3/30/2007
"LIVE ON SKIS" VIDEO
For those of us that could get to this event, we had a great time. No real agenda or activities were planned - just dining, riding and shooting the breeze around old sleds. I thought it was kind of an "anti-event" event. We had a great time. Smiles, smiles and more smiles everywhere. Bull Sessions member Snoeproe brought along his camera and made this record of the event. He did a GREAT job. Enjoy - and make plans for next winter: February 16th 2008 in International Falls, MN.

3/29/2007
GROWING PAINS
Over the last few days you may have noticed the site being slow or not responding at all. Over the last week, we have moved to a new Data Center and after that, we moved to a newer, bigger, faster server. The 'glitches" may continue over the next 24-48 hours, so I would like to apologize for any inconvenience, and thank everyone that contacted us to let us know what was happening. Rest assured we are on it like a fly on, well, you know. When this is all done, we will have a faster, more fun website - and it will be on a server that can handle the sites rapid growth. Thanks all!

3/27/2007
DAVID PETERSON THE MARVELOUS MENACE OF MAINE
Contributed by Gary Merritt

While trail riding one day I stopped at a local club house. Like most club houses, they had a memorabilia wall. On this wall was a picture of a young boy jumping a 1969 Ski-Doo Nordic. I often wondered who the kid was and the story around the picture. Well I asked around and found out that the kid was then 17 year old David Peterson, and that the picture was so amazing that it had appeared in 1969 Life Magazine!

Intrigued, I called around and found David. He is now 55 years old and I asked him about the picture. The story goes like this:

"Well, i was kinda crazy back then as all kids were, I guess. My dad had given me that sled for cutting my hair. After 6 weeks and growing most of my hair back, I thought I would celebrate by jumping my new sled."

It was quite a job making the jump that day, we had to trample down the snow in front of a pile made by a plow. The next thing was to get the sled to go over it and not through it. So we had to make sure we had enough of a slope in front of the ramp.

Now being young and fearless at the time, I took the first try at around 45mph. Looking back on it, its a wonder i didn't just go flying over the handle bars.

The picture that made Life Magazine was my third attempt, I wanted to get as much 'air' (as they say today) as I could. I actually hit twice on the landing, breaking the boogie wheel shafts, and thus stopping any more attempts for that day anyway."

I asked David what ever happened to the old Nordic. He told me the sled was pretty much junk after a few years.

"I was always jumping something, man I broke so many parts on that sled it was forever being repaired."

David no longer snowmobiles, a bad back prevents this. But he loves being found from time to time and talking about the infamous jumping picture.

BAD DAY IN FLORIDA
The guy whose name appears for the first two years on Thee Snowmobile Hall of Fame Vintage SnoPro cup in St. Germain Wisconsin took a vacation to Florida just a few weeks back. He had taken his truck down, but also brought his treasured motorcycle with so he and his gal could go for a ride. While they were riding, a minor part in the rear gave out. Mark did his best to limp the injured bike to somewhere it could get repaired, but the bike had other ideas.

Mark got a tap on the shoulder and was informed the bike was on fire. They quickly pulled over and managed to get the personal belongings off the bike before it went "poof".

All wasn't lost. While on the trip Mark proposed. She agreed.

The fire, the aftermath, and the new Anderson family.

3/24/2007
MEMORIES
This video clip will bring back some memories... Gary Merritt strikes again with a nice video from 1968, Enjoy.

3/23/2007
VINTAGE GROWING IN SWEDEN
Niklas Rudolfsson sent in this link to pictures and a short video from this years Sega Open-Race. Looks like these guys are all about having fun. Within that page was this link, showing some really cool pictures of a custom Yamaha and a 77 Ski-Doo Blizzard. Within the first page is some links to .AVI video files of the races. Thanks Niklas!

Vintage racer/rider from Sweden

3/21/2007
CANADIAN VINTAGE CHAMPION
Clay Auckland of Slave Lake Alberta won the Vintage Mod 440 class in Manitoba March 3rd and 4th. That lets him carry the Canadian Champion title for the year. Congratulations Clay and that is a sweet looking SRX!

