Van Strydonk Wins World Championship With Last Lap Pass

Just when it seemed the Eagle River World Championship snowmobile race couldn’t get any better, Nick Van Strydonk used a dramatic pass in the last corner to win his first title on the famed Derby Track in Eagle River, Wisconsin.  Van Strydonk beat 2010 World Champion Matt Schulz to the waving checkered flag by a ski length. The margin of victory was 0.025 second.

Nick Van Strydonk won his first Eagle River World Championship

.     The late move by the 21-year-old from Tomahawk, Wisconsin, came in a 30-lap race that featured an incredible series of twists and turns. At various points during the race, it looked like any one of five drivers could win the race – for most of the event, those five ran within a half-straight of each other.

.     Crashes, red flags, restarts and changing track conditions had a major influence on the race, but in the end, Van Strydonk was the deserving winner and will have his name written into immortality when it’s engraved on the Snow Goer Cup.

An Ever-Changing Race

The 49^th annual Amsoil World Championship was held on a rough and grooved track under murky skies, with a slight mist in the air. Thousands of people watched in anticipation after the most competitive qualifying process in years – going in, there was no pre-race favorite; instead, most longtime observers agreed that seven of the 12 drivers who qualified for the final were virtually even.

Matt Schulz led until the last couple hundred yards and came up a ski-length short of winning his second title.

.     On green, Schulz of nearby Wausau, Wisconsin, launched into the lead on his No. 38 Ski-Doo, with pole sitter Brandon Johnson of Greenbush, Minnesota, snapping at his heels on his Wahl Bros. Polaris. Right behind him was Van Strydonk – the fastest qualifier in time trials, and then Travis MacDonald and defending and four-time champ P.J. Wanderscheid.

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World Championship Day: Here’s The Field, And The Odds!

This is the year of parity in the ultra-exciting Champ 440 class. The World Champion will likely come from a group of seven racers who have all run incredibly well here on the famed Derby track – after time trials, heats, a Friday Night Thunder final, then more heats and semi finals on Saturday, it was still next to impossible on Saturday night to truly nail down a top one or two drivers.

.     In fact, in all the years that Snow Goer has been making fictional odds on this World Championship race, we have never had such a difficult of a time placing the racers in order – we debated long into the night, and still aren’t satisfied with the result.

Dustin Wahl was undefeated in qualifying. Photo by Snow Goer.

.     You’ve got three past champions in the race, including four-timer and defending champion PJ Wanderscheid, two-timer Gary Moyle and 2010 champion Matt Schulz – how can one bet against any of them? Yet the fastest laps turned on the track this week have been run by Nick Van Strydonk of nearby Tomahawk. Then, there’s the Wahl Bros team – Brandon Johnson won Friday night and is the poll sitter going into the final; Dustin Wahl was undefeated in qualifying on Saturday and looked fast and smooth; Champ 440 rookie Jordyn Wahl was also a winner – and a survivor. He won his heat race, crashed while leading his semi-final, then pulled his sled out of the haybales and charged hard after the restart to earn a spot in the final.

.     So the dilemma, allow us to give you an example: How do you put the fastest qualifier (Van Strydonk) behind the Wanderscheid, given the laps he’s been running this weekend; but how do you put Van Strydonk ahead of the defending champ? How do you place Moyle? In past years, he’s proven crafty enough to now show his hand on Saturday, yet he hasn’t looked dominant. How do you pick against Johnson, the polesitter, or Dustin Wahl, the undefeated driver? But what about Schulz and Chartier? Whoever you choose, we’re predicting another classic final at the sport’s most fabled event.

.     In the fictional odd that we’re printing in the Snow Goer tip sheet at the track, here are the odds as we see them – but we’re honestly more unsure of these odds than we’ve ever been. It should be a great final. Two more drivers will qualify for the final today in a last chance qualifying race. Here are the finalists so far:

Nick Van Strydonk was running the fastest laps and definitely would win his first.

• Brandon Johnson, #22, from Greenbush, MN on a Polaris – The polesitter has been fast, smooth and strong; he has the equipment, but also a bum ankle. ODDS: 4-1
• Matt Schulz, #38, from Wausau, WI on a Ski-Doo — Switched to backup sled on Saturday after breaking a track bar in the Friday night program, but that backup sled is still super stout. Has the engine, and has won here before ODDS: 4:1
• [Read more]

Hibbert Wins Thrilling Race In Front Of Huge Crowd

Twenty-four hours after a fabulous Pro Open final on a rough track at Shakopee, Minnesota’s Canterbury Park, the best snocross racers on the planet did it again – putting on a spectacular final in front of a huge crowd at the ISOC National sponsored by Traxxis and Jimmy John’s.

