003/25/05
VINTAGE RACING ROUNDUP - 2004-2005
What a year! Vintage racing broke out all over the country, and the mainstream is starting to take notice! Vintage races this year where happening in most of the snowbelt, all over the U.S. and Canada.

Feature articles about vintage racing appeared in SnowWeek, American Snowmobiler, Snow Goer, Supertrax and pretty much every other regional and national magazine. Local news stations covered many of the bigger races, such as Eagle River, Thief River Falls, Freeport and others.

Monty Teshio's Race Team, Ready for a Vintage Rumble.

Entries where way up. Lots of sleds running in very tightly contested classes made it some of the most exciting spectator sport available anywhere. And speaking of spectators, there are signs that racing may becoming more popular with people other then the racers themselves.

Take the secod to last weekend at Wolf lake for example. The pits where full, and a full line of cars was up on the hill watching the races from the comfort of thier cars and trucks on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I was amazed at how many people where just there to watch and have a good time. I talked with a few of them. They said they love what they saw.

Of course, there are always the detractors. I did hear from a few attending races that there are too many classes, the event took too long, too many opportunities to see one-lung racers, and not enough opportunities to see the big iron racing at high speed. If those are the only complaints, that's good. That's all stuff we can easily fix for '06.

Results wise, it was a very good year for John Schumacher in the SLEDS organization. John will come out number one in points for the overall SLEDS races. John also took top honors in the liquid class. Jim Lennox was top dog in fan. Jim Lennox and Shawn Johnson are battling it out for top honors in the free-air class, as the final results there have not been compiled. In the Wolf Lake races, Darrell Saxton, Chuck Poier, Scott Tillman and the whole Gubranson family took top honors in class races.

02/14/05
VSMS POINTS STANDINGS
In the leaf spring class, your leader is Derek Delisle, with 26 points, followed by Mark Anderson on his Starfire with 20 points. Jacob Goede (who crashed in Freeport) drops to third, with 14 points. In the IFS class, Dick Peterson and Devin Fackrell are tied at 10 points each. If you have questions about the points, please contact me.

01/19/05
RED LAKE NATION VINTAGE NATIONAL SLEDS RACE
This weekend the races are ON in Thief River Falls Minnesota, round 2 of the Vintage SnoPro Master Series. Please note that only the payback oval classes will count towards the points on the series! Full race information is available on the SLEDS web site. Pre-registration forms for both the trophy classes and the Payback classes are also available on the SLEDS site. Saturdays events features qualifying for the Payback classes, Sunday is all the finals.

Hotel rooms may be tough, so book ahead of time - word is there are several other events in the area this weekend.

Please welcome our new sponsors - Carrier (Turn to the Experts!) and Strandlund refrigeration.

12/28/04
SMELL THE RACE FUMES!
27 drivers so far have registered for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series. The first race this Sunday on Wolf Lake in Alexandria Minnesota. Between them they are bringing 40 extra sleds to the race - and it's only Tuesday. I know a lot of drivers are still waiting to sign up, and before Sunday we should have a whole bunch of new ones. New Profiles have been posted. If you are one of the drivers and some of your info is missing, please email us.

My little racer is almost ready...

The races start this Sunday at 12:00 noon - directions are posted towards the bottom of this page. Get there early for good parking and a drivers meeting that will start prior to the races. YOU MUST BE SIGNED UP BEFORE THE RACES!

FINALLY?
I've been dreaming about running a 77 Polaris leaf spring SnoPro around a track since, well since 1977. It will finally happen this year. I'm so looking forward to it. Actually there is a long way to go to get this baby running, but the basics are there.

When I was restoring the original racer I have, I didn't want the hood work done while sitting on the real chassis. So with the help of my good friend Vance Elfering, we put together a replica bulkhead. While we were at it, we cut the tunnel off. To think this used to be a 76 TX! The motor is a TXL bottom end with a 1978 250cc RXL top end.

Last thing to do: Pipes, then get to work on tuning. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

12/19/04
GET READY TO RUMBLE!
Races were held this past weekend in both Strathcona and Alexandria, with several drivers attending both races. Early results from Alexandria have Darrell Saxton having scoring a hat trick win a class with both his free-air and fan-cooled Rupps and his liquid Ski-Doo.

REMEBER, YOU MUST BE REGISTERED BEFORE THE RACE ON JANUARY 2ND IN ALEXANDRIA FOR THE VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES! DIRECTIONS FOR WOLF LAKE ARE POSTED, AND SCOTT TILLMAN OF THE WOLF LAKE RACERS WILL HAVE SOME SIGNS ON HIGHWAY 27 FOR THE WEEKEND OF THE RACE!

12/9/04
REGISTRATION IS READY!
Registration and other information is now online for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series. The first race is January 2nd, 2005 in Alexandria, MN on Wolf Lake.

We are still working on how exactly the point structure will work. So far, it will work like this: You get 3 points for each final your machine comes in 1st, 2 points for 2nd and 1 point for 3rd. More details to come as we work it out for drivers who have multiple machines in multiple classes.