2007 Canadian Vintage Champion for 2007, Clay Auckland.

3/20/2007
DOROTHY MERCER
I see that Dorothy Mercer had already been inducted into thee snowmobile hall of fame. Click this link and scroll down to 1993 when she was inducted, click her name and you'll read a very nice blurb about her. Dorothy will be missed.

UPDATES ON THE WAY!
I've been hoarding all kinds of updates over the winter to use during the spring and early summer when most of us are dying for anything related to vintage sleds. Among the updates is a full story on Enduro Team Deere, the introduction of a new blog to the site (and maybe several more after that one), Jay Sperry and the Rupp triumph in the vintage SnoPro series, some really nice, newly restored sleds, The return of the race at Boonville and the Adirondac Cup, Jerry Bunke memorial winner Kenny Kitzman, The new resource center (free downloads of manuals), A big surprise to be announced for thee hall of fame classic sled roundup in May (Vintage Ski-Doo racing fans will NOT want to miss this!), and much, much more. Stay tuned.

By the way, you broke all traffic records last month, and this month is on track to shatter that record. Wow.

A FAMILIAR NAME WINS THE 2007 USCC POINT TITLE
Noel Schanilec sent us notification that a man with a very familiar name to this website is the winner of the cross-country circuits top post in points for the year. Polaris rider Gabe Bunke (yep, the son of the later Jerry Bunke) claimed the title - without winning a single race. He did it with a consistent year of top-5 finishes. You can read more about the win and the USCC at their website. The full press release on Gabes win is here, a photo of Gabe racing is on the top of the page.

By the way, two race associations really impressed me this season with their well-formatted work on getting some press for their races. Both the aforementioned USCC and the Eastern Pro Tour. Both groups sent me a well formatted press release every Monday after a race with complete results and news about the prior weekends events. If this was a website about late model racing, they would have gotten their stuff published in an instant. To be fair, the Eastern Pro Tour does do vintage races, so I think we'll set it up so next year we can make use of the news they send us. They really do a nice job of communicating. Good job guys.

<SARCASM>Because I said a nice thing about two race associations, some people at a track in Wisconsin will no doubt take it as criticism of the way they do business. So before anyone starts sending flame mail and making phone calls, please read the above post again, and again if need be. The above post was meant only to say thanks to the two associations who were nice enough to send me stuff so well done and because I felt a little bad that I didn't have a good way to use it over the winter. It was not about anyone else, nor should it be construed as anything other than a compliment to them.</SARCASM>

3/16/2007
DOROTHY MERCER
Just read on snowpod.com that Polaris racer Dorothy Mercer passed away Friday, March 9th, 2007 in Crystal Nevada. Dorothy was well known for creaming the competition in not only the women's class in the early 1970's races, but often in the men's as well. Dorothy rode the Polaris X-2 to a world record in 1970. She raced the Winnipeg to St. Paul race many times, finishing very well several times.

I had a chance to meet Dorothy at the Polaris 50th anniversary a few years back. She was great fun. Her first words to me were, in fact, "Hi Larry! How the hell are ya??" Like she'd known me for years. She was something special and will be missed.

3/13/2007
ANDY AVELIS HITS THE BIG-TIME... AGAIN.
What can I say about my friends at Arctic Cat? They really get this whole vintage thing. They recognize the serious value in the pride of ownership Cat fans have in the brand. So much so, that they've branded their new marketing campaign "Passion" and have featured 3 outstanding Cat fanatics and the passion they have for their sleds. Don Laroche, Bret Rasmussen and our good friend Andy Avelis.

I knew that when I walked around the corner in Andy's family basement many years ago that his collection was something special... but I had no idea it would get this big. The boys from Thief River did an outstanding job of making Andy's collection (and all us vintage sledders) look good. Real good.

Enough of my yakking.. take a look. Plenty of video and photos of the Avelis collection, some old race footage and more.

