wheels of thunder december 2012

Vol. 3 Issue 12

DEC/JAN 2012

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Page 40

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Front Cover Photo by Gary Walton / SnoX365.com

Find us on Facebook “Wheels of Thunder” December 2012

Special FeaturesTim Trembly / Scheuring Speed Sports ...........5Topless Nationals........................................22Legends - John Robinson..............................28Sledhead 24/7 ...........................................47

ReviewsMetcalf Service Center ................................14Cloverland Motorsports...............................26Fowler Distribution ......................................32Osseo Powersports .....................................42

Rally’s & Shows2012 SEMA................................................18ISOC / SnoCross - Duluth, MN ....................48The Jack Race.............................................54Okoboji Vintage Ice Drags ..........................70

DepartmentsGarage Built ...............................................10Boiling Point................................................12Off The Beaten Path ....................................38ABATE of MN.............................................40Game On!..................................................68

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OWNERPRESIDENT – Scott [email protected]

612-730-3719

OFFICE STAFFAR/AP – Stacy Robinson

763-421-4400OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR/AR – Vince Griffith

[email protected]

JUNIOR BOSS – Zack Robinson763-421-4400

EDITORIAL STAFFEDITOR/CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Betty [email protected]

763-421-4400

Photographers/WritersBILLY BOYLE MIKE BENOY

CEAJA PHILP ERIK TORMOENBRAD COPLAN JENNA OSTERLUND

JOSH MOEN MYLIE LAVOLDKIM NILES JOHN LENTZKOW

ADVERTISING STAFFSALES – Scott Robinson

[email protected] (CJ) Philp

[email protected]

WISCONSIN - Brad [email protected]

715-497-8090IOWA - John Lentzkow

[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONS$34.99 - PHONE: 763-421-4400

www.wheelsofthunder.net

All content published herein is owned exclu-sively by Midwest Wheels of Thunder Maga-zine. Reproduction or further disseminationof the content herein is strictly prohibitedwithout the express written authorization ofMidwest Wheels of Thunder Magazine.

www.WheelsofThunder.net December 2012


Last season's ACSS (AMSOIL Champi-onship Snocross Series) Pro Open Cham-pion, Tim Tremblay, of Drummondville,Quebec is geared and ready to defend histitle! He has a lot of things working in hisfavor to get there; one being he will nowrace for last year's Team of the Year Scheur-ing Speed Sports, owned by Steve Scheur-ing.

Tremblay has had huge success in his shortcareer as a Pro snocross athlete, especially

since he admits not starting to ride sledsuntil he was about seventeen. Hard toimagine with someone growing up in theheartland of snowmobile riding that he wasactually more dedicated to motocross, andwould even leave home to train in Floridaduring the winters.

By chance he was asked and given an op-portunity to try his skills on the snow in-stead of dirt with a new type of machine.Starting his race career as a Semi Pro, hewas a natural, instantly winning races andin his last race for the season he lapped thesecond place racer, moving him into thePro class in Quebec's SCM (Super Compe-tition Motorsport) snocross series. Warn-ert Racing signed Tremblay for the ACSS asa Semi Pro.

In 2008-2009 Tim won the Pro Lite Cham-pionship, and in 2009-2010 was moved upto the Pro classes, winning the Pro StockChampionship. He was also named Rookieof the Year. In 2010-2011 Tim finished 3rd

in both Pro Stock and Pro Open, and thenin 2011-2012 he won the Pro Open Cham-pionship!

With multiple Pro Overall Championshiptitles in just a few years, Tremblay's skillsand work ethic as a rider are genuinely wel-comed to Scheuring's already successfulteam. When the opportunity to joinScheuring Speed Sports came at the end oflast season, Tremblay was happy to join ateam he feels is ran with true professional-ism, and one that won't stop working toimprove even if they are leading the points.Another advantage he had as a rider is nothaving to switch machines, he obviouslyhas a clear handle atop a Ski-Doo, havingbeen on them his entire USAcareer.

Tremblay is excited to have such greatteammates to help push each other, anamazing crew of mechanics, and an im-pressive lineup of sponsors to back him,Robbie and Darrin!

New Team and AnotherChance at the Title

Written by Ceaja Philp


Steve Scheuring, owner ofScheuring Speed Sportsout of Aurora, Minnesota

is one of the many with team changescoming into this season's ACSS (AM-SOIL Championship Snocross Series).He already had a winning combina-tion with Robbie Malinoski (last sea-son's third place champion), and ProRookie of the Year, Darrin Mees, butnow has added the 2011-12 ACSSPro Open Champion Tim Tremblay,making his team a serious triplethreat for the upcoming season!

UPDATE:The Scheuring Speed Sports team swept daytwo Pro Open at the Season Opener in Duluth, withthe podium number one spot going to Robbie Malinoski,2nd going toTim Tremblay, and Darrin Mees in 3rd!What a great way to start the season!


Tremblay proved calm and consistentthroughout the year, was able to stay injuryfree, out of most of the pile ups, and withhim sweeping the rounds at BRRP was ableto take a commanding lead going into theLake Geneva rounds.

Scheuring, a 23 plus year veteran to snow-mobile racing, knows what a winning teamneeds to be successful. As a racer himselfin the Pro oval world, he saw firsthandwhat made teams successful or fall apart.In 1994 he put his oval racing career to restand worked a couple of years for the fac-tory snocross race teams. Once again hesaw teams change, rise and fall. Withstrong conviction he knew he could createand be successful as a team owner, only of-fering his riders what he could truly de-liver. It has worked for him, now goinginto his fourteenth season as a team ownerand having such great resources.

In just his first year out as a team owner,sponsored by AMSOIL Synthetic Lubri-cant, the leader in synthetics, won Gold atthe ESPN Winter X-Games, and produceda 2nd and 3rd place finish overall in hisfirst season on the National SnoCross tour,taking on the factory backed teams.

Scheuring says he has been blessed to haveAMSOIL as a main sponsor ever since thatfirst X-Games, and is also honored to havehis second long time sponsor, U.S. AirForce the next season. In addition to beingthe first independent team out thereScheuring also brought in additional spon-sors from outside the sport including


Photography byGary WaltonSnoX365.com

SCHEURING SPEED SPORTSTriple Threat


Makita Industrial Tools and TRAXXAS(thefastest name in RC cars). In addition, healso has KLIM Clothing, Jeff Foster Truck-ing, Fox Shox, WOODYS, Goodwin Perfo-mance , Action Graphics, Gates belts andhoses, 50 Below web design, Rox speed FX,Dragon goggles, and C and A Pro Skis,making is easy for you to see the strengthof Scheuring's team.

With so many great resources already inplace what could the Scheuring team do toput further pressure on the competition?How about signing on with a top-notchperformance company? Steve was happy toannounce that Straightline Performance, ofForest Lake, Minnesota will be the engineperformance parts provider for ScheuringSpeed Sports for the 2012-13 snocross sea-

son. SPI's owner, Jason Houle has been akey horsepower provider for top racers inmany different facets of snowmobile racingand powersports performance.

Houle's team will be testing and building aperformance package that will include allof the new changes allowed by the ACSS,which will include cylinder heads, exhaustand ignition systems for all three of Scheur-ing's racers . Some of the this year'schanges Houle has to work with is themdisallowing changes in the cylinder or thecrankshaft, which will put more pressureon having the exact correct head, exhaust,clutching, jetting and suspension setup.SPI is extremely familiar with these thingsand looks forward to proving it! Scheuringis also excited with the combined efforts,

and is equally happy to have his day-to-daycrew of experts, the legendary SteveThorsen, Tony Clement tuning the sus-pensions , fabricator Elliot Burns buildingthe new Open Mod Ski-Doos and new-comer Robbie Hunter learning the ropes.That is another area where the ScheuringSpeed Sports team stands out. Each riderhas the same crew working their sleds andthe same machine is created for each ofthem, making it a true team effort and hav-ing full support.

Scheuring dedicates himself to his team allyear and is looking forward to getting theseason started. He had Planet X in full forceas we spoke, which is only about an hournorth of Spirit Mountain, the seasonopener location. This course gives all rac-ers an opportunity to get on snow beforeopener, do testing, and warm up beforethey take the start light for the first time of

the series. Scheuring says he averages 80to150 riders per day the weeks beforeopener.

