the first American male to win the downhill World Cup Series marveled at the museum as well and was featured prominently on one of the final displays.
“It’s great to see the bike in here and some of the photos and stuff. It’s humbling. It’s a total honor to be up there with all those other guys.” Gwin said as he was trying to make his way over to meet Bob Fox. “It’s cool to see an awesome guy — this hard worker — make his dreams come true and now doing the same to help us out: the riders, the company and a whole bunch of people. He’s just giving back.”
Opposite of the entrance across the long halls of the museum sat the RAD display, a monument to the Racing Applications Development program that FOX uses to make some of its most ingenious products like the Cactus Cooler, an off-road bypass shock cooling component.
Jesse Jones, trophy truck racer, scoped out the exhibits. He drove the first trophy truck to race with FOX shocks and won the 2006 trophy truck championship with them. His rider feedback within RAD was instrumental in the development of the Cactus Cooler.
“What an evolution. It’s pretty cool when I look at all the stuff we did together. And we did a lot more stuff than just what they’ve shown. They brought a lot of the finished stuff but not all of the R&D pieces.”
Mike Schultz with some of the FOX employees who make it all happen.
When chatting with Bob Fox, it was clear that the museum is a work in progress with plans in the making, so perhaps some of what Jones talked about will be featured later.
“We want the museum to have some rolling exhibits where we can change what we display in certain spaces over time. The #70 Maico will be done in a couple months and will be added. Maybe we’ll add a Brad Lackey bike if we can locate a ’77 RC500 Honda. But they’re very hard to find. It was never a mass-production model; maybe only a handful of them still exist.”
The evolution of off-road suspension for ATVs, side-by-sides and trophy trucks was mounted on the walls and was one of desert racer and King of the Hammers Rock Race Champion Jason Scherer’s favorite things.
“Seeing the original bolt-on bypass tubes that the Roger Mears truck used was my personal highlight, but it’s hard to overlook the roots and see the original dirt bike that started it all.”
Videos of the technology in action allowed viewers to get a feel for where the shocks were placed and the kind of punishment they took as they roamed through the desert sands and rocky terrain. Vivid images showed Jones testing the Cactus Cooler and racing the Baja 1000 with shocks still intact after a race that leaves most shocks destroyed.
As guests mingled through history, wait staff offered snacks to accompany the wine, beer and nostalgia. Final panels of the museum featured some of FOX’s newest athletes, who are the backbone of FOX’s tagline “Redefine your limits.” Hibbert, the six-peat snocross racer was sandwiched between stories of Paul Thacker and Johnny Greaves — both jumped 301 feet on a snowmobile and 800-horsepower truck, respectively.
“It’s just amazing to see the progression, the technology and how much it’s changed. It’s a different ballpark,” LaVallee said. “It’s helped us to reach crazier limits.”
Monster Mike Schultz, an adaptive athlete who uses FOX mountain bike shocks in his prosthetic knee and ankle design for active sports filled the final panel of the museum. Folks milled around his Moto Knee and the sled displayed with it.
“It’s hard to put this into words. FOX is such a huge company and for me to be a part of it is pretty special,” he said. “Looking at some of this vintage stuff, these old sleds and shocks — it’s come a long way in the last 20 years.”
As folks took a little break from the sensory experience in the museum, they wandered into the dining area where snacks and drinks were served. Choosing from fresh ahi, shrimp cocktail, chicken sautee and loads of sweets including the likes of maple and bacon cupcakes, people sat around tables and caught up. Many were old friends from years of working in their respective industries. Others just met but engaged in lively conversations, learning and teaching the lifestyles they loved. A three-piece band played, backing up the banter with some pleasant guitar, bongo, drums and keyboards.
By all standards the evening was a success, from the smallest children stoked to get autographs and photos with a favorite athlete to the big kids drooling over the toys they’d like to have at home.
“It feels good that we now have roots and history — more or less the legacy of the company — laid out. That should help current and future employees understand the founding values and help our company to continue to be strong and productive.”
On the heels of another massively successful Soo I-500, Polaris Racing has released a revised 2014 Soo kit. This kit will allow racers to build a sled virtually identical to the ones that finished 1-2-3 in last year’s Soo. All you need to do is ride it. See the info here.
Polaris Racing suggests using a LRM (Larry Rugland Motorsports) engine to go along with the rest of the kit.
Eagle River Derby Track - it is the stuff dreams are made of and, if you've ever been around it, it is just as good at crushing those dreams as it is inspiring them. That is why a win here is so coveted.
