Time Benders Vintage Garage

Posted 06.30.09 by Larry Preston

I'd like to introduce those of you who don't know about it to Time Benders Vintage Garage, and owner Dale Neduzak.

Hardly a week goes by when I don't get contacted by someone looking for RXL clone information. Well Dale has completed a new website to show the RXL clone parts and machines, as well as the new 81 Ski-Doo bird cages he can build for you. The website contains a complete parts and price list, as well as a story I contributed on the history of the Polaris RXL - complete with some never before seen photos.

My 340cc RXL that Mark Anderson and Jacob Goede raced last year started out at Time Benders Vintage. I have another one that I am slowly working on. I can't tell you what a delight it is to work with new aluminum after restoring so many aluminum and magnesium machines.

Make no mistake, building a clone RXL from the ground up is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of parts in one of these machines, and having someone like Dale around to make parts available is a very good thing.

So if your looking for a clone to build for show or for race, Dale can help with a 77, 78 or 79 model, as well as the 81 Ski-Doo chassis. He's got copies of the original stuff as well as competition version of some parts. These are parts (like the trailing arms) that we have learned need a little extra support to survive modern racing conditions.

My thanks to Dale for all the help with my projects over the years, and the new site.

Making Some Winter Thunder

Posted 06.29.09 by Larry Preston

Jesse Dodge (aka Winter_Thunder) is a remote service tech for a company that supplies dental equipment. He's always been an avid snowmobiler. The first sled he ever rode was an 80 Kawasaki Invader. About 5 years ago he remembered and old Scorpion Whip sitting next to his parents house. He thought it would be cool to fix it up and ride it around just to watch heads spin as they see the old sled coming down the trail. After he got that sled done and starting riding it around, he found that is exactly what happened. The machine was greeted with big smiles and enthusiastic thumbs up wherever he went.

In his job Jesse has the opportunity to travel all over Southern Minnesota and several other states as well. He puts on about 60,000 miles per year. The travel aspect of his job has a happy side effect: It allows him to find old sleds - and get them for a great price.

But That's not the only way he finds sleds. He actively employs several other tried and true methods for finding old iron. He's got a friendly local UPS driver he can tap for leads. He uses vintagesleds.com lot. He goes to shows and swap meets a lot. He "networks" with other vintage sledders.

At the swap meets, things have changed a bit since his garage has gotten full.

"I used to go to swap meets and just hunt for stuff. But since I've been on the Bull Sessions, I have gotten to know so many people and new friends that hunting for stuff at swap meets is what I do early when I get there. The rest of the day, I'm shooting the breeze with all the people I've met online."

Jesse loves to collect production sleds, but he looks for the more desirable sleds available from the dealers back in the day. His collection features sleds that were only available for one year - such as the Kawasaki Interceptor that was only made in 1982, or the hole-in-the-hood 72 Polaris ATX, or the twin exhaust Rollo-O-Flex.

First up with just 297 original miles on it is his 81 Kawasaki LTD. Since 1982, this has sat under a cover in a garage. Some time ago Jesse was looking for a cylinder for another Kawasaki that he used to own. He got a random email from some one that did not have a cylinder, but they did have a nice original 81 LTD for sale. Several hundred dollars later it was sitting in Jesse's garage. Other than some paint on the skis and pipes, it is all original. It even came with the parts manual, the shop manual and the owners manual. Even the cover came with it. Jesse then tracked down a matching suit and helmet for the LTD that was once available at the dealerships.

Another random email (don't you just love the internet?) came from fellow Kawasaki enthusiast. It contained information on a Kawasaki Interceptor in a barn in Iowa. Jesse drove down and picked it up. According to Jesse it is #278 out of 601 ever built. It is a candidate for future restoration.

The 78 Kawasaki invader 440 is one of his riders. He rebuilt the motor himself out of New Old Stock (NOS) parts. His 72 Polaris ATX started out life as a 335, but when Jesse found it, it was a bare chassis with no motor. So what is a guy to do? Why stuff a 530 FA Polaris motor in it! Jesse built the motor with NOS cylinders, pistons and rings. The crank was totally rebuilt. This will be one of his riders for the 2009-2010.

