Press Release –

In his first two seasons as a full Pro-class rider, Ryan Simons showed flashes of brilliance but sometimes struggled to put whole races together. It’s safe to say those troubles are long gone.

Simons – already enjoying a breakout season on the World PowerSports Association (WPSA) National series – had the best weekend of his short career at the Eagle River, WI, double National February 23-25.

Simons scored his first-ever National victory in Saturday’s Pro Open race and he came back to take third in Sunday’s Open contest. The 24-year-old now has five podiums on the season in addition to his Winter X silver medal and sits in second in Pro Open points. “I was pretty pumped up to get that win done,” Simons said. “I just tried to stay calm and treat it like a heat race.”

The win certainly didn’t surprise Arctic Cat Race Manager Russ Ebert. “Ryan’s been riding great all year and this was just a matter of time,” Ebert said. “And I attribute at least part of that success to the chemistry on his HJ Racing team. Ryan is very hands on, understands his machine, knows what he wants from his suspension and provides excellent feedback. It helps that Hector [Olson] and Corey [Berberich] are two of the best; they’ve helped several riders get their first win.”

“The whole team is great,” Simons said. “Corey and Hector are good at what they do and our maintenance program is fantastic. Everything is so fresh each weekend and they do whatever it takes for us.”

Simons wasn’t the only member of Team Green to perform well at Eagle River. Despite being plagued with a draining flu, Carl Schubitzke – fresh off his first National podium of the season the week prior at Valcourt, Quebec – notched three top seven finishes and made all four of the weekend’s finals.

Arctic Cat drivers dominated several of the support classes, just as they’ve done all year. Cat’s stable of young future stars combined to collect half the podiums in both the Semi-Pro and Sport divisions.

Besides procuring a pair of podiums, Dan Ebert now leads both Semi-Pro points chases. Dusty Miller had two Sport-class top-threes, and Kyle Pallin chipped in with both a Sport Stock podium and a Junior 16-17 victory. Cody Thomsen added a win in Junior 14-15.

“Cody is a neighbor of ours from Nisswa and an excellent motocross racer,” Ebert said. “We’ve got a great crop of talented Junior drivers and he’s one of them. It’s exciting for me because they’re the future of racing, and they’re all fun to watch.”

Just like the rest of Team Green.

Press Release –

The Tesoro Iron Dog is the most daunting cross-country snowmobile race in the world. Covering 2,000 rugged miles through some of Alaska’s most trying territory, the Iron Dog might just be the biggest test a snowmobile can face. Little wonder that Arctic Cat-mounted competitors have captured eight of the last 10 Iron Dog titles.

In 2007, the Arctic Cat duo of Scott Davis and Todd Palin earned the win. Riding a new F6, the pair finished the grueling seven day race in 38 hours, 7 minutes and 7 seconds, nearly 50 minutes better than the second place squad. It was Palin’s fourth Iron Dog victory, with the most recent three all coming on Cat.

Davis collected his seventh Iron Dog title and fifth on Cat. At 47 years old, Davis is the oldest person to win the event, and he and Palin avenge last year’s bitter defeat, when the team lost by a single second in the closest Iron Dog finish ever.

“This win is the most satisfying that I’ve had, especially at my age and after what happened last year,” Davis said. “There are so many things that go in to winning this race: You have to have a great partner, a good team and a snowmobile you trust, and then all you have to do is go 2,000 miles without screwing up.”

Palin and Davis certainly found a trustworthy sled – they chose the all-new F6. “We were a little nervous about it at first because it’s a new chassis,” Davis explained. “But once we began testing we knew we wanted to use it. The ride is superior and takes so little effort. You can ride for 300 miles and not even feel it; there’s much less fatigue. I’m 47, and I was able to go hard because the ride’s so comfortable.”

“You’re riding further forward on the machine [6 inches further forward compared to a Firecat] and it’s so smooth; we felt like we had the best-riding sleds in the race,” he continued. “In terms of terrain, this was the toughest Iron Dog in years: We had rock hard snow, frozen tundra and exposed obstacles. It was a real test for snowmobiles, and the F6 passed with flying colors. The durability was great, the front end works fantastic and the chassis didn’t flex. In those conditions, you learn a lot about your sled in a hurry, and I was very impressed.”

The Iron Dog has long been a proving ground for new Arctic Cat platforms; Team Green’s first victory in the contest came in 1993 – the debut year for the legendary ZR chassis. Cat has dominated the event ever since.