We caught up with sledRacer.com-sponsored rider Joey Fjerstad to see how the rest of his racing season went after we last met up back in December. You may remember he had started working with Larry Rugland and was set to race the Soo for Russell Racing, but who could have guessed all the things that would shake out during his season. When it was all said and done he would race three genres and go from the lowest of lows at the biggest race of the season to ending on a high note.
Much of the Fjerstad Racing drama took place here, inside the trailer. After it was determined their engine couldn't make the power to compete Larry Rugland brought them a brand new replacement to drop in the sled for Sunday's LCQ. More bad luck and not enough time meant Joey would have to watch the WC from the stands for the second year in a row.
Ron, Mike, Andy, Sam and Joey wait on the Derby Track during a red flag break.
After Eagle River it was on to the Soo I-500. Here's the Russell Racing buggy being built in the Felegy Racing shop.
Like Eagle River, the Soo can be an overwhelming place. Check out this line of sleds waiting to get on the track and set lap times.
The Russell Racing Soo team consisted of Shane Felegy, Joey Fjerstad and Mike Dolezal.
Shane and Mike taking a break during one of the busy days at the Soo.
The team qualified 21st and were running in the Top 10 for much of the race. While Joey uses an LRM engine in his Champs, the team uses Felegy Racing engines in their enduro sleds. They were right with the top teams all weekend, so they must make the power.
Joey didn't always race Champs. Back in the day he raced stockers so racing the Soo buggy is like second nature for him. Remember when they used to race stock sleds on the ovals?
With less than 100-laps to go the track blew. So, they changed it! What else are you gonna do?
You ever change a track in 20-minutes? That's what the team did at the Soo. The bad thing was the race was red flagged and called before they could really get back into it. The good thing? They got an award for best mechanics for changing the track so fast and getting the sled back on the track.
Next it was off to Lincoln, Michigan, and the Michigan 500. The black sled is the Soo sled, the white sled is another sled set up for enduros. It was set up for a half-mile track so that's the one they used at Lincoln.
Joey was half a lap ahead of the rest of the field in the Champ 440 race (with the new Rugland engine) before he got black flagged and DQ'ed for a broken ski loop. He took the win in 600 Open though.
Nice to hold a checkered flag again!
50-laps into the 500-lap endure the track derailed. Joey rode it in, they fixed it and Mike Dolezal took it back out. It derailed again and this time it threw the rider and the sled rolled a few times resulting in this damage. The team thinks the original track derailment may have knocked the drivers out of alignment. Not sure why it derailed the first time.
Here's the future of Russell Racing, all three riders takin' home trophies in the 120 class.
Next the team went to Beausejour, where they finally found the pace. The new Rugland engine (Larry called it his "dyno engine" because it was his baseline engine he kept around the shop) was dialed in, they were getting holeshots and ran 104mph down the straights. Joey finished 5th, but the Top 5 (which included heavy hitters like VanStrydonk, Wahl and Wanderscheid) were all running nose to tail, so the slightest mistake would have put Joey up a few places.
Andy, Breanne', Joey, Mike and Josh. Josh's father in law is Rick Erickson, owner of Ericco. Ericco makes stuff for OEM snowmobile manufacturers and is one of Joey's sponsors. Rick Erickson was in a bad snowmobile accident where he got hit by a pickup this past March and almost lost his leg, but he will be OK.
What's that? Joey ended the season riding Expert 85 at the USXC cross-country race in Warroad. Joey prepped his Arctic Cat SP500 at the Wahl Racing shop and through the door you can see Dave Wahl and Terry Wahl world championship sleds. Pretty nice scenery, eh? Next year Joey wants to keep racing in ovals, enduros and cross-country, kinda like they used to do in the old days.
Snowmobile racing rules are set to change in 2015 when the manufacturers will mandate fuel injection on 600cc race engines. There are many benefits to this including better fuel efficiency, easier tuning, power restriction and better re-sale. This means a Junior racer will likely be able to ride the same sled with the same engine as a Pro or Pro Lite racer since manufacturers will be able to “detune” the engine. Also, instead of a pure racing engine these engines will be closer to a “production” snowmobile engine so used race sleds should be more attractive to non-racing riders when it comes to re-sale. Of course, all this could change at the next ISR meeting, but for now this is the roadmap the rulesmakers have set moving forward. With that, let’s look at what may be powering your 2015 race sled.
We are all familiar with Ski-Doo's E-TEC engine. It's crazy fuel and oil efficiency and sewing machine run quality make it arguably the best consumer two-stroke available. Would it make a good race engine? The E-TEC's heavy injection coils mean the engine would suffer a slight weight penalty, but it's computer-controlled oiling and injection systems say it would be adaptable to whatever role it would face.