.       Weather that has been mega-depressing for snowmobilers in southern and central Minnesota proved to be excellent for snowmobile racing. Under a full moon on a perfectly clear night, the crowd exceeded promoters expectations both nights. Virtually every seat inside and outside of the horse racing track was filled, and hundreds if not thousands of additional fans crowded the standing area near the track.

.       After two rounds of qualifying heats and a last chance qualifying race, Saskatchewan-native Robbie Malinoski and Vermont-based TJ Gulla were the top qualifiers on their Scheuring Speed Sports Ski-Doo and Hentges Racing Polaris, respectively. The 15 who made the final (out of 25 entries) included six Ski-Doos, five Polaris sleds and four Arctic Cats.

.       On green for the 22-lap final, the black Amsoil-backed sleds of Malinoski and teammate Darrin Mees lurched into the lead, with Tucker Hibbert’s Cat and Tim Tremblay’s Ski-Doo hot on their heels, and points leader Ross Martin right behind them.

.       The first couple of laps, Malinoski pulled out to a 2.5 second lead, but there was a war behind him. Mees struggled to hold off Tremblay, while Hibbert was running fast and loose in fourth on his Monster Energy Arctic Cat. Then came the three Polaris of Martin, Gulla and Mike Bauer, with Logan Christian, Mathieu Morin and Bobby LePage rounding out the top 10.

.       By lap 4, Hibbert was on the move, literally flying past Tremblay at the starting line tabletop jump, then chasing down Mees and knifing past him with a block pass on lap 8. The winningest racer in modern snocross history spent the next five laps searching for lines while reeling in Malinowski. The two flew past flagman Bruce Mosher virtually tied on lap 15, but then Hibbert held the gas deep into turn one, doubling over a big hole that had gotten worn in by other riders and sailing into the lead.

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Five Can’t Miss, Current Hall Of Fame Racers

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about honors given to people who accomplish a lot in a given sport.

          Some sports have longstanding, famous halls of fame where just mentioning its hometown means a lot – baseball players talk about being “inducted in Coopertown” as much as using the actual words “National Baseball Hall of Fame.” Similarly, being “inducted in Canton” is synonymous with being enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.

No official records exist (at least, that we can find), but it's easy to suggest that Jacques Villeneuve is oval racing's winningest driver.

          The most interesting one to me right now is the NASCAR Hall Of Fame in Charlotte, because it are starting from ground zero with its first couple of classes. It hardly seemed fair the first year (2010) when folks who were very obviously going to be in the hall eventually like David Pearson, Ned Jarrett and Darrell “boogity boogity” Waltrip (what a dork!) missed the cut. But such is the nature of having limited classes of inductees each year. Plus, it creates chatter and buzz for following years.

          Being a snowmobiling geek, of course my hall of fame thoughts turned to snowmobiling. I went to the Snowmobile Hall Of Fame website and started thinking: “OK, if we had to start over with a blank sheet and have a first-year class – just five racers or racing-related people to induct as our first class, who would I pick.”

          Interesting idea for a column, right? Well, my head almost exploded!! Having to pit a Bob Eastman against a Mike Trapp, a Gerard Karpik against a Larry Rugland, a Yvon duHamel against a Stan Hayes, Tim Bender against a Brian Musselman, a Mike Houle against a John Wicht III… well, you get the idea, it’s damn near impossible, and I’ve just touched on a fraction of the racers who are in there now. And that’s before you work in guys behind the sport and the racers like J. Armond Bombardier, Edgar Hetteen, Roger Skime, John Alward…. Again, you’ve got the idea. Just among the 14 names I’ve listed here, go ahead and try to narrow it down to five – it blows one’s mind.

          So, I’ve officially chickened out on that blog topic – not forever, maybe, but for today! Instead, here is my list of five CURRENT racers who should be “first ballot” hall of famers when they retire and become eligible. Drum roll please:

Tucker Hibbert has won 66 Pro Snocross finals in 122 starts, and 6 X Games gold medals.

• Corey Davidson – the racer from Holt, Minnesota, has won 10 500-mile races — seven Soo I-500s and three cross-country 500s (one when run by ISOC, two under USCC) as the lead or solo driver, and also was a part of another winning Soo team as a relief driver. He’s also won at snocross and laketop ice lemans/cross country. The facts speak for themselves.
• Tucker Hibbert – the son of another hall of famer in Kirk Hibbert, he’s done the seemingly impossible – he started exceeding his father’s fame in our sport. He’s now won six X Games gold medals in snocross, including the last five in a row, and has won 66 national pro snocross finals in 122 starts, while snowmobile racing part time. His domination has threatened to make high-flying snocross boring. [Read more]

Brian Dick Wins Weather-Shortened USCC Red Lake I-500

Today, Mother Nature won the battle at the historic USCC Red Lake I-500, but the war this year was won by Brian Dick, the Arctic Cat engineer who won the title for his employer.

