Well, with just two races to go, we are closing in on calling the 2008 season “done”. Is it me, or does it seem to get longer every year?

We couldn’t be happier with the results so far, as I mentioned on the home page. We got one of our 650’s finally running and on the track. Keith Badour of Challenger Performance gave us more motor than we know what to do with! We discussed often, and at length, who will be the “lucky” guy who gets to race it. Steve won. Or lost, depending on how you look at it!

It is more power than anything we have ever ridden on the oval track - and I include every sled we have had since the 1970’s in that statement! It is a MONSTER! Sean has nicknamed it the WMD - Weapon of Mass Destruction! It made it’s debut at Mole Lake, where Steve got a third with it. We have a ways to go to learn what this sled likes and how to handle it. But Steve is up for the challenge, and his having a ball on the big beast.

Our luck is holding so far in regards to the overall season. Right now, Sean leads in overall SnoPro points, Steve and myself right behind him, Adam is in 6th. 250 liquid has been a very good class for us. Overall, entries are way up in that class, so it’s a blast to race in it. 440 F/A and Liquids have been getting better every week with Steve and Sean finishing in the top 3 every weekend.

Race Highlights:

At Mole Lake - this was a first time event for the promoters there, with PVR running the actual races. It was fun! Over $15,000 in cash was paid out that weekend, and the promoters treated all the racers like royalty. It was great. The track was short & tight, making it more of a drivers track rather than who had the best motor.

Congratulations to Paul Niznik for winning the overall 340 cup feature race! He did a great job driving, even with his hood threatening to pop off at any moment!

From early reports, this race will be bigger and better next year, as the tribal community officers were very happy with the four full hotels and the response from the racers. We look forward to it again next year!

Sauk Centre I-94 Ice-Daze.
This is a banked oval track, just off the freeway, literally across the street from our “home away from home” here in the lower 48. This was another PVR Vintage SnoPro race, this time run by the SLEDS racing organization. The ice was in great shape on Friday night, the racing was fast and we overall had a great time. We feel this track could be the very best race facility in the State of Minnesota. It was night race, with plenty of light on the track and in the pits. It reminds us of the old “Dayco Holiday Spectacular” track in nearby Alexandria where they raced in the late 70’s and early 1980’s.

We walked away with two 1sts, seven 2nds, and two 3rds! The trophies were big and will look dang good on the counter in the shop!

We made some improvements to Steve’s 440 liquid sled (a 77 Cat ‘Z’) that really paid off for him during this race. Normally he sits and spins at the line and starts from last. This time, he came off the line in 4th, but was moving quick. In the 2nd lap, Steve came into turn 1 and 2 hard - and picked the top four sleds off like a madman! He just weaved through them to get himself into 1st place, which he held to the finish. It was great fun to watch. It reminded us of the old days!

Stay tuned - We’ll update as fast as we can talk our buddy out of his computer!

Hey we apologize for being out of touch for so long - but hey racing takes priority and it takes a lot of time! Especially when your building 6-8 sleds from scratch.

Last year we had 6 sleds - two 250 Z’s, a 340 Z, a 440 Z, and a 295 and a 440 EXT. This year, we set out to keep those running and added another 295 EXT, a 340 EXT and a 440 EXT, which we did get ready. We also got 2 650 EXT’s and we are still working on those IFS sleds due to an acute shortage of parts. But we won’t give up until Arctic is represented in the IFS classes on the track.

We should really take the time to thank all the people that have been helping us. Without their support we would be unable to do what we love: Race vintage sleds.

The Wanderschied families at Country Cat in Sauk Centre, John at Northern Crankshaft, Glen at High-Performance Engineering, Keith at Challenger Performance, Vintagesleds.com, and The Snowmobile Hall of Fame. Also we’d like to thank the following individuals: Rich Pederson at ZedShed, Shawn Johnson, Jason Rhuby, Nathan Housie, Paul James (AKA “Dragcat”), Jeff Johnson, David Schark, Randy Springer, Herb Yancey, Dave Pentinelli, Roger Skime, John Tranby, John Dunlop, Vern Ort and Ed Casey. Without these people’s help, we wouldn’t have gotten any of the sleds done. I hope I haven’t forgotten anybody!

Notes From The Races:

Rock Rapids Iowa, December 29th, 2007.
This was our first trip to this track. Even though it was a pretty bumpy track, it was an excellent facility - we really liked it and hope they have more races there. We apologize for not staying longer after the races (we heard later how cheap the drinks were!) but we were just to tired from the all-nighters we pulled to get the sleds ready.