Here is a video explaining how the E-TEC system works:
One wild card when these rules were tentatively agreed to was Arctic Cat - they didn't even have a fuel-injected 600cc two-stroke in their lineup. Now they do.
Instead of an "exotic" direct injection system Cat engineers went with a surprisingly simple injection design. Injection is timed to keep raw fuel in the combustion chamber and out of the pipe (raw fuel getting sucked into the pipe is one of the main culprits in "dirty" emissions). When it comes to keeping fuel from getting sucked into the pipe the injection timing window is short, so this slotted piston design was developed to allow for more injection time. Side benefits include better pin oiling. Durability? Cat has multiple engines with over 10,000 miles ride time on them.
Cat's injection system uses a rail and two fuel injectors just like any other standard system. Oil is injected into the case as well as the rail and the pump is electronically controlled so oil is delivered on a curve, much like the E-TEC.
Here’s a video showing how Cat’s new injection system works:
We are all familiar with the Yamaha Nytro Genesis 130FI engine. Massive torque and 130+ horsepower make it a formidable powerplant, one that comes with sophisticated EFI and is tunable via a Dyno Jet controller. The Arctic Cat version and new Viper versions use Arctic Cat's injection computer and that is fully tunable. It's heavy though, about 50lbs more than a standard two-stroke.
The big question is what Polaris will do. They have an injection system now that works, the CleanFire, but is the least sophisticated of the four manufacturers. It is basically a semi-direct injection system.
Polaris passed on the rights to FICHT. Ski-Doo didn't, and they used those rights to build the E-TEC. Polaris currently has the rights to use Orbital Engine Corporation technology. It is a direct injection design that uses an air pump in conjunction with fuel injection to inject air into the cylinders. Orbital designed it mainly for use in multi-fuel applications. Is requires more componentry so it would likely be a heavier system. People in the know have told us the PRO RIDE chassis has space considerations for such a system. Would they race it? Likely not, since it would be virtually untested in race conditions at the time of release. Polaris will likely use their current EFI on the 2015 buggy.
Here’s a little bit of info regarding Orbital engine technology.
We arrived on the evening before the ride, which took place on Saturday, February 16. Saturday morning we signed in and got our bib. The blue bibs were for the ride with Blair and Tucker and yup, they ran out.
The Snowmobile Hall Of Fame Ride With The Champs has been on our short list of must-attend events for years, but honestly there are only so many weekends in the winter and it has just fallen by the wayside. Last week we got a tip that one of this year’s inductees would be in attendance and going on the ride, and that inductee happened to be Blair Morgan. Not only that, but his long-time team manager Jamie Anseeuw would be there as well as a bunch of the old Blair Morgan Racing Team crew. Just as our heads were about ready to explode at the thought of riding with Blair Morgan we also learned Tucker Hibbert would be on the ride too. Yup, that was it, we were in. What follows is a little glimpse into the event, one where we may or may not have ridden two-up with Tucker Hibbert at one point.
Here's where you sign up for the ride you want to go on. None of them is a bad choice. I'd guess there were close to 100 sleds at this year's event.
Blair arrived the night before. The entire time he was there he had people coming up to him to tell him what he meant to them. Especially kids. Here a guy talks with him while his old mechanic, Gilles Thibault, listens in.
The Ride With The Champs is a way for the Hall of Fame to raise money. One of the things they had going was a silent auction. Need a shock for your '76 Liquidator? They had one.
How about an old snow flap signed by Blair Morgan?
This Rupp Super Snow Sport model has to be pretty rare.
Someone spent a lot of time building this baby rocker modeled after an Arctic Cat Panther. Someone was bidding fast and furious on this, we won't say who.
This is Barry Dawson, he was Blair's mechanic in his early days on Arctic Cat. Oh the stories he tells...
Mark Anseeuw (L) talks with Ski-Doo Race Manager Tom Lawrence. Mark is Jamie Anseeuw's brother and was part of Blair's crew when he raced.
Before the ride, all of the celebrities (they got the gold bibs) got up to introduce themselves. This was so you would know what famous racers may or may not be in your group. Everyone's laughing because Blair just said, "If you see the No. 68 out in the brush it wasn't me."
That's Loren Anderson, he's president of the Hall Of Fame and helped found it along with C.J. Ramstad. He announced he would be stepping down as president within the next year. No word on who will replace him but we vote for John Sandberg.
Group photo. The host for the event was the Whitetail Inn.
Tucker had his fair share of people coming up to him as well.
Getting ready to hit the trails in the Hall of Fame parking lot. That's Blair talking to John Sandberg and Daniel Cedolia of BRAAP Films.
Tucker and his wife Mandi share some stories with Gilles Thibault before the ride.