The entire Scheuring Speed Sports teamunderstands without the sponsors andfans, much of the success of the teams andevents would not be possible, and arehappy to take time to dedicate promotingnot only their sport, but being positive rolemodels at many open houses, charityevents, sponsor supported events, andwithin their community.

So don't miss the action from the AM-SOIL/U.S. Air Force/Rockstar Energy/Ski-Doo trailer and Scheuring Speed Sports byfollowing them in person and on FacebookScheuring Speed Sports.

Stock OriginalThis is where it all started!Stock Original

This is where it all started!

Sound Familiar?Do you have a story of your custom ride? [email protected] and you could be

featured with your ride in the next issue!

The Black WidowOwner/Enthusiast:

Mark Ross Roy, Utah

“I’ve always been one to embrace non-conformity, to includemy choice in projects. From shortening a 68’ 4-door Capriceor turning a 51’ Studebaker into a radical convertible, it has

always been my desire to do something different.”


11992277 CChhrryysslleerr

While looking for a new project, Icame across this 1927 Chryslerbarn find from Nebraska. It was95% original and all there. Itbriefly ran through my mind to re-store it to an original car, then re-ality hit me...this is a 1927 Chryslersedan, not a highly sought afterrestoration. It was screamingHOTROD to me and I liked theidea of trying something different,but this time with a theme. I firstconsidered a full on ratrod projectbut soon decided that it wouldhave to be safe as well so I couldhaul the grandkids around.

Out came the torches, cutoffwheels and sweat. The top waschopped 5 ½” and the body chan-neled 6 ½”. The frame was boxedand back halved to accept a ladderbar and coilover.

The front end was stripped and aWishbone front end with discbrakes was installed keeping trueto my commitment of safety.

Steering was finished with a Cadil-lac telescoping column and a Vegabox.

A 283 Chevy small block powersthe ride with a TH350 transferringthe power to the GM 12-bolt.

While putting things together, thethought of a theme build was onmy mind. After the flat black paintwent on and the cherry bombswent in, it hit me….that thinglooks like a Black Widow!

A spider web grill was then fabri-cated and a home for the BlackWidow was born.

Future plans are for a spider webroof structure with a black snap oncanvas cover. A spider web steer-ing wheel and a spider web sidemirror are also in the plans. With allof these spider webs windingaround the car, the only reason-able shifter I can imagine appropri-ate will be a can of Raid!


Well my friends the election is over, thedecision has been made whether you arefor or against the current administrationand we now need to move forward as anation.

The one question I have is…are we stick-ing with the plan to get men and womenin the armed forces back on Americansoil? In one of my regular job assign-ments I am a safety and health consult-ant. I recently had the opportunity totrain a small group of Marines at CampLejuene, North Carolina. I can’t saymuch about the type of training that wasbeing conducted, but I can say this,America is in good hands.

The other thing that I recognized wasthis group and the Camp Lejuene com-munity was the most respectful peoplethat I have ever met. I have never been

called sir more in six days as I have in mylifetime. It wasn’t just the military per-sonnel that were respectful, but the com-munity as a whole shared that trait. I amsure that it has something to do with itbeing in a largely populated military city.

Maybe that is the answer right in front ofour eyes, require the youth of America toserve in the armed forces right after highschool, some countries have been doingthis for decades. Do you think that someof these kids would start to turn aroundtheir life if they had a wee bit of disci-pline? Back in the day the word disci-pline wasn’t even used, I believe the wordused back then was guidance.

For those of us that were raised in the50’s and 60’s you might remember whena neighbor could give you a swift kick upthe butt for doing wrong and your par-ents would say “You probably deservedit”. In our structured Boston School sys-tem we had teachers walking the hall-ways with a bamboo whip like stick

called the “rattan” which later becameknown as the “Rat Hand”. Get yourselfin trouble and you got lashes across thepalms of the hands, the girls got it on theback of the legs.

Now that I am older, I can reflect on myup bringing that I watched my step tomake sure I didn’t screw up to get thatdaily disciplining that the teachersgloated about giving. I can speak for mygeneration that daily focus on walkingthe straight and narrow shaped us forwhat we are today. Guidance as myteachers and parents put it pointed us inthe right direction.

Many of my friends and family were thefirst to sign up for military duty duringthe Vietnam conflict, the ones that cameback healthy had to deal with trying tofit in with society. Think about it, 21 yearold men that served our country proudlyscurrying to find employment in the1960’ and 1970’s. Many never being ableto cope with the negative label that soci-


Written by Billy Boyle

“PLEASE COMEHOME FOR CHRISTMAS”

ety placed on them. As an example, takethe veterans that returned from Vietnamthat suffered from emotional issues. Wepushed many of them aside and forgotabout them. I can give you a dozen ex-amples of my personal friends that cavedinto alcohol, drugs, suicide, and beinghomeless.

One of my very close friends WarrenBerry was one of the individuals, servedhis time proudly in the Armed Forces,couldn’t get help when he returned to USsoil and was found homeless frozen todeath on a doorway in Boston. Is thathow we treat our heroes’? Here it is 2012and the focus on our veterans hasn’tchanged much since the Vietnam con-flict. Case in point my friend ‘Johnny” aproud Marine that had suffered a braininjury from an IED in Iraq. Johnny oftenvisited the VA Hospital in St Paul, but felthe was only getting lip service and thehelp he needed. Johnny spoke to meoften about his emotional problems tothe point that if I was a councilor, psy-chiatrist, Doctor, or therapist I wouldhave giving Johnny the medical andphysiological attention he needed.Johnny’s game plan was to change direc-tion, literally, and seek out help from theVA Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Theofficial’s at the VA basically gave Johnnythe same answer, “you will have to waityour turn.” Johnny’s turn never came;you see because Johnny left St Cloud,drove to his home in Savage and hunghimself.

There are many Johnny’s returning fromduty in the Middle East that opt for tak-ing things into their own hands, there aresome Johnny’s that don’t make it backfrom the Middle East they decided to endit there, and not by enemy fire. Take alook at the numbers of suicides in themilitary, who really is the enemy. Thewhole situation is an out and out tragedy.Many of our hero’s are suffering and theydo need our help and I am talking soci-ety. We can’t let these men and women ofthe armed forces be cast aside much likeour Vietnam vets, but the sad thing is,they are.

The re-entry program we have setup forour military personnel is broken. I knowsome of you that are Veterans or family

member of Veterans are reading this andsaying I or they came back ok....But didthey? Our Veterans deserve the best andfrom my observation I don’t think theyare getting it. It is not just the medical at-tention and counseling, look at the jobsituation that hero’s are faced with.

The job market sucks for a lot of people,including this writer, however I willgladly give up my spot in the job line tothe veteran that is returning back to civil-ian life. For the new age veteran it seemsto be a daily struggle. The Marine’s Iworked with recognized the civilian lifeissues. The majority of these particularMarines have no interest in returning tocivilian life until they are confident thatthey will have a normal life when they re-turn. The sad news for them is what is anormal life?

I often write about the economy, the jobsituation, small businesses, and the dayto day struggle for Americans to survive.I don’t like writing about the every daybuzz kill, but it is reality. The situationonly gets worse when we throw our vet-erans under the bus. So my question isthis? How do we fix the problem? Howdoes America create enough job oppor-tunities for the returning vets? Howabout building a military like complex inthe oil fields in Western North Dakota

also known as Williston. Give the vets anopportunity to serve their last year in theoil fields. It’s a win, win situation. The oilcompanies need people, the vets need acareer that pays a decent wage, and thecommunity of Williston will get a con-tingent of people that will respect thetown, the people, and the employer.

Remember I started the article talkingabout the respect that our military per-sonnel practice every single day. That’swhat the intent of the story is all abouttaking care of the members of our ArmedForces. After all they have cared forAmerica since 1776, it is the least we cando. I will challenge each and every oneof you extend your hand, give them ahug, pat them on the back and wishthem well during the Holiday season forif it wasn’t for them there wouldn’t be aholiday season.

I wish all of our Wheels of Thunder read-ers a safe, healthy, and prosperous holi-day season.

The views expressed in The Boiling Pointare solely the opinions and research of BillyBoyle and are not necessarily the view point

of the magazine or its’ creators.