His 74 Roll-O-Flex sled is an interesting piece of snowmobile history. It has a Yamaha fan engine, and the suspension looks to be a knock-off of the Scorpion para-rail - lots of bogey wheels on a stick. He found some information on this Roll-O-Flex site, and the he's learned more about the sled from Bull Sessions member "Mr. Plow".

The exhaust on this machines appears to be Roll-O-Flexe's attempt at a tuned exhaust - using parts and ideas from several different manufacturers. Not many of the Rollo-Flex's were sold with this set up.

Amongst his other sleds, there is a 1980 Polaris Centurion, purchased in "basket case" condition. Jesse is building an engine for it with a new crank and case halves. The cylinder shave been bored and new pistons and rings installed. Like all his other sleds, this one will be added to the stable of riders. He's also working on a 73 TX for his lady, who got sucked into the hobby after a very popular appearance on this thread... and because she saw how much fun Jesse was having with all of this.

Thanks for sharing Jesse - and we look forward to seeing you at Live on Skis this year!

The RXL Lawn Tractor

Posted 06.26.09 by Larry Preston

Meet Sammy and Shelby, and Shelby's new toy: This is a one of a kind, prototype 77 Polaris RXL garden tractor. They are extremely rare, and only one has been found, verified by experts, and has been restored to pristine condition. She came factory with a whopping 8 hp briggs and stratton 4 stroke, power house! It has been overbored .010, has been ported, polished, and piped with a genuine, Fleet Farm High performance tuned exhaust system. She has been geared up with a 4"( instead of 3 1/2") front drive pulley. Making it a wheel standing monster on the hole shot, and a whopping 9 mph at 3650rpm! The cornering on this machine has never been paralleled on a by another piece of yard equipment to date.

All kidding aside, Jim Haug built this beauty mostly because Shelby always wanted to drive Jim's actual lawn mower.

This machine was originally a 76 Simplicity Yeoman, sold new by Pierce Sales and Service of Plainview. With some extra pin stripes, and some donated parts from my garage crew, this baby took a whopping 20 hours to restore. Shelby loves to ride it, and has been known to cruise it down to her new neighbors - Brian and Denise Bronner. Their house has pretty much become her new 2nd home. This is what happens when a guy who likes snowmobiles runs out of things to work on in his garage! Actually it is what happens when a dad knows what his kids wants and has not learned how to say no. So here it is, before all of the dents, scratches and burned off tire treads. Enjoy!

Random Race Photos on a Hot Summer Day

Posted 06.18.09 by Larry Preston

It's hot outside... approaching 100 degrees with humidity so thick you can feel it splitting as you walk through. What better way to cool off than with a few random pictures from yesterday and today of old race sleds?

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

First up is this starting line photo from the race in Boonville, New York last winter. This was sent in by Marcel Fontaine, who does outstanding updates on all the Eastern racing every year.

 

Next one was sent in by Greg Karbowski. The sled is owned by Pat Erskine, a major support of vintage racing in Michigan. Note the all-too-true bumper sticker on the rear end.

These shots were sent in by someone who wants to remain anonymous. This is the full line up of the Decker Racing team's Ski-Doos heading into 1982. Note the giant garage wall of extra race motors. Care to take a guess on the value of those today?

72 Memories From a 72 Starfire

Posted 06.23.09 by Larry Preston

It was a 72 800cc Starfire that got me into this whole "vintage" thing. Even though I grew up with and loved snowmobiles as a kid, by late in 1999 I was in such a different world that snowmobiles never ever crossed my mind. That is until I went to the Waconia show and got the privilege of riding Doc Jim's 72 800 Starfire.

I was so thrilled with that I just started doing this website for the fun of it... and I haven't ever stopped, and I don't plan to.

At this years VSCA National show, Gregg Holland's 72 800cc Starfire stuck out to me from across the room. To say this is a sweet restoration would be a severe understatement. This thing is stunning.

