2009 Eagle River Race Report

Eagle River, Wis. ~ AMSOIL Eagle River Snowmobile Derby, The big race is over and it did not turn out as well as we would have liked. It was a exciting weekend but luck was just not on our side on Sunday. I guess you could say it was just not meant to be. The day stated for us at 9:30 with hot laps. We had another hot lap session at noon. The sled was working good and things looked promising.

It was 3:00 when the sled rolled out on the track for introductions. 2 F-16 made their flyover at the track shortly after 3:00. The race started around 3:20 on Sunday afternoon. When the green flag dropped we got tangled up immediately with #33 Malcolm Chartier. We got untangled on the way to the first turn but lost lots of ground and positions to the first turn. We came in to the first turn about 8th place. After about 5 laps we had worked ourselves up to the number 3 spot and quickly gaining on the front 2. On lap 7 the red flag came out for Joey Fjerstad in turns 3-4. By the time the red had came out we where only a few sled lengths from passing the front 2 leaders.

On the re-start we shot past Dan Fenhaus and slotted into the 2nd place position. Unfortunately on the restart Gary Moyle and Dustin Wahl got tangled in turns 1-2 and another red came out. Because we did not complete a lap I was sent back to the original re-start position of 3rd place. Off the line we held the number 3 position and stayed there for about 3 laps. We made our move into 2nd and was gaining on the leader little by little. Just a few laps had passed and Dan Fenhaus came in the bottom and hit my left side running board spinning me out in turn 1-2. The red flag came out once again for the field.

This was a tough break for us to get spun out but figured we would get our spot back because we did not cause the red flag to come out. Much to my surprise we were put to the back and the one who caused the accident got to stay up front in the #2 position. I think this was a very bad call and really think we got robbed with this call. I started in the back and got a good hole shot. Within a few laps I was back up to the 3rd position once again. I was making ground up in a hurry but went a little too high in turns 1-2 and got into the snow and spun out. The red did not come out, I sat on the top on the track until the field passed then took off. I marched my way though the field with the remaining laps to get up to the 4th place position when the checked flag flew.

It was one of those days when nothing could seem to go our way. There was some bad luck, bad calls, dirty driving and finally a mistake on my end that cost us the race. I firmly believe that we had the sled to win the race and could have made history. Unfortunately it was not meant to be and have to live with the things that happened that day. I feel very bad for my crew, family, sponsors and fans for the mistake I made that ultimately probably cost us the race. There is no going back on time as we all know all we can do is learn from our mistakes and march forward from them. I can tell you for sure we will be going out to win as many races as we can the rest of the year and will be back faster than ever next year at Eagle River.
I would like to thank everyone on my crew for their hard work. My brothers Dave, Mark and Brian for all there long hours and endedless dedication. John Hooper for his help tuning and insight on everything. Butch, Ryan, Beef, Jim and Shawn for their help, My girlfriend Jeni for being understanding and being there for me, My family and friends for showing their support and driving all that way to cheer me on, also the ones that could not make it and watched it at home. I would also like to thank all the fans for coming out braving the cold weekend to show their support. Last but not least my sponsors: Amsoil, Arctic Cat, Skinz Protective Gear, Millennium Technologies, V-force By Moto Tassinari, County Cat, Hooper Race Engines, Stud Boy, Ultimax Belts, Fox Racing Shox, Sno-Stuff, Dan Welle Southtown Chevrolet, Minnesota National Bank, VP Race fuels, Webtomics Websites, Visual Advantage Graphics and Sno Skinz hood screens.

We would have all liked for it to turn out better but like I had said it was just not our day. We will be in Wausau Wisconsin this weekend for the Flip 525 race. Hope to see you all there and I will be updating my blog on Saturday night. Until next time, take care.

News Contact:
AMSOIL Race Program Manager
AMSOIL Building
Superior, WI 54880
(715) 392-7101
racing@amsoil.com