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Grass Drags This Weekend, And More Sled-Related Fun Is Coming!
Have you noticed the earlier sunsets in the past few weeks? I have, and a couple of nights this week the nighttime air blowing in the bedroom window actually felt a little bit cold.
Oh sure, the forecast for the Minneapolis area is calling for highs to return to close to 90 degrees starting tomorrow with increased humidity, but the kids are going back to school in 9 days (much to many parents’ delight!), I watched a great football game last night and the panfish have gotten harder to catch – it must mean that our long summer is finally drawing to a close.
Further proof is offered by this weekend’s snowmobiling events. Here in Minnesota, it’s known as “Princeton Weekend,” as the Outlaw Grass Drags kick off today in a just north of the Twin Cities. Grass drag racing, aftermarket product vendors, ATV demo rides, a monstrous swap meet – what’s not to like?!
Meanwhile, the “snowmobiling boys of summer” here in the Upper Midwest close out their International Watercross Association season this weekend in Wausau, Wisconsin.
In two weeks, we’ve got Haydays, then the events will start falling like dominoes – the Michigan Cup at Onstead, the big New Hampshire Snowmobile Association Grass Drags and Watercross in Fremont. Mix in the fall snowmobile shows like our Big East Snowmobile Show in Syracuse, New York, Leisure Features’ Snowmobile USA shows in Novi, Michigan, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Rocky Mountain Snowmobile Expo in Denver…. Next thing you know we’ll be prepping sleds and heading to early season snocross races!
So don’t despair, my fellow snowmobilers. Winter will in fact be here soon. But between now and then, there is plenty to do to get your snowmobiling fix!
Am I An Expert Or Idiot? Both!
Everybody is an expert at something, yet no matter how big of an expert they are, there is always somebody else who can make them look like a relative novice.
I was reminded of that fact this past weekend, when my family went on our annual long-weekend vacation with another family in our neighborhood.
When I hang out with that family, I appear to be a rugged outdoorsman. The father in that family, my friend Jeff, doesn’t have much interest in fishing, for instance. So, when we went fishing with the kids from the two families, I baited hooks, untangled messes, helped make decisions on tackle, tried to direct our boat to where the fish may be and generally took control of our fishing adventure. Those kids probably think I’ve got a coon-skinned cap somewhere in my truck.
One week earlier, however, my son and I went fishing with my wife’s brother, Dale. Compared to Dale, I’m a complete novice – his approach to fishing includes giving careful thought to weather conditions, presentation, colors and various other factors. Using a depth finder and some fishing moxie, he likes to try to get to know more about the lake bottom than anybody on the lake.
So, am I qualified to be a fishing guide, like the neighborhood family may think, or a complete hack who merely guesses and occasionally gets lucky, like brother-in-law Dale thinks? It depending on your perspective.
So it goes in the world of powersports. When it comes to snowmobiles built in the last 17 years, for instance, I’m a bit of an expert. Name an important trail sled build since model year 1994, and I have ridden it and formed opinions on it. I’ve also ridden snowmobiles in 17 states and five Canadian provinces, and have been to pretty much ever type of snowmobile racing imaginable and have written stories about those experiences. I’m certainly not bragging, but in some circles, that makes me a snowmobiling expert.
Take me through the pits at a race track or into the dyno room at a top performance shop and get me into a conversation with a master tuner, however, and I probably come across as more of a novice. No, I can’t tell you the best clutching setup to try on a 250 horsepower modified drag racing sled, not would I be much help in finding the right traction setup for an iced oval — that’s not my area of expertise.
One key, of course, is to surround yourself with people with varying levels of expertise on a variety of things. Here at the magazine, that means guys like Andy Swanson, our managing editor and chief aftermarket product tester; Phil Mickelson, our famed Tech Professor, and key contributors like Jeff Oberg, Tim Erickson, Lynn Keillor, David Wells and many others. Another key is never being afraid to ask people who do have more expertise in a specific area for their help. It’s amazing what people will share with you if you just frame the question correctly.