MARK RESCH READY TO RACE
Well, I know first hand how Mark feels. You get the sled all ready, get all cleaned up, and winter's over. Oh well, that just means he's way ahead of next years schedule right? For those of you unfamiliar with Mark, he raced for many years in the 1990's. After a few trips to a race in Northern Wisconsin to watch the vintage guys, he's hooked and ready to join the fray. Mark, (with a little help from SnoPro Master Mark Anderson) built this 76 340cc Super Mod with a chopped/shortened frame, matched to that of the very successful 1973 Polaris Starfires. His next sled will be a 76 with a 440 liquid in it. Note the fancy windshield, right off of a 79 Polaris RXL. Good luck Mark! Thanks to Todd Koehn for sending in the info and the photos.

Mark Resch's 1976 SnoPro clone - ready for action in 2008.

SPEAKING OF MARK ANDERSON
Rumors were floating and finally confirmed that the winner of the first 2 SnoPro Master Series races, Mark Anderson, finally popped the question this past week to his girlfriend. She said yes, ending 50+ years of staunch bachelorship. No word on the wedding date, but you can bet there will be some vintage sledders at that one! Congratulations Mark.

3/07/2007
JAY SPERRY - VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES WINNER
Jay Sperry's small fleet of Rupp's wound up on top of the PVR Vintage SnoPro series for 2007. A well deserved win for Jay, who was routinely trouncing the competition on his Rupps, complete with the old mid-mounted engines. We'll have more on Jay's season as thee Snowmobile Hall of Fame summer show (and the awarding of the trophy) draws nearer. Jay will join two time champion Mark Anderson with his name on the coveted Hall of Fame cup.

KENNY KITZMAN - JERRY BUNKE MEMORIAL WINNER
Arctic Cat driver Kenny Kitzman drove consistently all weekend on his Cats - and that was enough to give him the edge over the competition. Even thought Kenny didn't win a race, his second place finishes in all classes put him over the top. Kenny has been racing vintage IFS for a number of years, and it's good to see him come out on top. More on Kenny's big win later.

The other big news out of Beausejour this past weekend was that retired Polaris enduro racer Troy Pierce borrowed Aaron Johnson's 340cc 1973 Starfire and proceeded to beat up on local favorite Bruce Rosentredder's 440cc machine - knocking Bruce off the winning spot in that class for the first time in many many years. I'm told it was hard to tell if the people watching the race were excited for Troy, or disappointed to not see Bruce win it again.

BOB EASTMAN AND THE SHOOTING STAR
Bob Eastman has had one of the rarest of the rare Polaris sleds tucked away in his garage since it was run back in 1973. The twin, 800cc Polaris Starfire motor 1973 Starfire was built for speed runs back in the day. Bob brought it out for a couple of shows recently, so for many, this is the first look at this beast that anyone has gotten. This photo is one of many sent in by Tomlinson Motor Sports.

3/01/2007
JERRY BUNKE MEMORIAL RACE
This year's year end race at the amazing Beausejour race track will feature the 2nd running of the Jerry Bunke Memorial race. Vintage IFS racers will be battling it out to see who's name goes on the cup. Last years winner - Howard Gifford - has already announced that he will not be back this year to defend his title. That leaves the field wide open! If you've never been to the track in Beausejour, be prepared for a treat. It's long, fast, and has a very nice "Wall of history" inside on of the grandstands. They also have a big, huge beer garden where you can take in some adult beverages between and after the races. The Jerry Bunke Memorial race has a long list of sponsors I'd like to personally thank for backing the race.

The race this year will also feature the late model Champ sleds and a special "Mechanics race" that will benefit Champ racer Chris Hortness who was injured this year. I watched CHris race last fall at Beausejour - he obviously a great competitor.

Vintage races are also on at Wolf Lake in Alexandria on Sunday, as of this writing. Here in Minnesota, we are in the middle of a second snowstorm, and the sleds have finally come out and are all over the trails. They are predicting over a foot for us here in the Twin Cities today!

2/24/2007
EARLY RIDE WITH THE CHAMP PHOTOS
Matt Spiece and Joe Lesniak are the founders of jdsleds.com, the definitive source for John Deere sled info on the web. Paul File was the first to get photos up from the Ride with the Champs be sure to click through all 4 pages. Since the "Godfather" of Enduro Team Deere (ETD)Robert Carlson was being inducted, the John Deere guys came out in mass to go on the ride and have a good time. Spotted so far as part of the festivities: Brian Nelson, Bob Carlson himself, Ed Kruell, Sam Greshay, Brian Linder and John Carlson. Looks like it was John Deere heaven! Wish I could have been there.

