the 17th annual shootout

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Nearly 170 asphalt sleds heated up US 131 Dragway in Martin, Mich., for our 17th Annual Shoot-Out. Many of the nation's most talented snowmobile drag racers and sled enthusiasts from Maine to Wyoming, and plenty of our Canadian friends too, rolled into Michigan in August for the American Snowmobiler/NSDRA/Torco Fuels Super Sled Shoot-Out.

Race logistics and sponsorships were coordinated by Jamie Bellman and the National Snowmobile Drag Racing Association - there was plenty to coordinate. We had 168 registered sleds, a 71-sled bracket, 5 paying races and a load of impressive ¼-mile times. On the AmSnow side, we had four stock sleds that we dynoed at the event and then tested on the asphalt. Motorcycle drags also ran between sled events.

In addition, Yamaha ran 2007 sled demo rides for consumers both days and brought a truckload of product.

The stockers
To get the crowd started on a warm, humid Saturday, AmSnow dynoed our stock sleds and then had them take the day's first runs. Jason Houle of Straightline Performance got us a stock Ski-Doo MXZ 600 H.O. SDI from Waldoch Sports, Hauck Powersports brought us a Yamaha Apex RTX, Simons CPR showed a blue Yamaha Phazer and Woody's Performance delivered a new red Phazer.

Each machine was given live dyno tests by Dick Locke of Land and Sea - makers of Dynomite Dynamometers - right before hitting the track, to ensure everything was kosher.

In our trackside dyno tests Straightline's MXZ pulled 110 hp at 7,800 rpm and produced 74.25 foot-pounds of torque at 7,710 rpm. Slightly lower than we expected, it's obvious this wasn't a ringer. It's important to note too that none of these machines had any break-in time to speak of. Hauck's Apex RTX saw 145.2 hp at 10,550 rpm and netted 77.70 ft.-lbs. at 9,130 rpm for torque. Again, these numbers were slightly lower than expected, but running consistent with other machines we tested.

When we dynoed the Phazers, both saw 70+ hp, and the Simons CPR sled saw 76.56 hp at 11,650 rpm with 38.28 ft.-lbs. of torque at 9,060 rpm. We admittedly had some problems getting the Woodys Phazer to dyno correctly, but our best pull netted us 71.89 hp at 10,600 rpm and 38.50 ft.-lbs. at 8,950 rpm. (For more on the Phazer runs, see the story on p. 37.)

On the blacktop we saw Straightline Performance's stock MXZ 600 H.O. SDI hit 103.21 mph and finish the ¼-mile in 12.46 seconds. To compare, last winter we tested this same sled on the snow at our Real World Shoot-Out and saw 14.16 seconds for a ¼-mile time at 97.15 mph.

Hauck's stock Apex RTX did the ¼-mile in just 11.06 seconds at 112 mph on the track at Martin. Compare that to our Real World numbers on snow where our stock Apex ran the ¼-mile in 13.13 seconds at 99.58 mph and you'll see that there is a considerable difference between snow and asphalt. Even if you spin some on the asphalt, your hook-up is much better than on snow and ice. We saw shorter times and higher speeds on the tar.

Straightline also brought a trail modified MXZ 600 with its billet head and trail clutch kit, which dynoed slightly higher than the stock machine at 112.2 hp at 7,700 rpm with 77.25 ft.-lbs. of torque at 7,400 rpm. This sled went 106.8 mph in the ¼-mile in only 11.54 seconds, which was a solid improvement over the stock version.

Hauck also had his special edition trail modified Apex with his own GHT-R-DUN kit, No. 5 clutch kit, K&N filters and a fuel accelerator that ran significantly faster than the stock version. The yellow Yamaha finished the ¼ in 10.75 seconds at 118.81 mph.

The racing
Friday night started with a test and tune session cut short as a light, but persistent, rain set in.

On Saturday the sun broke through by midday and we had clear racing the rest of the weekend.

Saturday's big winner was Minnesota's Dave Goodwill of Bray Racing over Michigan's Frank Bombe. Dave won the Elite Motorsports/Elite Sno Pro 800 class on his Ski-Doo with a pass of 9.175 seconds at 138.92 mph. Ron and Dave cranked on the sled all weekend and their hard work paid off.