Last summer Greg was walking through a scrap yard, when a sled with an ill-fitting 74 TX hood caught his eye. Right off he noticed the chaincase being offset, and that the bumpers were worn from pipes (that were missing) smacking them. This was no 74 TX! It was a 72 Starfire, and it clearly was on of the big triples. What was pretty funny to Greg at the time was that he knew several Polaris collectors had walked right by this sled and didn't catch what it really was. Whoops.

By August Greg started working on the project. He enlisted a lot of people to help out. Rob Simonich had a motor for him. Don (Dr. Mario) Soukup had some parts for him, as did Tim Hill and Gary Bright. Conrad Van Batavia did the seat, and Justin Fredrickson was of great assistance in researching the parts and pieces. Jesse Anderson did the awesome paint work on the sled, and Justin Clack and Doug Monson had a hand it as well. He took the sled all the way down, even removing the belly pan (not a task for the faint of heart), smashing that all back into shape and re-attaching it.

Multiple projects going at one time keep Greg enthused. "I used to do cars. But with snowmobiles, you can work on and own a bunch of them at the same time. The projects don't take so long - its just a lot more fun." He doesn't do the body work, opting to have professionals help out in that arena. So once the sled is out for body work or paint, he can work on motors, suspensions - whatever else needs to be cleaned up to be re-installed.

Greg got a real head start into restoring Polaris sleds when he got to know Burt Buzick, who has become a good friend. Burt had huge bunch of New Old Stock (NOS) parts and decided they needed a new home with Greg. "Use what you can, use some to trade for what you need, and if you sell any of it, give me the money!" was all Burt said when he gave Greg the parts. Because of Burt and the others who helped, the sled is restored with 80% NOS parts. The rest of the parts that Greg got? "Not for sale. But I will consider trades for parts I need for other projects." Greg said.

The sled was finished in March. "The best part of any restoration is starting it up for the first time." Greg said it runs beautiful, and he cannot wait to drive it next winter. This will be no trailer queen - he's going to have some fun on it. He just wanted to show it once at the big VSCA show before he rides it.

Greg says he finds the best part of this whole vintage deal to be the "old timers" who come out to see the sleds. "I want to get them as close as I can to how those guys remember seeing them. I love the look on their face when they see the sleds looking like new, and I always look forward to the stories and shooting the breeze with them."

Well said Greg. I couldn't agree more. Looking at this 72 brought back great memories of riding the 72 at Waconia, and of seeing them race back in the day. Memories on top of memories. Gotta love it.

Wayne Trapp At St. Germain

Posted 06.18.09 by Larry Preston

Some more pictures from the show in May at St. Germain for the Hall of Fame. These all came from Leon of Kochs Performance, who had the time of his life that day re-uniting Wayne and his original 1975 race sled. I think the photos tell the story.

Wayne signs the very cool posters had made up - some will be auctioned off for charity soon!

Left to right: Wayne Trapp, Leon Koch, Mike Johnson (Mike has been instrumental in finding a ton of rare Yamaha stuff) Leon's wife Penne, and Lynn Trapps son Ty.

Wayne and his long lost 75 PDC racer reunited!

Wayne autographing the hood

One To Watch In 2010

Posted 06.17.09 by Larry Preston

I've known Mike Meagher for quite a few years now. When I started racing, it was Mike I looked up to as the man to try and keep up with. His Arctic 250Z was the terror of Wolf Lake. Lately his son has been driving the 250, and Mike had been hauling the mail sometimes on a 340Z and a lot on a 440 Yamaha that is wicked, wicked fast. He's got more wins under his belt than I could list here.

When he's not racing, working or spending time with the family, he and his wife Judy are the people behind the VSCA.