	Just three of the 10 sleds that Bob Poirier & crew will be racing this year.

11/29/04
THE RACE IS ON!
The season opener in Beausejour is on for this weekend! Get more information on the race at the Canadian Power Tobaggan web site. They have ice and the race is ago! I also got word yesterday that the Strathcona race track is iced over and several people have already been out testing.

10/20/2004
VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES
New sponsors have come forth for the series and will pay CASH to the winners in the leaf spring class!

NorthStar Skis will pay $250 to the top finisher who is running NorthStar Skis and has a NorthStar Ski decal on their sled for all the races they attend.

Kuzins Kustom Body and Paint (Bill Stull owner) will pay$500 to the top finisher in the leaf spring class.

Cool huh? If this keeps up, we may have to make one of those huge "checks" they used to give out at the SnoPro races!

RACE RUMORS:
We take no responsibility for the accuracy of this stuff - but here goes!

From Paul Socwell:
* 1969 world champ lemans driver Jim Bauer will run a vintage snow cross sled - true.
* 1970 Ski-Doo high point driver for Halverson Racing, 62 year old great-grandfather driver Dale "the Hammer" Storch will be driving a rare 650 73 EXT once owned by Dorfman Racing - true.
* The Dorfmans where partners with Jimmy Hafa - true.
* Bill "Elvis" Stull will be late to get racing this year, as he is waiting for an extra large custom helmet to fit his pompadour haircut - BOLDFACE LIE!

From Bill Stull:
* My helmet is already here. The hair fits under it and doesn't even get messed up. However, my head looks like the Hindenburg with this thing on - LIE!
* Jay Sperry Jr. and I have teamed up to race this year. Jay's dad was a hell of a racer for Rupp back in the day and Jay was a teen when he started to race Rupps. I sold Jay 2 of his dads Rupp Magnums back to him. They where both DDI Sperry Specials. Jay is going to race a 340 and 440 Magnum, while I am going to field a 340 Magnum and of course my 440 and 650 3rd Dimensions. The 650 will run for the world championship" - TRUE!

10/18/2004
VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES
After a whole bunch of debating and gnashing of teeth, (kidding) we have decided to create two classes for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series. There will be the Leaf Spring class, and the IFS class. Each will follow the same rules, and each will have it's own winner. Only one winner will be announced per class, so no one will be eligible to win both the Leaf Spring and the IFS class.

The SLEDS racing organization and vintagesleds.com will be the sponsors (more may be announced later) of the new class, The Snowmobile Hall of Fame, LC Communications and vintagesleds.com will remain the sponsors of the Leaf Spring class.

Racers please note the new rule #6 - You MUST provide a photo of YOU and YOUR SLED(s) (submitted electronically) by December 1st 2004!

Tentatively, here are the rules for BOTH classes:
1. You must register. Information will be posted on how to do that very soon.
2. You must compete in at least 3 of the 5 races (subject to change!) listed below.
3. You must compete in the same class at each of the events you participate in.
4. This will be limited to 340cc and above classes.
5. The winner will be decided by a panel of judges from each of the racing associations.
6. You MUST provide a photo of YOU and YOUR SLED(s) (submitted electronically) by December 1st 2004.

RACE RUMORS:
As the season gets closer (I saw snow this weekend!) the talk around the beer cooler gets wilder. Here's a sample:
1. Brandon Johnson will be racing for Wahl Brothers - I checked, this is not true.
2. Die-Hard Rupp racer Vance Elfering will jump on a Yamaha? Say it ain't so Vance! I thought we'd see you on one of them Roseau racers first!
3. Dick Peterson will have a fleet of RXL's on the track this year - true. I saw them this past weekend.
4. Bill Adams has a nitrous powered one-lung Cat ready to race. I have to see that.
5. Yours truly will have a 250cc liquid sled ready so I can get my butt handed to me on a platter when no one shows up for me to race except 340's. By the way, I've also declared myself ineligible for the Vintage Snopro Master Series, in case you are wondering.
6. WSA Pro-Ice will run vintage classes this year. True, or so their web site says.
7. Some of the professionals running the pro Champ classes will secretly be running vintage IFS classes, trying to win the big money purses at the 7 Clans Casino race and Freeport.
8. Some of yesterdays professionals will start racing vintage sleds. Rumors named include Villianueve, Elsner, Wahl, Omdahl and more. So, far. I've not been able to confirm any of this. I doubt it.

Got more rumors? Send them in. Be sure and put the word "rumor" in the email subject line.

10/07/2004
VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES
Tenative dates have been picked for the series. We are still trying to talk with other promoters, so please remember these are subject to change, right up until the first race in December.

9/21/2004
REPLICA RACERS
We knew it was only a matter of time before someone started replicating sleds for the purpose of racing. Clones and replication have always been a hot button issue with the vintage sled crowd, and for good reason.