“I think the Iron Dog is an excellent example of our engineering division’s commitment to quality and durability,” Arctic Cat Race Team Manager Russ Ebert said. “We take great pride in building bulletproof snowmobiles, and the results of our work are obvious in that race.”

Press Release –

It took him nearly two months, and several near misses, but Wisconsin’s Ross Martin finally brought the winner’s trophy home with his victory in the Pro Open final Sunday at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track. The event was part of the second round of the WPSA PowerSports Snowmobile Tour’s Eagle River Snocross National.

Martin (No. 837 Judnick Motorsports/Polaris), who took the top qualifying spot, fought off early pressure from Levi LaVallee to take the victory, his first since sweeping the Duluth opener in November.

LaVallee (No. 108 Pirtek/Polaris) was second, earning his fourth Pro Open podium this season, and his second of the weekend. Ryan Simons (No. 67 Speedwerx/Arctic Cat) finished third, netting his second of the weekend after winning yesterday’s final.

“I have really struggled this year,” said Martin, who padded his points lead with the victory. Martin now sits 21 points ahead of TJ Gulla (No. 44 Pirtek/Polaris) in the standings. “I’ve always been up there, especially in qualifying, but it just seems that something always happens to me in the final.

“I really needed this one,” added Martin. “This was a long streak without a win.”

Chris Kafka (No. 991 Pirtek/Polaris) won the Semi-Pro Open final, ahead of Dan Ebert (No. 602 Speedwerx/Arctic Cat) and Brett Turcotte (No. 196 Blair Morgan Racing/Ski-Doo).

Dylan Jansen (No. 272 Northway Sports/Polaris) won the 120 Champ final, followed by Kevin Kuklinski (No. 120 EmbroidME/Polaris) and Mason Hanus (No. 132 Woods/Polaris).

This weekend’s races will be telecast on SPEED. Please check local listings for dates and times.

The next event for the PowerSports Snowmobile Tour is the Air Force Canterbury Snocross, scheduled for next weekend at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn. That event, another double national, will feature two complete Pro and Semi-Pro shows.

Press Release –

TJ Gulla (No. 44 Pirtek/Polaris) fought through fatigue, sore muscles and blisters on his hands to win Sunday’s Pro Stock final at the WPSA PowerSports Snowmobile Tour Eagle River Snocross National at the AMSOIL Eagle River Derby Track.

In the process, Gulla, from South Hero, Vt., took a nine-point lead in the Pro Stock point standings.

Gulla, who earned the top qualifying spot dominated the race, beating Mike Schultz (No. 5 Avalanche Racing/Polaris) finished second and sits in the runner-up slot in the standings. Iain Hayden (No. 93 Blair Morgan Racing/Ski-Doo), who recorded his first podium finish of the season, was third. It marked Gulla’s second Pro Stock victory this season.

“I was just trying to survive the weekend,” said Gulla, who finished third in yesterday’s Pro Stock final, part of the double national weekend here. “The conditions today were difficult, but they were the same for everyone. Before this weekend, I took some time off to heal to get ready for this because I knew it was going to be a long weekend.

“Every point counts now,” added Gulla. “Qualifying is important and you have keep the ball rolling. You can’t have one bad round. You really have to stay consistent this late in the season.”

Robbie Malinoski, Boss Racing and Yamaha made snocross history in January when they won the Pro Open Final at the Brainerd Minnesota WPSA National.

The Yamaha braintrust had to be literally peeled from their race trailer ceiling when Malinoski rode a near perfect final – pulling the holeshot and leading to victory on Yamaha’s all-new Nytro race sled.

Yamaha left Duluth in December, went back to the drawing board and built a brand new racer off the new 2008 Nytro platform. Clearly, the new Nytro is a very competent Open Mod snocross weapon.

There’s just no way you can under-value what this victory means. Yamaha said it was going to go racing against 2-strokes, and it did. Malinoski said he wanted to be the first to win big on a 4-stroke and he did it. Frankly, if Yamaha doesn’t do anything more for the rest of the season, it has made its point.

It was way back in late 90’s when Doug Henry won the Las Vegas round of the AMA Supercross Series on the YZM 400 4-stroke motocross motorcycle and made motorcycling history. He then went on to win the first AMA National Outdoor Championship a year later on a 4-stroke.

The mold was broken and now MX racing is dominated – indoor and outdoor – by 4-stroke power. While it’s much too early to make sweeping proclamations, we think Yamaha and Malinoski deserve a pat on the back for singlehandedly doing what most thought was impossible.