MAJOR ADDITION TO THE HALL OF FAME COLLECTION
Okay, it's no secret that I am no fan of Sno-Cross. But you have to admit that Blair Morgan is to kids today what Yvon Duhamel or Gaston Ferland was to us as kids. Blair is definitely big time. So when Blair decided to retire his big Ski-Doo racer where did he go? To Thee Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, of course!

Blair was there on February 22nd to take questions from the media and fans at Thee Hall of Fame.

Wow. When you think of the amazing collection sleds the museum currently has and how many it will be getting in the future.... Congratulations to Blair and the Hall of Fame members everywhere!

HAPPENINGS OUT WEST
March 16th-18th marks the 4th annual Vintage Round-up. This year will feature sleds from 1971 and a benefit ride for the local chapter of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of West Yellowstone. There's also a vintage "giveaway" on Saturday night at the vintage party - we're sending out some stuff from the vintagesleds.com store to help promote the cause. Need more information? Call JIm@541-389-3281 Roger@509-928-4255 of Perry@208-309-1750.

2/21/2007
RIDE WITH THE CHAMPS!
Early word from St. Germain (home of THEE Snowmobile Hall of Fame) is that tomorrow's annual "Ride With the Champs" is going to be the biggest ever. Highest registrations they've ever seen. There's still time if you want to be part of the festivities that wind up with a dinner and the induction of the Hall of Fames newest honorees: Kirk Hibbert, Robert J. Carlson, Mark Maki and Dick Gokey.

Rumor is the Hall of Fame museum is about to get another insanely famous sled added to the collection. It just keeps gettin' better.

VINTAGE SNOPRO HEADS INTO THE HOME STRETCH
These points look close... including a virtual tie for first overall by Stull and Sperry, both on Rupps. It's going to come down to this weekend and the top drivers having a good or bad day to see who wins each division and the overall totals. However - there is one very important thing to remember: At the end of this weekend, all the point totals will be added, and the worst race (weekend) that they ran will be thrown out... in other words, there was 6 scheduled vintage SnoPro races, but only 5 count. Adding to the drama - the Smith Brothers from way up in Alaska had there best weekend this year last week - winning a total of 7 classes!

You can bet all these guys will be running pure adrenalin and testosterone this weekend - hang on!

This weekend's race is in Strathcona, Minnesota, on one of the nicest race tracks anywhere. Just a hop, skip and a jump away is Badger Minnesota that has a GREAT vintage show on the same weekend. Rumor has it another insanely rare drag race sled (not seen since 1973) will make its first appearance, in the original condition since that it was tucked away over 30 years ago! Hold on to your hats - this is a major "debut" of a sled that will amaze you.

2/20/2007
VINTAGESLEDS.COM BULL SESSIONS "LIVE ON SKIS!"
It was a gret time last weekend, ripping it up on old sleds around beautiful Lake Rainier in Northeastern Minnesota. Low snow conditions (very rare in this part of Minnesota didn't stop the riding, the fun or the BS! Here's just a couple of sample photos. More later.

Spike gives the one finger salute to everyone who mocked his having to be towed home by the Valmont.	"Mr. Plow" and his Roll-O-Flex Wild one. Mr. Plow provided the live updates on the Bull Sessions during the event, photos an all.
Bull Session members spent a lot of time chatting about their favorite radio show - Garage Logic.	Doc Jim on his latest addition to his collection - his 488 Mustang. Here he attempts to run over the photographer.

2/15/2007
DAVE GRUNWALD BENEFIT SHIRTS
Pro Vintage Racing is offering up these t-shirts with all proceeds going to Dave Grunwald. As you know, Dave was injured last weekend at the PVR race in Wausau, Wisconsin, and is still hospitalized. The shirts are $25 (includes shipping). You can order one by contacting Kurt Andrews.

2/14/2007
HEMMINGS VINTAGE BLOG?
Hemmings.com is running more photos of vintage sleds from the Great Eastern Whiteout last year. Check it out - interesting to see the auto guys 'getting into it."

