Dan Ebert wins USCC Red Lake I-500
January 17, 2010
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Dan Ebert powered across the finish line to win the USCC Red Lake I-500 today in Thief River Falls, Minn.
Arctic Cat racer Dan Ebert won the Pro 600 class in the 2010 United States Cross-Country (USCC) Red Lake I-500 today. He covered the 505-mile course in 8 hours, 11 minutes, 35 seconds. Gabe Bunke (8:13:42) finished second on a Polaris 600 Rush and Ryan Huston (8:16:22) finished third, also on an Arctic Cat.
USCC Red Lake I-500 update
January 16, 2010
We’re getting ready to head to the USCC Red Lake I-500 drivers’ meeting where we’ll get official results after the second of three days of cross-country action. It was a beautiful day for racing as visibilty was good under hazy skies and temperatures near 30 degrees.
USCC spokesman Chad Colby said during the second repair session a few hours ago that there was going to be some drama at the meeting. Apparently several time penalties will be handed out, which will shuffle the leader board quite a bit. The meeting starts at 6:30 CST at the Seven Clans Casino near Thief River Falls, Minn. We hope to chat with a few racers and officials to go with the results.
[Updated]
The meeting was less dramatic than expected. Four drivers were penalized, including race leader D.J. Ekre. Ekre (Arctic Cat) was penalized for failing to make a complete stop at the Highway 1 crossing.
Cory Davis Sweeps Pro Classes At USCC Opener
January 5, 2010
January 5, 2010
The frigid air during the United States Cross-Country (USCC) Grafton Snow Drifter 100 didn’t slow down Alaska’s Cory Davis as he swept the Pro classes January 3 at the season-opening event in Grafton, North Dakota. A record turnout of racers awoke to minus 19 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer and, despite blue skies and sun most of the day, temps struggled to reach the single digits below zero. Racers also worked against snow dust and flat light conditions when clouds rolled in later in the day.
2010 Ski-Doo race sled revised over last year’s machine
October 9, 2009
Ski-Doo snowmobile race shop engineers concentrated on better engine and holeshot performance from their 2010 MX Zx 600 RS, along with better chassis control through rough terrain. [Read more]
Dyrdahl wins USCC Red Lake I-500
January 18, 2009
January 18, 2009
Thief River Falls, Minn.
Bryan Dyrdahl on his way to another I-500 win.
Bryan Dyrdahl won the United States Cross-Country (USCC) Red Lake I-500 today, his fifth time winning the race. Dyrdahl’s total time on the 500-mile course was 6:19:44. Arctic Cat’s D.J. Ekre finished second with a 6:21:24 lap followed by Polaris’ Corey Davidson with a time of 6:21:54.
Day 3 started cloudy and overcast, which offered flat light and poor visibility. But shortly after the start, skies cleared, making for ideal racing conditions. “It was fun when the sun came out,” said Dyrdahl, who would rather race on a rough track with bright sunlight than drive a smooth course with poor visibility.
Dyrdahl started the third and final day with a 58-second lead and his day went well, he said, except for a drive belt that blew up while running wide open in a ditch. “It exploded, he said. The belt replacement went smoothly, but Dyrdahl was nervous after swapped the part, thanks to USCC President Pat Mach.
Mach was in his truck following Dyrdahl. When he saw the race leader was in trouble, Mach pulled over and offered words of encouragement to his racer. “Pat was behind me and he said, ‘there’s no one coming,’” Dyrdahl said. ”But I thought I heard him say, ‘here they come.’ So I got on it and started haulin’ ass. I rode tight at first, but as soon as that belt blew, I hung it all out after that.”
Deep snow made landings softer and kept peak speeds lower. D.J. Ekre, shown here, moved up one spot today and finished in second place.
Ekre started in third place behind Davidson. Once he got by the Polaris driver, he set his sites on Dyrdahl. “I just kept pushing. I crashed a couple times, but at least I knew I was trying to catch him,” Ekre said.