Sean and Adam had a good shot at the 250 class, but with back-to-back heat and final races, we had trouble getting the sleds started and they were overheating. But in 340, I got my first win on the 340 Z! It was great, even though my hole-shot was a disaster! Steve later won the free-air open class on an EXT we just finished the day before.

Ironwood Michigan, January 5-6, 2008
We love this track! It was our first time racing on it. It lived up all the hype - and exceed it! It reminded us of Beausejour - the whole town was really behind the race and wanting to make it great. They are committed for the long haul, and want to make the race the best there is.

The weather was kind of crazy - it got up to 44 degrees on Sunday - not normal for the UP of Michigan. It was the first time that Vintage SnoPro was run in conjunction with the USSA racing program. It was a little long, but for the first race of the year, things went pretty good. We had time in between the races while the newer stuff ran, and that helped us a lot.

Adam and Sean duked it out in the 250 IFS class with Adam getting his first win in the SnoPro series, but Sean came back in 250 and stole it from Adam on the corner. I tried the 340 Z in the 340 IFS class, but when Duanne Stetzer nailed his throttle in a slush puddle with me right behind him, I took an un-scheduled bath! I was wet down to my sled and I were wet to our underwear! I wound up 3rd, or last, however you want to look at it. In the 440 liquid class, Steve was out front when the coolant filler cap blew off the head! It hit him in the viser, and fell back in the sled. Anti-freeze was flying everywhere, and Steve knew he had to stop or risk ruining his engine. It was a tough decision as he was trying to end the curse of the 440 Z not finishing races! Maybe next week…

Both Steve and Sean qualified for the big 10 lap Jim Adema memorial cup race. The boys were in 3rd and 4th, with Sean closing the gap on second. Bill Stull was involved in a scary accident, and the race was stopped. Sean was unable to get his sled re-started and was towed off. Steve finished the race in third and our congratulations to Mark Anderson for winning the first annual race. Mark, you need to stay racing so we have some chances to beat you! It may take a few years, but we’ll keep trying if you keep letting us!

Eagle River Wisconsin, January 11-13th, 2008
NEWSFLASH: ADAM BREAKS THE CURSE OF EAGLE RIVER! After qualifying for 4 finals, Adam made none of the them, as his sled wouldn’t start. However, officials found the 250 Super-Stock class short a lot of sleds, and allowed Adam to run as they took everyone that signed up for the final. The team discussed the non-starting issue decided to not start the sled until race time, to ensure he’d get to the starting line. The strategy paid off, as not only did the sled finally start, it ran like a scolded dog! Adam lead the race from flag to flag, with the team screaming at him to slow down! The fast Merc of Paul Romanowski that was chasing him blew a belt, and Adam’s lead stretched to 3/4 of a lap! The tech guys really, really, really went through the sled with a fine tooth comb after that finish, but he checked out A-OK!

I had another questionable hole-shot with the 340, but kept on it to get into second place behind Johnny Schumacher. Johnny ran the sled to death to win, and couldn’t get around the track to collect his flag and get his picture taken. I couldn’t have that, so I gave him a ride. My hood was falling off, and it looked like a junker bringing him around, but hey it was Eagle River, Johnny had to get his flag!

In the 440 liquid final, Steve battled it out with Mark Anderson and you can guess the outcome… Mark won with Steve in second again. We’ll get you some day Mark Anderson! Maybe.

Our big thrill of the weekend was that Sean qualified for the main event - the Eagle River Vintage World Championship race for sleds up to 800cc. But Sean didn’t qualify with our 650 - he made it in with a little 440 EXT! Our thanks to Shawn Johnson, Jason Rhuby, Rob Stowe and Nathan Housie for there valent attempt to fix the 650’s electrical problem while we were racing. We just ran out of time.

The final was a wild, crazy, shoot-out at the OK corral. Parts, pieces, sleds and racers were strewn about like a Scarecrow in a wind tunnel! Sean’s sled bogged at the starting line, and he was dead last into turn one, as the other drivers were already on turn 3! But with the mayhem, and the dead sleds, Sean was able to make from 12th place all the way up to 7th. If he had only a few more laps and crashes, who knows where he could have wound up!

So that’s the season so far folks! We are having a blast even though some days we wonder why do all this! We have three races left, Mole Lake (Crandon) Wisconson, Sauk Centre I-94 Ice-Daze, and the final race at Weyauwega Wisconsin.

We hope to see you there! Take care and enjoy the great winter we are having!

Mike, Steve, Sean and Adam.