Only by pulling that all together a great team, and not being afraid to seek help from other “experts,” can we put out a magazine like Snow Goer. Because nobody’s an expert at everything, even in a relatively narrow market like snowmobiling.
USCC Inks National Guard As Title Sponsor
Minto, ND – The United States Cross-Country Snowmobile Racing Association (USCC) has signed the National Guard as its title sponsor for the 2010-2011 race season. The USCC circuit will be known as “The USCC National Guard Cross-Country Snowmobile Championship.”
“We are excited to partner with The National Guard for the 2010-2011 snowmobileracing season,” said USCC Sponsorship Director Noel Schanilec. “This partnership willhelp continue the remarkable momentum the USCC has kept for almost a decade and willput the National Guard name in front of millions of snowmobile racing enthusiasts.”
The oldest of the United States’ Armed Forces, the National Guard has stood ready to protect the country for nearly 374 years and operates in all 50 states, three territories(Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands) and the District of Columbia.
“The National Guard is a great fit for the USCC,” said USCC President Pat Mach. “The National Guard and cross-country snowmobile racing are both about tradition and about ordinary people expressing passion for something they believe in. All of us at the USCC are happy to be working with the National Guard this season.”
In conjunction with the National Guard sponsorship the USCC has announced a National Guard class at select USCC and USCC East events where Guard members can come and experience cross-country snowmobile racing firsthand.
“Like cross-country racing, the National Guard is made up of average, everyday people – they are our friends and neighbors,” said Schanilec. “The National Guard class is our salute to them.” With the title sponsorship, the USCC joins other prestigious National Guard-sponsored racers such as Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, Dan Wheldon on the IRL circuit and AMA Superbike racer Jake Zemke. For more information on National Guard visit www.nationalguard.com; for more information on National Guard racing visit www.nationalguard.com/events/guard-racing.
The Old Snowmobile Photo Search From Hell
Once a month, longtime contributor David Wells tries to kill me.
Not on purpose (I don’t think?!). Wells is a very nice, well-intentioned guy who would never intentionally cause me bodily hard (probably).
The problem? Wells writes our Timeline articles for each issue of Snow Goer, and does a hell of a job with the assignment. He decides on all of the sleds we feature, does a ton of research, calls upon his own vast knowledge and background in the sport and even sometimes interviews folks who either owned the machines or sold them at their dealership.
It’s one of many reasons Dave is such an important part of our extended family here at Snow Goer.
Every summer, he submits his stories basically ready for print. Then, when an issue of Snow Goer is on deadline, I pull up one of his stories on my computer, make a few tiny edits to them and get them ready for our art department.
This is where the danger comes in.
You see, our offices are a treasure trove of snowmobiling history. Actually, “unorganized heap of stuff” may be a better description. We’ve got back issues of Snow Goer going back to 1966, back issues of Snowmobile Magazine, SnowTrack, Snow Week, Invitation To Snowmobiling and other titles. We’ve got drawers and filled with testing information. Boxes of slides and negatives. Stacks of old sales brochures. It’s awesome – until you are looking for one exact thing, then it’s a freaking disaster.
So, once a month between July and December, you can find me cursing in our back room. I’ll be standing on top of swiveling office chairs or hanging from the corner of our racks in our storage area, looking for that one photo that will properly illustrates Dave’s great story.
Today’s mission: Find an images of a 1974 Mercury 440 Max. I’ve found a black-and-white photo of the sled in action in a fall 1973 copy of Snow Goer. I’ve found spec sheets and notes about the machine. I’ve found old ads for the sled that feature just the corner of the machine. And I’ve found plenty of images of the 1973 Max (noted by the headlight covers) and the 1975 Max (with the three-color graphics on the side). But do you think I can find a 1974? Hell no.
Beyond that, once I start going through old boxes in the back room, I get distracted by stuff I don’t have time to look at while on deadline. This morning, I spent a half-hour trying to interpret dyno sheets created by a then-new Massey Ferguson Cyclone – for no apparent reason other than I’m easily sucked into such things.
For 12 years, since we moved into our current building, I’ve made an annual pledge to myself that I’m going to find some a week some spring and organize our back room. Has it gotten done? Of course not.