Last year at Eagle River, Mike pulled off one of the most exciting near misses I've seen in all the races I've ever watched. First turn, 440 mod liquid class final at Eagle River. Mike and big pack of screaming 440's came flying into the turn one. Mike went to grab for the brake, but a bump sent him flying into the hammer... for a split second the sled was facing the wrong way in some nasty, snarling traffic. Somehow, Mike got that sled pulled back around, pulled out a near fatal fishtail, survived getting smacked by a few guys and getting smacked himself.

Not only did he get it turned around - he won the class.

This year, Mike may be concentrating on being the race director at several Midwest races, but he will be racing wherever time permits. If you get a chance, you'll want to try and catch him!

A Message For Vintage Sledders in New York

Posted 06.16.09 by John Kress (AKA BuffaloKat)

As an avid fan of vintage snowmobiles here in the state of New York, I'm trying to get New York state to adopt a limited use permit that would allow you to use your vintage snowmobile (any snowmobile 25 years old or older) at related functions such as shows, parades and fund raisers, and for trail riding without the full license fee.

Other states such as MN, VT, MA, CT and ME have already adopted such a permit. Fees generally run from free to $45 for lifetime use of a vintage sled.

For this to be possible in New York, we need as many owners as possible to get involved. I am asking you to contact your local New York State Snowmobile Association (NYSSA), your state and local representatives, speak up at you next local meeting, or contact me with your interest in helping with this project.

Feel free to email me, or visit with me on SledTalk 24/7 to see how we can all get this thing done!

Johnny Appleseed of Old Iron

Posted 06.15.09 by Larry Preston

It was great fun to find this morning that one of my favorite SledTalk 24/7 members has been immortalized in the newspaper where his mother lives. In fact, EricR's (SledTalk user name) mother wrote an article for the Morrison County Record about her sons obsessions with old sleds and old machinery. I had to chuckle out loud when I read this article. Enjoy.

Ronn Hetteen RIP

Posted 06.09.09 by Larry Preston

Just got word from his wife that Ronn Hetteen, owner of Hetteen Video, and the son of Arctic Cat and Polaris founder Edgar Hetteen passed away after losing his battle with cancer.

Funeral is set for 1:00 this coming Thursday at the Emmanuel Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's located at 7777 University Avenue NE. The phone number there is 763-784-7777. Visitation starts at 12:00 noon, with the funeral at 1:00.

Ronn and his wife Nilla have had a video production studio for over 20 years and they were responsible for getting many of the private collection of videos from Edgar Hetteen put onto DVD.

Krieg's Play House

Posted 06.08.09 by Larry Preston

One of the biggest & nicest collection of Ski-Doo race race sleds belongs to Joann and Kurt Krueger. A lot of you now know Kurt and Joann from there starring role in the "Wreckreation Nation" television special about their racing exploits at Eagle River.

But Kurt and Joann have been busy working on another project... a really big project. They wanted to give their Ski-Doo collection a fitting display area. So a new building went up and the sleds and stuff went in. It's not totally done yet, and when it does get finished, I suspect a fine social gathering with adult beverages will ensue. In the mean time, here's a couple of sneak peak pictures. Nice job Kurt and Joann - this looks like a very fitting home for your sleds and one of the finest private displays anywhere!

Jon Berard Classic Race Shots

Posted 06.03.09 by Larry Preston

If you were a race fan back in the day, you'll recall the name Jon Berard as having been a race driver - most notably for the ARMY race team. Jon has recently gotten into this whole vintage thing, and started digging through his old pictures. I should mention he is a photographer now. Good thing he had the camera back then, because these are some rare shots. My thanks to Jon for sending them in.

First up is this photo of Bob Elsner shortly befor he became part of the Arctic Cat factroy team. This shot was taken after winning the big race in Shawano, Wisconsin and $1,000!

 

 

 

 

The guy about to go off the track is Hollas Zockie (badly mispelled?) #10, a great racer from Oskosh Wi. Note the crude looking Blizzard behind him. Possibly at Neenah Wisconsin.

 

 

The big accident at the Milwaukee Mile in I believe, 1974. So many sleds were totaled in that one accident! It was huge - yet this is one of very few pictures of the twisted wreckage and carnage from that day. Jon dropped off a couple more that can be seen at the Hall of Fame in St. Germain.