USCC reports that 100 professional and amateur drivers started the I-500. The race gets its “International” label because the racetrack crosses into land of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, which is a sovereign nation located south of Thief River Falls. USCC’s next race is January 31 in Ada, Minnesota.
2009 USCC Red Lake I-500 final results
Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. D.J. Ekre (Cat); 3. Corey Davidson (Pol); 4. Brian Dick (Cat); 5. Dan Ebert (Cat); 6. Chad Lian (Cat); 7. Brandon Gerszewski (Cat); 8. Eric Gausen (Pol); 9. Phil Storlie (Cat); 10. Nathan Potucek (Cat).
Back on Polaris this season, Corey Davidson finished third in the I-500.
Bryan Dyrdahl leads USCC Red Lake I-500
January 17, 2009
Thief River Falls, Minn.
January 17, 2009
Ski-Doo’s Bryan Dyrdahl will head out for the final day of the Red Lake I-500 tomorrow morning with a 58-second lead over Polaris driver Corey Davidson. If Dyrdahl holds on, it will be his fifth I-500 cross-country win and his third in four years.
Last year, Dyrdahl went into the last day of the 500 with a five-minute lead and won by 10 minutes. Does the narrower margin matter?
“I just need to stay on the sled and ride my own race,” Dyrdahl said. “I’ve had bad luck on the last day before. But if nothing goes wrong, I’ll be alright.”
Cat rider Brian Dick, who had the fastest time of the day, sits in third place overall and will leave the gate about 90 seconds after Davidson. Dick’s teammate D.J. Ekre will depart five seconds later followed by fifth place rider Dan Ebert, also on an Arctic Cat.
Dick said he pushed hard today and is happy with his run, but admitted it will be a tall order to pass front runners Dyrdahl and Davidson. “It’s gonna take a little bobble from them. It’s a lot of time [to make up], but I made a little bit up today,” he said. “Every little bit helps.” Davidson’s strategy is simple.
“I’m gonna put the hammer down tomorrow,” he said. “I ain’t gonna shut ‘er down.”
Day 3 will bring racers over the same course as Day 2. Conditions of the 149-mile leg faced by drivers varied, depending on when they left the starting gate. Drivers who left the line early plowed through deep, drifted snow. Polaris driver Gabe Bunke, who was first off the line said his run was slow and windy. “Visibility was terrible. It was like driving in snowdust,” he said. “Not a fun day.”
Other trouble for Bunke today included a poor-running sled. “The motor sucks. The clutching sucks. There’s no power. No mid-range,” the normally upbeat veteran said. To compound the problem, his Dragon SP ran out of gas just a few miles from a fuel stop, which added about 30 minutes to his time, he said. He’s in 21st place on the Pro 600 class.
The course was fast for Dick, who was the 21st sled to leave the gate today. “Some parts were technical, but there was a lot of high-speed stuff,” he said. “A lot of the ditches were wide-open running.”
Racing starts tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. CST. Check back to SnowGoerRacing.com tomorrow afternoon for results and a final report.
USCC Red Lake I-500 official 2-day standings
Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. Corey Davidson (Pol); 3. Brian Dick (Cat); 4. D.J. Ekre (Cat); 5. Dan Ebert (Cat); 6. Ryan Huston (Cat); 7. Chad Lian (Cat); 8. Nathan Potucek (Cat); 9. Brandon Gerszewski (Cat); 10. Eric Gausen.
Bryan Dyrdahl Preps For The Red Lake I-500
January 15, 2009
Bryan Dyrdahl checks the rate of a suspension spring as part of his preparation for this weekend's I-500.
The I-500 is a legendary cross-country race that’s been run by thousands of snowmobile racers since the inaugural Winnipeg-to-St. Paul in 1966. For some people, their goal is just to finish, but for Ski-Doo racer Bryan Dyrdahl, his goal is only to win. Racing for anything less than first place isn’t worth his time, he says.
