By Emily Wicklund
After three postponed dates and a much anticipated return, sleds were racing once again across the ice of Pine Lake. The historic Gerald Dyrdahl Memorial 200 opens up the national cross country circuit every season. However, last season the race was cancelled due to Minnesota’s covid-19 restrictions, so teams were eager to get back to the small Northern Minnesota town of Gonvick; population 260.
The two-day event is considered one round of racing with Pro Open and Semi Pro Improved running Saturday and Pro Stock and Semi Pro racing Sunday. All other classes run both days with merged results. The course is a plowed 10.7-mile-long track with long straights that allow sleds to reach up to 115 mph!
Saturday brought high winds with temperatures staying around 0 degrees. This made snow dust and visibility a hurdle racers had to work around. The first race of the season was the Pro Open and Semi Pro Improved two-lap qualifier. This sets the lineup for the finals that happen at the end of the day. Top contender, Zach Herfindahl ended his day early with a mechanical failure on lap one of the qualifier. After two laps, Canadian racer, Aaron Christensen ended up fastest on his Polaris with Arctic Cat riders Re Wadena, Paul Brown [rookie], Dylan Stevens, and Ross Erdman behind him. As for the Semi Pro Improved class, Arctic Cats Dustin Schwandt was the top qualifier with Brandon and Cody Walker second and third fastest on their Polaris machines.
After the Pro/Semi Pro qualifier, the remainder of the classes ran their day one races.
Both the Semi Pro Improved and Pro Open finals were set to be a heads up start (first to the finish wins) but with low visibility, both races were changed to timed events for safety reasons. The first final on the line was the Semi Pro Improved class which ran six laps (approximately 64.2 miles) with no fuel stop.
The green flag dropped and Polaris rider Evan Peppel took an early race lead with Dustin Schwandt following in second. On the final lap, Peppel was on his way to victory when suddenly, he ran out of gas. This put Schwandt up at the top of the pack.
The last race of the day was the Pro Open final. This was a ten-lap race with a mandatory walk-in/walk-out fuel stop that racers must take at any time throughout the race. The minimum amount of fuel that must be taken was changed from two gallons up to now four gallons this season. Fuel stops add a whole new piece of strategizing to the race.
Sleds took off two-by-two Aaron Christensen quickly showing his speed once again taking an early race lead. On lap three, Dohrn, Arlaud, and Busse all take their fuel stops. On lap four, last years Pro Stock champ, Dylan Stevens ran the fastest lap thus far and then took his fuel stop. By lap six, Christensen has a comfortable lead with Feil, Wadena, Stevens, and Selby rounding out the top five. With on lap to go, Stevens had made his way up to the second place spot only for his clutch to blow which resulted in a DNF.
Sunday brought much colder temperatures reach past 20 below zero. The wind wasn’t nearly as strong today which helped with overall visibility, but snow dust was still a factor.
The first race out on the track was the Pro Stock and the Semi Pro two lap qualifier. As racers were making their way around the 10 plus mile course, crews noticed the transponders weren’t connecting to the timing system. After the two laps were done, the decision was made to just draw pills for the starting spots in the finals later in the day.
The other classes competed in their second day of racing to finish off their first round in the 2022 series. Times from both days were merged together to get the overall winner in these classes.
The last two races of the day were the Semi Pro Stock and the Pro Stock finals. Both races were set to start heads up and the first sled to see the checkers wins.
The Semi Pro Stock sleds took the line first for their six-lap final: the same as the Semi Pro Improved final the day prior. As soon as the green flag dropped, yesterday’s winner, Dustin Schwandt took an early race lead. However, after a few corners, Polaris racer, Evan Peppel took command and ran away with it.
The final race of the weekend was the featured 10 lap Pro Stock Final with $10,000 up for grabs. Busse, Bunke, Arlaud, Murphy, and Erdman made up the front row. Hometown contender, Gunner Arlaud took the early race lead on his four-stroke Arctic Cat. Erdman, Busse, Stevens, and Bunke all following closely behind. This final, like yesterdays, also has a mandatory fuel stop. The race leader Gunner Arlaud made the decision to take a very yearly fuel stop which dropped him back out of the top five as they run. This put Pro rookie, Marshall Busse into the lead. Fuel stops mixed the top five riders up and after the top running sleds had all fueled, Polaris rider Taylor Bunke found himself at the front of the field.
Cor Powersports will be back in action in two weeks on January 22-23 in Okoboji Iowa.
