black magic back to race tracks
Amsnow
The Cat's racing magic is back on track. And it's getting a little help from some not-so-old, but very familiar names. The key name is one that's synonymous with racing success - Steve Thorsen. He's a two-time Eagle River world championship winner. He made those old independent front suspended Polaris RX-L racers dance when he was a member of that factory's "Midnite Blue Express" back in the mid-'70s. He also served a stint as a team driver with the Scorpion Squadron - before the demise of Scorpion and its parent, Arctic Enterprises. Now, Steve and crew, Dean Schwarzwalter and Jerry Hensch, are turning the #30 Wildcat of Team Arctic's Brian Sturgeon into a winner.
The Fergus Falls, Minnesota technicians - or should we say ol' black magicians - have turned an already potent trail Cat into an awesome Arctic racer. For the record, at Alexandria, the Minnesota combination won the sno-cross and oval races with a Formula III Wildcat that was, for all intents and purposes, untested and unproven in combat. At Wilmar, Minnesota's sno-cross, the Thorsen-prepped, Sturgeon-ridden Cat won again. In its first two tests, it beat the new Polaris Indy 650s, Toyota Challenge winning Yamaha Exciters, and Ski-Doo Formula Pluses.
Says team manager Thorsen, "The 650 seems real strong with...'good power.'" That's an understatement! The 650cc big-bore twin, which normally pumps out a little over 100 horses in stock trim, now puts out about 120 horses in full race trim. That's with tuners, internal mods, etc. Then, when you figure that the stock Wildcat has lost about 100 to 125 pounds in excess weight...well, you start to understand just how potent this Formula III racer really is! And the tuners have just started getting serious.
Thorsen, who has his own shop in the Fergus Falls area, didn't know if he was going to go racing this season or not until about two weeks before the opening race.
His experience with sno-crossers, though, is tremendous. He's worked on Polaris Indys for various named sno-cross racers. He helped out on Yammie sno-crossers for racers. His evolution into Cat racing is just another step in his already distinguished career.
Like many of the Team Arctic race sled owner-drivers, Thorsen and his crew get support from Thief River and the factory guys. They get technical info, but, in many cases, end up providing the factory with more input than they get themselves. If there is an "A" list for parts and technical info, Thorsen and the Team Arctic racers are on it.
Arctic Cat is back into racing...sort of. The factory wants the Wildcat to look good. It means media attention and fan attraction. Plus, more importantly, it's a part of the Cat's history and legend.
Steve Thorsen and his crew are working hard to keep the Cat on track.
That combination of Thorsen's uncanny savvy and Brian Sturgeon's riding led the #30 Wildcat to early season back-to-back sno-cross wins. These "Ol' Black Magicians" took their act to the 25th anniversary celebration of the Eagle River World Championships.
It was old home week for Thorsen, who won the prestigious oval racing championship title back-to-back in the mid-'70s. The Fergus Falls, Minnesota race champion turned race team owner-manager hopes to add to his success.