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.

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.

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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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Bryan Dyrdahl leads USCC Red Lake I-500

Thief River Falls, Minn.

January 17, 2009

Ski-Doo’s Bryan Dyrdahl will head out for the final day of the Red Lake I-500 tomorrow morning with a 58-second lead over Polaris driver Corey Davidson. If Dyrdahl holds on, it will be his fifth I-500 cross-country win and his third in four years.

Last year, Dyrdahl went into the last day of the 500 with a five-minute lead and won by 10 minutes. Does the narrower margin matter?

“I just need to stay on the sled and ride my own race,” Dyrdahl said. “I’ve had bad luck on the last day before. But if nothing goes wrong, I’ll be alright.”

Cat rider Brian Dick, who had the fastest time of the day, sits in third place overall and will leave the gate about 90 seconds after Davidson. Dick’s teammate D.J. Ekre will depart five seconds later followed by fifth place rider Dan Ebert, also on an Arctic Cat.

Dick said he pushed hard today and is happy with his run, but admitted it will be a tall order to pass front runners Dyrdahl and Davidson. “It’s gonna take a little bobble from them. It’s a lot of time [to make up], but I made a little bit up today,” he said. “Every little bit helps.” Davidson’s strategy is simple.

“I’m gonna put the hammer down tomorrow,” he said. “I ain’t gonna shut ‘er down.”

Day 3 will bring racers over the same course as Day 2. Conditions of the 149-mile leg faced by drivers varied, depending on when they left the starting gate. Drivers who left the line early plowed through deep, drifted snow. Polaris driver Gabe Bunke, who was first off the line said his run was slow and windy. “Visibility was terrible. It was like driving in snowdust,” he said. “Not a fun day.”

Other trouble for Bunke today included a poor-running sled. “The motor sucks. The clutching sucks. There’s no power. No mid-range,” the normally upbeat veteran said. To compound the problem, his Dragon SP ran out of gas just a few miles from a fuel stop, which added about 30 minutes to his time, he said. He’s in 21^st place on the Pro 600 class.

The course was fast for Dick, who was the 21^st sled to leave the gate today. “Some parts were technical, but there was a lot of high-speed stuff,” he said. “A lot of the ditches were wide-open running.”

Racing starts tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CST. Check back to SnowGoerRacing.com tomorrow afternoon for results and a final report.

USCC Red Lake I-500 official 2-day standings

Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. Corey Davidson (Pol); 3. Brian Dick (Cat); 4. D.J. Ekre (Cat); 5. Dan Ebert (Cat); 6. Ryan Huston (Cat); 7. Chad Lian (Cat); 8. Nathan Potucek (Cat); 9. Brandon Gerszewski (Cat); 10. Eric Gausen.

Bryan Dyrdahl Preps For The Red Lake I-500

Bryan Dyrdahl checks the rate of a suspension spring as part of his preparation for this weekend's I-500.

The I-500 is a legendary cross-country race that’s been run by thousands of snowmobile racers since the inaugural Winnipeg-to-St. Paul in 1966. For some people, their goal is just to finish, but for Ski-Doo racer Bryan Dyrdahl, his goal is only to win. Racing for anything less than first place isn’t worth his time, he says.
To win the 500 requires not only a ton of rider skill and lots of luck; it also takes a well-prepared race sled. Dyrdahl has won the race four times, and this weekend he’ll be running a fine-tuned MX Zx 600 RS.
We recently caught up with Dyrdahl at his home in Bagley, Minnesota, to find out what goes in to setting up the machine that he’ll ride in this weekend’s United States Cross-Country (USCC) Red Lake I-500.

Full-Time Job
Dyrdahl works construction in the summer. But when winter rolls into northern Minnesota, his real job is put on hold until the spring thaw, so snowmobile racing becomes his temporary full-time job.
He’s already won the I-500 more times than anyone (Jack Struthers and Corey Davidson each have won the race three times), but he hopes to move further into elite status with a win this weekend.

Dyrdahl hopes this sled will carry him to his fifth I-500 victory.

Set-up for this weekend’s I-500 will take two weeks, working eight to 10 hours each day. Racers used to spend hours gusseting and welding their sleds to get them ready for the I-500. But modern sleds like Dyrdahl’s No. 55 don’t require extra reinforcements in order to survive 500 hard miles of ditches, rivers and rough trails.

Dyrdahl says his Ski-Doos have been tough and dependable. Other than stuff for which he takes the blame, Dyrdahl hasn’t wrecked anything in more than five years racing yellow, he said. Stronger, tougher sleds allow him to spend more time tuning and dialing-in to make the machine ride better and go faster.

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USCC Grafton Equipment 100 race results

United States Cross Country

January 3, 2009

Grafton, N.D.

Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. Ryan Simons (Cat); 3. Aaron Christensen (Pol).

Pro Open: 1. DJ Ekre (Cat); 2. Brian Dick (Cat); 3. Gabe Bunke (Pol).

Semi-Pro 600: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Sam Vandeputte (Doo); 3. Cory Grant (Doo).

Semi-Pro Improved: 1. Josh Carey (Yam); 2. Spencer Fett (Cat); 3. Ken Christensen (Pol).

440: 1. Scott Pivec (Doo); 2. Ted Horbaty (Doo); 3. Brian Carey Sr. (Yam)).

Amateur Improved: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Erik Bute (Cat); 3. Ryan Greening (Yam).

Fan 600: 1. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 2. Marty Feil (Cat).

Legends 50+: 1. Jim Sobeck (Doo); 2. Doug Oster (Cat); 3. Roger Gorder (Cat).

Vet 30+: 1. Corey Davidson (Pol); 2. Chad Lian (Cat); 3. Nick Roehl (Doo).

Junior 10-13: 1. Cole Lian (Cat); 2. Adam Mach (Cat); 3. Cole Davidson (Cat).

Junior 14-17: 1. Stuart Brandt (Cat); 2. Tyler Kemppainen (Doo); 3. Timmy Kallock (Cat).

Vintage: 1. Tom Clement (Yam); 2. Bob Delaloye (Cat).

Women: 1. Jolene Bute (Cat); 2. Jenna Sobeck (Doo); 3. Pamela Williamson (Cat).

Amateur 600: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Cody Matthews (Cat); 3. Erik Bute (Cat).

Masters 40+: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Jim Sobeck (Doo); 3. Bill Thomas (Pol).

Sport 85: 1. Steve Emerson (Yam); 2. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 3. Paul Anderson (Pol).

120 Stock: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Nathan Lorenz (Cat); 3. Scott McColl (Cat).

120 Improved: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Nathan Lorenz (Cat); 3. Scott McColl (Cat).

USCC Gonvick 100 race results

United States Cross-Country

December 20, 2008

Gonvick, N.D

Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. Brian Dick (Cat); 3. Ryan Simons (Cat).

Pro Open: 1. DJ Ekre (Cat); 2. Brian Dick (Cat); 3. Corey Davidson (Pol).

Semi-Pro 600: 1. Sam Vandeputte (Doo); 2. Spencer Fett (Cat); 3. Ken Christensen (Pol).

Semi-Pro Improved: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Bill Thomas (Pol); 3. Cody Kallock (Cat).

440: 1. Scott Pivec (Doo); 2. Chris Sobeck (Doo); 3. Brian Carey Sr. (Cat).

Legends 50+: 1. Jim Sobeck (Doo); 2. Dennis Topp (Pol); 3. Gary Anderson (Pol).

Women: 1. Jenna Sobeck (Doo); 2. Shelby Christensen (Pol); 3. Jessica Carey (Yam).

Amateur Improved: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Erik Bute (Cat); 3. Paul Eckstein (Pol).

Fan 600: 1. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 2. Marty Feil (Cat).

Vet 30+: 1. Corey Davidson (Pol); 2. Jeff Klein (Pol); 3. Dave Dirkman (Doo).

Amateur 600: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Paul Eckstein (Pol); 3. Brad Pecka (Cat).

Masters 40+: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Bill Thomas (Pol); 3. Jim Sobeck (Doo).

Sport 85: 1. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 2. Steve Emerson (Yam); 3. Trevor Fett (Cat).

Junior 10-13: 1. Cole Lian (Cat); 2. Adam Mach (Cat); 3. Ben Thomas (Doo).

Junior 14-17: 1. Timmy Kallock (Cat); 2. Tyler Kemppainen (Doo); 3. Stuart Brandt (Cat).

Vintage: 1. Dennis Topp (Pol); 2. Tom Clement (Yam); 3. Bob Delaloye (Cat).

120 Stock: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Sara Larson (Cat); 3. Emily Morken (Cat).

120 Open: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Scott McColl (Cat); 3. Sara Larson (Cat).

For full results of the USCC’s season opener in Gonvick, click here.

New “Team” class added for the U.S.C.C Red Lake I-500!

Now you can experience the thrill of competing in the legendary I-500, but at a fraction of the cost and with your friends. It¹s the result of a new “Team 600″ class, which joins 11 “individual” class options for the 2009 Red Lake I-500 (Jan. 16-18) at the Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

Teams may consist of two or three members, with one person tackling each day. The team can opt to use one snowmobile for the entire event or a different sled for each day. Eligible snowmobiles must be no larger than 600cc two-stroke or 1050cc four-stroke, of any model year.

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