This lovely lady is Jon's wife. She was racing right along side him. Behind her is Dick Bahr, who worked his motor magic for the Hayes boys for most of thier career, including Stan Haye's 74 SnoPro championship, and for both Stan and Doug at Mercury. One of the kids on the right is none other than Al Fenhaus who would go on to be an Eagle River champ.

Side note: When Al was 11 years old, he helped Bobby Donahue pull an all nighter fixing his stock 338 Yamaha after Bobby totaled it in turn one. Yamaha flew up a tub from Chicago to Eagle River and they worked all night, had the sled ready to go by 8:00 AM.

When Al was about 7 or 8 his Dad (Elroy Jr.) had him break in his 340 mod Polaris in the back yard. When Al was 12, John Dittbrender (USSA champion 1976) had Al break in his 340 liquid stock Merc. Al and Jon would race up and down the corn field breaking in the sleds. He had the 340, Jon had a 440. Jon says that little schiester would pass him in the corners with a non studded 340. Very talented individual.

That's Sno*Jet great Jim Adeam, about to put a whoopn' on that poor Snow-Twister.

 

 

 

 

71 Mini Moto-Ski Mini-Sno

Posted 06.01.09 by Larry Preston

Ahh. June 1st. Sun is out and it's 72 degrees. I love winter, but I have to admit this feels good.

Last week I put up a photo of a little moto-ski from St. Germain that I really liked. I didn't have any information on it, but now I do. It belongs to 14 year old Jesse Hill, Tim Hill's son. He has owned it since he was 5 years old.

It's a 1971 Moto-Ski Mini-Sno, and Jesse and his dad found it in a basement in mint condition. After Jesse had it a couple years he decided he wanted a few things done to it. So under Jesse's direction, Tim put a megaphone on, swapped the Keihen carb to a Mikuni, and had the head cut down for more compression. Tim then made the blue windshield and they added the orange stripe and some of his skateboard decals. The skis were custom made as a gift from Mike Soltis. The rest of the sled has all original paint, seat etc. Time says it is powered by a 230 JLO, it puts out close to 15hp and surprisingly, it really rips!

Thanks for the info Tim and nice sled!

A CLASSIC Sled Roundup

Posted 05.29.09 by Larry Preston

I had an amazing time at the St. Germain Hall of Fame show last Sunday. After attending the wedding of my nephew Brandon and newest family member Abby on Saturday, I headed home to catch a few Z's before getting up and making the drive to St. Germain on Sunday morning. Leaving by 6:00 AM, I was there by 11:00 AM.

It must be said that the weather was outstanding. I'm sure that had something to do with it - but the crowds were the largest I've ever seen at the show. There was more sleds than ever. And the swap... the swap was HUGE! And then there was the sleds. Lots of them, and they were all absolutely top-notch.

I noticed everyone there was in a great mood. Smiles everywhere and laughing from everyone. Lots of people had gotten there the night before and were maybe suffering a tad from the partying, but they were still in a good mood. I finally got to meet some of the outstanding people from the Bull Sessions - Lowtekrednek, Mr. Squirrel, Snowmoboyle, just to name a few. Plus I got to see many of the guys and gals off the Bull Sessions whose posts I enjoy reading every single day - GHenry, Earlham (who was very quick to post some fantastic pictures from the show), Demo and many more.

Here's just a few sleds that stood out to me.

T.J. Henriksen's Hornet. I've seen this sled a couple of times, but it still never ceases to stop me in my tracks. It's just neat. I got to ask T.J. about the sled. "It's not something I can bring to Live on Skis." He said. "Even though they advertised it as being able to go 40 or 45 mph, it only goes about 15!" None the less, it's such an oddball sled and so far out of the ordinary that people have to stop, look and appreciate it. I'm sure there are not many of these around, and this one is in very, very nice condition.

