AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
We did not compete directly in the first two races. Instead we timed the fastest racers in the 440 Sno Pro class at Eagle River, and rented the track for testing and comparison on Monday after the races. Testing showed we were 2 seconds a lap slower than the winning 440, but I had trouble with too much ski lift and push coming out of corners due to a very short link in the track suspension. With a longer repositioned link we went to Antigo and rented the track, and with the new suspension setup we were now only 1 second a lap behind the winning 440.
With a new and lighter track installed we felt we could be competitive, and we were given the go ahead to race at the 1975 USSA season finale in Neenah. It feels good when a plan comes together, and we won the 440-X class by a comfortable margin. This time we sailed through tech without any problem so we finally had an official win.
You'd think happy days would be ahead with a full factory effort and competitive equipment. Two weeks after we celebrated our win, the sad message came down; Evinrude/Johnson was exiting the snowmobile business due to a financial climate much like today's, and too many manufacturers in a shrinking market. Just a few years later other manufacturers including Mercury and Kawasaki also left the market. As far as I know, the Ehrlich engines went back to England, and our only prototype 440 went to a corporate warehouse as a reference for future engines, since it had been the first engine at OMC to exceed 3 hp per cu. in.
Years later the engine was bought by Bob Sell of F&S Yamaha. Bob also purchased the Pegasus Speed Record Sled. Today the Evinrude 440 proto racing engine can be seen at F&S in Spring Grove, Pa.
I packed my bags and decided it was time to try to make a living in my own racing business, and Jimmy "The Greek" followed right behind me. But that's another story!