The days of purchasing your sled and hop-ing your hard earned money bought youenough power and speed are over. The ad-vancements available to you now for after-

market speed and performance parts isunbelievable! All the 'extras' can be foundat Metcalf Service Center in Forest Lake,MN.

Performance snowmobiles became SteveMetcalf's passion at a young age. He in-stantly enjoyed the sport of riding and rac-ing and through the years wanted to find away to share his hobby and experiencewith others. Steve decided to open thedoors to his service center in 1989, and hasbeen adding to the list of services eversince. His knowledge and desire to provide

quality service to his customersis also being share by his sonTyler, who helps run the shop aswell as doing the wrenching andtesting for the machines broughtin. They offer Turbo kits, BigBore, Nitrous and clutch kits,performance exhaust systems,and cylinder replating, alongwith traction products needed toget that extra power to theground. Whether you are look-ing for Trail, Mountain, Lakeblasting, or Full Mod race sleds,they have you covered!

As of today, Steve's favorite 'boosted' sledhas been his 1200cc Firecat Turbo thatcranks out anywhere from 250-500+hp de-pending on the fuel and boost. They strive

to make the fastest raceand trail friendly sledsthey can, and they buildmany tricked out turbosleds for fun but morefor a testament to theircustomers of their abili-ties and quality of prod-ucts offered at the shop.

So now that you haveyou sled up to speed,how about the machinethat pulls your trailerand toys? Metcalf Serv-ice Center can help inthe performance depart-ment for your diesel

truck as well! They carry and install BullyDog products, programmers, exhaust sys-tems, DPF Delete kits, and custom turboand intake kits, and do performance trans-

missions by ATS. While your truck is inthe shop they can also install a custom liftto add to your exterior appearance as wellas your interior performance.

Steve and the boys aren't done there! Theyare running a full service mechanical shopfor your snowmobile, ATV, RV, snowmo-bile trailer, toy hauler or vehicle. Givethem a call or stop into the shop for yourservice needs.

Metcalf Service CenterThey Have You CoveredWritten By Ceaja Philp


Dedicated to Carroll Shelby

LAS VEGASNEVADA

If you have a passion for motorsports, attending this show in Las

Vegas should be a high priority. Restricted to dealers and business

owners, the general public will have to be creative to secure a pass

to attend. Knowing or having a friend in the business may offer you an

opportunity to join them during their visit.

Ford’s New

Cobra Jet

Twin Turbo

1100 HP


Arriving late Sunday night, I met up withsome friends from Minnesota. They hadspent the weekend at the huge motorsportscomplex for the NHRA Drag Races justoutside of the city. Since the show was notscheduled to open until Tuesday, we had afree day on Monday to look around. Withall the things to do in Vegas, we drove backto the drag strip. This was a huge race overthe weekend, and many race teams stayedover to do testing on Monday before tak-ing off for Pomona, California. We wereable to get up close and personal withteams, including touring their trailers, vis-iting with people like Ashley Force as shesuited up in the staging area, and standingon the starting line watching her go downthe track.

Later we drove nearby to the NASCARtrack and toured the infield and racegarages. What a beautiful facility and veryimpressive looking up into the stands frompit road. Although it seemed quiet with thelack of any cars roaring around this track,our eyes were focused looking up at the F-16s taking off and landing from the AirForce Base nearby.

Just up the road we also stopped by the Ex-otic Racing road course where just aboutany exotic car you can imagine was avail-able to test drive or take a ride in. Require-ments included classroom time before youget behind the wheel. I suppose that is nec-essary since you are dealing with some carsvalued at a half million dollars.

Being an avid Mustang guy, we decided totour the Carroll Shelby Museum. Locatedat Shelby American just across the streetfrom the road course, this is also homewhere the limited production custom orderShelby’s packages are built. We were ableto see firsthand the process how thesemonsters are built with some available pro-ducing over 1000 HP for the street. We alsowere privileged to witness the Cobra as-sembly by a very small group of dedicatedcraftsman. I would love to share photoswith you during the tour, however no cam-eras were allowed. The museum was awonderful collection of rare Mustangs andCobras owned by Carroll Shelby. Even ifyou are a Chevy fan, I believe you wouldbe impressed also as I was of this beautifuldisplay of both early and late models cars.

Written by John Lentzkow


To wrap up the day before the show, every-thing we did seem to be one step higher onthe performance ladder, and my adrenalinewas pumping. Add to all this what we wit-ness today, the F-16 Fighters topped thefood chain for this performance junkie andhelp fill my need for speed.

This is the 2nd time I have been fortunateenough to tour this mega display of highperformance products and vehicles. The2012 SEMA Show features more than2,000 exhibiting companies that manufac-ture thousands of products designed to im-prove performance, safety andconvenience, as well as those that enhanceappearance and comfort. Products areavailable for every make and model vehi-cle, Consumers, therefore, can expect tofind great specialty products for acces-

sorizing these vehicles. Two days are notenough to see it all, and my best descrip-tion is this show is just plain overwhelm-ing.

Global Rallycross Championship broughtthe spectacle of rallycross racing to the2012 SEMA Show, the largest automotiveindustry event of its kind. It was a great op-portunity to showcase the incredible tech-nology of rallycross cars in front of thisamazing gathering of aftermarket suppliersfrom around the world. The race coincidedwith the Show’s opening night, Tuesday,October 30, on a course specially con-structed on LVCC grounds directly acrossfrom the convention hall. The excitementof rallycross displayed just how cool these

production-based B and C segment carsare.

Motorsports inspires and motivates mil-lions of consumers around the world. TheGlobal Rallycross Championship at LasVegas during the SEMA Show week offeredentrepreneurs from the industry a first-hand look at the opportunities this sportrepresents and the new consumer demo-graphic it attracts. Several of the sport’sbiggest names in contention, includingBrian Deegan, Ken Block Tanner Foust,and Samuel Hubinette demonstrated theirtalents which I found very impressive.

After touring Shelby American facility theday before, I felt privileged to witnesssomething here at the show which im-


pressed me the most. With the passing ofCarroll Shelby on May 10, 2012, the auto-motive industry lost one of its most leg-endary entrepreneurs. His creative effortsand partnerships resulted in a legacy of un-matched high performance—leading manyto consider him not only the man behindthe term “American muscle,” but a drivingforce for the specialty-equipment market aswell.

Throughout this year’s Show, SEMA hon-ored Shelby with a special exhibit entitled,“The SEMA Shelby Tribute. The exhibit in-cluded a large wall where Show attendeescan write their own personal remarksabout Shelby and what he meant to them.Above the wall, a large screen displayedchanging historical images depictingShelby, his career and his creations. Thespace also played host to several iconicShelby vehicles, courtesy of Ford MotorCompany.

Carroll Shelby was among the greatestgame-changers in the performance auto-motive industry. He was one of our true liv-ing legends and will always be a

tremendous inspiration to enthusiasts, rac-ers, designers and those who revel in mak-ing horsepower. He shared with so manyhis passion for performance, customizationand style. And he set himself apart not onlywith international racing breakthroughs,but by bridging the gap between hot rod-ders and automakers, turning stock vehi-cles into supercars of global renown.”

Carroll Shelby was inducted into the SEMAHall of Fame in 1986. His life and accom-plishments meant a lot to the automotiveaftermarket. The 2012 SEMA Show offeredthe perfect opportunity for the industry tomemorialize and appreciate Shelby for hismany contributions, while saying a finalindustry goodbye to this exceptional man.


Afew years back, Ogilvie Raceway GeneralManager and Promoter Nate Fischer waslooking for something unique and fun to

end the racing year with a bang. After a fullschedule of Wissota-sanctioned dirt track racingthroughout the summer, his goal was to create afun two-day weekend event with no points and nopressure for the drivers. What could be more funthan going topless?

Photography by Chris Burback and Jacy Norgaard


The Ogilivie Topless Nationals began inJuly of 2009, although that first year theevent was rained out. The idea was bor-rowed from the Topless 100 race run byBatesville Motor Speedway in Arkansas.‘Going Topless’ simply means racing withthe roof and sail panels removed. Hornetsalso race at the Ogilvie Topless Nationals;however they do not race topless. As thelast race of the season in the area, the eventgives the drivers one last chance to winsome prize money and have a little fun inthe process. The fans really seem to enjoythe unusual twist in racing, as well.