I like race sleds, and 1975 race sleds hold a special fascination for me as I saw them all roll on to the race track in Alexandria, Minnesota in December of 1974. I became, and remain a huge race fan from that day forward. Leon Koch is quickly building one of the most outstanding collection of Yamaha race sleds anywhere. This year he brought out one of the surviving 75's: Wayne Trapp's 340. Wayne and Lynn got the sleds from Yamaha for 1975, but turned to Jefferson Meats to for sponsorship to cover expenses. They also provided a truck for the team to race out of. They were paid $50 a day back then, plus they got to split the winnings - a great deal for all involved. Fast forward to a few years ago when a buddy calls Leon and says "We found a GPX, but it's strange." Leon went out to take a look at it, and it did not take more than a few minutes to figure out he was on to something big. If you looked at the hood just right, you could see where it used to say "Driver Wayne Trapp" as well as the "S-MOD II". Leon tried to buy it on the spot, but it would be a couple more years before he would get it. On Sunday, Wayne made it to the show, as did Lynn's son, and Mike Trapp. Wayne even brought Leon a couple of his old original race helmets, seen here in this photo. Wayne and his wife Heidi, and Lynn's son all seemed to be pleased that a piece of their history was preserved for generations to come. And I would like to congratulate Leon as well for recognizing the history in all his sleds, and making it available for all of us to enjoy!

Going right back to 1975, Paul James'1975 Cat 650 Charlie Lofton sled was a big hit at the show as well. It was the first time a genuine Cat 75 race sleds showed up at the Hall of Fame show, and Paul's workmanship on restoring the sled, as well as his tenacious tracking down of parts paid off. He won not only his class, but also "Best Arctic Cat", and award given out to give thanks to the shows major sponsor. Paul found the original bulkhead for this sled at this very same show, just two years ago. This is another machine I saw at Alexandria in 1974, they Day Charlie took a pretty nasty tumble off the sled and started thinking about putting his race career behind him. Last weekend at the VSCA show, both Jerry McGee's and Paul's sleds sat side by side and it was a trip to see. Dave Thompson came over and went through the sleds and even signed Jerry's hood.

I confess the picture I took of the entry form on this sled did not turn out - so I really don't know who owns it or exactly what it is. But like a ton of other sleds out there that day, I really liked it and appreciated the work someone did on it. That's the tough thing about a show like this - so many great sleds, so little time to track down and talk to the owners and learn more about the really nice ones. So whoever owns this baby - nice job!

Moving on up to 1976, we have Bill Stull's 1976 Rupp SnoPro. Yes, a 76 Rupp SnoPro. Never heard of one? That's okay not many people have. In one magazine from late in 1975, there is a paragraph about Rupp building just a few special lightweight Rupp's to give to some drivers. BIll confirmed this by talking to the person mentioned in the story - Clarence Harms, who was the race director for Rupp at the time. Bill has known him for years, and was able to confirm the sled with him. Clarence said they only made a couple - they were too expensive. The leaf springs are fiberglass monoleaf with magnesium eyelets in the back and the front slider of the ski. The rear suspension is has magnesium slide rails, and other normally have been steel are aluminum on this sled including an aluminum bulkhead and brake disk. The hood mold is different, allowing for air to be forced into the airbox for the carbs. The sled weighs just 332 lbs! The sled was in Michigan it's whole life, until Bill got it in 2004.

Moving on to 1977, we have Brad Warning's 1977 Kawasaki Shark. Built from a real motor and in the IFS version, this is the first time this has been at the show. It looked amazing. They really did a nice job on this baby. You may recall Brad had a leaf spring version and a version with an airplane engine in it at previous shows - but this is is the first IFS version. Now we all need to convince Brad that someone has to race one of these. Next time you see Brad, be sure and ask him when we are going to see one on the track again.

Finally - our 2009 SnoPro winner, Mike Smith. Mike made the trip all the way from Alaska to collect his trophy and get a drink out of the Hall of Fame cup that now bears his name as the winner, along with last year winner - his brother Steve. Also pictures is Kenny Kitzman in the middle and son Adam (who finished second overall) on the left. Congratulations to all the drivers who placed this year!