            Wicked winds and falling snow caused multiple delays of the planned third and final day of the I-500 – it was scheduled to go off at 10 a.m. and was moved back to 10:30, 11 and then 11:30 a.m. Finally, as 11:30 came and passed, USCC officials gathered the racers and told them that the third day would be cancelled, making the results through the first two days the final results.

            This is only the eight year in the long history of the event that it failed to fun the full three days, according to Don Jorstad on WTRF radio. Today’s horrific weather conditions include visibility at less than 100 feet and markers lining the race course have been blowing down, the radio station reported.

            Take nothing away from the winner, however. Dick raced hard the first two days, posting the fast time each day, for a combined 4 hour, 57 minute, 5 seconds over the more than 300  miles. That placed him 4 minutes and 34 seconds ahead of second place Ryan Simons of Alberta going into this final day. These and all results in this story are unofficial, pending the technical inspection of the sleds, as per usual 

            Simons won’t get his shot to run Dick down, and neither will fellow snocross-crossover racer Zach Pattyn of Michigan. Both are on Arctic Cats as is fourth place Cory Davis from Alaska, giving Team Green the top four spots, with drivers from four different parts of North America.

            Ross Erdman of Rochester, Minnesota, finished fifth, with Aaron Christiansen, Corey Davison, Justin Tate and Eric Gausen – all on Polaris sleds – finishing sixth through ninth. The final spot in the top 10 was claimed by Jesse Thelen on a Cat.

            A total of 36 racers took the green flag in the Pro 600 class on Friday with temperatures double digits below zero. Four racers didn’t make it through the day, including Chad Dyrdahl. The other notable happening on the first day was the problems experienced by DJ Ekre, who started near the top but had mechanical problems and was the last Pro 600 racer to complete the 148 mile course.

            There were still 27 pro racers in the field after day two, but the weather prevented the start of day 3.

            Ryan Greening was a dominating force in Semi-Pro 600, running away from the pack in the first day, with a time more than 6 minutes faster than his nearest competitor. His domination continued on day two, again posting the fast time and holding a lead of more than 13 minutes heading into what was planned to be the third day. The Brainerd, Minnesota, racer gets the win on his Arctic Cat, with Ken Christiansen second and Mike Hedlund third, both aboard Polaris sleds.

            Jolene Bute claimed the Women’s class, while Arctic Cat Snowmobile Product Manager Joey Hallstrom claimed the new and much-anticipated Vintage class ahead of lacing legend Brian Nelson.

Snowmobile Oval Racing Schedule for 2010-11

 A friend of mine left me a phone message moments ago asking where he could find a complete schedule of modern oval races (read: not just vintage, not that there’s anything wrong with vintage racing) for this coming winter. Not knowing where to find one, I decided to create my own!

            Below is a combined schedule of the oval races for this winter for the USSA Pro Star, Oval Racers Alliance (ORA), Super Competition Motorsport (SCM), Midwest International Racing Association (MIRA) and Canadian Power Toboggan Champion events.  Click on the names of any of these circuits to find out more information about them or their events.

            If I missed some events or circuits, drop me an email at jprusak@affinitygroup.com and I’ll add to the list. Thanks.

•  Dec. 4-5, Beausejour, Manitoba — CPTC
• Dec. 18-19, Rock Rapids, Iowa – ORA
• January 1-2, Amherst, Wisconsin — USSA
• Jan. 13-16, Eagle River, Wisconsin – USSA
• Jan. 22-23, Caro, Michigan – MIRA
• Jan. 22-23, Big Lake, Minnesota – ORA
• Jan. 22-23, Manitowaning, Ontario – SCM Eastern Pro Tour
• Jan. 29-30, Boonville, New York – SCM Eastern Pro Tour
• Jan. 29-30, Wausau, Wisconsin — USSA
• Jan. 29-30, Drummond Island, Michigan – MIRA
• Jan. 30, Waconia, Minnesota (vintage) — ORA
• Feb. 5, Sault Ste Marie, Michigan – Soo I-500, MIRA
• Feb. 5-6, Bancroft, Ontario – SCM Eastern Pro Tour
• Feb. 5-6, Plymouth, Wisconsin – USSA
• Feb. 12-13, Weyauwega, Wisconsin – USSA
• Feb. 18-20, Valcourt, Quebec – SCM Eastern Pro Tour
• Feb. 19-20, Crystal Lake, Michigan – MIRA
• Feb. 19-20, Grey Eagle, Minneesota — ORA
• Feb. 19-20, Richland Center, Wisconsin – USSA
• Feb. 26-27, Eganville, Ontario – SCM Eastern Pro Tour
• Feb. 26-27, Garrison, Minnesota — ORA
• Feb. 26-27, Lincoln, Michigan – MIRA
• March 5-6, Beausejour, Manitoba – CPTC
• March 12-13, Roberval, Quebec – SCM Eastern Pro Tour