Turnout at the Topless Nationals has beensteady each year, with car counts of 115 onaverage, and fan attendance in the 600range. Of course, there are other tracks

with end of year events and sometimesthose events present a conflict for the driv-ers. This year, it was the Fall Classic inAlexandria which had been pushed out tothe same weekend due to a rainout the pre-vious weekend.

The 3rd Annual Topless Nationals kickedoff Friday, October 12th with the first oftwo complete shows for Modifieds, SuperStocks, Midwest Modifieds, Street Stocks(Pure Stocks can run with them) , Mod 4'sand Hornets( Hobby Stocks can run withthem). Saturday, October 13th concludedthe Topless Nationals with yet anothercomplete show. The full list of race resultsare available on the web at www.ogilvier-aceway.com

Written by Kim“KimmyCat” Niles


In 2012, Ogilvie Raceway scheduled 33dirt track races (with 6 rainouts), as wellas tractor and truck pulls. In the winterseason, Ogilvie hosts a three-day snowmo-biling US Nationals ice racing event alongwith the Oval Racers Alliance (ORA). TheTLR Cup is also incorporated into theevent for the champs sled series. To preparefor this ice racing on the track, Nate andhis crew put down 20 inches of ice on theracetrack. Unfortunately, the 2012 eventwas ‘melted out’ but this years’ race isscheduled for February 1st-3rd and withany luck the conditions will be more typi-cal of Minnesota winter sports. OgilvieRaceway is also working with other sanc-tioning to possibly put together some iceracing events with dirt bikes and 4-wheel-ers.

Ogilvie Raceway is privately owned byCorey and Ginger Ownes. Ginger puts a lotof time into helping with the office details,including bookkeeping and managing thepayout on race nights. Nate Fischer is busywith scheduling, dat to day activities anddirt work. Nate is quick to point out thathe couldn’t get anything done withouttrack employee, Ed Ripka. Ogilvie hasroom for 1800 fans in the stands, plus an-other 50 reserved race side parking spotsbetween turns 1 and 2, and 7 VIP suites,including a sponsor's suite and raceway ad-ministration booth. There are also conces-sions on site and a frontage roadconnecting the track to Sundown Camp-ground which offers full hookups, show-ers, a bath house and laundry facilities.

Building on the past success of the ToplessNationals, Nate plans to make the eventeven bigger and better in the years to come.One way that he hopes to achieve this goalis by partnering with a Breast CancerAwareness charitable organization. Afterall, October is Breast Cancer Awarenessmonth and what could be a better way toraise money and help fight breast cancerthan Going Topless at Ogilvie?

For details on the next Topless Nationalsevent or to check out the 2013 racingschedule, visit the track website atwww.ogilvieraceway.com or contact NateFischer directly [email protected]. And, one finalword from Nate, “To kill all the rumors outthere…. We will be open strong next year!”


For those in this Northern Hemisphere Idon’t have to tell you about the marginalwinter with lack of the white we had lastyear, but some areas flourished. Take theUpper Peninsula of Michigan, you the areathat when the locals point where they hailfrom use the left palm of the hand to showthe “UP” looks like.

We at Wheels of Thunder are pleased toannounce the addition of Cloverland Mo-torsports of Ironwood Michigan as one thenewest advertisers, however they are notnew to the Motorsports industry. The deal-ership has been around for 14 years.Cloverland Motorsports is owned and op-erated by Gary Kuklinski and is an author-ized Polaris Dealer. CloverlandMotorsports can also boast as the areasLargest Rental Dealer. The dealership is lo-cated 1 mile west of Hurley in the Heart ofBig Snow Country and Wisconsin's LargestATV trail system. Cloverland Motorsportsoffers a complete line of Polaris Snowmo-biles and ATV's with financing available.

If buying new is not in the budget at thetime they also have many used machinesfor you to choose from. They also rent all

new Polaris and Ski Doo sleds, PolarisATVs and late model PWC.

With holidays here the dealership is offer-ing an awesome Holiday Sales Event, re-bates up to $1000.00 and financing as low

as 2.99%. These offers are good on newand used unregistered units purchased be-tween 11/1/12 and 12/31/12. Now that is asweet deal to park under the Christmastree.

If it’s service you need, the dealership has 5technicians that will service your prizedpossession with care from start to finish.The dealership has 11 employees on staffthat can and will take on a variety of tasks– sales, service, and tech support. The suc-cess of Cloverland Motorsports is that teamconcept, that everyone will step up to theplate.

The dealership caters to snowmobile andATV enthusiasts from around the country.Cloverland Motorsports is well known asan industry leader when it comes to Polarisproducts. The dealership also recognizesthe need for sponsorship at snowmobileevents. Cloverland Motorsports is one theprime sponsors of the regional ISOC rac-


ing event held at Blackjack Ski Resort andthey have sponsored the “Season of Domi-nation”...another high visibility event.

The popularity of Cloverland Motorsportsdoesn’t stop there as an example here’swhat some of the customers are sayingabout the dealership;

“Wally & Gary are good honest people todeal with. What they tell you about aproduct will be the truth they also have afriendly staff. I would highly recommendCloverland Motorsports for a sled or 4wheeler purchases."

Another satisfied customer writes,

"I always enjoy my visits to CloverlandMotorsports, whenever I make a purchaseit is always a no hassle approach which isrefreshing these days. The entire staff isgreat people to deal with. The shop staffis extremely knowledgeable and I trustthem with any of my machines, I givethem two thumbs up!"

The comments from the customer surveysare consistent with first class customer

service no matter your needs are. Maybeyou are planning a family trip, couples trip,or "just a bunch of friends" trip-callCloverland Motorsports for the best ride ofyour life!!!! You will not be disappointed.

Cloverland Motorsports is open 7 days aweek. Contact the dealership directly call

1-800-932-1202 and speak to one of themany professionals on staff. Become a fanof the Facebook page (Cloverland Motor-sports) and keep updated on what is hap-pening at Cloverland Motorsports or visitthe website at www.cloverlandmotors.comor email at [email protected]

Welcome to the “UP”Welcome to the “UP”Written by Billy Boyle


W ith the ever fast changing pace the

motorsports world takes on a daily

basis; having advanced technology,

money spent by the industry leaders to research,

test, and produce better and longer lasting parts

and so much more, we sometimes forget about

the pioneers who made many of these sports

possible. Their desire to shared their love and

passion with so many of us...causing the decades

of continued success of the most exciting sports

should never be forgotten! I feel it is long past

due that we start to share some of those amazing

athletes, crew members, team and track owners,

sponsors, and so much more!

John RobinsonMonkey's Toy


With that being said, we thought what bet-ter way than to start with our own WOTMagazine owner's Dad, John Robinson.

He was only 14 when his Dad, Edwardpassed away, but does consider his oldestbrother, Tom his childhood hero. Tom hadamazing street cars and also a speed boathe allowed John to drive, however John'strue love for cars and racing came from aplace deep within himself. After all, he wasgrowing up during the era of the true mus-cle cars, it was those cars that pulled Johninto the world of racing. It was natural forthe men and women of that time to testtheir 'girth' on the streets with these factoryproduced beasts right off the line!

John was no exception, testing his first'race' car, a 1966 SS Chevy with a 396,which was the car he had when he gradu-ated high school. He could run it on thestreets and then turn around take it to therace track, throw on some slicks, open theexhaust and line it up next to the guy try-ing to win the bragging rights in the laneover. This worked for him for a couple ofyears, but soon found himself wanting a lit-tle more from a new ride.

This would bring on the years of John's1968 Olds 442 with a 4 barrel, 4 speed,dual exhaust muscle machine. Johnlaughed as he told me this was the 'family'car which would take his at the time girl-friend, Sharon to and from work, but whenit came to the Twin Cities Speedway, it wasone heck of a machine and driver duo!

The smirk on John's face was amusing tome as he explained one day at the track theOlds had had enough and the engine blew.You could tell he was reliving the momenthe had to explain it to Sharon. He not onlyhad to find a way home, but once there hadto explain he had no way to get to either ofthem to work that Monday because the costto fix the car was way too much. Theyended up having to borrow a couple of hun-dred dollars in order to buy a car to get by.

