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POLARIS EAGLE RIVER RACE RESULTS

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Past World Champion Nick Van Strydonk (T&N Racing) got his new Polaris-powered race sled dialled in and finished second in the premier race at the Eagle River [WI] World Championship Snowmobile Derby, and Polaris cross-country racer Ryan Faust (Faust Racing) won the Factory 600 Stock title on a stock 600 RUSH Pro-S during racing held Jan. 14-17.


Van Strydonk, who won the 2012 World Championship race at Eagle River, was racing for the first time on a new race sled he and his team built after a disappointing start to the current ice oval race season. The new sled’s design was similar to that of his winning 2012 sled, and it got faster and faster throughout Derby weekend.

“We had an off weekend [at a previous race in Ironwood, MI], so we just built a brand new sled,” he said. “We went back to what worked before.”

On Friday, Jan. 15, at Eagle River, Van Strydonk finished third in Friday Night Thunder, a feature race that doubled as the weekend’s TLR Cup points race. He finished first and third in his two World Championship qualifying heats on Saturday, and ran well throughout the 30-lap final on Sunday. He ran in the top five the entire race, and was the only sled to challenge the leader in the final 10 laps.

Van Strydonk finished second, just 2.3 seconds out of first and a full 5 seconds ahead of the third-place sled.

“It’s been a great sled all weekend and we’re still learning,” he said after the World Championship. “It was cold out today and that helped us. It was a rough track but I like it tough, that works to my advantage. I train for this all year long.”

His was one of six Polaris-powered sleds in the 12-sled World Championship. Joey Fjerstad (Felegy Racing/Ericco Mfg.) finished sixth, Dustin Wahl (Jimmie John’s/Wahl Bros./Polaris Racing) was eighth, Matt Ritchie (Ritchie Motorsports) took ninth, Blaine Stephenson (Stephenson Racing) finished 11th, and Steven Marquis (Marquis Inc.) was 12th.

Four Polaris racers are in the top nine in TLR Cup points, including Van Strydonk in fifth, Jordan Wahl (Jimmie John’s/Wahl Bros./Polaris Racing) in sixth, Stephenson in eighth, and Ritchie in ninth.

Ryan Faust and Travis Faust (Faust Racing), best known as cross-country racers on the USXC circuit, raced on a pair of stock 600 RUSH Pro-S sleds in the new Factory 600 Stock class and Ryan won while Travis finished third. Built on the innovative, Polaris-exclusive AXYS Chassis, the RUSH models showed they can excel on all terrain – including the famed Eagle River ice oval.

The Factory Stock 600 class was created to encourage racers to compete on stock sleds they use on the trails every day. Five Polaris finished in the top seven in the final, with the Faust brothers followed by: 5. Jerry Brickner, (Brickner Motorsports); 6. Grant Weber, (Faust Racing); and 7. Cole Weber, (Weber Racing).

In Pro Open snocross racing at Eagle River, Corin Todd (Leighton Motorsports) finished third, Trevor Leighton (Leighton Motorsports) took fifth, and Jake Angove (Judnick Motorsports) finished seventh. Angove, who usually competes in the ISOC Pro Lite class, was competitive all weekend despite running against Pro Open sleds on his less powerful Pro Lite sled.

In the Women’s snocross final at Eagle River, Polaris racers finished 1-2 as Jakki Farmer (Fort Fremont Racing) won and Markki Farmer (Fort Fremont Racing) took second.

CERTIFYING 2-STROKES

Kent Lester
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CERTIFYING 2-STROKES

We’ve been speculating about the next generation of 800 2-strokes to hit the market.

While this is being written, we think both Cat and Ski-Doo are working on fresh 800 powerplants but we’re not sure whether these new engines will be available for next season.


Of course, it’s all been motivated by Polaris’ 800HO that seems to have set the bar higher for performance in this very popular engine segment. Some of our readers seem to be growing impatient, wanting more power and even holding off buying a new sled because of the prospect of something newer and faster arriving on the horizon.

We’re gambling that any new Ski-Doo technology we see will likely show up in a 600 before it does on an 800. Why? Simply, although never a cakewalk, it’s easier to EPA certify a 600 than an 800 and it gives Doo time to perfect new E-TEC technology.

Likewise, Cat has been on the threshold of introducing a new 800 for a couple of years now, ever since the intro of its amazing slot-injected 600.