After about a 30-mile ride the group stopped at the Thirsty Whale in Minocqua. On the way there we got separated from the group and rode most of the way with former Champ racer and 24 Hours Of Eagle River racer Mike Campbell, which was a blast. During lunch Tucker and Blair shared stories and caught up on life.
Much autograph signing went on throughout the event. Here, Jamie Anseeuw signs a fan's jacket.
In this group photo are all the people who came to the event who played an integral part in Blair's career. IN the blue bibs in the back are Barry Dawson, Gilles Thibault, Danny Anseeuw, Mark Anseeuw, Tom Lawrence, Remy Sorin and Cory Grant. Sitting on sleds are Tucker, Blair and Jamie.
He did it. While we were shooting these photos a guy on a Ski-Doo rode by, looked at Blair, looked away and then looked back again right away. People who saw these guys on the trails could not have been expecting it, so I could only imagine what they were thinking. And how do you go back and tell your buddies you saw Blair Morgan and Tucker Hibbert when you went riding last weekend? No pictures, no proof.
On the ride back we may or may not have gotten lost. One guy pulled up while we were sitting here and he had on some Castle Monster gear. He eyeballed Tucker and didn't look like he was making the connection, looked more like he was thinking, "That guy's Monster gear looks way cooler than mine."
Photo op. Blair was riding his brake a lot so this scene stunk like burnt brake pads. Blair said he was riding "Ryan Simons style."
With no disrespect intended, based on what we observed this past weekend, if I had to compare these two riders and what they mean to the sport I'd say Blair is to snocross what Jeremy McGrath is to Supercross. You can call Ricky Carmichael the GOAT and James Stewart is fast, but McGrath will always be synonymous with Supercross as Blair will be synonymous with snocross. Superman.
After the ride, we headed for the induction dinner. This never-worn Blair Morgan pullover sold for $1150 if I remember right.
Jamie put his personal helmet up for auction too. It is one of the helmets that sold on eBay after Blair's accident back in 2008. So this helmet helped Blair and now it has helped the Hall of Fame - proceeds from these things went to the HOF.
Tucker was high bidder on the helmet at $1K. The little girl on the right in the white dress is Blair's daughter Breck.
This is a letter that Ski-Doo sent to Blair because they could not attend the event. All the bigwigs signed it.
Four guys were inducted in the Hall, one of them was drag racer Norman Ball.
Bob Bracey, who worked tirelessly on the twin track snowmobile concept, was inducted posthumously.
John Zeglin founded the Waconia Ride In, the world's largest snowmobiling event.
HOF board member and our pick for the next President John Sandberg did a great job introducing Blair Morgan. He said Blair may not have been the first rider to stand up, but once Blair hit the scene within five races everyone was riding like him (or trying to). He also made the point that it was fun to watch Blair ride, which is true and probably one of the reasons why so many people admire him.
Next, Tucker got up and spoke. He said one of the reasons he is so good is because of what Blair taught him. So there ya go, if you want to beat Tucker go learn from Blair. Good luck.
Tucker also read a letter penned by Roger Skime, in which Roger called Blair his hero. Very nice.
Tom Lawrence spoke on behalf of the people at Ski-Doo and told about Blair's unmatched will to win.
Never much for words, Blair downplayed his accomplishments in snocross and said it was "easy" for him. He also said he was going to thank his sponsors but said he decided not to "because it's really all about friendship."
One of the first riders to come by our cameras on Day 2 was eventual winner Ryan Simons. He didn't disappoint and aired out this approach at least as much as any other rider.
Not to appear biased, but we probably love the I500 more than any other single race. A mix of mystery, adventure, speed and random carnage, the 500 is full of ups and downs. It is the race that keeps guys up at night because they’ve never won it. It is the race a small handful of guys hang their hats on because they have won it. For others, it is the 26.2 of snowmobile racing and simply finishing is a victory. Indeed, there is a story behind why every rider is here. Follow along as we take you on a tour of a few things that happened at this year’s USXC Seven Clans I500.
Cody Kallock had a great run on Day 1 and was in second place on the time charts. Here he jumps past Polaris rider Tommy Mulligan.
Corey Davidson has won this race before and even in his early 40s he's still a threat to win. A broken clutch put him out on Day 2.
Aaron Christensen is perhaps the top Polaris cross-country racer. A mix of mechanical knowledge and pure riding talent, he is fast and smooth and almost never makes mistakes.
Justin Tate is Ski-Doo's top cross-country rider. Much like Christensen, Tate brings a ton of experience and sled knowledge as well as speed.
