[Click on this image above to view each Vintage Racer's Information]
North West Museum of Vintage Snowmobiles
OPEN HOUSE - RACER REUNION
~ JULY 18th, 2009 ~
The excitement was overwhelming looking at each sled and being lost in
thoughts
of what a "fistful of throttle" on ice each one is. Spokane
Washington was 96 degrees
out on the asphalt in front of the museum and the heat had no effect on
the winter passion.
Jerry has over 100 Snowmobiles inside the museum. Another 60-80
Race Sleds arrived
at the show and some of them came with their original riders. Snowmobile
Hall of Fame
racer Duane Eck
from Idaho, who raced from 1967 to 1988 was present with another
great rider from the Northwest, Meryl Schroeder. Lee Fredrickson,
owner Classic
Muscle Sleds traveled all the way from Marine Minnesota to perform Master
of
Ceromonies and gave Duane Eck and Meryl Schroeder the mic to share with
the rest
of us how they "swapped alot of paint" in the 70's racing with and against
each other.
Standing next to Steve
Thorsen's Polaris RXL's was a thrill combined with the honor
to photo the late Dorothy
Mercer's 1973 Polaris Starfire owned by Jerry Swanson.
Harvey Waldron from Issaquah
Washington was there with his Arctic Cat Z that he
won the 1980 World Series on and had some great stories to share with us.
Washinton Pro Racer Jeff Biddiscombe, his sisters Lisa & Shelly were
there with some
really great vintage race sleds. Their father, Roger Biddiscombe
received a plaque
from Jerry Kienbaum /NWMOVS for his dedication and help over the
years.
All the way from the midwest, I was super surprised to shake hands with
Larry Preston
from VintageSleds.com!
Larry is high octane fuel for all who have Polaris FEVER.
A great 1973-1979 TX / RXL source. Look for his book Star*Fire*Kids
!
Dwayne Grant and his son Kelly Grant loaded up 10 Moto Ski Race Sleds,
1 Kohler,
a n d "the" twin track Ski-Doo, then did a two rig caravan from Calgary
Alberta Canada
to be at Jerry's Reunion.
Clear Sky, Hot Sun, Bar-B-Que, Home Made Ice Cream churned by a combustion
engine,
loads of cool sleds and a bunch of super nice folks. Long live
the American Spirit !
Jerry Kienbaum, Northwest Museum of Vintage
Snowmobiles Owner and Curator
Duane Eck and Meryl Schroeder remembering
the Golden Era of Sno Pro
as they share stories with the crowd hosted
by
Lee Fredrickson owner of Classic Muscle Sleds
in Marine Minnesota.
Duane Eck - Raced from 1967-1988.
Snowmobile Race Champion
In 1969 Duane Eck set the World Speed Record
in West Yellowstone
on a Ski Doo Double Eagle. He then
became a factory racer for Ski Doo.
Duane was innovative and expressed his design
talent to Ski Doo and they adopted
his improvements to the machines.
Later Duane raced for Polaris, then Arctic Cat.
Duane Eck was inducted into the Snowmobile
Hall of Fame January of 1990 at 55 years old.
It was exciting and a pleasure to shake hands
with the USA Legend, Duane Eck from Idaho
that I had read about and seen photos of
growing up in the 70's.
Steve Thorsen's Polaris RXL's - Midnight
Blue Express !
Back-to-back World Championships at Eagle
River, racing and winning 1977 and 1978
on Polaris sleds he built to match his personal
racing philosophy.
Steve Thorsen was one of the original Team
Frustration Drivers of the early 70's.
Dorothy
Mercer's 1973 Polaris TX Starfire.
[Owned by Jerry Swanson / Hamilton
Michigan]
The late Dorothy Mercer raced from 1965-1973.
One of the most competitive women in Snowmobile
History and the only
women to race with a Factory Sno Pro Team
in the 70's.
Dorothy set the Women's Speed World Record
in West Yellowstone, Montana
on the Polaris X2 with a drag strip run at
106.9 MPH.
1972 Dorothy Mercer set a record for women
in Cross Country Racing
as she placed 3rd in the intense Winnepeg
to St. Paul I-500 Race.
That I-500 record remains unbroken to this
day.
Harvey Waldron - Waldron
Arctic Cat has dedicated his life to
snowmobiles and snowmobile racing.
Harvey was a ground up racer that purchased
a stock Arctic Cat oval racer
in the 1972-73 season and started racing
in the North East circuit.
He then moved out to the North West.
Racing from 1976-1980 Harvey was the Northwest
#1 Mod Class Racer.
Focused, maintained and dedicated to winning.
When you ask Harvey what type of sled's he
rides without hesitation he smiles,
"Arctic Cat, always have, always will...
Green and Black !"
1980 Harvey Waldron was invited to the International
World Series and won.
Larry Preston / VintageSleds.Com
being introduced by Lee Fredrickson.
Dwayne Grant and his son Kelly Grant's Moto
Ski Collection from Calgary, Alberta Canada.
Father-Son / Moto-Ski Collector Mania from
Canada. Dwayne Grant raced Moto Ski in the
1970's for Mark Ten Cigarette Team on his
#429 Moto Ski. His son Kelley shares his
father's passion for Moto Ski and also works
at the Polaris Dealership in Calgary.
Joyful gents to talk sleds with and a great
collection of sleds to view.
Thank you for hauling two trailers full of
sleds 12 hours from Canada to Spokane !
Jerry's Combustion Engine Churned Ice Cream
Machine.
Chug - Chug - Chug - Chug from the engine
gave the event the essence of being at the State Fair.
F=ma
: Force equals mass times acceleration.
The "Independent" racer's sled of
the 70's.
SnoJet put up a 2 million dollar race purse,
and paid indy racers every week for proof
of winning on SnoJet's. SnoJet
didn't have a factory team, and for that period in
snowmobile racing, they didn't need one.
Whenever I see a Thunder Jet "F=ma" is the first
thing on my mind. I remember how loud
they were, and they were a guarantee
to be consistant with the hole shot and both
skis off the ground.
This particular 1972 SnoJet Thunder Jet is
owned by Steve Gustin of Lewiston Idaho.
Trophy winner in 1972, and 37 years later
deserves many trophy wins for it's
incredible restoration.
Polaris - Red White and Blue.
Beautiful Restorations on these sleds.
Custom Painted Arctic Cat "Attack Cat".
Great looking sled.
Look for the engine shots in the thumbnail
gallery.
WOW ! Man this sled is so clean and
tight. Great sled.
Make sure to check out the photos we have
of this machine.
The "Nascar" of Sno Pro. This Ski-Doo
SM-III was Virgin !
This tent [Perry and Tony] has serious
time/money invested into polishing aluminum and
other innovative restorations and mods to
view. True Show Quality Muscle Sleds.
Every sled you will see in the photo gallery
by Perry Hesteness has incredible
polish and detail craftsmanship.
Perry Hesteness President of Vintage Snowmobiles
of Idaho and WSVSA
IdahoSnowBiz.com
Jerry Kienbaum's 1971 Sno Coupe.
The cab top half slides back and two people
can hop in.
Jerry Kienbaum's Mobile Museum Trailer for
bringing a sample of his Museum to your City !
THANK YOU JERRY & JANICE KIENBAUM
for the Invitation !
Sno Pro USA
all rights reserved - www.snoprousa.com