So, is it possible to build an 800 with more power and get the EPA to buy in? To put this in perspective, you have to go back in time to the 1950s. In 1955 Chevrolet introduced a 265 cubic inch V8 that made 163-hp. That engine was heralded as an icon of performance efficiency and laid the groundwork for nearly 50 years of production in various forms.

Today’s 800s are making 163-hp from only 48 cubic inches. That’s a lot of efficiency and in order to get the kind of horsepower snowmobilers are demanding (we think the next generation of 800 2-strokes will be making power in the 168-70 range) there’s a lot of stress on a parallel twin this size and it definitely requires a steady diet of gasoline to both cool the engine and generate big power.

The only way to certify a big power 2-stroke is to ensure it runs super-lean all the time and uses an absolute minimum amount of gasoline and minimum quantities of oil to lubricate its internals. All the above means more heat and a real threat to the engine’s durability.


It’s a bit like a dog chasing its own tail. Consumers are demanding more power; the EPA wants better mileage and a cleaner burn. From an engineering perspective, those two things are in direct conflict with one another.

The 800 class requires the optimum from a 2-stroke, unlike the 600 class that offers less power output (125-hp) from about 37 cubic inches of displacement.

The fact the 600 class buyer doesn’t demand the kind of hyper-performance the 800 class does means 600s can run cooler, are easier to keep within EPA boundaries and generally have better prospects of living a longer life.

Polaris USXC Results from Devils Lake

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Polaris cross-country snowmobile racers Taylor Bunke (Bunke Racing) won two classes and Aaron Christensen (AC Racing) took second in two Pro classes at the USXC’s Devils Lake 250, Jan. 9-10 in Devils Lake, North Dakota.

Taylor Bunke won the Semi-Pro 600 class while fellow Polaris racers Alex Hetteen (Hayford Racing) finished third and Dan Revering took eighth.


Bunke also won the I-500 class and Hetteen finished second, which bodes well for their prospects in the Feb. 10-13 Seven Clans Winnipeg to Willmar 500. Polaris racer Ron Bestul finished 10th in the class at Devils Lake.

Aaron Christensen finished second in the USXC’s two premier Pro classes, Pro Open and Pro 600.

Jill Tangen (Hayford Racing) won the Women’s class at Devils Lake, where windchills were -15 F and colder throughout the weekend. Polaris racers who earned podium spots in the Sport classes were Jeff Hayford (Hayford Racing), who finished third in Sport 600 Open, and Dan Herberg, who took second in the Sport 600 Stock class.

The Devils Lake event was the second of five straight weekends of USXC racing, after which there will be one free weekend prior to the I-500 that starts in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Feb. 10. The next race on the USXC schedule is the Grafton 100 on Jan. 16 in Grafton, N.D.

Polaris USXC Results from Grafton

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Polaris cross-country snowmobile racers used the competitive advantage of their AXYS Chassis race sleds to win two top classes at the USXC Grafton 100, as Taylor Bunke (Bunke Racing) won the Semi-Pro 600 race and Alex Hetteen (Hayford Racing) won the I-500 class. Polaris racer Derick Krug (Krug Racing) won the Sport 600 Open class during the USXC event held Jan. 16 in Grafton, N.D.

As Bunke took top honors in Semi-Pro 600, he was joined on the podium by Hetteen, who finished third. Polaris racer Nicholas Jahnke (Midwest Powersports) took ninth.


Hetteen also finished second in the Semi-Pro Improved class and won the I-500 class. Bunke finished fourth in the I-500 class as racers continued to prep themselves and their sleds for the Winnipeg to Willmar I-500 Feb. 10-13.

Aaron Christensen (AC Racing) took second in the Pro Stock class, while Bobby Menne (Hayford Racing) finished eighth and Jahnke took ninth.

Krug won Sport 600 Open and was the first of five Polaris racers to finish in the top 10. He was followed by: 3. Jared Christensen; 4. Jeff Hayford (Hayford Racing); 7. Michael Feigitsch (Mueller Racing); and 10. Derek Frie.

Krug finished second in Sport 600 Stock and was joined on the podium by Andrew Diekmann, who finished third. Other Polaris racers with top-10 finishes were: 5. Jeff Hayford; 8. Jared Christensen; and 10. Dan Herberg.

Jill Tangen (Hayford Racing) took second in the Women’s class. Next up on the busy USXC schedule is the Thief River Falls [MN] 300, Jan. 23-24.