"That didn't hold back the wedding," Johnlaughed, "She still married me in 1968, butit did keep the Olds of the track for thenext few years as it set on blocks in thecondition it had left the track." He missed



the racing but with sons Buddy and Scottcoming into the family he knew his prior-ities were his family.

During the few years John wasn't racing,he found some CB handle friends, 'PinkMonkey' (Darwin Upton), and 'Kid Flash'(Keith Grover) who were building cars outof Dayton, Minnesota. In 1974 John metup with the guys and was filled with theexcitement that racing had brought him allover again.

It just so happened that a co-worker ofJohn's had a 1970 Plymouth Duster thatwasn't running the best at the time and waswilling to sell it for $1000; John made it the25 miles home and immediately started thetear down in his garage. No more 'familygrocery getter', he wanted a car specificallyfor the track. With work and family it tooksome time to go through and get it readyfor the line, and this is where his newfriends, Darwin and Keith came into play.They helped complete the Duster with asmall block 340 Mopar with about 550hpand get it on the track at Minnesota Drag-ways. John admitted being a little greenwith all of these new things they had doneand it took a little trial and error to workout the bugs.

Having tackled that and having such agreat crew of knowledge around him, andhis natural abilities as a driver would starthis long reign of success. 'Monkey's Toy',out of respect for all of the work Darin('Pink Monkey') had dedicated to helpingJohn was created seeing over 30+ years onthe track and numerous winner circles.

In 1994, out of nowhere an old friend, DaleMeyer contacted John. He had always had

a major love of the cars and racing. At thetime he did not explain he had been diag-nosed with throat cancer and wanted tospend his time left enjoying being aroundthem and John, which he did, becomingJohn's main guy at his side.

Over the years seeing many tracks and nu-merous wins, 2000 would end up being hisbest year with multiple titles at differenttracks, coverage in National Dragster andwinning the Race of Champions Wally!

In 2004, while at the US Nationals with hisson Buddy racing in Pro Stock Motorcycle,a gentleman extremely interested in the '70Duster approached John about buying'Monkey's Toy'. At that time John had spentso many years with the car doing what heenjoyed and winning races, declined theoffer.

In 2005, John's final year racing, he sadly

missed going to the National Champi-onships in Pomona by losing in the finalround of Divisionals with a bad light, or asJohn admitted, "I got caught sleeping onthe line." Later that season while on hisway to a race at BIR (Brainerd InternationalRaceway), John's final decision was made.During the drive to the track he had a blowout on the traffic side of the road. It was-n't a good start with weather moving in andwanting to get up to the track. Once thereit was too late, the rain had made it and theracers sat waiting to see the fate of theweekend. Saturday morning the an-nouncement was made that the weekendwould be canceled. John had had such asuccessful career, but over all of the years,weekends as this would take their toll. Thisis why he made the phone call on the wayhome that day to Steve, the gentleman whohad approached him the year before aboutpurchasing 'Monkey's Toy'. He knew if hedidn't let his car go that day, he wouldnever do so....and that's just what hap-pened. He drove directly to Steve's houseand made the deal. John admits the nextday as he looked in his empty trailer asmall sadness came over him, but afterlooking back knew he had made more ofhis career than many others can say.

John is proud to be known as a 'bottombulb foot breaker' his entire career. Forthose of you not quite on the samepage....this means it was all John and hiscar. No electronics to assist, trans brakes,delay boxes, or other assistance, just his re-action and the performance from his car. Apure pioneer staying true to old school rac-ing.


1984 Midwest Drag Racer's AssociationRunner Up (Pro Eliminator)

1985 Brainerd International Raceway(BIR) Season Champion (Pro Eliminator)

Track Overall Points Leader andChampion

Midwest Drag Racer's Association1st Place (Pro Eliminator)

Division 5 Finals Semi-finalist

1989 BIR Season Champion (Pro Eliminator)

BIR Sportsman Performance Award

Division 5 3rd Place (Pro Elimina-tor)

1990 BIR Top 5

1991 Division 5 Semi-finalist

1995 Midwest Drag Racer's AssociationSeason Champion (Sportsman)

1997 Rock Falls Raceway Season Champion (Sportsman)

1998 Rock Falls Raceway Top 5

Division 5 Race of Champions Qualifier

1999 BIR Season Champion (Sportsman)

BIR Sportsman Overall PerformanceAward

Rock Falls Top Five (Sportsman)

Received 'Racer Dedication Award'

Midwest Drag Racer's Association1st Place (Sportsman)


Sportsman Performance Award

Rock Falls Raceway Season Champion (Sportsman)

Midwest Drag Racer's Association1st Place (Sportsman)

NHRA Division 5 Finals Race ofChampion Qualifier / Winner ofRace of Champions


So what keeps John busy these days?He admits he misses racing, but morethe friends and extended family hehad along the way. You will still findhim and Sharon at the drag strip en-joying the races and at the side ofBuddy and Scott in their adventures aswell. They also have grandchildrenthat have shown interest in the motor-sports industry and they are happy tobe there to support them.

SOME OF JOHN'S OTHER EARLIER CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

Fowler began distributing their privatelabel, semi-synthetic oil out of Blooming-ton, MN, in 1990. Since then, it has beengaining popularity, even with those whotend to prefer full synthetic oils. Peoplelike the oil for a lot of reasons but the bigones are its clean burning properties andits reasonable price of $29.95 per gallon.

“Where most manufacturers are trying tosell you their full synthetics for another$10 plus per gallon,” says owner Eric Hill-ger. “You can get our oil for less money andstill get great protection.”

Fowler Distribution – A Midwest Best!While winter keeps teasing us with little bits of snowhere and there, sled heads out there are getting theirsleds ready and hoping for good powder this year. Oneproduct that’s still a bit of a hidden gem can help keepyour sled running smooth AND save you money.Sound extreme? Well it is; Cycle 2 Extreme snowmo-bile oil, from Fowler Distributors


You don’t have to take our word for it. Sled-heads have put the product to the test withgreat results. Hardcoresledder.com postedthe following endorsements.

“I have used it in non-valved sleds for yearsand get over 10,000 miles without re-ring-ing and still have 120 PSI compression.Best oil you can buy for the money to usein non-valved sleds.”

“I would agree with all of the above. I ranit in my old lady's 01 ZL600 and in my 03'Firecat with no problems. It is way betterthan the brand name oil.”

Testing done by Snotech magazine also hadpositive results. “Our dedicated test sledfor this project was a 2004 Polaris Pro X2700. We chose a Polaris simply because ofall the gummed up power valves we hearabout. We even sucked out all of the origi-nal oil from the tank when the sled wasbrand new so we could get a good read onthis stuff, and then ran this oil (exclu-sively) for over 1500 miles. The 2 CycleExtreme didn’t really smell much at all.There wasn’t any sort of perfume to it, notmuch aroma or smoke. Maybe not as cleanas some of the more expensive fully syn-thetics, but quite impressive.” (February2004)

Fowler’s 2 Cycle Extreme meets or exceedsboth Japanese (JASO-FC) and Global/Euro(ISO-EGD) specification standards. To earnthese certifications requires high tempera-ture, thermally stable additives and specialbase oils specifically designed to reducepiston scuffing while minimizing exhaustvalve deposits, port carboning and smoke.In other words, it won’t choke you out withsmoke and strong smells and it won’t gumup your engine parts.

I should also point out Extreme’s excellentlow temperature pumpability, (-60) pourpoint. This can be important in the land of10,000 lakes where temps have beenknown to dip down to 45 below. I hope Ididn’t jinx us by saying that.

Oil isn’t the only thing Fowler offers forsnowmobiles. They have an amazing partssupply in stock, including hard to findparts for older sleds. This is a great benefitto their many smaller independent dealersas well the “big guys” who don’t keep thoseone-zies and two-zies in stock. A phonecall to one of the guys at Fowler and youspeak to Hillger or one of the knowledge-able staff (yes, a real live person!). Andthese guys actually know what parts looklike! Any monkey can be trained to typesomething into a computer to see if a part

Written By Mylie Lavold



is in stock. But the guys at Fowler reallyknow their stuff.

Although Fowler does offer retail service,their primary focus is servicing the smallerindependent dealers and repair shops. “Idon’t get into a war with the big guys. Weboth have our niches,” says Hillger. “I carrya lot of older part numbers. Everything Ican still get a hold of, I keep in my cata-log.” This is a great service to those smallerbusinesses that don’t or can’t order in hugevolume.

