The Game Changer

The formula for winning championships is sometimes the result of assembling a team of individuals who share the same passion, vision and commitment to do whatever it takes to win. Polaris had assembled a team who shared that winning philosophy including the likes of Bob Eastman, Jim Bernat, Larry Rugland, Stan Hayes, Don Omdahl, and Leroy Lindblad.

The fruits of that winning philosophy were realized when Bob Eastman won the World Snowmobile Championship at Eagle River, Wisconsin in 1973. It continued in the ’73 – ’74 season where Polaris dominated the inaugural Sno Pro competition. One of the few blemishes on a superlative season was at the ’74 World Championship where Eastman would again challenge for the Championship but winning was dashed by a blown belt and the performance of a wily Frenchman named Gilles Villeneuve.

That blemish was quickly erased when Polaris returned to the winner’s circle with Jim Bernat claiming the World Championship title in 1975. Bernat’s win affirmed Polaris’ position as the most dominant racing team in the early 70’s. That supremacy would be quickly challenged by other manufacturer not content with the status quo.

Sometimes the danger of repeated success is complacency and for ’75 – ’76 season Polaris took a step towards complacency by severely cutting their racing budget. The budget crunch led to racing largely modified stock production sleds as their Sno Pro entries. Polaris’ decisions ultimately led to a dismal racing season.. For the World Champion final they qualified only one sled and somewhat fittingly their sled failed to finish.

The embarrassment Polaris suffered during the 1976 racing season served as motivation
to return to the winners circle. To get there Polaris realized that would have to devote more resources in terms of finances and personnel to make it happen.

Returning to the winners circle would take a radical departure from traditional thinking and would require entertaining new ideas to improve performance and handling. What was explored was experimenting with IFS. It was nothing new, many manufacturers including Chaparral, Alouette , Skiroule, and Scorpion had tried it with unsatisfactory results. Gordon Rudolph had built several racers with IFS and even managed to qualify one at the ’75 World Championship.

Rudolph’s design would serve as a template for Polaris to produce their iteration of an IFS sled. The IFS prototypes were tested in Alaska well before the start of the season and the results proved favorable however not all in the Polaris camp were convinced and they started the season with both conventional and IFS sleds.

After the results of first two races of the ’76 – ’77 Sno Pro season Polaris and everyone one else knew they had something very special in their IFS racing sleds. The conventional design was scrapped and a total commitment to IFS was adopted.

Polaris with their RXL IFS sled dominated Sno Pro races that year. Steve Thorsen won the World Championship and Polaris swept the points standing with Jerry Bunke, Steve Thorsen and Brad Huling going 1,2, 3 respectively. Steve Thorsen would again win a 2nd World Championship in 1978.

Many manufacturers had attempted IFS however each sled had other shortcoming that prevented the technology from shining. The genius of Polaris was marrying IFS with all the other components that make a successful race sled, from engine, to clutching, to traction, and suspension, the RXL had it all.

It could easily be argued that Polaris was the most dominate team in Professional snowmobile racing in the ’70′s. The pinnacle of that team was the production of little blue racing snowmobile with a big appetite for winning. The RXL was the sled that changed the rules of the game and revolutionized an industry.

About 70 sleds, and even a few old time oval racers made an appearance at this annual event. A few swapping their wares as well.

Thanks to all the organizers for putting on a great vintage event.

Here’s just a few photos of the event. Click FS for a full screen view.

Go to http://www.northtorontoauction.com for more details.

– a localized and violently destructive windstorm occurring over land characterized by a funnel-shaped cloud extending toward the ground, a violent rotating windstorm.

A violent windstorm touched down in the winter of 1973 by a company more noted for their marine engines. Mercury Marine shocked the snowmobiling fraternity with the production of a stock oval racing sled aptly named the Sno-twister.

The origins of the ensuing storm was a long time in development. The foundation of Mercury snowmobiles can be attributed to the founder of the company, Carl Kiekhaefer.

Carl Kiekhaefer was a brilliant engineer who originally produced 2 stroke engines for target aircraft during WWII. He later went on to produce very successful race cars for NASCAR.