Cousin of Corey Davidson, Ryan Faust and his brother Travis cut their teeth racing ice lemans. When everything goes right for them they are Top 5 riders.
Re Wadena almost won this race in 2006 when he finished second behind Bryan Dyrdahl. Then he was on Ski-Doo, now he races for Yamaha.
Nate Moritz has been rising steadily through the Semi-Pro ranks. He double-entered in Pro 600 and finished 7th.
Bobby Menne got his first Pro podium at the Oslo 100 and finished third in the Soo I-500 the weekend before the Seven Clans I500, so he had a ton of momentum coming into the race. He would run as high as fourth on Day 3.
Wily veteran Jon Arneson won the Masters 40 class. His brother Steve wasn't so lucky, he DNF'ed after he cased a road approach and cracked a vertebrae.
Adam Mach was high on the Semi-Pro time sheets until he went out on Day 3.
Jill Tangen has been fast in Pro Women, but she wasn't fast enough to beat...
...Jolene Bute. Seriously, how many 500s has Jolene won?
Here's a lesson in cross-country racing. Anyone can run down a ditch, but can you run down a ditch in the snow dust of two or three other sleds? Yeah, not so easy anymore, is it?
Ben Langaas has really found the pace in Expert 85. More on him later.
Jen Fuller is part of the mighty Bunke Racing team. She has been finding the pace in Pro Women but the 500 wasn't kind to her. She had a blown belt one day and a crash that knocked her out (literally) on Day 3.
Cole Lian has risen through the Junior ranks and is one of the faster riders in the Expert 85 class. He finished fourth.
Alan Krause said he had 47c before Carl Kuster ever did. Talked to him for a while and he said he came all the way down from Alberta and lives somewhere near Camrose, home of Ryan Simons. He finished third in Masters 50.
Gabe Bunke has almost won this race more than once and most recently finished second in 2010. Like Corey Davidson, he is one of those riders who doesn't look fast when he goes by you, but he posted the second fastest time on Day 2 and was up to third after passing Cody Kallock on the river before losing his engine on Day 3.
Eric Christensen also races under the Bunke Racing banner. He's been running a production Polaris Indy and has been doing well. He finished fourth in Masters 40.
Wes Selby was sitting pretty after Day 1 but his carbs iced up on the first leg of Day 2, putting him way down on the time charts. He ended up fifth overall, proof that a bad day at the 500 is not the end of your race.
While chasing the race we ran into Team Arctic Race Manager Mike Kloety and Roger Skime. They always have the stopwatches going and can tell you where the Arctic Cat frontrunners are at any point in time.
The ride may be over, but the day is not. After the first two days riders get a maintenance session where sleds can be repaired and prepped for the next day. Here, Cody Breitbach asks USXC's Brian Nelson what time the repair sessions begin.
While we waited for the maintenance session to begin we wandered over to the Bunke Racing trailer and hung out. Here, Aaron Christensen grinds some clutch weights, throwing sparks on the leather couch in Gabe's trailer.
Meanwhile, Bobby Menne and Gabe get some spark plugs ready while Taylor Bunke eats lunch. Always good food in the Bunke rig.
You get one hour to do whatever you need to do to your sled. A few minutes into the session and Cory Berberich already had the chaincase apart, inspected and buttoned up on Ryan Simons' sled. These guys are good.
Wes Selby got some extra help from Joe Lesmeister after his rider, Brian Dick, went out on Day 1.
Aaron Christensen didn't get crazy with his sled, just the basics.
Eric Gausen had some shock issues after Day 2 and he addressed them in his maintenance session.
Everything was neat and in it's place in Cody Kallock's maintenance area.
Bobby Menne also kept is simple in his maintenance session, inspecting, busting ice off the sled, cleaning clutches, etc.
Eric Christensen worked on his own sled during his session. Gabe Bunke's signature on the hood adds some MPH no doubt.
Jolene Bute worked on her sled changing carbides.
Ross Erdman works on his Yamaha Nytro. Ross was the only past winner still in the race after Day 2. He won it in 2007.
A little farther down the row Re Wadena and Brian Strawsell work on another Yamaha.
Cory Berberich paid special attention to the air box on Simons's sled.
Berberich preps the seal for the air box to make sure it goes on nice and clean. This team's attention to detail on Simons' sled was second to none in the maintenance session. It helps when you have a mechanic like Cory who could probably take the sled apart and put it back together together blindfolded.
Justin Tate and his mechanic Kolby Campbell go over Tate's Ski-Doo. Two blown belts on Day 2 put a serious crimp in Tate's race. Justin said he thought maybe the second one was just a bad belt.
