Why Would Anyone Want To Race Snowmobiles?
Larry Preston 8/03/2004

Why would anyone want to race snowmobiles? It's cold, smelly, damned dangerous and really noisy. So what's the attraction? Those who have at least gone out and tried it, even for fun, know the answer. I've tried to articulate that answer many times but couldn't quite put it in the right words.

Turns out, as with so many things, someone already has. Turns out that someone is a Hall of Fame inductee from 1992.

His name is Duane Frandsen.

WINNERS, LOSERS AND SNOWMOBILE RACERS

As you approach the starting line it is not the time to contemplate if your snowmobile is ready to go. It is not the time to analyze race strategy or sum up your competition. It is not the time to second guess your ability.

As you approach the starting line, it is time for action. It is the time to put or shut up. Excuses don't mean anything. Second place is still second best, if your not ready now, your not ready at all.

Snowmobile competition is excitement. It provides a gut-wrenching sensation you wish you didn't have to experience, yet it offers an acceleration in anticipation which causes your heart to pump harder and your spirit to feel young again.

Winners will do all the can to be prepared to complete. They will then rely on their personal ability and hope for a little luck.

Winners are a rare breed. We all know who they are and remember what they've accomplished.

All of us at one time or another have wondered if we would be winners or losers, some have been reluctant to even try. Those of us who try learn quickly that to be a winner you have to pay a price...which normally means losing, learning and trying again with a greater determination.

Those who try are on the right road to becoming winners. Those who don't try or fail to try again have opted to remain in obscurity.

In life, it's not whether you finish first which determines if you are a winner or a loser. It's whether you've done your best to fulfill your dreams and accomplish your goals. If you've given up on yourself due to fear or lack of ambition, you've lost.

But for those who experience the sensation of pulling up to a starting line, knowing full well what you need to do, with total confidence in your ability and snowmobile, you're going to experience the sensation of winning sooner or alter.

And once you've experienced the sensation, once you've realized your dreams, then you have truly lived.

--Remarks by 1992 Snowmobile Hall of Fame inductee, Duane Frandsen and his induction, January 16th, 1992, Eagle River Wisconsin.