Fowler isn’t just snowmobiles. They have agreat selection of parts for ATVs and caneven keep you mowing your grass in thesummer. “We can work with the guy whowill fix your John Deere tractor all the waydown to your snowmobile, ATV or chain-saw, says Hillger. “Those multi-functionalshops are some of our best customers.”

We are all familiar with the 80/20 rule: 20%of your customers generate 80% of yourrevenue. At Fowler things are a bit differ-ent. “We have a lot of small customers asopposed to a few big customers,” says Hill-ger, adding, “When you get into the smaller

towns, those people really appreciate theway we do business.” To be intentionallycliché’ I summed it up as “small town serv-ice in the big city.” This in my opinion is apositive, not a negative. Finding a businessthat provides knowledgeable and true cus-tomer service in this day and age is moreoften than not, impossible.

Fowler offers a wide variety with over 60brands and thousands of aftermarket parts.To become a dealer or check out their linelist, visit www.FowlerDistributors.com orcall 952-884-5401.

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Winter is fast approaching us, we have al-ready received snow and in some cases sev-eral inches. With thoughts of snow on theground, snowmobiles come to mind. Thesnowmobile season in my area is usuallynot very good. If you really want to dosome riding you are either going to have togo to Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin orthe Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But thisstory is not about the modern day snow-mobiling, it is about snowmobiling of yes-teryear, the days of the past. �

�I’ve decided to write a story on the AntiqueSnowmobiles, the machines in our snow-mobiling history. With that I made contactwith a Rob Crowe of Roseau MN. Rob is awriter by trade for the Warroad PioneerPaper. His feature article is The SouthwestAngle News and Views. Rob is also thecontact person for the up and coming,David Johnson Vintage Sno-Cat Spectacu-lar held on December 8th in Roseau. Rob

is also a historian on the Polaris and ArticCat Snowmobiles, that were originally builtby David Johnson and Edgar Hetteen. In1956 Hetteen was away on a trip and whilehe was away, Johnson built the first PolarisSnowmobile, the Sno-Cat. The very firstPolaris snowmobile was sold to a Pete Pe-terson who owned the lumber yard acrossthe street from the Polaris shop. Petersonbought the sled for $425 and used it forhunting fox, wolves and rabbits. With thatthey continued to build sleds one at a time.Hetteen would eventually leave his partnerJohnson and would start up a new line ofsnowmobiles, which became the Artic CatSnowmobiles. Johnson would go on andcontinue building the Polaris Industry. � �

On December 8th at the Vintage Sno-CatSpectacular, they will be honoring DavidJohnson. He is in his 90s and he still livesin Roseau. Mr. Johnson will also be assist-ing in giving away the David Johnson Tro-

phy on that day. Also given out on this daywill be the Bob Eastman Trophy. Eastmanraced Polaris Snowmobiles from 1960's tothe 1970's. He led the Polaris Race Teamand in later years became the team’s man-ager. Eastman was inducted into the Po-laris Hall of Fame and also the SnowmobileRacing Hall of Fame. In 1973, Eastmanwon the World Championship Snowmo-bile Race in Eagle River WI. �

�Other trophies will go out for the Ex-hibitors Favorite, Sno-Bunny's Choice,Guy's Choice, Ugliest Sled and the OldestSled. They also have an area for the BestRace Sled from the era, Best Polaris, ArticCat and Ski Doo. For the people that builtsleds on their own they have trophies forUnconventional Sled and Shop Built Sled.In all Trophy Classes the sleds must bebuilt prior to 1980. � �

Also on this day you can watch the CarHood Haul Competition, which is a twoperson team using a Sno-Cat and pulling acar hood. This is a two lap course with haybales and half full cream cans. The idea isto get the best time without spilling ormaking mistakes while traveling throughcurves and over hills. �

Two other events on the schedule for theday are the Tillototson Rebuild. This is atimed event for the snowmobile mechan-ics. They must field tear down and replace

Written by Brad Coplan



Off the Beaten Path Vintage Sno Cat Spectacular

Wisconsin

the needle on the carburetor and get thesnowmobile running again. The other isthe celebrity race between Artic Cat's RogerSkime and Polaris's Ray Monsrud. Skime isthe Vice President of Research and Devel-opment for Artic Cat and Monsrud hasbeen a long time Polaris Snowmobile Racerand has been inducted into the Snowmo-bile Hall of Fame. Also on this day, weatherpermitting, will be the Norskybon Heatswhich are single cylinder oval track races. �

�So with all that being said, I do believe thatit will be a fun day in Roseau on December8th. They are expecting over 50 sleds andthis will be a great time to go and watch theold sleds compete and also to look at theold time snowmobiles. So dont forget tobring the family and the camera, and makesure to watch the parade of Antique Snow-mobiles on that day.� �

And on the same note of Antique and Mod-ern Snowmobiles, If you get a chance headon over to St. Germain WI and visit theSnowmobile Hall of Fame. It was firststarted in 1989 in Eagle River WI and thenin 1994 they moved it to St. Germain andhave since built on. Here you will find the

complete history on snowmobile racingfrom the first sleds to present time. Youwill see trophies and pictures of the greatracers as well as their sleds and history.Each year they induct new members and

you can get a chance to see their pictureand a history lesson on why they were in-ducted. Some were because of their racingperformance and others were because oftheir contributions to the snowmobile in-dustry. � �

Well if you’re like me and can rememberthe old time sleds, then these two trips willwork great for you. And if you’re tooyoung to remember then go look at thesleds and see how the snowmobile historystarted and how it is today. Where I wasraised in Phillips, WI we had a lot of snowand a lot of fun in the winter. My family'sfirst sled was a 1968 Johnson Skee Horse.It had reverse, a wide track and believe meit weighed as much as a horse. But thetruth is it had the power of a horse too. Istill get the thrill of looking at the old timesnowmobiles and the many different makesand styles.


O sseo Powersportsis not the newplayer on the block

but, they ARE the playerwith new vision. The visionis about taking the businessto the next level.

Osseo Powersports has been around forsome 5 years primarily dealing in partsand service. The company is the one ofthe largest aftermarket discount partsdealers in the state. Although considereda ‘small business’, to be recognized as oneof the leaders in the state is a milestonefor Osseo Powersports.

The company consists of several family

members, lifelong friends, and businesspartners. Todd Sigfrid and John Rohachare business partners and friends thatcontinue to think out of the box to takethe company to the next level in the pow-ersport world. John Rohach, also ownerof a premier lawn and landscaping firm,brings to the table a great deal of knowl-edge and experience in the power equip-ment arena. John’s passion forMotorsports compliments the objectiveand vision of Osseo Powersports. ToddSigfrid has a long and successful career inthe biking and snowmobile industry. Hehas played a role and managed the PolarisSnowmobile Race Team, worked as en en-gineer during the initial design of the firstproduction bikes at Victory Motorcycles,General Manager of Viper Motorcycles,and has been the recipient of the National

VICA award. With the combined creden-tials of John and Todd, the Osseo Power-sports team is on the right track forbigger and better things.

Other members of the team includeTodd’s wife Michelle, she spearheads theparts and administration part of the busi-ness. Todd’ son Cody Sigfrid, that tendsto wear quite a few hats, said that “partsand service has always been our breadand butter and we will never give way tothat part of the business”. The vision forthe company is to get diverse to stay com-petitive. Another family member, Tyler,also plays a major role in taking the busi-ness onward and upward.

Osseo Powersports is outfitted with 5bays with a nice contingent of technicians


FROM PARTS TO POWER


turning wrenches to keep the work flow-ing in and out, any time of the season.The Technicians include Jon, Tyan, Drewand Cory. These guys do so much morethan service; they also are involved inparts, sales and much more of the day today operation. These guys maybe young;however they are knowledgeable and ex-perienced in all Motorsports. This teamof technicians is dedicated, committed toimproving AND expanding the firm.They are part of the Osseo Powersportsfamily.

The shop is ready for any machine in anyseason. For an example, the snowmo-biles will be lining up for that initialcheck and balance to get the rider readyfor the season of the white stuff. Speak-ing of the white stuff Osseo Powersportshas a full line of Honda & Toro snowblowers, as well as ATV plows and ac-cessories, ready to clear the walkway ordriveway of the fluffy white powder. Ifyou are looking to tune your personalsnow blower up with a check up andservice get it down to the shop before thesnow flies.