After two glorious sunny days of racing, Day 3 dawned gray with a freezing mist in the air. We chased the race with John Sandberg from arcticinsider.com and the previous days we were saying how we wished we were racing. On Day 3 we agreed we were glad we weren't racing.
Waiting for the start were Arctic Cat snowmobile product manager Joey Hallstrom and his son.
More attention to detail on Simons' sled. Each little tear in the intake screens was siliconed shut and edges were taped down.
We chased Simons for about five miles and after seeing him run speeds of 90+ on Day 2 we weren't surprised to see him dial it back to 70-80MPH on Day 3. Flat light and iced goggles will do that. A 10-minute lead helps too. Christensen had pulled a minute on him by the time this photo was taken just before the first fuel stop though.
Next through was Bunke, who slotted himself into third after he got by...
...Cody Kallock on the river.
We hightailed it back to the finish line in time to catch Simons crass and take the win. That's Roland Hill from Seven Clans Casino waving the checkers.
Shortly after the win Simons got a call from team owner Dwight Christian, congratulating him on his win. Dwight was with the other half of Christian Brothers Racing at the snocross race in Michigan.
The guy in the middle is Brian Sturgeon. He has a connection with Simons because he brought him on Team Arctic while he was Race Manager.
D.J. Ekre got hurt at the Detroit Lakes race. He was telling Roger Skime that he may or may not be back, but added that he really wants to win the 500. I figured D.J. would be done after this injury, but hearing how he talked to Roger I think he will be back for at least this race. The lady in the blue jacket is Ryan's mom.
Cody Kallock rolled in to take third place. Skime inspects the iced-up intake screens on his sled. They caused it to lose RPM and he said he couldn't let off or it took forever for the Rs to climb back up.
Mike Kloety updates his Facebook. Wait, can you even do that with that old flip phone he's got?
Skime talks with Eric Gausen about finishing fourth. I'm going to editorialize here and say Skime and Kloety showed great sportsmanship congratulating every racer, regardless of brand, on finishing the race. We are kinda bummed that they couldn't get a handshake from people of their own brands.
Selby finished fifth and told us stories about running the in the flat light. Didn't sound fun.
Spencer Kadlec found a drainage ditch on Day 3. He was heading for the bottom before he even knew what was going on. Hit so hard it made his sled a little shorter up front. Spencer finished 8th after having a real bad Day 1. That's his fiancee, Amber Lund.
Ryan Scripture made the trip out from Maine. He is one of the fast guys on the USCC East circuit. He came into the finish missing a side panel and various other parts. He finished 9th.
Jordan Torgerson, Mike Kloety, Roger Skime and Spencer Kadlec listen to Bobby Menne tell about his massive crash. He limped into the finish on one cylinder. He finished 11th.
Dave Dirkman was all smiles after he finished Day 3. Out of five I500s this is the first one he's finished. "I have a 20-percent finish rate now!" he said.
Justin Tate looks at his sled. He clipped the a-arms off on a clump of something while he was getting onto the river. He rode it back part of the way on the highway.
Taylor Bunke finished his first I500 marking the next generation of Bunke racers.
Ben Langaas bit his lip on the first leg of Day 3. Looked pretty painful, but he won Expert 85 so who cares?
The Kallock family, most of them race!
Simons had a sticker on his sled honoring his brother who passed away this past year.
Your Top 3, Simons, Christensen and Kallock along with Seven Clans' Roland Hill and Miss USXC, Olive Beaulieu.
The winning rider and winning team. Next to this, probably Simons' best finish in snowmobile racing was the silver medal he won in snocross at the X Games in 2007. Or maybe it's the second place he got at the Soo last year? Whatever, the kid can do it all.
Yup, one of the fastest teams in enduro racing runs out of this small shop.
On the eve of qualifying for the Soo I-500 we are ready to post our last pre-race update for the team. The race in Escanaba for the TLR Cup was postponed due to weather and the Caro 150 enduro was cancelled so the team has had little time to get their feet wet this season. Regardless, they are ready for the Soo this weekend. Let’s see what they’ve been up to.
Eric Bouman says the shop isn't big and it gets crowded when its full of sleds and parts, but it works.
Sometimes they start a sled just to get that smell of horsepower back in the shop.
They even built a trophy case. Gotta keep these babies dust-free.
The team runs their own custom front suspension on all their race sleds. This year they designed the suspension in a 3D CAD program.
Eric said the a-arm suspension was more tricky to lay out than the trailing arm setup. The CNC machine ran for about 20 hours total once it was all said and done.
The team is excited about their suspension setup. Eric said last year it worked great, especially when track conditions deteriorated to dirt later in the race.
Digatron came on board and hooked the team up with gauges and sensors for the sled.