TRACY KRUGER MEMORIAL VINTAGE WORLD FINALS
The MSDRS has posted results for last weeks vintage drag races for the Kruger family in Waseca, MN. Wolf Lake's Bob Poirer can claim a "World Champions" title, as can Tony Prissel, Dale Sloper, Al Enno, Steve Hassel, and several members of the Kruger family. Looks like my rooky mistake still got me a third... I'll take it! Thanks to Chris Hanson, the Kruger family and the whole gang of racers there. It was a great weekend.

VINTAGE SNOPRO AT WAUSAU
Just got off the phone with Bill "Elvis" Stull, the Rupp Rider who is also managing the PVR SnoPro Master Series this year. Wausau was a bit of a tough race. Bill lost a steering component that landed him in the hospital with a severe chest compression. "For a minute after the crash I thought: This is it. I'm done. This is what it feels like." He eventually got his breath back and felt better - only to pass out in the hotel room later and then make the trip to the hospital. Ski-Doo racer Dave Grunwald, as reported earlier, also had a tousle with the wall. Dave is still in the hospital, but doing and feeling better.

Turns out Bill's wife Becky (everyone's favorite seller of fine gifts for the ladies) had an accident in the bar. While standing on a bar stool and dancing to "Save a horse, ride a cowboy", Becky lost her footing, fell from the chair and wound up with a broken bone as well. Bill swears on a stack of bibles there was no alcohol involved. Really. There wasn't. Honest.

We all wish Bill, Becky and Dave a fast, speedy and full recovery. We're thinking about you.

Here's the new point totals in the series after last weekend. The series now moves on to Hayward this Saturday - PLEASE NOTE the races have been changed from Friday night to Saturday.

2/13/2007
VINTAGE RACE PHOTOS
Dawn Cross goes to a lot of events and photographs them, then makes the photos available on her website. She does a great job and is a big fan of vintage racing.

Last weekend she was at the PVR Vintage SnoPro race in Wausau, Wisconsin, camera in hand. Here's a few sample shots from some of the races she attended this year - so far. You can see a ton more at her website.

Oh, and in case your wondering, Mark Anderson did NOT come out of retirement!

Tracy Kruger

2/12/2007
TRACY'S RACE
This past weekend was a huge one for all of vintage snowmobiling. There was so much stuff going on that it will be hard to get it all in. If I miss something, please forgive me. Jump on the Bull Sessions and let everyone know about your happenings!

First up was the Tracy Kruger Memorial Drag Race (also known as the Tracy Kruger "Point & Shoot" Vintage World Championship) in Waseca, Minnesota. It was huge. Organizers from Tracy's family and Chris Hanson of the MSDRS did an outstanding job under very tough circumstances. Because the news of Tracy's and his son Alec's death was big news here in Minnesota, so was the drag race. It was the lead story on every Minneapolis/St. Paul television station, and featured some words by Tracy's brother, an introduction of Tracy's surviving boy Zak, and interviews with several racers, family members, friends, fans and well-wishers, including vintagesleds.com very own V-Man. See the coverage on each of these websites: kare11.com, wcco.com, kstp.com, and Fox9.com (my pick for best online coverage). Here's a complete listing of stories from Google. About Tracy, Alec and the event.

Tracy's record setting Custom Rupp.

Jim Haug, Neil Pierce and I took four sleds down: The clone 77 SnoPros (340 & 250), a stock TXL and I brought Todd Elmer's oval race sled out of the garage to try drag racing it. I think Tracy would have gotten a kick out of that. I believe I could have won the 250 class had I not jumped the light by a billionth of a second! (Rookie mistake!) Jim got a red light with his super-stock 340 as well. The 340 SnoPro as well as the Elmer sled didn't get to run... we couldn't get the Prestone to flow through the motors on either one! It was COLD, and getting any of them to start was a healthy workout. But it was as fun as fun gets on a snowmobile just to have been there.

