Tomorrow marks the 48th Annual Soo International 500 enduro race in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Defending champions Brian Dick & Wes Selby will be there, with Selby qualifying their #15 sled in fifth.
Their Team Arctic/Christian Bros. teammate Zach Herindahl qualified fourth on the #52 sled, and will be joined by partner Brady Dyrdahl at this year’s event.
Team Arctic looks particularly strong; with 2010 Soo champs (and 2015 runner-up) Cadarette Racing starting in seventh and Arneson Racing in ninth (as well as 16th and 31st).
Last night Selby and XC teammate Lance Efteland won the 40-lap Woody’s Challenge aboard Selby’s Soo sled. The race consists of two 20-lap events, with rookies starting the race followed by a race stop/driver change at the halfway mark.
Efteland and Zach Herfindahl battled for the first half of the race, with Herfindahl “winning” by a close margin. After the restart, Selby passed Herfindahl’s teammate Dyrdahl for the lead and held on to with the Challenge.
LIVE STREAMING is viewable HERE for Saturday’s big show.
I just talked with Selby, who says that his sled is running great and that he expects the various Arctic Cat teams to finish REALLY strong.
He and Brian Dick hadn’t yet determined who would start tomorrow’s race. He did say that Herfindahl would start on the #52 sled.
I’m wishing the best of luck to these guys and all the teams competing at the Soo. Stay safe, keep it trackside down and let’s see some smiles at the finish line.
Way to go boys! Looks like most of the USXC is out there. Have fun and be safe!
Is there a freestyle show at this race?
Not this year guys. Thats racing. Win some, Lose some.
I wanted to post something last week prior to the Soo I500 but I kept my mouth shut. However after the 2nd place finish I find myself having to speak up. Being a Cat guy since Leopard seats and steel cleats were the norm, I feel I gotta say something. I also feel I have the right to, I’ve put my share of earnings into the TRF banks. The Soo has been outright dominated by the other US sled maker since the beginning in 69. For years I asked where the Factory Cat guys are? Why aren’t they here in Michigan in February putting forth a valiant effort to shut down this dominance by Team Blue ? After all you guys are from TRF, where’s Roger? what’s his number? Where’s Zulawski, Cormican, Stugeon, Pake, the Hibberts the rest of my hero’s? Why is my Green team leaving us high and dry in Michigan? Then finally after 41 years a Cat wins in 2010,in 2011 the Bunke team was back at it Winning again and again. Then last year after 282 laps it was cut short and a Cat was in the lead and wins. I wanted to cheer, don’t get me wrong I was happy. But an outright win? No, Bunke was right there on that damn Blue machine like so many years in the past. I couldn’t help but think if it went the full 500 would it have been the same? I mean 48 years in the Soo and lets call them 2 wins. Sorry I just cant get fired up quite yet about the Soo and CAT. Heck 1 guy on a Polaris has won 4 times, in the last 20 years Polaris has won 16? I just need to know why? Why haven’t my boys from TRF showed up before now? Thank you Christian Brothers and good luck next year. We’ll be waiting.
When was last time you were “updated” about Cats “Factory race teams efforts” at the Soo?
Sturgeon is long gone, besides, he couldn’t keep a sled together for more than 24.5 laps at EAGLE RIVER… What makes you think he’d even FINISH at the Soo? (Btw, he did try there once…… ONCE!) Results: Fail!
Brian Dick is about as close to FACTORY (non Sno-cross) RACER for Cat as they come… This year, had he been able to take over the sled in a top-5 position, Gabe wouldn’t have won.. Selby was like a ping-pong ball exiting turn 4 during final laps he piloted.. Not good when one is trying to catch and pass someone who is already OUT IN FRONT of said racer..
2013 race announcers had Bunkes sleds (all of them) being COMPLETELY DONE and OVER 44-laps down around lap 31_?
How the _u_k can such a scenario result in a win for him following such a large margin of laps AND 5 racers all being on same (lead) lap, without one of those racers taking so much as ONE PITSTOP for fuel along the way????
Simple……. It doesn’t happen IN REALITY.. (Only in the mind of Soo I-500 race officiating coordinators..)
With such fine track/race coordinators as that, is it any wonder why there haven’t been more Cat wins over the years? The above tactics are during the “Modern Era” of electronic timers keeping count of laps per sled/team..
Imagine how easy it was for old days of manual score keepers to have either “missed” a sled a few times (suddenly dropping them several spots/laps), or with quick swipe of a pencil on their prison wall calendar type of “llll” then the “/” (for every 5th lap) scoring, to suddenly (thanks to prior promise of a little extra $$) to add a few more laps suddenly?
Remember, Polaris was trying to buy Cat out, when Cat was determined to re-open their doors in early to mid 80’s…. The BIG-3 @ that time,Meir not want to see Cat succeed… So a few extra Bucks here and there wasn’t at all out of context to have happened along the way.. But that 2013 finish BLATANTLY put a permanent Black-Eye on the Soo’s scoring system if one were to ask me (and a lot of others as well)
Edit: “Meir” = “did” (effing auto-correct)