So, if you’ve got a picture of the “Black Max,” as it was called, let me know. If not, come look for me in the backroom – I’ll be the one covered with dust and spiderwebs, paging through a 30-year-old magazine and cursing poor David Wells’ name!
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.
IWA Returns to Hill City, and Wins my Heart
The first thing I learned about journalism is that it is the responsibility of the author to report on topics in an unbiased manner. In the few years that I have been reporting on snowmobile races, I have lived by that principle and for the most part, kept my opinions out of my stories. That being said it has come time that I make an exception to that rule in saying that watercross is by and far one of the most spectacular yet underrated forms of snowmobile racing. I’ve spent the entire season with the International Watercross Association but it wasn’t until the race at the Quadna Resort in Hill City, Minnesota that I completely realized how fantastic both the sport of watercross racing and its community truly is.
With their first race at Quadna since 2006, the I.W.A. was in a position to put on a show for more fans than the event had ever seen in years past, and they certainly didn’t disappoint. With the winds of his recent World Championship victories still blowing in his sails, you pretty much had to be a speedboat to catch up to Ski Doo’s Chad Maki. After a rough start to the season in Pro Open, Maki set sights on more wins in the class after he finally beat the bug in Grantsburg. Having beaten the Ski Doo’s of Andy Busse and Matt Ledin (who finished in that order), in Pro Stock, Maki had nothing but a win in Pro Open to look forward to. Although he rides his stock Danner Motorsports Ski Doo in the modified class, Maki proved once again his ability to drive his way to a win. Finishing second was the Polaris of Jason McPheeters, who after being out of the sport for several years returned to the scene this season and left the race with his best finish of the year. Arctic Cat’s Dale Lindbeck rounded out the top three.
Although he races in the Semi Pro Open class, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move up to Pro sometime in the near future based on his accomplishments this season. Merrill, Wisconsin’s Greg Metz was the victor of the Semi Pro Open class for the third weekend in a row on board his Polaris. With the win secured the Ski Doo’s of Aaron Hein and John Stadick finished second and third, respectively.
Unlike the Maki’s and Metz’s of the circuit, the winner of the Semi Pro Stock class took a first place trophy home for the first time ever. In his rookie season of racing, Clinton Fjosne of Willow River, Minnesota proved to himself that he is able to win races just as well as the rest of the field. Finishing second in the race was Joe Schellbach and Jake Schulze taking third.
Removing the oval but neither the speed nor excitement, the drag classes were full of close finishes. Ski Doo’s Andy Busse beat Jeff Fischer and Matt Ledin for a win in the Mod Drag class. Also aboard a Ski Doo was the 800 Drag winners David Fischer. Leaving his competitors behind him, Cody Engstrand beat Mann Nordin by no more than a ski length. Cole Engstrand, aboard his Polaris, also claimed his first win of the season in the 600 Drags class. Finishing second and third were Eric Keith and Nick Benoy, both also driving Polaris’s.
If the details of this race and all of its keep-you-on-the-edge-of-your-fold-up-chair-action along with my personal opinion haven’t persuaded you to check out watercross then you may as well stay at home and watch the home shopping channel. On the other hand, if this does seem like something up your alley then you won’t want to miss the fifth and final race of the International Watercross Association’s season, which will take place August 28-29, 2010 in Wausau, Wisconsin.
For more information and complete results, please visit www.iwausa.org.
The Battle Over Yellowstone Continues: Get Involved
It’s baa-aa-ack. Just when you thought the snowmobiles-in-Yellowstone issue was going away (OK, admit it, if you’ve been following this thing, you’ve NEVER thought the issue was going away), another list of proposals for winter access to Yellowstone National Park has been launched. Several of the proposals, of course, include banning you, I and all other snowmobile riders from this great American treasure.
The battle over access to Yellowstone National Park is worth the fight.
A lot of people wonder “Why should I care” or say, “I’m never going there, it’s not my fight.” Well, if you care about access to all public land, it truly is your fight, because what happens there will affect access and trails in other parts of the country.