The Digatron setup allows the team to look back at RPM, MPH, EGTs and Water Temp for each run. They are trying to learn as much as they can about the computer program before the race. Eric says that contrary to what the crew chief thinks it's hard to watch the tach going down the straight at 100+.
Having a machinist on the team means no part escapes his super-critical eye. Clutches get trued so they run perfect.
Part of winning at the Soo means making sure every single part of your sled survives and performs for the entire race.
Heads have just the right amount of squish and compression.
Heads getting CC'ed.
These are reeds from last year's race. They came apart and the team thinks they know why...
So they built a new custom airbox. In the process they made it so it was quicker to remove and replace. Eric said you never know what you're going to have to fix during the race and any time you can make something better and easier to work with you have to.
The front heat exchanger was relocated to help keep it from getting damaged by roost.
I'll let Eric explain this new brake vent: "We run the Pro-Am race on Thursday at the Soo as well. Last year we won it, but not by much. We jumped way out front at the start of the race but we boiled the brake fluid half way through the race and finished without brakes at all. Its nerve wracking to come down the straight away full open, knowing that the only way to slow down is to pitch the sled sideways in the corner to scrub off speed. This year we added some more cooling to make sure that doesn't happen again. Anyone that says that you don't need brakes has obviously never gone without them."
These guys have raced for a while and they know they need to look good so they can represent the people who sponsor them the best they can.
ArcticFX Graphics is a big help in getting that done. Their graphics make the LMB sleds look awesome.
All loaded up and ready. Anyone who has been this far knows the feeling.
See you at the Soo!
Not a crazy amount of studs, you don't want it too tight especially the way the Nytro works. Plus this track has to survive for 500 miles and not wear the rider out.
We sent one of our sledRacer.com correspondents to complete an assignment: find out what the heck is going on with the Yamaha Soo I-500 effort! So we hooked up with Ross Erdman and Brian Strawsell at the shop in Hawley, Minn., and snapped a few shots of the Nytro as it went together. It is getting prepped for its maiden test run as we speak.
Here's the bare chassis with the skid frame behind it. See anything different?
The engine in the chassis. If you've ever tried to work on a Yamaha at this level you know it is sometimes more involved than working on any other brand, but you also know how well-engineered they are.
That's Brian Strawsell. He's been wrenching on Yamaha's race program since they race snocross with Nathan Titus back in the day. Ross Erdman, the teams No. 1 rider for the Soo, says the Nytro is over-engineered in a lot of areas, but it is this level of engineering that will help make the sled survive at the Soo.
Here is the sled with the racing suspension subframe installed. This is what has caused so many people to get upset about the Nytro running the stock class in cross-country racing. For the Soo? No problem.
With a-arms installed. This suspension is more durable than the stock suspension and corrects a lot of the geometry problems that limit the sled in racing situations.
Well on its way to completion, you can see the oil tank, the radiator and all kinds of other stuff. Yamahas have a real advantage at the Soo sith the 4-stroke's power, durability and fuel mileage.
Almost complete, Brian buttons up the final details.
That's Ross calling to see if his sled is ready. Kidding. Seriously, the Yamaha racing program is smaller than their competitors at this point and this is typical of how it works - everyone on the team wears many hats and multi-tasking part of the job description.
The seat doesn't match but it's only temporary. The sled is ready for testing. The team will hit the ice later this week, then race the USXC event in Oslo, MN, then it is off to the Soo.
There is a lot going on in this relatively small shop. Our visit took place during the down time between Christmas and New Year's so it was more relaxed than it normally is.
Christian Brothers Racing formed its first National snocross team in 2002 when D.J. Ekre and Bryan Dyrdahl hit all the WSA Snocross Nationals together. Little did they, or the team’s owners brothers Dwight and Stuart Christian know, what the team would eventually become. Today, CBR as two race rigs, a merchandise trailer and riders on the ISOC snocross National tour and USXC cross-country circuit. We took a trip up to Fertile, Minn., to visit the shop and see what goes on there. What we found was a hard-working, family-oriented team that concentrates on doing the best it can in everything it sets out to do.
That's mechanic Corey Berberich working on Ryan Simons' cross-country machine. Simons is the reigning Pro 600 points champion in cross-country.
This is D.J. Ekre's sled post-Pine Lake. Yep, this is how far these sleds get torn down after each race. This is one reason the team has so few DNFs due to mechanicals - meticulous preparation.
Across the shop Logan Christian's snocross mod is getting some attention.
Logy and his mechanic Justin Halvorson discuss their plan for the day. Logy often practices until 10 or 11 o'clock at night with Tucker Hibbert. We were there early and we're not sure Logy was too happy about us getting him to the shop before his normal time.
