eagle rivers 1971 derby

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Where are they now?
So what happened to the contestants after the big 1971 race?

Duhamel won many more races, but never another World Championship and soon was spending most of his time racing motorcycles where he also was successful. He even ran one NASCAR race in 1973, finishing 10th. Duhamel's sons Miguel and Mario raced AMA Superbikes in the 1990s with Miguel running his father's No. 17 and winning the 1995 AMA title.
Steve Ave, the 1966 and 1968 Eagle River Champion, slowly reduced his involvement in racing to take care of his booming Ski-Doo and auto dealerships in Hurley, Wis., but also had a successful career later racing sports cars.

Bob Eastman won the Derby Championship for Polaris in 1973, and "Smiling" Jim Bernat took another Championship for Polaris in 1975. Eastman served as race team manager in the late 1970s, helping develop the Midnight Blue Express race team that introduced the Polaris IFS front suspension. He and Bernat also were responsible for testing and development of new consumer models for Polaris until they retired recently.

What followed

Could Yamaha be competitive again after alcohol was banned as a fuel?
Its answer was a bigger engine, a 650cc twin for the '72 season. The 650 would have more power, but would not be as heavy as a triple. However, the new twin did have a big problem with cranks breaking.
To cure the problem, Gordy Muetz took Mike's machine to a machine shop in Minneapolis a couple of days before the 1972 Derby, and fabricated a large outside brace holding the crank and secondary shaft in place with large outside bearings. Gordy and Race Engineer Mike Bowers did not have big expectations of Mike winning in 1972, but after a couple of laps he was in the lead and drove home with a solid margin to repeat his 1971 victory for Yamaha.

So was the brace a solution to the crank problem? Not according to Mike Trapp, who told me that the crank broke again two laps into the final at the very next race.

Tired of fighting Mike and his Yamahas, Ski-Doo made him an offer he could not refuse, and he finished out his racing career with the Canadian team. Today Mike runs his concrete construction company in Minocqua, Wis., together with his brother Dave. He also was one of the original founders of the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, Wis., together with Loren Anderson, Larry Bosacki and CJ Ramstad.

Today
Mike's 1971 Yamaha racer has been restored and is prominently displayed at the Hall of Fame's museum, along with a copy of the ABC television broadcast from the race running on a TV monitor for those visitors who want to see "The Greatest Race" again. The museum is just a few minutes south and west of Eagle River, so if you're in the area this winter stop in and see the sled, and a twin to Duhamel's 1971 Ski-Doo Blizzard. The ISHOF is open 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Snowmobilers can stop in while out for a ride as the museum sits right alongside Trail No. 6.

The Eagle River World Championship Derby also continues each January, with the Vintage World Championship (using some of the same vintage racers we saw in the 1970s) running Jan. 9-10 and the Derby Jan. 16-17, plus a special Friday Night Thunder race on that weekend. Come out and experience both the old and new racers on the ice oval, and bring your ear plugs!