The fight has been long, frustrating and it’s not going away anytime soon – or at least I HOPE it’s not going away anytime soon, because the only way it’s going to go away in the near future is if the haters win and just ban snowmobile access to the park.
The worse part of the access battle is that it just defies logic. The people who are calling for an end to snowmobiles in the park are spewing bad statistics and lies to build a case that just isn’t there.
Here is a link to a Billings Gazette article that outlines the six alternatives currently under discussion. It’s a very quick read and worth your time.
Below is the text of my <strong>Snow Goer</strong> column from our December 2009 issue, using the National Park Services own stats to debunk some of the arguments the extreme environmentalists use to say sleds should be banned from the park.
Feel free to pull anything you want out of the column if or when you write to your congress person or comment on the Yellowstone issue through the formal public comment period.
You should care, and it is your fight, too. Also, here’s a link to a photo essay put together by our Tom Kaiser, showing some of the beauty of Yellowstone that some folks are trying to lock us out of.
Stop The Misinformation
By John T. Prusak
“Great news,” the Minneapolis TV anchor gleefully reported. “In the month of July, Yellowstone National Park set a record when more than 900,000 people visited the park. The park also set an all-time high for June, when more than 644,000 people visited America’s first national park. Park officials attribute the boost to relatively low gas prices this summer.”
Yep, things are looking up in Yellowstone – attendance records were being broken this past summer as people made their way through one of America’s treasures. The hotels and campgrounds in and around the park were packed – it was a great summer, local folks would tell you.
Sure enough, there’s only on thing that’s threatening this great piece of Americana – snowmobiles. Just look at the numbers.
Last winter, fewer than 33,000 snowmobiles entered the park over a four-month
period (all numbers in this piece are from the National Park Service). Those snowmobiles
were required to stay on the trail – a singular ribbon that takes visitors to and from Old
Faithful.
In fact, snowmobiles are allowed on less than 1 percent of the 2.2 million acres
of Yellowstone National Park, and only on strictly enforced, guided tours traveling on
best-available-technology snowmobiles.
Moreover, combining snowmobiles, automobiles, snow coaches and any other means of travel, Yellowstone had 86,793 visitors from December through March last winter, but from May through October, it’ll have more than 2.7 million visitors, and the total for all of 2008 was 3,066,580.
So, fewer than 3 percent of annual visitors enter in the four-month winter, and snowmobiles are the problem? During the summer, RVs, trucks, motorcycles, tour buses and passenger cars clog the roadways and fill the campgrounds. None of theses vehicles cause air pollution? None of these people litter?
In fact, we celebrate that many summer visitors in Yellowstone – press releases are written, newspapers rave about Americans getting back to nature, the talking heads gush. It’s as if each of those 900,000 July visitors were magically transported in vehicles that don’t require energy, none of the people ate, drank, had any bodily functions or encountered any animal. Instead, they somehow hovered above the park, and none saw each other – each person was on their own tiny island of peace and solitude.
Yet one-tenth of that number entered the park over a four-month period last winter, and just 3.7 percent visited on snowmobile. Stated another way, in July the average daily visitors was 29,048. Last winter, an average of 205 snowmobiles per day entered the park.
And snowmobiles are the problem?
A Salt Lake Tribune editorial stated, “scientific research clearly indicates that snowmobiles … don’t mix well with wildlife and the quiet, pristine air and natural wonders that national parks are created to protect.” The Denver Post editors hoped further snowmobile restrictions or a ban can help restore “peace at one of America’s most special places.”
Quiet? Pristine? Peace? With 900,000 visitors in one month?
It’s time to stop the villianization of snowmobiles and snowmobilers. We cannot celebrate huge July attendance for Yellowstone while we decry a microfraction of that number making highly restricted visits on vehicles that get better fuel mileage than the RVs and SUVs that pack the park in the summer.
Yellowstone does not have a snowmobile problem – it has a perception problem, and the mainstream media is perpetuating a myth.
Will New Swedish Sensation Remind Of The Flying Finn?
Quick: Name your favorite Scandinavian snocross star!