Wait until you see the photos of the display they had for Tracy's machines and trophy's. The trophies alone filled a semi trailer! I wish I cold express what it was too be at this event... but words fail me. All I can say is that the atmosphere at this event - the celebration of a life well lived, the joy of living, of getting together with other vintage sled heads, family & friends... this event was everything good that these old machines bring out in people.

GREAT EASTERN WHITEOUT
My inbox this morning was virtually flooded with emails about last weekend's Great Eastern Whiteout show. Check out this editor of Hemmings Muscle Magazine's story on the "Hemi 'Cuda of the Snow" (a 71 4 banger King Kat) and his quest to ride one finally coming true at the Show last weekend.

From everything in the emails, the show was a smashing success. My favorite story is that Bob Weaver and his CRO (Chief Restoration Officer - I just awarded him that title) Jeff Brauer won "Best of Show" with his 1971 Al Unser Thunderjet they have been working on for the past year and a half. Jeff is living the dream of being a pro restoration guy, and his dedicated hard work at the craft of restoration is really paying off with bringing this historical racer back to life. WOW does that thing look great! Thanks to Steve Dahnke and Jay Kormash for the photos and info.

Everyone's favorite sled hauler Donnie Schmidt recorded the fastest lap time at the races, and he won the open mod class on is 1973 Yamaha 643 SR. Below: Two photos of the award winning Under Thunderjet, and a YouTube video of the ride - look at all them sleds! JLOpower put up some good shots in the Bull Sessions as well.

VINTAGE SNOPRO AT WAUSAU
Early reports are that Dick Peterson had a good day on his RXL, Sperry and Stull lost some motors on those super fast Rupps, and Dave Grunwald was injured (broken leg we hear) when he hit the cement wall lining the track. Hope all is well with Dave - we'll pass on details when we have more information. According to some posts on the Bull Sessions, Dave is in pretty serious condition, and we all hope he's able to recover quickly. Dave's a great guy, I've had a couple of chances to chat with him - a very ethusiastic supporter of all things vintage. Bill Stull also spent some time in the hospital we are told, but went home with just a lot of sore spots. Read about it in the Bull Sessions.

With only two races left (Hayward Wisconsin this Friday night and Strathcona on the 24th) this thing is going to be close! We'll update the points as soon as we have them from PVR.
<SARCASM> Oh no! I'm talking about a race again without talking to the pro motor first! Oh No! </SARCASM>

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID JOHNSON!
David Johnson, one of the founders of Polaris and the man who did invent the first Polaris snowmobile turned 84 lat Monday! How did we miss that? HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR! Still doing good, David is as active as ever, visiting the Roseau Polaris plant, riding sleds and going to his cabin on the Angle (Lake of the Woods) as often as he can. Most of the poeple I know in Roseau to this day won't normally say they work for Polaris. Instead, they'll tell you they work for David Johnson. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

1/08/2007
THIS WEEKEND - ALBRIGHT SHORES
Biggest Michigan Vintage Snowmobile Race of the year at the 1/2 Mile Banked Ice Oval Track during the Gladwin County Ice Carnival. See racers from the all over Michigan and Ontario including heavy hitters from MIRA, The Lucky Thumb Circuit, Traverse City racers, and other of the usual Michigan Vintage Racing suspects battle it out for Vintage Championship glory! Rumor has it Monty will be racing and selling copies of "A Matter of Winning". For more details check out www.albrightshores.com .

1/07/2007
PVR VINTAGE SNOPRO UPDATE
With three races down and three to go, things are heating up in the points to be the 3rd name on the Vintage SnoPro Cup at the Hall of Fame In St. Germain next spring. Here are the results after the first three races. The next race is Saturday, in Wausau Wisconsin. The series races the next two weekends after that... first in Hayward Wisconsin, and then in Strathcona, Minnesota, where we will know who are champ is.

Tracy Krueger's trophies from his #17 race machines.

1/05/2007
TRACY AND ALEC KRUEGER...
I'm pretty much speechless as I write this, I cannot fathom that it is true... but it is. In a random act of senseless violence, an intruder (now arrested and charged) broke into Tracy and Hilary's rural Waseca Minnesota home, shot and killed Tracy and his 13 year old son Alec. WIfe and mother Hllary was also hit and air lifted to the Twin Cities, at first in critical condition. I'm told she is doing better. There other son, Zak, was at a neighbors house that night.

