Jim Dimmerman - One Fast Cat

By Larry Preston
©2005 Vintagesleds.com

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Alexandria, Minnesota, December of 1979. Jim takes the Hetteen cup home to Thief River Falls for the first time since Larry Coltom in 1976. Photos from the Archive of Snow Week magazine.

Vintagesleds.com: We lost a lot of good people back in the day - Sam Sessions, Jerry Bunke, Jim Adema to name just a few. Was it tough to get back on the sled after a fatal accident? How did you get past it and get on with the racing?
Dimmerman: I, like most typical professional racers am very focused. Yes I wanted to know why these accidents happened, mainly to learn from them and be a smarter driver. It’s so happens that none of them were close friends, just fellow competitors. Our whole team went to Jerry’s funeral in Roseau. The day of Sammy's accident was one of my first races with Team Arctic. My brand new SnoPro ride – and my team mate Larry Coltom quits that day – I was thinking the sleds were not that well tuned, and what had I gotten myself into?

Vintagesleds.com: Who was, in your opinion, the smartest guy at Arctic Cat back in the day?
Dimmerman: Like any great race team, the depth of knowledge is what makes them great. Team Arctic had a few visible guys like Dennis Zulawski and Dave Thomspon, but some of the unsung names like Roger Gage (chassis & suspensions), Wayne Schantzen (Clutch development), engine gurus Rich Porter, Glen Follet, Greg Spaulding and Don Eide. The end result is that I was surrounded by the greatest group of racing engineers in the business. To pick one? Can’t be done.

Vintaqesleds.com: We've all heard the stories about Team Arctic and the wrecked rental cars. Want to tell us the real story?
Dimmerman: Who us? [Much laughter ]We always treated them like they were stolen our own!

Vintagesleds.com: Tell us about how you found out Arctic was going under in 1981?
Dimmerman: When we came to the race in Alexandria that winter, there was already a feeling that company was in big distress. The opportunity to race for the factory - could be gone? It was a scary thought. I was getting paid to do something I loved. I think Dennis in the race shop probably told us that we were going to finish out the season – our racing was financed by a couple of our stock holders! We went on two place trailers to some of the last races!

Vintagesleds.com: What's your opinion as to why isn't modern racing as popular as it was back in the day - and what could be done to make it "NASCAR of the North"?
Dimmerman: I have opinions – from marketing to locations, to weather to snocross, so without writing a book, I don’t think we can answer that all. but I think marketing the drivers by name would help. I think the media needs to hammer on the key divers to make them household names – but that’s just one very important part.

Vintagesleds.com: You mentioned you still have your leather suits - what other fun memorabilia did you keep? Trophies? Photos?
Dimmerman: I still have some paintings of the watercolor Cat race logo and the three tough cats. Team arctic sweaters, tons of stuff from Sweden, quite a few trophies. I have some of the early 340 and 440 dyno sheets. I still have the Dyno sheets from when the Nielson sleds were tested at Polaris.

Vintagesleds.com: The vintage hobby has eXploded in recent years, and the old SnoPro race sleds are some of the most sought after collector items. Have you been inundated with calls from people claiming they have one of your sleds?
Dimmerman: Just recently. Now they seem to be more serious collectors who want to verify stuff, but pictures don’t work – I need to actually see the sled. If I can see it, it would be pretty easy.

Vintagesleds.com: Could you positively identify any of them?
Dimmerman: May have mounted or drilled something different that was comfortable for me. If I saw the sleds, it could trigger a memory, The handlebars and footrests were done for me, so they would all be.

Vintagesleds.com: Tell me about some of the guys on other teams. In the old days, Rugland and Omdahl (Polaris) used to hang out a lot with the Cat guys - was it the same in 78 and on?
Dimmerman: No, not really we pretty much stayed in our own groups.

Vintagesleds.com: Got any final words for vintagesleds.com readers, or those guys out there building vintage racers for next winter?
Dimmerman: When I pull up the site, I see what's happening all the time, and when I check the Bull Sessions, I am overwhelmed at how much diversity there is in the hobby – I would have thought those rusty old things were buried and gone! I enjoy that. For the guys going to race IFS sleds - the trickiest part of IFS sleds is having the front end alignment correct. Toe-in, toe- out, bump steer, once that’s done it is much easier to drive – so take your time early in the year and get it right – I checked it more then weekly.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Hales Corner - Another big day for Jim.