When most North American snowmobile race fans think of racers from Scandinavia, the first name that pops into their head is Toni Haikonen. The “Flying Finn” came stateside in the mid 1990s and changed our sport with his high-flying, dynamic style that made him a joy to watch on the track.
What’s even more amazing, looking back at the pictures now, is that Toni made his big impact racing on an F-chassis Ski-Doo. They seemed mildly OK back then (though certainly not as nimble as the Polaris and Arctic Cat race sleds at the time), but go back and look at a photo of one of those behemoths now – would you want to air one of those beasts out?
Following Toni, we had several snowmobile racers come from across the pond and win a national snocross race here or there. Per Berggren proved he could come up big on occasion, and Tomi Ahmasalo was consistent and stronger than an entire team of oxen. Contributor Lynn Keillor reminded me this morning of Chris Hugo Vangen, a Norwegian racer who came over here for a race, made a splash but then was booted out of the country because his paperwork wasn’t complete to allow him to stay here and make money.
The last couple of years, we’ve seen a new wave of imports. In fact, last year Christian Salemark and Emil Ohman became the first Swedes to compete at the Winter X Games in snocross since Berggren and Jonas Perrson ran in 1999.
Well now you’ve got another name to learn: Johan Lidman.
Earlier this week, Team Sportech Racing announced that the 19-year-old Swede will be racing in the Pro classes this year aboard an Arctic Cat and racing out of their trailer. The full press release is below.
Will Lidman be the next Toni Haikonen? That’s a lot to ask. But he’s talented, young and has tied himself to a good group at Team Sportech. Here’s the press release:
Elk River, MN; (July 20, 2010) – One of the most talented, up and coming snocross stars in the world is coming to race against the best of the best in the International Series of Champions (ISOC) National tour this winter. Nineteen-year-old Johan Lidman (pronounced, “leed-man”) will join the Team Sportech Racing effort for the 2010‐2011 season and will compete in the pro ranks for the entire ISOC National tour.
Johan is no stranger to success, having won both the Swedish National Championship and the Swedish Super Stadium Snocross Championship last season. But despite those impressive year-end accomplishments, North American snocross fans may best recognize Johan for one race in particular during the FIM Snocross World Championship in Mala, Sweden this past April. It was here, where another accomplished racer, Tucker Hibbert, was abruptly introduced to the speed and ability of Lidman, when Johan rocketed past Hibbert for the lead in the second round of racing. While Hibbert eventually went on to win the race and the World Championship, Lidman finished second overall and almost instantly becamea global snocross sensation with his impressive showing.
“Johan really captured our attention with his outstanding performance on the track last year,” said Team Sportech Racing owner and manager Chris Carlson. “There’s no question in my mind that this young man can compete with the best riders in the sport.”
After several phone calls and discussions with Arctic Cat Race Manager Mike Kloety, Lidman and his father, Leif, made the journey to Elk River, Minnesota in late June to meet Carlson and his family; tour the facilities of Sportech, ERX Motor Park, which is also owned by Carlson; as well as the Arctic Cat headquarters in Thief River Falls. Throughout the trip, Johan met several people who proved instrumental in eventually making it possible for Johan to fulfill his lifelong goal of racing in North America against the best riders in the world.
Hailing from Pitea, Sweden, a small coastal town in northern Sweden, Johan started his racing career at 11 years of age. Now just 19, Johan has demonstrated he has both the physical and mental abilities to win at the highest level in the sport. While it’s unsure if Lidman will return to the United States in time for the SnoBarons Haydays World Championship Grass Drags and Swap Meet, which is often viewed as a kick-off to the winter season and a chance for snocross racers to meet fans and talk to members of the media, he definitely will be here in time to prepare for the first national race of the season in Duluth, Minnesota, November 26-28.
“We are ecstatic to have Johan join our team,” said Carlson. “He’s not only a gifted racer but also an outstanding person. His professionalism, strong family values and integrity fit the Sportech mold. Those values are just as important as winning on the track for us and our sponsors.”