In 1966, Carl instructed a team to buy snowmobiles from several dealers in the Fond Du Lac, WI area. His engineers disassembled them with hopes that they might be able to manufacture their own and by 1968 Mercury unveiled their flagship sled, Model 150E. Unfortunately for Mercury the early generations where more renowned for weight then performance and had little resemblance to what they would later become.

In 1969 when Carl had a blow-up with the Brunswick Corp. executives he resigned from the company he founded. One of the only areas where there was not a non-compete clause was snowmobile engines. Carl and his son Fred would form Kiekhaefer Aeromarine Motors (KAM) and supply 2 stroke engines to snowmobile manufacturers. In the early 70’s KAM designed free air racing engines for Polaris that ultimately won 3 consecutive USSA world championships.

Mercury would continue to produce snowmobiles but now without the direct influence of the Kiekhaefers. It is speculated that their influence would remain with a team of engineers that they had assembled in the snowmobile division. For the 1973-74 racing season, that team would produce the first Sno-twister, the stock 400-D. It was such a success in the 400cc class it was sometimes difficult to find another competing brand.

The dominance of the Twister in stock classes was formidable and drew the interest of many outstanding drivers including Stan and Doug Hayes, Brad Hulings, and Gary Gilbertson.

For the 1975- 1976 season Mercury would follow the trend of most manufacturers and add a liquid cooled Kohler to their racing line-up. The liquid cooled versions were a popular choice for many racers and seen as the crowning achievement of Mercury snowmobiles,

Although Mercury enjoyed considerable success on the track consumer snowmobiles sales continued to be weak. Strangely at the pinnancle of Merc’s track success the bean counters decided to pull the pin on snowmobile production after the 1976 season.

The vestiges of Mercury Trail and Sno-twisters remain. They are still a competitive sled on the vintage scene and are often one of the must have sleds for vintage snowmobiles enthusiasts. For three years the Twister wreaked havoc on the snowmobile world and like its wind blown cousin left as quickly as it came. Although long gone, the impact of the Sno-twister will remain as one of the legendary sleds of the 70’s.
 
 

The following year in 1972 Yamaha entered a larger displacement 643cc engine as their entry for the World Championship. That year Mike Trapp drove his Yamaha uncontested from start to finish and was crowned, a second consecutive time, World Champion.

Sled designers and engineers took note of Trapp’s success. They were coming to realize
power to weight ratios were paramount in producing a championship sled and out of that philosophy the SRX was born.

The first sled to carry the SRX name was Yamaha’s 1974 SnoPro racer. These sleds were
very rare handcrafted sleds provided to a select few. In 1975 the SRX designation was not used however in 1976 the SRX returned. The 1976 SRX was a limited production sled offered to qualified independent racers to be driven in stock classes. This Yamaha program was very similar to what Arctic Cat offered with their highly successful “Z” snowmobiles where the SRX would provide direct competition.

Although designated as a “stock” sled independent teams would modify the SRX to compete in the professional SnoPro series. Early in the season the SRX provided little indication of its potential. The potential would come to prominence during the 1976 World Championship at Eagle River.

The 1976 Championship for the first time would limit engine size to 440cc. The 440 SRX and its drivers would face fierce competition from super modified Mercury Sno-Twisters and Team Arctic Cat sleds. Somewhat surprisingly two Yamaha drivers, automotive racer Dick Trickle and “Fast Eddie” Schubitzke would make it to the Championship final riding the Yamaha . As noted their season leading up to the World Championship had been anything but remarkable.

Early on both drivers had found these thoroughbreds to be temperamental suffering engine failures due to running lean in the corners. “Fast Eddie” had found if he pulsated the throttle in the corners the fresh fuel would cool the pistons and save the engine.

The beginning of the season also saw the drivers experience traction issues with their sleds. Arctic Cat had great success using ice spikes in their tracks they called “nails”. After seeing the tail end of Arctic Cat on more then a few occassions Yamaha started using the “nails” equally effective by season’s end.

Having solved some of the engine and handling issues Trickle, Schubitzke and the SRX were now ready to make an assault for a podium finish at Eagle River. This was proven when Schubitzke and his SRX shaved the lap record in the preliminary heats by over 7 seconds. Even with the record in hand few believed Schubitzke and his SRX had a what it took to win.