Sled Racing: May Not Be Big Time, But It’s Easy To Access

Wednesday night viewers of the Speed channel’s “Intersections” show got to see a comparison between Troy Dewald’s winning drive at the Soo I-500 and a truck racer’s efforts at the grueling Baja 500 race. I, in turn, got to enjoy a flashback to my first time seeing the famed Soo I-500 track in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

            I was snowmobiling in the U.P. about a dozen years ago as a part of a Parts Unlimited dealer appreciation ride. Our group was guided out to the track, where we got to make a lap on the famed 1-mile oval that has been holding arguably one of the very best snowmobile races in the world.

          I was jacked up on the way there – I had covered other enduro races and had spoken to dozens of racers who had competed in the epic Soo I-500 race, but had not yet seen the track for myself. This was, after all, where Dan Planck won the very first Soo in 1969, where names like LeRoy Lindblad and Stan Hayes claimed titles in the 1970s, Brian Musselman and Jeff Kipfmiller were each part of three winning teams in the 1980s, and John Wicht III and the Troy Pierce-Todd Krikke combo were taking over the 1990s. It just had to be the coolest place on earth, in my mind!

           We drove our sleds through an industrial park area, got to the edge of town, went through a gate, and suddenly we were there. My first reaction when coming over the hill and seeing the facility?

          “Really? This is it?”

          With all due respect to the Soo crew that works so hard to put on the race every February, the actual race site is a bit underwhelming, with a couple of old buildings, weeds poking up through the snow along the straightaway and a general run-down feeling about the place when you see it on a non race weekend. The day of the race? The place is a carnival of activity. Visit two weeks later, like we did, and not very impressive. Frankly, the visit to the track was a bit of a visual reminder of exactly how small our sport is. I mean, c’mon, what should one expect – that somebody or some thing is going to stick $1 million into a facility that holds one snowmobile race a year? Yeah, the race is definitely the snowmobiling equivalent to the Daytona 500, but it’s still an event in our little world – it’s never going to BE the Daytona 500.

            I had the same feeling when seeing the Haydays track for the first time (before they put up the permanent fences) and several other race sites. And, let’s face it, a lot of our other cool races are either held on sites that disappear in the summer (lake tops), or sites that were first built for and paid by other sorts of activities (horse racing tracks, county fairgrounds, car racing tracks, etc.). The only track I ever remember thinking “WOW!” about what was the first time I saw the Derby track in Eagle River. Folks who pay the high rates to race at, attend or even park at or near the Derby pay a lot for that luxury every year.  

            So yeah, snowmobiling racing isn’t big time like car racing – there’s breaking news for you, right? But you know what? I’m OK with that. That’s not to say that people who are trying to take snowmobile racing to the elusive “next level” are wrong or that I don’t support their efforts. But one of the things that makes snowmobile racing so fun and interesting for folks like me who are into it is that it is still so accessible. A regular guy can put together an effort and go out and try it, without needing $1 million to get involved. If this sport suddenly had to pay for million tracks and the maintenance and other costs related to them, it could easily squeeze out a lot of the “little guys” who make this all happen.

Oval Racers Alliance wraps up season in Garrison, Minn.

The Oval Racers Alliance concluded their first season with an action packed weekend on Lake Mille Lacs in Garrison, Minnesota.  Vintage and modern snowmobile racers and fans flocked to the event that took place February 27-28 with support from the Garisson commercial Club and the Blue Goose.
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Inaugural Oval Racers Alliance Event a Success

The weekend of February 5-7, 2010 marked the beginning of the Oval Racers Alliance’s first season.  A total of approximately 536 entries and 120 drivers made for extremely close racing in both modern and vintage classes at the I-94 Speedway in Sauk Centre, MN.
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Dan Ebert wins USCC Red Lake I-500

Dan Ebert powered across the finish line to win the USCC Red Lake I-500 today in Thief River Falls, Minn.

Arctic Cat racer Dan Ebert won the Pro 600 class in the 2010 United States Cross-Country (USCC) Red Lake I-500 today. He covered the 505-mile course in 8 hours, 11 minutes, 35 seconds. Gabe Bunke (8:13:42) finished second on a Polaris 600 Rush and Ryan Huston (8:16:22) finished third, also on an Arctic Cat.

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