Over the years I’ve penned more than a few editorials about the important linkage snowmobile racing has to the development of new snowmobiles. I’ve been outspoken in my support of this thesis for well over a decade. Time for an update.

A history lesson might help. Back in the day, snowmobile racing revolved around ice ovals. Much was learned from this intense discipline. Engines developed on the race track delivered technology to trail sleds. Clutch innovations, drive line components and even suspensions ended up on production snowmobiles as a result of the iced oval.

In the early 80’s, a new racing snowmobile landed on the iced oval scene and it changed everything forever. The single-track race sled became obsolete when the twin tracker cut its first lap and did nothing but win from there on.

It was the ultimate answer to going fast as long as each straightaway ended with a left turn. The problem? The sled had no ability to advance consumer snowmobile design.

Fallout from the twin track’s arrival couldn’t be foreseen. History records the gradual and then dramatic decline of the iced oval as a viable discipline for developing trail sled technology. As a result, one by one, the OEMs pulled away from the sport.

Enter snocross. When Sno-X first crossed the Atlantic, its Scandinavian roots dangling behind it, it changed all the rules as the green flag dropped at Quadna Mountain in Minnesota for the first event on these shores.

Everything from A-frames to long travel skids and seat foam, toe-holds and handlebars were directly affected by the sport. By the late ’90s snocross had become so powerful, its ability to shape technology was exceeded only by its ability to shape purchase decisions. The fever persisted as each maker took its turn building a better Sno-X sled, then morphing it into a consumer model.

The whole deal was so good it became completely predictable. Every year we went to Spirit Mountain with our cameras loaded. The press lined up at the back door of the factory team trailers waiting for the rear door to drop and the newest Sno-X weapon to slide down the ramp.

Everyone in attendance knew what they were seeing was 12 months away from the showroom, guaranteed. The good news was this: Snocross was legitimately improving the breed. Arctic Cat’s ZR with A-frames, Ski-Doo’s REV, Polaris Indy and Edge tipped-in trailing arms, were all built for Sno-X.

Even Yamaha’s Nytro has cues from snocross and there’s more, much more that’s ended up in the showroom as a result of factory snocross racing based development.

Something’s changed of late and it has the eerie aura of the early ’80s when the twin track oval racer became irrelevant.

The evidence is before us and it looks like this: Polaris builds what is widely thought of as the benchmark snocross weapon, the IQ Racer. Purpose-built in every way, the IQ Racer has taken Polaris from nowhere to the undisputed king-of-the-hill in racing.

Here’s what’s weird – you can’t buy one unless you’re a racer. In 2008, the IQ Racer was marketed as a hardcore consumer sled with an oil-injected 600 engine calibrated for trail use. It didn’t sell and quickly vanished from the brochure.

Certainly, the IQ Racer has contributed to technology seen in Polaris trail sleds but don’t expect this purpose-built racer to show up in your dealer’s showroom with a high windshield and saddlebags.

What am I getting at? I think the paradigm is shifting in snowmobile development. Let me offer another example. The revolutionary Polaris RUSH with its Pro-Ride suspension is not destined for the racetrack.

Polaris will not race the chassis this season. If you read the RUSH historical coverage in Supertrax this season you saw clearly how Polaris did not race the RUSH or Pro-Ride during its development. We think this speaks volumes about the shift surrounding Sno-X racing’s importance and role.

Snocross is not irrelevant as a racing venue. Its high flying, roost throwing, ski-to-ski excitement is exactly what racing spectators and TV networks love. However, its power to birth new and, as yet unforeseen, technology is rapidly diminishing – and the proof is in your dealer’s showroom right now.

Sure, a new clutch, suspension geometry or a better design for a component may emerge on the racetrack but, if it’s grafted into a purpose-built, non-consumer-available model it won’t resonate with buyers like torque sensing links, exhaust valves and myriad other cool tricks did when you could actually see them on sleds identical to the one you were buying.

Over the years we’ve cackled about Snowmobile of the Year awards and how they seem to fall short of being a fair evaluation of a sled’s worth. The fact is, it’s a pretty daunting task to try to choose only one snowmobile out of an entire model year that is “best”.

There’s something off-kilter about choosing a single sled. It subliminally demeans the rest of the offerings presented that year and unfairly elevates a completely new, unproven model to prominence when it really hasn’t had enough time to earn any real accolades from the snowmobiling public.

Keep in mind, the OEMs love these awards and the magazines, websites and television shows that actually grant Sled of the Year kudos to one particular model are rewarded with plenty of free promotion in ads and on OEM websites and brochures and such.

It’s not a bad deal and I suppose the temptation is always there to choose a single snowmobile. By sheer coincidence these awards seem to always be in a year-to-year rotation so that each manufacturer wins every four years.

Heaven forbid a new model should be so dramatic it changes the rules and the granters have to gloss over it because it didn’t fall into its proper rotation. Oh, well, maybe it’ll win next year, or the year after… get my point?

There’s only one source fully qualified to decide which snowmobile is the best sled of the year. It’s you. You, sitting in those little tiled rooms where you read Supertrax, as actual get-up-in-the-morning-and-put-the-miles-on riding enthusiasts who pay for the snowmobile with your own cash are the ones who should be deciding if a sled is the best one in any particular model year.

Unfortunately, you don’t have much opportunity to ride the newest of the new stuff until you’ve actually gone down to the showroom and bought one. That whole process takes about a 12-month turnaround and by then some mag has already decided on The Snowmobile of the Year.

Several years ago, we decided to create the Best in Class Awards, affectionately referred to as the BIC Awards. The idea was to choose consumer sleds that fall into varying categories based around performance levels, comfort and deep snow capability.

Our choices are based on the riding experiences of our staff team and are gathered by vicariously simulating the kind of riding you do with your own personal sleds. Instead of coming up with one big kahoona, we decided on a whole series of deserving winners each year.

It broadened the scope of the whole deal about giving unfair credit to untried snowmobile models and left enough room to give insight into what we think will be the technology that will shape the future.

We have a lot of fun choosing the award winners and the process goes on all year as we ride. Our group will stop on the trail and someone will proclaim their undying love for a particular sled and how it deserves to be called the best.

There will be limitless counterclaims and much discussion in the Supertrax Cave later about why someone is an idiot for choosing that particular sled and arguments offered why they should choose something else. It’s almost as much fun as the riding.

What’s great about this kind of banter is that it includes anyone who we meet on the trail or who is along for the ride. If we see a particular sled, especially if it’s a brand new one, we ask the owner what he or she likes about it, and why.

This kind of face-to-face insight is extremely valuable because, long ago, we learned there’s no one with a stronger opinion than a snowmobiler… and you’re usually right on the money.

We also run polls on this website asking key questions about some of the characteristics of a BIC candidate we’ve been considering. These polls get a lot of action and your feedback is taken very seriously.

We try to stay away from choosing completely new snowmobile platforms in their first year of production. This can be iffy at best, and our experience has shown us, completely new sleds or completely new engines almost always take a year to get the gremlins out.

In this issue you’ll read about Mark and my own correct opinions on the most deserving award winners.

Although, we sound a little crusty, it’s not far off some of the discussions we have between ourselves and other staff members when it comes to sled evaluations.

We have a lot of fun and if you see either one of us on the trail, we’ll actually tell you which sled we think should be Sled of the Year. I guarantee we’ll have an opinion.