This tunnel will eventually become Logy's X Games mod. We should see the finished product in a couple weeks.
Tucked into a corner of the shop are most of the tools anyone would need to fabricate or modify parts.
One of Logy's sleds needs grips. The team is sponsored by ODI, so that's what they'll be putting on.
Snowmobile grips can be a real pain to install. You got heating elements to deal with, curved handlebars and, of course, you don't want them to slip after they're on so most times you're trying to get them installed before some sort of adhesive dries. As you can see, this install turned into a two-man job that involved compressed air and some spray paint as adhesive.
Next door, that whooshing noise is Garth Kaufman putting time in on the bike and rower, among other things, He was doing a circuit that would last something like an hour. If he wasn't riding today he said his workout would last an hour and a half.
Your first trivia question: where did this conference table and chairs come from? Answer, the old Olah Racing world headquarters in Fergus Falls.
Various trophies were scattered throughout the race shop including a bunch of team of the year trophies like these.
Back in the shop we found the team's Soo sled under construction. Last year Ryan Simons and D.J. Ekre took second at that race on a surprisingly stock sled. This year Simons and Brian Dick will ride together.
With veteran mechanics like Hector Olson and Berberich on the team you won't see much "trick" or flashy stuff, but you will see obvious mods that work, such as this nifty brake cooling duct. Walking by the sled you'd probably never notice it.
Labeled "Soo" with a piece of duct tape, this sled's team role was chosen a long time ago.
When the team tears down a sled it all goes on these carts. What looks like a pile of stuff is actually the critical inner workings of a winning snowmobile.
This particular cart is assigned to D.J. Ekre's sled. Nicknames can be a bitch, eh?
Garth divided most of his time between working out in the gym and helping with the sleds. Here he peels the graphics off his sled that will get shipped to Sweden for Clash Of Nations. Different rules over there - no studs, mod engine, stock pipe, pump gas.
Here's Garth's snocross mod. The blue goes with the logos of the team's new sponsor, Michelob Golden Draft Light. They have jumped in big and as part of their sponsorship are giving away a snowmobile and a set of Garth's race-worn gear.
A sledracer.com sticker? No wonder Simons' sled was so fast at Detroit Lakes!
That's Betsy Haldorson and she is the head mechanic at CBR. She is Matt Piche's cousin. Yes, she's a girl and yes, she probably knows more about sleds than you.
Garth's practice sled. Poor thing.
Practice sleds get rode hard and put away wet. They are a tool to test setups and keep riders sharp, that's it.
You'd think a shop this small with this many riders, sleds and mechanics would get hectic, but we found just the opposite. The place was rife with order and the more we looked the more detail we found, such as shocks etched with labels for each rider.
This sled had such a cool look to it we thought maybe it was some secret test sled or something, but it turned out to just be Logy's practice sled. Darn.
Camped out in their RV next to the shop was Sport National rider Tyler Adams. This is his sled - the only stock snocross sled in the shop.
Here's the Speedwerx engine for the Soo buggy, all torn down and getting some love from Hector.
The team works closely with Arctic Cat to get the stuff it needs. Communication is key and sometimes it means spelling out in big bold letters what you need.
A cross-country skid getting prepped on the bench.
The team lost some engines at Pine Lake a couple weeks before we were there but they already had those engines replaced and rebuilt, ready to go.
Cross-country tracks all studded up. Bet someone got a sore thumb out of that deal.
Post-lunch, the team hit the practice track which leads us to our second trivia question: who used this rig before CBR bought it? That's right, Blair Morgan Racing Team. It got smashed in the back by another one of the BMRT haulers on icy roads on the way to Lake Geneva in 2008. CBR bought it cheap from BMRT and fixed the doors. Blair won a lot of races running out of this trailer and he played a lot of video games in the lounge.
Garth warms up his buggy outside the shop. The crackle of the mod pipes made a harsh contrast to what, until then, was a quiet day.
Transition rider Evan Christian shows up to spin some laps too. Together, he and CBR rider Trent Wittwer rule the Transition classes on the National circuit.
Cory Davis was here.
The team even has starting lights just like ISOC uses so they can simulate starts.
There aren't many riders on the National circuit who are more fit than Logy, and he turned laps effortlessly while we shot photos.
Garth waits while Betsy makes some last minute adjustments to his sled. Seems it fouled some plugs.
A mechanic's work is never done.
With the short days the sun was already getting low and the day was only half done for some members of the team. Soon Hibbert would show up and he and Logy would pound the track under the lights. You know what they say, train for the time and conditions in which you will compete.
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