To win the 500 requires not only a ton of rider skill and lots of luck; it also takes a well-prepared race sled. Dyrdahl has won the race four times, and this weekend he’ll be running a fine-tuned MX Zx 600 RS.
We recently caught up with Dyrdahl at his home in Bagley, Minnesota, to find out what goes in to setting up the machine that he’ll ride in this weekend’s United States Cross-Country (USCC) Red Lake I-500.
Full-Time Job
Dyrdahl works construction in the summer. But when winter rolls into northern Minnesota, his real job is put on hold until the spring thaw, so snowmobile racing becomes his temporary full-time job.
He’s already won the I-500 more times than anyone (Jack Struthers and Corey Davidson each have won the race three times), but he hopes to move further into elite status with a win this weekend.
Dyrdahl hopes this sled will carry him to his fifth I-500 victory.
Set-up for this weekend’s I-500 will take two weeks, working eight to 10 hours each day. Racers used to spend hours gusseting and welding their sleds to get them ready for the I-500. But modern sleds like Dyrdahl’s No. 55 don’t require extra reinforcements in order to survive 500 hard miles of ditches, rivers and rough trails.
Dyrdahl says his Ski-Doos have been tough and dependable. Other than stuff for which he takes the blame, Dyrdahl hasn’t wrecked anything in more than five years racing yellow, he said. Stronger, tougher sleds allow him to spend more time tuning and dialing-in to make the machine ride better and go faster.
USCC Gonvick 100 race results
December 22, 2008
United States Cross-Country
December 20, 2008
Gonvick, N.D
Pro 600: 1. Bryan Dyrdahl (Doo); 2. Brian Dick (Cat); 3. Ryan Simons (Cat).
Pro Open: 1. DJ Ekre (Cat); 2. Brian Dick (Cat); 3. Corey Davidson (Pol).
Semi-Pro 600: 1. Sam Vandeputte (Doo); 2. Spencer Fett (Cat); 3. Ken Christensen (Pol).
Semi-Pro Improved: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Bill Thomas (Pol); 3. Cody Kallock (Cat).
440: 1. Scott Pivec (Doo); 2. Chris Sobeck (Doo); 3. Brian Carey Sr. (Cat).
Legends 50+: 1. Jim Sobeck (Doo); 2. Dennis Topp (Pol); 3. Gary Anderson (Pol).
Women: 1. Jenna Sobeck (Doo); 2. Shelby Christensen (Pol); 3. Jessica Carey (Yam).
Amateur Improved: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Erik Bute (Cat); 3. Paul Eckstein (Pol).
Fan 600: 1. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 2. Marty Feil (Cat).
Vet 30+: 1. Corey Davidson (Pol); 2. Jeff Klein (Pol); 3. Dave Dirkman (Doo).
Amateur 600: 1. Adam Brandt (Cat); 2. Paul Eckstein (Pol); 3. Brad Pecka (Cat).
Masters 40+: 1. Ken Christensen (Pol); 2. Bill Thomas (Pol); 3. Jim Sobeck (Doo).
Sport 85: 1. Brad Cierzan (Doo); 2. Steve Emerson (Yam); 3. Trevor Fett (Cat).
Junior 10-13: 1. Cole Lian (Cat); 2. Adam Mach (Cat); 3. Ben Thomas (Doo).
Junior 14-17: 1. Timmy Kallock (Cat); 2. Tyler Kemppainen (Doo); 3. Stuart Brandt (Cat).
Vintage: 1. Dennis Topp (Pol); 2. Tom Clement (Yam); 3. Bob Delaloye (Cat).
120 Stock: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Sara Larson (Cat); 3. Emily Morken (Cat).
120 Open: 1. Garet Grzadzielewski (Cat); 2. Scott McColl (Cat); 3. Sara Larson (Cat).
For full results of the USCC’s season opener in Gonvick, click here.