On the bracket racing side, the experienced Wisconsin racer Jeff Jaquish topped the field in the Krupp's Powersports bracket and beat Greg Antonioni in the finals. But not to be discouraged, Greg came back with his Firecat the next day to win the Dynoport Performance bracket.

Sunday brought near perfect weather and the track was buzzing as Wisconsin's Tim Steinke won the Straightline Performance Quick 16 Open Shoot-Out aboard Simons CPR's blue turbo Yamaha RX-1.

Steinke wowed the crowd, and held off fellow Yamaha turbo rider Keith Wood - who consistently posted times in the low 8-second range - with an eye-popping run of 8.05 seconds at 159 mph.

Also lighting up the track was Indiana driver Adam Fricke on Don Rastovski's Ski-Doo. Fricke gave the Ski-Doo crowd more to cheer about by posting a time of 8.447 seconds at 155.67 mph to take home the All Motor trophy.

Sponsors
This weekend was made possible by the efforts of Jamie Bellman, TORCO, the NSDRA, Yamaha and many sponsors. Look for race highlights on the AmSnow TV show on most Midwest Fox Sports channels this fall. For more info, including TV schedules visit www.amsnow.com.
Major sponsors: Torco Fuels, US 131 Dragway, American Snowmobiler
Class sponsors: Krupps Powersports, Dynoport Performance, Straightline Performance, Elite Motorsports, Bellman Oil Co. Inc.
Event sponsors: Northeast Ohio Dyno, Ulmer Racing, NSNP Racing, Flannery Perfor-mance,Milwaukee Motorsports/Automotive Recyclers, Simons CPR, Proline Performance, Hauck Powersports, Wahl Bros. Racing, D&D Racing, Aaen Performance, The Crank Shop, Supreme Tool Inc., Stud Boy Traction Products, Bellman Racing Products, Skull Shine, Rance Aluminum Trailers, Z Custom Leathers, Camoplast Inc.

Phazer challenge
Talk about a challenge, Simons CPR and Woody's Performance squared off in Martin on stock Yamaha Phazers.

Stop your smirking, these guys worked hard to improve their times after initial runs in the 13.5 second range at 87 mph for Simons and 88 mph for Woody's. These two were so close all weekend that folks took note every time they lined up. You never knew who would win!

The rules: no engine work or major performance-enhancing alterations… like hiding a nitrous on us, etc.

Woody's started by cutting weight on its red Phazer, taking off the radiator, sway bar and battery. That cut 12 lbs. and after making marginal gains, Keith Wood decided he and Pat Hauck, who had been riding it, were simply too heavy at roughly 200 lbs. They substituted Jim Jones, Pat's other driver, who weighs closer to 130 lbs.

Meanwhile Jeff Simons had brought in his secret weapon, Gord MacDonald and his son Jeff, from Sydney, Nova Scotia. Simons invited him for the weekend to work on the Phazer and let young Jeff, a slender guy, ride. Father and son spent two days getting to Martin, the airlines not allowing Jeff to bring his racing gear along.

Yet Gord was stoked the whole weekend as he fiddled with Simons' blue Phazer. He started by duct taping all the sled's seams, especially around the headlight. Then they removed the front bumper and tachometer. Plus they lowered the suspension a tad, but the engine and clutch remained fully stock.

Then there were a few other MacDonald tricks, like spraying the sled with silicone to cut friction and taping Jeff's jacket sleeves down so air couldn't get up the sleeves to slow him.

Ultimately Jeff borrowed Ted Stewart's helmet and gloves and T.E.S. Racing's Tim Sioui loaned his leathers and boots.

It was worth the effort though, Jeff edgd Jim with a 13.10-second run at 91.85 mph. The Woody's sled was just a smidge behind at 13.11 seconds and 89.49 mph. Woody's was a little disappointed, saying the sled has run 94.56 mph in 12.72 seconds on oxidated fuel at the Epping, N.H. dragway.

Still, both Simons and Woody's proved that with minor tweaks the Phazers can be plenty fast. But then who needs to go that fast in the woods, right?
- Mark Savage