Jim Dimmerman, June, 2006.

Jim Dimmerman - One Fast Cat

By Larry Preston
©2005-2006 Vintagesleds.com.

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Anyone familiar with snowmobile racing knows the name. Jim Dimmerman was 1/3 of the Three Tough Cats, then 1/2 of the dynamic duo known as Team Arctic from 1978 until Arctic shut down in 1981. But that didn't stop Jim. Riding as an independent, he became the first to win the coveted Eagle River World's Championship in 1984. Jim went on to run a succesful Arctic Cat dealership in Forest Lake Minnesota until one day - Jim kind of 'jumped off' the radar screen and disappeared. Having been a fan, I'd asked many people if they knew his whereabouts, but no one had. It was kind of a mystery to everyone I asked.

Then one day, out of the blue, I got an email.

There was no name, and the email address was no clue as to the author of the email. The sender wrote a brief, pointed message, wanting to know why all these people were so interested in the old SnoPro sleds and races. I would have responded to whoever it was, of course, but my interest was peaked by the signature at the bottom of the email; "Has Been 1984 World Champion".

Well that could only be one person - and clearly he had maintained his sense of humor.

Over the next many months, we occasionally shared an email and I kept asking if I could interview him for the web site. It took a while, but I think Jim finally decided I was okay. I'm very glad he did. After a couple of phone calls I thought it would be good if you all got a chance to ask Mr. Dimmerman some of your own questions. I got a whole bunch of them, added my own, then waited for quite awhile to get in touch with Jim again.

That wound up being over a year. Both of just had schedules that didn't sink up, but we kept trying. Jim and I finally got to meet at Sawatdee in Maple Grove, one of my favorite places for Thai food. When I drove up to the establishment, I was late. But sitting in the hot summer sun with his notebook at the ready, a somewhat blonder then I remembered Jim Dimmerman was waiting patently for me.

We had a great conversation, one that I wish I could have recorded for everyone to hear. I know I'm in a unique spot to have the privilage to hear first hand from a lot of the guys that raced back in the day. To be the first to talk to Mr. Dimmerman in all these years; that is pretty cool.

What follows are Jim's answers to all the questions (and then some) that you all sent in, and that I added on myself. I remember well the day the Race & rally magazine came out back in 1977 with the article "The Picking of a Replacement", when Jim was brought up to the factory race team. A dream came true for Jim when that happened. It also helped keep the dream alive for the rest of us.

Vintagesleds.com: How did you get on Team Frustration? For that matter, how did you get into racing in the first place?
I worked for a guy named Dick Hammond, a Polaris dealer in White Bear Lake [Minnesota]. I went with him [to races] and my first sled was a 1970 TX racer 335cc – the first aluminum racer with a free-air motor. I met Jerry Simison while I was racing my Snow twisters in 1976. He had quite an elite field of drivers also racing snow-twisters; Steve Thorsen, Dean Schwartzwaleter, Rich Stunneback and others.

Jerry was an ex-boat racer outboard hydro planes and off shore boats. He cam from very influential background – namely Mercury racing engineers like Les Cahoun and Lyle Forsgren. Jerry had the best connections to get the best equipment. I won a fair share of races in 1976, and Jerry had is eye on me as a new team Frustration driver. He obviously knew Thorsen might have been going to Polaris in 1977. I ran a couple of sleds for Jerry late in the season and he asked what I would be doing next year. Jerry put the pitch together for Bill Decker at Arctic that included myself and Todd Elmer, and Tim Benedict as the new Arctic Cat driving, Team Frustration drivers.

Jim in 1977, driving Super-Stock for Team Frustration

Vintagesleds.com: Can you tell me about how you made it to Team Arctic?
Dimmerman: "I did win a lot of races driving for Team Frustration in 1977. Winning, more then anything will get you noticed by the factory! I also think a lot of it had to do with an interview that is now on the video from the 1977 race in Peterburough , Ontario. I was very upset at the time, but on the video I stayed calm, cool and collected. I had qualified in a heat race, and came in, I think 4th in the semi-final. In the pits before the final, the race officials ushered me out on to the track. I jumped into first and stayed there, then they black flagged me! I had actually won the race, but when I came off the track they told me only the top 3 from each semi-final was to advance to the final. It was so maddening. I wanted to win, and they should have told me before the race, not after. Anyway, when asked about with the camera rolling, I was pretty diplomatic about it. I think Cat saw that and thought I'd make a good spokesperson for the company."

Vintagesleds.com: Do you remember the actual phone call when they said you made the team?
Dimmerman: "You bet. I was at home in White Bear lake when Dennis Zulawski called and wanted a meeting in Minneapolis. We met at the Thunderbird Hotel in Minneapolis sometime after. I don't remember the interview much, but a short while later I got a call from Bill Decker at Arctic that I had made the team. It was a great feeling at first..."

Vintagesleds.com: At first? What happened then?
Dimmerman: "I was 20 or 21 years old at the time. The panic kind of set in right away. I couldn't believe I was asked to fill Davey Thompsons shoes. I mean, how do you become a Larry Coltom or a Bob Elsner or a Davey Thompson? I was sure they were all smarter then me, better drivers and more mechanically inclined. It was a big jump from the super-stock classes to Super-Mod."

Vintagesleds.com: Your first year as a Pro driver was also the first full year of In dependant Front Suspension racing. What was that like?
Dimmerman: "The first day I saw the 78 Cat SnoPros I was wondering right away if we could beat Polaris. I mean the whole dynamic of racing had changed that year. Polaris had a big head start. I had no idea if I could do it. But my confidence was built pretty quickly when I started working and testing with Bobby Elsner and Larry Coltom."

He continued: "Really everything in 1978 was still R&D [Research and Development] Elsner had ridden the 77 prototypes only a couple of times, I think Peterburough was one place. So we were really researching and developing these machines from week to week. The basic concept of the Z front suspension stayed with the sled throughout all of the SnoPro years. Durmont Wahl had built a torsion bar machine for Elsner later, and Bobby liked it and it was something that Wahl’s did on Dave Wahl’s sleds."  

1977 - Jim makes the big time and is asked to race for Arctic Cat.

Vintagesleds.com: When did you think you got the hang of it?
"By 1979 we got it right. We tested as soon as it was cold right outside the factory. There was a test track there in those days, and we had our own water truck to make ice. That's what really separated the factories from the independents. By the time the first flag fell, I already had 200 laps in. All the factories did that. Ski-Doo had a test track and Polaris had the sewer plant in Roseau."

What made the difference in 1979? It was a very good year for Team Arctic.
Dimmerman: "Well, like I said all the testing in 1978 did it. We also knew knew the 440 engines dynoed at about 102 H.P, while Ski-Doos motors dynoed at 120 HP. The difference was really in the handling. When we got the Polaris clutches to work, that was the final ingredient. It was just us and Scorpion then."

Up next: The 84 World's Champion and Where he's been since.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3