Polaris Shakopee Results

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Swedish snocross racer Petter Narsa (Hentges Racing) warmed up a frigid Minnesota weekend on his Polaris race sled, finishing second and third in the weekend’s two Pro Open finals during ISOC National racing Jan. 8-9 at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. As windchills at the racetrack dipped to -20 F, Narsa excelled and moved up to fifth place in Pro Open points.

While Narsa finished third in Friday night’s Pro Open final and took second in Saturday night’s final, Polaris racer Corin Todd (Leighton Motorsports) earned two top-10 finishes to become one of four Polaris racers in the top eight in points. Narsa’s Hentges Racing teammate Kody Kamm is second in Pro Open points, followed by Narsa in fifth, Kyle Pallin (Team LaVallee) in sixth, and Todd in eighth.


Past champion Ross Martin (Judnick Motorsports) raced in the first two rounds of qualifying on Friday night before withdrawing because his injured ankle was not sufficiently healed. The team said he would have the ankle re-examined following the weekend to determine if he could race at Deadwood, S.D., in two weeks.

In Pro Lite racing at Shakopee, Jake Angove (Judnick Motorsports) won Friday night’s final for the first Pro Lite victory of his career. He was joined in the top 10 Friday night by James Johnstad (Cottew Motorsports) in seventh and Luke Wollenberg (Wollenberg Motorsports) in 10th.

In Saturday night’s Pro Lite final, Cole Cottew (Cottew Motorsports) reached the podium with a third-place finish while Angove finished fourth, Johnstad was fifth, and Zak Mason (Team LaVallee) took ninth. In the Pro Lite Points standings, Jake Angove is in fourth, James Johnstad is seventh, and Zak Mason is eighth.

Two Polaris Sport class racers reached the podium on the weekend as Nickolas Lorenz (Lorenz Racing) won Saturday’s final and Durk Roper (Roper Racing) finished third on Friday night. Six Polaris racers are in the top 10 in Sport points, including points leader Jacob Yurk (Team Vermillion). He is joined by: 4. Nickolas Lorenz; 7. Durk Roper (Roper Racing); 8. Adam Peterson (Peterson Racing Inc.); 9. Evan Daudt (Daudt Racing); and 10. Jake Geeseman (Wollenberg Motorsports).

Elina Ohman (Team Southside Polaris) finished second in the Women’s Pro-Am final at Shakopee and is currently the class points leader.

In Sport Lite racing at Shakopee, Adam Peterson (Peterson Racing Inc.) won Friday night’s final, and Taylor Cole (Plaisted Racing) won on Saturday with Jordan Wolfe (Wolfe Racing) finishing second.

The next stop on the ISOC National tour is Deadwood, South Dakota on Jan. 22-23.

WHO BUILDS WHAT?

Kent Lester
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WHO BUILDS WHAT?

Some of our readers were recently commenting on the fact they’d never buy a snowmobile made by a company that did not produce its own engines.

The fact is, over the years three of the four snowmobile OEMs have used engines not built by the parent company.

Some of the criticism was aimed at Arctic Cat (obviously from Cat-haters), because it is and has been using engines built by Suzuki, Yamaha and Kymco. Those same commentators felt this strategy somehow made Cat an inferior brand.

At the same time, Cat’s 800 (Suzuki), 1049 (Yamaha) and 1056 (turbo) have been incredibly durable engines over the years – even compared to some of the bigger selling brands.

BTW, Cat builds its own CTEC-2 600 2-stroke in its own engine plant in St Cloud , Minnesota.

The point is this: For many years Polaris engines were supplied by Fuji in Japan with excellent results and all Ski-Doo engines are built in Austria by Rotax. Yes, Rotax is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BRP, but it also supplies thousands of engines to the motorcycle and aircraft industries and operates as a separate entity from Ski-Doo.

Technology like E-TEC 2-stroke direct injection was purchased by BRP from Outboard Marine Corporation (OMC), used to be called Ficht Injection and was perfected for outboard and snowmobile use by BRP less than a decade ago.

Nearly every snowmobile engine Rotax builds, especially its 4-strokes, in whole or in part, has some application besides in snowmobiles.

The only company that has used its own engines since day one is Yamaha. Now, our reader complains Yamaha is using a non-Yamaha platform with the Viper.