Tracy was a huge supporter of everything vintage. Tracy collected, restored, rode, raced and worked on vintage sleds every chance he could. I found Tracy to be one of those guys that just couldn't (or wouldn't) say a bad word about another person.

In getting ready for the Polaris 50th anniversary a couple of years back, I spent a lot of time with Tracy. He painted the chassis and hood on my 74 Polaris Stan Hayes 650 Snopro, as well as the hoods of both my 77 Polaris SnoPros, and did the put on the decals and did the pin stripe work on all three sleds. He wouldn't hardly take any money for several days worth of work, not matter how much I insisted. "I'm just honored to have gotten to work on such rare sleds" he kept saying.

More than anything, Tracy LOVED drag racing. In the last few years he was instrumental in vintage drag racing. He was a major organizer of a drag racing event in his hometown of Waseca, Minnesota. This year was no exception. Tracy was looking forward to the event this coming weekend.

I spoke with Chris Hanson of the MSDRS this morning, and he tells me that the race this weekend will go on - Tracy would have wanted it that way - but will be a memorial for a great guy and his son. Tracy spent many hours along with Travis Boesch setting up the classes, writing rules and soliciting money for the prizes. The MSDRS will be donating all proceeds from this weekends event to the fund raiser being setup for the Krueger family. We'll have more information on how you can donate to that fund, as details become available.

UPDATE: TRUST FUND ESTABLISHED
A trust fund has been setup for Tracy's family. You can send any size donation to:

TRACY KRUEGER FAMILY BENEFIT FUND
C/O Round Bank
200 2nd St. NE
Waseca, MN. 56093

In the meantime, I hope anyone who can make it will come down on Saturday. There will be a benefit dance for the Krueger family at the VFW in Waseca on Friday night. Tracy's sled collection will be on display. I'll be there on Saturday to try drag racing for the first time - something Tracy wanted me to try since the day I met him.

Details on the event can be found at the MSDRS website. There is a discussion already going on the Bull Sessions, complete with some great memories of Tracy.

LARRY RUGLAND, LARRY COLTOM, BRAD HULINGS, DOUG HAYES, JIM DIMMERMAN....

...AND NOW MIKE MEAGHER!
That's right folks... Arctic Cat racer Mike Meagher is the 2007 winner of the Hetteen cup! Mike had a nearly flawless day on Sunday and took home the top prize in all of Vintage Snowmobile racing. To say the least, Mike was stunned and speechless on Sunday as he accepted the trophy. His 250 and 340cc Arctic Z's took top spots in their classes, and Mikes' 440 Yamaha took a second to put him a head of the field, including a near flawless day on his heat races on Saturday.

Despite the cold weather, a good field of racers and fans showed up to watch some of the best racing I've seen yet. Devin Fackrell, Bill Stull, Steve Smith, Jay Sperry Jr., Jeff Karrow, Billy Zawicki and Ken Kitzman could all claim a good day, but it was Mike that walked away with the big one.

In the awards ceremony later, Armand Westland declared history had been made. "For the first time, we got four different associations together, figured out the rules, the classes, the program, and had a good race". He was right. It was a good race. Edgar Hetteen got a standing ovation as he made his way to the stage to thank everyone, and give Mike his trophy. Read more in the Bull Sessions.

UPDATE: THE ROGER EBERT MEMORIAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Can't overlook this very prestigious award that was also given out at Glenwood. Roger Ebert was a huge contributing member of Enduro Team Deere in the 1970's. His memorial trophy had been out of circulation for many years until Jon Carlson (also of Enduro Team Deere fame) brought it back for the event in Glenwood. The winner, for supporting the event, and great sportsmanship went to Troy Lange of Howard Lake Minnesota. Congratulations to this fine example of what vintage racing is all about.

RACING IS BACK AT BOONVILLE!
Still waiting for details on who the big winners were and some details on the event, but early emails indicate that the race at the historic track was a smashing success. Once we get details, I'll pass them on. Also - expect to see how the points are shaping up for the vintage SnoPro series this week... three races down, 2 to go!