The combatants remaining for the World Championship final were exceedingly strong. The field was dominated by five Arctic Cat’s, Dave Thompson, Bob Elsner, Larry Coltom, Lynn Trapp and Tom Porter. Rounding out the final were two Mercury Sno-Twisters piloted by Doug Hayes and Brad Hulings, and the lone Polaris driven by Don Omdahl.

When the race began, Arctic’s Elsner challenged for the lead but after the first lap Schubitze, utilizing the dominating power and handling of the SRX, demolished the field. It was an overwhelming performance of man and machine made even more remarkable considering the victory was accomplished on a slightly modified “stock” sled.

The Yamaha drivers were able to tame this thoroughbred SRX and place it in the winners circle. In the fast pace of competitive racing, Yamaha knew as good as the 76 SRX was they would have to improve upon it to remain competitive.

The basic design from the winning 76 SRX remained the but many improvements would be implemented to the 77 edition in hopes of continuing its dominance. The factory supplied steel bulkhead was replaced with aluminum and widened hence the need for boots protruding on the side of the bellypan. The rear skid was replaced and a rear sway bar was also added. As for the engine it was a complete overhaul. The 77 SRX had a different crankcase, crank, cylinders, head, pistons, rods, ignition and pipes, the whole enchilada. What the changes distilled was an outstanding sled with improved handling and a stock engine peaking at 96 hp. In a word, SMOKIN’.

In racing, technology does not stand still, unfortunately for Yamaha the 77 SRX would be overshadowed by Polaris and their dominating IFS sleds. In classes were leaf spring were still predominate the 77 SRX remained competitive.

In 1978 the SRX was domesticated for consumer comsumption. Although they looked the same as their racing brethren they were in essence different sleds, one that was destined for the track and the other for the trail.

1976 and 1977 marked the production of some of the finest leaf spring racers of the likes of Sno-Twister, Blizzard, Z and SRX, however the King of them all may have been Yamaha’s 1977 SRX.

References:
Of Ice & Engines
Of Ice & Engines
Best of SnoPro 1973-1978
SnoTech Magazine
Technical Expertise: Mark Pomasi

Through the 70′s Arctic Cat had enjoyed considerable success on the track with their racing sleds and also on the trails with their consumer snowmobiles. In 1981 that all changed when Arctic Cat, one of the giants in the snowmobile industry, declared bankruptcy. Somewhat ironically in the same year they released their best leaf spring performance muscle sled in the 1981 El Tigré 6000.

The history of the 6000 began in 1978 when Arctic Cat released its first liquid cooled production snowmobile. A 440cc Suzuki engine provided smooth power and aided by a chassis with a low center of gravity, the 6000 proved to be a solid performer.

Steady refinements were made to the basic make-up of the sled as the 6000 matured. The 1981 edition increased the engine size to 500cc and paired with larger Mikuni VM38′s the Suzuki liquid now boasted a true 85 hp.

The increased power meant abandoning the ubiquitous hex clutch that had adorned most Arctic Cats for the better part of a decade. A new clutch combination using a Comet 102c primary and Arctic’s reverse cam secondary better managed the increased power output as well as transferred more useable power to the track.

What was ultimately produced was one of the finest leaf spring consumer muscle sleds of all time. This was affirmed in February of 1980 when a pre-production 1981 model was crowned World’s Fastest in a 2 mile lake run.

Many argued that raw top end speed was not a complete representation of performance as handling was equally important. The El Tigré’s handling prowess would be scrutinized in December 1980 at the Dayco’s Muscle Machine Shoot-Out.

Arctic Cat racing legend Larry Coltom came out of retirement to pilot the 6000 in the industry’s first-ever major snocross. In the final, Coltom was lined up against the best offerings from seven competing manufactures, half of them sporting new IFS. That day, Coltom riding the El Tigré 6000, defeated them all. Not only did it confirm that Coltom had not lost his driving skill but validated the El Tigré 6000 as World’s Fastest.

Here’s a recent speed run of the mighty El Tigré . 99.9 mph in 1320′ on Radar. Definitely capable of pushing well beyond the century mark.