The point is this: As demands continue to increase on snowmobile manufacturers to attain EPA certification in a number of different categories with a long list of different engines, it just makes good business sense to hitchhike on someone else’s engine designs and manufacturing capability.

We’re all for it and know this is the best way for snowmobile design to continue its advancement.

TEST RIDE: 2016 Ski-Doo Summit X 800 T3

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TEST RIDE: 2016 Ski-Doo Summit X 800 T3

SnowTrax Television Co-Host Luke Lester evaluates Ski-Doo’s 2016 Summit X 800 T3 with 3-inch lugs to get an experienced rider just about anywhere you want to go on the mountain.


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TEST RIDE: 2016 Polaris 800 Pro RMK LE 163

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TEST RIDE: 2016 Polaris 800 Pro RMK LE 163

SnowTrax Television Co-Host AJ Lester evaluates the 2016 Polaris Pro RMK LE featuring a 163-inch track with a 3-inch lug and the Polaris 800 HO engine.

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TEAM ARCTIC CRUSHES CANTERBURY AND DEVILS LAKE

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TEAM ARCTIC CRUSHES CANTERBURY AND DEVILS LAKE

It was a stunning show of force for Team Arctic racers on a cold and wintery January weekend as they dominated the ranks at the ISOC Canterbury snocross in Shakopee, Minn., and the USXC cross-country in Devil’s Lake, ND.

It was nine wins out of 17 classes – including 25 of 51 podium positions – at the Canterbury snocross, while the cross-country corps delivered 16 wins in 20 classes and 40 out of 60 podium positions.


Tucker Hibbert raced a perfect weekend at Canterbury, winning both Pro Open finals with another powerful display of speed and skill on a very technical course.

Racing out of the Factory Team Arctic trailer, 17-year-old Dan Benham captured his first win in Pro Lite #2 in his freshman year in the class while current points leader, Montana Jess, finished right behind Dan in 2nd. Eddie Neubaur was another first-time winner, taking the honors in Sport #1.

Ryley Bester once again delivered an outstanding performance, staying perfect for the season in the Jr. 14-15 and Jr. 16-17 classes. Eric Downs took yet another win this season in Jr. 10-13; Taven Woodie captured her third win of the season in Jr. Girls 9-13; and Anson Scheele led a Team Arctic sweep of the Transition 8-12 final.

On a rough and windblown Devil’s Lake cross-country ditch race course, Team Arctic’s Wes Selby swept both Pro classes with teammate Zach Herfindahl taking a pair of thirds.

Other double-winners included Matt Feil in Sport and Hunter Houle in Expert 85. Additional Team Green class winners included Ryan Trout, Ryan Weidemann, David Brown, Garet Grzadzielewski, Marissa Kallock, Paul Brown, Dylan Herman, Kevin Murphy and Paul Sillerud. Team Arctic racers were so dominant at Devil’s Lake that they swept seven class podiums en route to the 16 class wins and 40 podium positions weekend.

“This was one of those weekends that we’ll savor for years to come,” said Mike Kloety, Team Arctic Race Manager. “Sweeping all the Pro classes in both venues, plus winning more than half the snocross finals and 80% of the cross-country classes aboard our ZR 6000R and ZR 4000RR snowmobiles proves the talent of our riders, the dedication of their crews and the performance of our snowmobiles. Our entire company is extremely proud of all our racers.”


The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat and Motorfist brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ACAT.

More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at arcticcat.com.

ARCTIC CAT LAUNCHES THE #20FOOTTUCKER GIVEAWAY

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ARCTIC CAT LAUNCHES THE #20FOOTTUCKER GIVEAWAY

Find the #20FootTucker, Take a Selfie, Post and Tag for a Chance to Win $250 Gift Card

Arctic Cat has launched the #20FootTucker social media promotion in conjunction with ISOC’s remaining National Snocross races.


To participate, fans have to find the #20FootTucker near the Arctic Cat merchandise trailer, take their best selfie and post to social media with the hashtag #20FootTucker.

The best photo will be chosen after each Pro Open Final and two lucky winners will receive a $250 gift card that can be spent on ArcticWear and Accessories at their local Arctic Cat dealer, or the Arctic Cat On-line Store: arcticcat.com/gear.

To view ISOC’s National Snocross schedule visit: snocross.com.

The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat and Motorfist brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol ACAT.

More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at arcticcat.com.

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