Osseo Powersports vision of expandingthe company happened just a year agowhen they took on a nice line of HondaProducts, ATV’s, Motorcycles, and Side-by-sides. That’s right, they are one of thefew Big Red dealers in the state! TheHonda Corporation is fully supportiveand has the confidence that Osseo Pow-ersports will be one the primary dealers

of Honda Products in the State. Anotherentirety that the company offers is powerequipment. They offer Honda PowerEquipment, Toro and Echo products in-cluding: chain saws, trimmers, leafblowers, power generators to name a fewof many.

Another attractive part of Osseo Power-sports is they have a full machine shopoutfitted with a mill, lathe, press, tubebender. This machine shop has beenused in another segment of the busi-ness–manufacturing aftermarket parts,most notably to Polaris. The company isalso developing the ONLY hard Cabavailable for Big Red (side-by-side) inhouse. Prototypes have been modeledand built, first production run expectedto come in the next few months and thecompany already has many orders wait-

ing!

My suggestions take a trip to the dealer-ship and shop and check them out.While you are there you just maybelucky enough to sip on one of their newventures, a full blown coffee and pastryshop called Kickstart Coffee—which iscoming soon. That’s worth venturingdown and kicking back with a little javaand sweets while you shop around. Thestaff at Osseo Powersports are not justyour everyday owners, sales people,technicians, and support staff. Talking toCody he put the credibility of the shopthis way, “If we are not fixing, we are rid-ing”. And I’m talking off road dirt bikeracing. Currently the guys are racing inthe 250A and B class, and already haveseveral state championships under theirbelt. These guys “walk the talk” they arethe real deal and you will find them atOsseo Powersports. Do I have to say any-more? Whom do you want working andservicing your prized possession? Whomdo you want taking you through the stepby step process when you are purchasinga machine? The answer is simple, theknowledgeable and credible staff atOsseo Powersports. Osseo Powersportsis located at 116 County Road 81 inOsseo. You can speak directly to the salesand service staff at 763-315-0200, oremail them at [email protected]. Follow the successof the family and friend owned businesson Facebook and Twitter. You will beglad you did.

It’s about tech and trail...... and spending timewith people who embrace the snowmobilelifestyle.

Each week host Meisha Johnson, former racerPaul Mack and tech expert Jeff Fisher steer youto some of the world’s greatest places toride.....with some of the world’s greatest riders.

"Sledhead 24-7" will check out cutting edgegear and gadgets and ride the latest modelsleds from the major manufactures.

We’ll test the limits of snowmobile perform-ance through a series of ambitious builds atSpeedwerx.

But "Sledhead 24-7 " will always be about folkslike you, the riders, the clubs, and families whocan’t wait to get out on the trail.

From the Firecat, to the Pro Cross chassis, Arc-tic Cat has made big changes in the past decadeand the test riders at " Sledhead 24-7" ride, rateand review.

If you own a Ski-Doo, learn about StraightlinePerformance and find out about the HeartBreaker, a dyno room that hides no secrets.

For more than 2 decades, Straightline Perform-

ance in Forest Lake Minnesota, has been craft-ing the “ how to “ for speed.

Today StraightLine is a worldwide performanceshop, but had humble beginnings in founderJason Houle's garage.

StraightLine creates upgrades for just about allpower sports machines. Today Jason shares 3ways to quickly improve your Ski-Doo, startingwith StraightLine’s exclusive exhaust kit, fuelprogrammer and clutch kit, which are easy,quick ways to upgrade your Ski-Doo.

Snocross super star Robbie Malinowski, racesthe pro circuit on a StraightLine enhanced Ski-Doo, Robbie's proud to race w/ StraightLine.

"If you haven't been to Jackson Hole, you'remissing out. " Sledhead 24-7 " hangs out andhas some fun at the World Championship Hill-climbs.

"The Jackson Hole Hillclimbs are a favorite ofevery snowmobiler." "Jeff Fischer shows us thequickest way down the mountain."

This is just a little of what we have going on,you can catch Sledhead 24-7 Sunday nights onFox Sports North and Fox Sports Wisconsin.

Tune in each week www.Sledhead24-7.com.

SledHead 24/7 TV Show airing on FSN-MN & FSN-WI

Sledhead 24-7 can be seen Sunday nights at 10pm on FSN

Welcome to the wintery world of “Sledhead 24-7”

http://www.sledhead24-7.com/Airtimes/



BLACKJACK RESORTBessemer, MI

The Blackjack Resort in Bessemer, Michi-gan is ready for the series to light up thehills on December 7th and 8th!

Besides being a host to part of this year'sAMSOIL Championship Snocross Series,Blackjack is one of the most affordable re-sorts in Big Snow Country! They believeeveryone should be able to enjoy skiingand boarding. They offer special discountsfor youth, military and college, mid weektickets along with their daily specials. Ifyou are not a current skier or boarder andwould like the guidance from an instruc-tor they have lessons available too. Thereis a constant update for current weatherconditions, live camera views, and daily in-formation on open trails, snow base, andopen lifts on their website www.skiblack-jack.com, or you can follow the latest onFacebook Official Blackjack Resort Group

They have 101 acres of skiable area, andaverage 210 inches of annual snowfall.There are 19 amazing ski trails, 6 lifts, and2 terrain parks set up for different level ofriders. They also added their first doubleblack diamond expert glade trail andbrought back one of the most popular kidswoods runs anywhere last season. Thereare condos nestled back along many of thetrails that are available or they have a listof preferred lodging places in the area.

CANTERBURY PARKShakopee, MN

From Michigan back to Minnesota, ACSSwill start the new year off right with Can-terbury Park's Traxxas Snocross Presentedby Jimmy John's on January 4th and 5th!

The Snocross series has been held at Can-terbury every year since 1996. If youmissed the opening event at Spirit Moun-tain in Duluth, MN you don't want to missCanterbury! From the 120 class to the ProOpen, there will be snow flying as thesecompetitors bring you some of the mostfierce competition in snowmobile racing!There will be three days of battling for thepodium, and with many home state com-petitors wanting that position, it's guaran-teed to be one spectacular of a show!

Canterbury was built in 1984 and offers300,000sq ft of grandstand space with in-door and outdoor seating. It sits on 355acres and has parking available for about10,000 vehicles. The track is convenientlyonly 25 minutes from downtown Min-neapolis, and has three large levels con-sisting of live gaming, simulcast, anddining options. Even when the live racinghas ended for the season, the attractionscontinue their a calendar packed withtrade shows, conventions, and other eventsto keep you entertained and informed.

Get your tickets and come be a part of theaction! www.isocracing.com or www.can-terburypark.com

.

ISOC SnoCross

DEADWOODSHOOTOUTDeadwood, SD

New to the schedule this season....thegreatest show on snow will be headed toDeadwood February 1st and 2nd, as theISOC Amsoil Championship SnoCross Se-ries hits the Black Hills. More than 150 ofthe top professional SnoCross racers willdescend on the historic town’s Days of ’76Rodeo Grounds for a weekend of high-fly-ing, high-speed, high-octane snowmobileracing.

The races will be aired on the CBS SportsNetwork as well. Advance tickets are $10for Friday and $15 for Saturday, and $20for a 2-day pass; kids 5 and under are free,those 5-12 are $5. Gate prices are $15 forFriday, $20 for Saturday and $30 for a 2-day pass.

www.isocracing.com


SNOCROSS, Duluth National, MN

G reetings once again Wheel’ers! We are getting asexcited as you for the snow to fly! Yes, GameON!TV is excited to see you again and this issue of

Wheels of Thunder continues to excite race fans with it'sinteresting stories and magnificent pictures. GameON!TV is growing and reaching so many of you with oursports programming and now we are expanding to theDakota's and western Minnesota via MidCo Sports Net-work. As you know, GameON! loves sports, from the va-riety of professional, college & high school sports to allthe outdoor events that dot our regional landscape.GameON's partnership with Wheels of Thunder is strongand just like you, we also enjoy the most comprehensiverace magazine and website to be found! Wheels ofThunder magazine gets it and gets you the latest infor-mation, amazing pictures and all those terrific stories tothe most passionate motorsports fans in the country!