So that's my St. Germain story... what will yours be next year?

Wild Sleds at the Classic Sled Roundup This Sunday

Posted 05.22.09 by Larry Preston

Jon Berard (yes that Jon Berard) has started sending me some really cool photos from back in the day. I will be posting them soon - but this one really caught my eye. This is, of course, Larry Coltom and Charlie Lofton struggling to push one of the 75 340cc machines through the mud. Look at the smiles on their faces! They were clearly making the best of dirty situation! Charlie's 650 will be at the show - it's a stunning restoration that should not be missed.

Jon is also bringing some never before seen photos of the big Milwaukee mile race wreck in 1973. If you are not familiar with that story, suffice to say the start of an enduro race went very, very wrongong and a lot of people where hurt in that accident. Tons of sleds were completely destroyed. It was pure mayhem. Jon was standing on the back straight away when the sleds started flying through the air. He ran away to avoid being hit - but quickly came back with his camera and snapped away. He'll have large prints for the Hall of Fame on Sunday.

As is if Charlie Lofton's 75 650 Cat and a couple of Trapp 75 PDC Yamahas wasn't mind boggling cool, Kurt Krueger sent in a photo of this beauty to be unveiled at the show this weekend as well. This is a 1973 Ski-Doo Blizzard 650 GR, serial number 00002! Only a handful built, and as you can see it is truly restored back to original... a lot of original parts, looking as close as possible to how it looked when it first left the plant. Only a tiny handful of these sleds are still around today. The restoration was started in March and just completed. But John Jantsch and Loyd Riggs had been gathering parts for the sled for over 7 years! Original pipes, kill swtich and more. Sweet!

Classic Sled Roundup And the 2009 SnoPro Champ - Mike Smith

Posted 05.21.09 by Larry Preston

This coming Sunday in St. Germain Wisconsin it's the Classic Sled Roundup to benefit the Snowmobile Hall of Fame. It's a show that always brings out some exotic, interesting and really nice sleds. It's a swap meet that every year that I have been there, yields a bunch of stuff no one has seen in years, or is impossible to find. It's also a brief award ceremony for the Vintage SnoPro Series, with trophies presented to the class winners, as well as our overall winner.

This year we have a repeat from Smith Brothers Racing on their Arctic Cats as a winner - but a different driver. Mike Smith of Wasilla Alaska, running several classes came away with the most points this year, defending his brother Steve's title from 2008.

Mike has been racing since 1975. Last season the Smith Brothers Racing team was short a couple of members. Steve and Sean decided to stay home in Alaska, but Adam came to Wisconsin to go to college. Mike and Adam decided that since Adam was here already, they might as well go race.

One would expect that with two fewer drivers that Mike and Adam would scale it back a little. But no, they showed up at Rock Rapids Iowa for the first race with a fleet of Arctic Cat liquids and free-airs that would have made the original 3 tough cats proud.

The thing Mike had going for him this year was consistency. Either Mike won the race he was in, or he came in the top three. That's a tough thing to to when your racing with so many talented, hard charging guys.

It was very interesting for me this year to watch Mike and Adam in the series this year. They had a buzz going - kind of a fan club. At each race I would run into people that just came to see what they called "them crazy Cat guys from Alaska".

It seems more than a few people were interested in seeing how a couple of dedicated Cat guys from Sarah Palin's home town would stack up against the rest.

They were not disappointed.

Congratulations to Mike - and he has confirmed that he will be at the Classic Sled Roundup on Sunday to collect his trophy.

There's some other surprises coming to St. Germain that I know of ... One is green has not been seen since the late 70's in this form. One is black and green and is the first real 75 Cat race sled to be seen at the Roundup. Rumor has it that not one, but two 75 Yamaha's will be there.

Oh boy. This is going to be interesting.

Photos courtesy of Kelly Anderson, Larry Preston, Mike Smith

Where did the stuff go that used to be here? It got too darn big, so it was archived. Enjoy.