jeremy fyle wins 89 jeep 500
Amsnow
Conditions were markedly different, but the final result was the same. Polaris snowmobile riders dominated the third annual running of the Jeep 500 international snowmobile marathon just as they had dominated the previous two events. Polaris-mounted drivers captured 18 of the first 20 places. Leading this incredible victory parade was Jeremy Fyle of Burnsville, Minnesota.
Snocross veteran Doug Lamm had the best non-Polaris finish as he booted his Yamaha into seventh overall. Kirk Hibbert a veteran cross country racer from Driggs, Idaho, brought his Cat home in 15th. Those were the only non-Polaris sleds in the top 20! Minnesotan Dan Kingsley placed 46th and had the best Ski-Doo finish.
A record number of 141 drivers came from as far away as Nova Scotia to the east and Alaska to the west.
Although the event had warm weather and lots of snow, this version of the Jeep 500 was the toughest yet. When the snowmobile racers took off from Thunder Bay, Ontario, on January 28, the mercury registered 25 degrees - 66 degrees warmer than the previous year. Drivers reported machine-swallowing moguls in the soft snow and snail's pace running in some sections of the grueling 164-mile first day course as Brian Bernloehr posted a six minute, 46 second lead over the 124 finishers at Grand Marais, Minnesota.
The warm weather continued on day two. After three hours and 23 minutes, Jeremy Fyle, aboard an Indy 500 SP, crossed the finish line to move into a two minute 25 second overall lead. But it was Fyle's teammate, Dan Zimmerman of Baxter, Minnesota, who got to the Duluth finish line fastest posting a low time of 3:15:38.
The race was taking its toll. The scene in the maintenance impound at the Duluth arena was frenzied as the 91 surviving drivers worked hurriedly to ready their machines for the final sprint from West Duluth to the finish on the ice of White Bear Lake.
On the final leg, drivers were started in order of their elapsed time. Fyle left first with a 2:25 lead on second place Bob Menne III with Bryan Bernloehr leaving at the 3:01 mark.
Fyle showed remarkable strength and skill in the demanding roadsides, leaping road approaches with full power and never letting up on a blistering pace that saw the lead sleds regularly touching 70 MPH.
Fyle crossed the finish line for a total elapsed time of 9:54:18 for the three days of racing.
For his hard-fought win, Fyle drove away a 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer pickup outfitted with a Meyer snow plow. He also received $500 from Justice Brothers, $1000 from Polaris and $100 cash in prize money.