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The 2008 USCC I-500,
the FIRST FOUR-TIME WINNER is CROWNED........PAGE 2
SNO-X Magazine Vol 6, No 4, Feb 2008
Story by Jim Urquhart, Images by Tyler Mathwich.

Day 1: Red Lake River to Thief River Falls to Goodridge and Back

Ski-Doo rider Curt Peterson is set to lead out on day 1 of the I-500. He used to race cross-country but turned his sights to snocross early on where he was one of the most successful semi-pro riders ever. He’s a huge talent and crazy fast, but being first out on Day 1 can be good and bad. Chances are the course is smooth, but the unknown is a huge factor. Peterson will have to rely totally on the course markers since there will be no one to follow and no tracks. Plus, he has 80 or so riders behind him looking to pass him. The quiet rider seems calm though.

“We’ll see how it goes,” he says.

While Peterson is out front, it is his Ski-Doo teammate Dyrdahl who sets the pace followed by Bunke. After a 20-or-so mile run through ditches the course dumps the field onto the Red Lake River and sends them toward town and the first fuel stop. It’s fast going and, surprisingly, a pair of year-old Ski-Doos ridden by Sam Vandeputte and Brad Cierzon set the pace, clocking speeds just cracking the 100MPH mark on the radar gun. Another fast sled is Women’s class rider and Sledhead 24-7 TV host April Moritz – her Firecat breaks 100MPH on the gun.

The river brings the field to the first fuel stop and the halfway point of the 100-plus mile day. They’re right in downtown Thief River Falls and riders are guided through a small village of ice fishing shacks to the beach. From there it’s a few more miles of river then back into the ditches. The first day course is based on the old Iron Man 250 route and it’s tough riding. The ditches are drifted in and because of the cold weather most areas have hard edges and some areas are like concrete. The course goes through Goodridge, Minnesota, with a little detour around the town then back into the ditches. This is the worst part of the course; the ditches are hard as a rock. Even Dyrdahl, known for his go-for-broke style, backs off here. Peterson comes off his sled and Dyrdahl catches him.

“I was right behind Peterson but everything was so hard and there was so much snow dust I just said ‘You can have it,’” Dyrdahl said. I was happy just to follow him in.”

Supertrax Magazine editor A.J. Lester is riding in the newly-formed I-500 Media class on an Arctic Cat F5. He passes Chad Colby in the same area and has a spectacular off, cartwheeling the little F5.

“He went by me and I was probably going 75MPH,” said Colby. “Then I saw his hood come up above the snow dust and I thought, ‘this isn’t going to be good.’ Next thing I see is the sled sitting there and the guy is on the ground and there are body panels everywhere.”

While Lester escaped with a bruised knee, surprisingly, Bunke had little problem in the area.

“The suspension on that Polaris just works so well,” he said. It was a tough spot but I didn’t have much trouble at all.”

Gueco had a good day, but ended up at the hospital in Thief River Falls. “I got frostbite on my stomach, right above my waistband,” said Gueco. “I don’t have the wind deflectors next to the windshield on my sled and the wind was coming right around and up under my jacket. I got some ointment at the hospital, hopefully it helps.”

The end of Day 1 saw Dyrdahl sitting in first place with the fastest time of the day, Bunke in second and Peterson in third followed by Josh Davis, Greg Hyde and Ekre.

The Dreaded Maintenance Session
Imagine having an hour for two guys to inspect nearly every part on a snowmobile and replace maybe a half dozen of those parts. Now do it outside in below zero temperatures in a parking lot where you have to carry all your tools into a roped-off maintenance area. Oh yeah, and you can’t use power tools. Now you have the outline for an I-500 maintenance session. Your mechanic is now your new best friend.

Dyrdahl’s mechanics, Jimbo and Todd, have a complete list of things they need to inspect/fix during the maintenance session and that’s if everything goes right and the sled comes in complete. They inspect every suspension bolt, chain tension, change hyfax, check shocks, springs, track – just about every component that can show wear is looked at. When they are done, the sled is in prime operating condition once again.
In other spots of the maintenance area teams scramble to remove skid frames to fix damaged parts or change out shocks. One team is in a frantic rush as they try to remove their skid during the second half of the session. Any time used past the given hour is added to the rider’s race time, so every second becomes precious.

Black Magic mechanics pull Gruhlke’s skid to swap out to a different set of shocks. His setup is too stiff, so they’re backing off it a little bit with softer valving. This is their business, so they work with calm precision and get done well within the allotted hour.

Sport 85 class rider, Arctic Cat Pride magazine editor and three-time I-500 finisher John Sandberg and his mechanic Jose have a huge task ahead of them. Sandberg crashed twice early the first day busting up the bodywork on his sled and bending the steering post and mounts. Also, the rollers in the secondary clutch are damaged. But Jose is the ace in Sandberg’s deck, he works for Arctic Cat and has volunteered to help out for the weekend. Despite all the damage the two get the sled fixed within the one-hour time allotment. It’s a prime example of how valuable a good mechanic can be at the 500.

Surprisingly, Day 1 sees little carnage and only about 10 percent of the field goes out.