Helping Johan adapt to the rigors of national competition in the United States will be Andrew Carlson, a fixture of the Team Sportech Racing effort for many seasons and son of Chris Carlson. After another successful season, where he captured a national win and finished second overall in the National Season Points in the Sport Super Stock 2 division, Andrew will move up to compete in the National Semi-Pro ranks.
With the addition of Johan Lidman to Team Sportech Racing, it will most certainly bring a heightened level of awareness and value to the partners and sponsors who are associated with the team. According the Carlson, rumors of Lidman’s agreement have already captured the attention of some new partners to the Sportech fold. “There are only a handful of athletes in this sport than can generate huge levels of awareness beyond the track,” said Carlson. “Guys like Tucker (Hibbert) and Levi (LaVallee) can do that and we believe Johan is quickly going to become one of those top caliber athletes.”
Maki Becomes World Champ, Times Two
2010 World Champions
When I think of the Grantsburg World Championship Watercross Race, I think of my most favorite weekend of the year, blazing hot sun, delicious lemonade and the street dances that I love so much. After this years 34th Annual World Championship Race I’ve added one more thing, or should I say person, to that list. Chad Maki.
At age 19 he is already one of the most accomplished drivers in the sport but added to his long list of achievements is the title of 2010 World Champion, times two. The Inver Grove Heights native sailed through qualifying rounds going undefeated in Pro Stock and winning all but one of four Pro Open qualifiers. Maki won his first championship of the weekend on his Ski-Doo in Pro Stock by beating Howie Steenberg and Andy Busse, who placed second and third, respectively. Although pleased with the Pro Stock win, there were still bigger prizes to be had. By the end of the day on Sunday, all of the best Pro drivers were chomping at the bit for the chance to write their names in history and when the starting light flashed green the Pro Open field rocketed off the shore towards the most prestigious title in the sport.
Powered by a Bikeman Performance Yamaha, Brian McCurdy, Jr. led the majority of the race and was able to get comfortable after Maki’s sled got far more vertical than any racer would be happy with. Just when it seemed like Maki and his sled would take a swim, he somehow saved it and wasted no time at all making up lost ground. Under the impression that Maki was out of the picture, McCurdy, Jr. went wide in a corner to stay in calmer water, which opened the door for the #413 sled of Maki to cut down on the inside and make the pass for the lead. In an all out battle to the end, Maki took the checkered and the title of Pro Open Champion. McCurdy, Jr. finished second and Scott Mosher took a strong third on his brand new Mod Polaris, which until the day before this event had never seen water let alone been fired up.
Changing gears, Krista Maki-Zurn (of no relation to Chad Maki, besides sharing the title of World Champion,) made watercross history on her Ski-Doo in the 800 Drag class. After flying past the rest of the field from a slow start, Maki-Zurn became the first woman to ever win a championship title. Although she drove her sled to the title, Maki-Zurn was quick to thank all those who help her, including her husband/Pro-driver Shawn Zurn, GLH Performance, The Great Outdoors and Beaver Liquors, to name a few of many.
Although he finished second to Maki-Zurn in the 800 Drag class, David Fischer got a win of his own aboard his new Ski-Doo in the 600 Drag class.
It came as no surprise when last years Mod Drag winner Jerry Rinker came out on top after going undefeated in qualifying and setting the pace for his competitors. Rinker made it clear that he didn’t travel all the way from Canadensis, Pennsylvania for nothing, and took the win in the final on his Ski-Doo.
In his second year of racing watercross, Merrill, Wisconsin’s Greg Metz won his first championship title in the Semi Pro Open class. Metz was the man to beat all weekend as he went undefeated on his Polaris. Representing Arctic Cat, D.J. Lindbeck took a strong second place and J.T. Kosnitch rounded out the top three on his Ski-Doo.
Also from Merrill, Wisconsin was the winner of the Semi Pro Stock class. Similarly to Metz, Dan Dombrowsky was unbeatable through qualifying on his Yamaha and after passing Troy Marsh with two laps to go, Dombrowsky became the Semi Pro Stock Champion for his second year in a row. Marsh finished second and Joe Schellbach came in third.