Looking ahead, there's special moments ahead forGameON! We recently taped our 100th broadcast andnow we're putting emphasis on our social media reach.Every week GameON! comes to you in crystal clear fullHigh Definition and we have just launched our first APP(it's free to for Apple & Android phones). The newGameON! TV app puts our show at your fingertips andwe're now offering a weekly PODCAST available @ ourshow website www.GameOnTvMN.com. It's full of bitsand pieces of sports from the region and what's ahead onour weekly TV show. GameON! still serves as the lead-in to the award winning FOX NFL pre game show onFOX's MY29 here in the Twin Cities during the NFL Sea-son.

GameON! does what no other TV sports interview show(in the region) does. We offer a diverse and entertaininghalf hour of TV as we bring you the most visible andpopular Minnesota sports figures. From the exciting sea-son that the new look Vikings are enjoying, the newWolves season underway, the NHL Wild, the Twins andwe visit with the Lacrosse Swarm. There's NASCAR andwe're all over your favorite drivers now that snow racingapproaches. GameON! just featured championship racer

Levi LaVallee and we'll be all overthe SnoCross racingseason and Xtreme sports that touch all seasons!

This show is interactive so we'd love to hear from you!Please visit our Facebook site (friend us @ GameON onfacebook), our website @ www.gameontvmn.com and24/7on twitter #gameontvmn. You are always welcometo visit our live tapings and each week we list guests andupdates on the GameON! website as well as our Face-book site. Get upclose and personal with us!! We alsopartner with the one of the largest Vikings fan sites inthe world, www.PurplePride.org. I've said it before andI'm saying it again! Get off the couch and get yourGameON! Be a part of the exciting effort we're puttingon! Here's to fall and the coming winter sports seasonahead. Hope to see you at an upcoming GameON! tap-ing!!



Dates are set for the Friday Jan. 18th, SaturdayJan 19th & Sunday Jan. 20th, 2013 on ClearLake, IA. Located just off interstate 35 and west

of Mason City on highway 18, this weekend is filledwith family friendly snowmobiling fun.

This will be the 4th year the local North Iowa SnowSeekers and surrounding clubs have volunteered to hostthis race which benefits the area population, tourismand businesses. The proceeds go back to the communityin the form of donations. Some of the ways they do thisis by: grooming trails, providing trail markers, provid-ing trail maps, promoting “fun runs” and hosting “THEJACK Race”.



The event is a memorial to Jack Helgren,an area businessman, avid snowmobiler,former dealer/racer and promoter of thesport for the area. Race Chairman GaryMcVicker, longtime friend of Jack Helgren,wanted to pay tribute to Jack for his loveof racing, and has worked closely with theNorth Iowa Snow Seekers club coordinat-ing efforts to make this one of the top 2winter races in Iowa.

• Friday evening starts with the Cruisearound Beautiful Clear Lake and re-ception at the VFW in Clear Lake.Racers may pre-register for Saturdayevents.

• Saturday Jan. 19th features snowmo-bile racing including LeMans “Style”Racing and Radar Runs. The races con-sist of vintage to brand new sleds.There are many classes including a

class where the age of the rider and ageof the snowmobile must add up to 80(the older you are - the newer the sledyou can ride) and also includes aLadies only class. Additionally therewill be a Vintage Snowmobile Showand food tent.

• Saturday night the Clear Lake VFWwill host the Awards Banquet and anIowa Rock and Roll Hall of Famersband "Split Second" will perform. Youalso will have an opportunity to bid ona Vintage Ski-Doo up for auction.


• Sunday events include Vintage IceDrag Racing. With racers attendingthroughout the Midwest, you can getup close and personal as a spectator towitness these beautifully restored sledsthat display surprising performance.With speeds capable of triple digits in500 feet, you will appreciate the workand craftsmanship with four lanes sideby side racing at its finest.

Last year Mother Nature hampered ice con-ditions which made it difficult for both rac-ers and promoters causing dates to berescheduled. Volunteers really stepped upto the plate providing assistance gettingrace sleds from their trailers to a beautifullyprepared track. The Vintage Ice Drags wereadded to the event schedule for the firsttime in 2012, and officials worked with

racers, listening to their suggestion tomake this a safe fun weekend. For exam-ple, I remember asking an official if theywere planning on using a video camera atthe finish line. I shared with him someclasses are just too close to call, and the useof electronics would be necessary to pro-vide a fair call. The next morning beforethe races, he stopped by our trailer and in-formed me a video camera was set up andready to go. Very impressive!

Because of the weather, lack of snow, iceconditions, and rescheduling last year, theparticipation of both racers and spectatorsare expected to increase this Januarythrough expanded media coverage andpositive feedback. Great dining, shopping,and friendly community, offers visitorseverything they need for a great winter get-

away. Here are a few businesses I recom-mend for your visit to Clear Lake, Iowa:

• The AmericInn will play host for rac-ers looking for lodging and will offer aracers discount for booking in ad-vance. This is a very nice place to staywith a beautiful pool and plenty ofparking for large trailers and rigs. Be-cause of the large turnout expectedwith tourism and all the other winteractivities planned that weekend, I sug-gest you call 800-634-3444 early to in-sure reservations.

• Of course everyone has to eat right? Ihighly recommend fine dining at theBoathouse Bar & Grill. Give Chuck acall to reserve a table at 641-357-8688and enjoy great steak or seafood with agreat bar.

• Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern offer a va-riety of good food and a great place forkids to eat. I recommend the ribs anda tall draw after a cold day on the ice.641-357-2366

• Rookies Rock’n Sports Bar locateddowntown Clear Lake has great drinkspecials and you can also dine nextdoor at Rookie’s Seven which is con-nected to the bar. 641-357-0106

Wheels of Thunder Magazine will coverThe JACK RACE with a feature storyscheduled later on in the season. Subscrip-tions are available at 763-421-4400.

You can visit: www.THEJACKRACE.COMto get all the latest info, details and pre-reg-istration forms.


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T he Dickinson County Snow

Hawks will again host the

2013 Vintage Ice Drags in

Okoboji, Iowa. Scheduled for February

2nd, this is the third stop of a five race

series planed for Iowa and Minnesota to

date. Five lakes surround this friendly

community, which are glacier-carved and

support both summer and winter sports.

Anyone who has attended the races heldhere in the past have had nothing butpraise for this club and the effort they putforth to insure a great track and fun timesfor those attending. Four lane drag racingset up for 500 feet with plenty of shut-down, and smooth as a baby’s bottom iswhat this club offers. And at the end of the

day, racers line up to determine the fastestsled of the day.

Even last year with marginal ice conditions,rain, and warm weather, volunteers fromthe club worked day and night to provideus a place to race. Like all the other raceswe attended last year, we used caution

pulling our big trucks and race trailers ontothe ice to insure our safety. To date, ParksMarina will be the site again for this event.

If you come to race, this place will test youagainst some of the best in the business.Okoboji, Iowa and the surrounding area ishome for several race teams who take this


sport very serious, and why not? This is anideal place to test their equipment andsetup with several lakes available nearby orright in their own their backyard. And ifyou want to be successful, this offers you ahuge edge on your competition in theworld of ice drag racing for vintage classes.

With the long cold winters typical in Iowa,you can choose to sit by the fireplace or getoutside and enjoy the many opportunitieswinter has to offer you, especially theIowa's Great Lakes region. A hotspot fortourism in the summer, the Okoboji areaoffers also year round activities including awinter getaway. Some 120 miles ofgroomed trails for snowmobiling, ice fish-ing, and great shopping await you.

After a refreshing day out and about, Ihighly recommend reservations for lodg-ing at the Arrowood Resort & ConferenceCenter. Relax with a glass of wine or youfavorite cocktail in the Minervas Restau-rant & Bar located just off the main lobby.You will find the view overlooking the golf

course a great place to dine with awardwinning menus featuring pasta, steak, andseafood.

Arrowood Resorts will be the host hotel forthe Vintage Ice Drags and offer discount toracers for early reservations. Please call thehotel direct at 712-332-2161 to makearrangement. You will have plenty of spacefor parking trailers and enjoy a great staywith family and friends.

For more information about the races,please refer to the website: www.dickin-soncountysnowhawks.com


wheels of thunder december 2012

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