As if all of that racing wasn’t exciting enough, the Six Four Industries freestyle crew and their ten-foot tall ramp were also present to literally heighten the spirits of the crowd. Six Four Industries founder Ben Deaton, along with Mark Siebenaler hit the home-made ramp for the first time ever on Saturday night and decided it was enough of a success to do it again on Sunday. On his Black Widow Combatt Team Ski-Doo, Deaton cleared the ramp and soared nearly four stories high and over 100 feet out before perfectly landing it in the water. Had his sled handled the impact as well as he did Deaton would have undoubtedly reached the shore and gone again. Six Four Industries is a brand new company that specializes in freestyle shows and can be hired for most any event. For more information visit Ben Deaton’s facebook page.
Ben Deaton getting HUGE air Sunday afternoon
So needless to say, the 34th Annual Grantsburg World Championship Watercross Race succeeded once again in blowing my socks off and I’m already counting down the days until the 35th Annual World Championships. (Can anybody say 360?) Until then, you can get your watercross fix at the next International World Championship race in Hill City, Minnesota July 31-August 1, 2010. For complete results and more race information please visit www.iwausa.org.
What’s Worse Than LeBron James’ Self Indulgance? Snowmobile Grass Drag Racing, Apparently!
Moments ago I was driving back to work from some lunchhour with a local sports radio station (AM-1500) playing in the background. They were yammering on-and-on about the LeBron James self-gratification last week – you know, the hour-long, made-for-TV event on ESPN-TV, where James apparently wanted us all to hold our breath until the moment he told us he was going to play for the Miami Heat and settle for his millions in income-tax-free Florida?
The guest on the radio program, Steve Aschburner (currently of NBA.com but previously a sports journalist for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Milwaukee Journal, among others), said he was in Greenwich, Connecticut, last week “covering” the James’ TV show called “The Decision.” And he used this analogy to describe what it was like covering this horrible event: It was the second worst assignment he’d ever had in his professional reporting career, topped only by the time he was sent to cover a snowmobile race in Wisconsin, featuring snowmobiles racing on grass in the summer. (paraphrased – I didn’t have a notebook or tape recorder in the Durango)
Don't listen to him Marchbank, grass drag racing is indeed cool!
So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen – the only thing worse than the LBJ fiasco was our sport!! It’s a dubious distinction to be sure.
I remember when I went to my first grass drag race in the fall of 1993. It was in Mason City, Iowa. It’s bad enough that I was in that God-forsaken town (inside jab at friend from Mason City intended here). The sleds were lined up four wide, the low-tech light system in front of them flashed and then the four sleds launched off the line and went in a straight line for 660 feet, with the top two advancing to the next round. Dust flew, the wind blew, it was about 95 degrees and humid. This was my future!
Back then, grass drag racing was bigger than it is now – in fact, if I recall right, there were 50-some-odd entries in the big Stock classes that day. This is also where I met folks like Glenn Erlandson, Pat Hauck, Craig Marchbank and Dean Schroeder for the first time.
Back when we had Snow Week magazine kicking out 18 issues a year, including six issues each fall, I grew to love grass drag racing! I knew all the players, the rules, the classes, the inside politics and I really enjoyed learning about how some of the Improved Stock, Pro Stock and mod sleds were built and tuned. In the ‘90s, there were some years where they’d get 900-plus entries at Haydays and 700-plus at Ohio, New York, or Epping, New Hampshire. It was a huge deal in our little world.
But still, even for a snowmobiler like me, thinking back to my first time viewing snowmobiles compete on a grass strip in August, it did seem peculiar – I can’t imagine what a mainstream journalist like Aschburner thought…
Well, maybe we don’t have to imagine what he thought, given what he said on the radio this afternoon. Grass drag racing is a bit quirky, but can it possibly be the worst thing he’s ever covered in his entire careeer? He started at the Milwaukee Journal in 1979, for cripes sake!!
Oh well, what’s the old saying about publicity? Good or bad, say whatever you want, just spell my name right? That’s s-n-o-w-m-o-b-i-l-e g-r-a-s-s d-r-a-g r-a-c-i-n-g, Aschburner!
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