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Justin Prevost from Chelmsford, Ontario, was on the light and tight with his dial-in number all day. That consistency earned him a bye through the semifinals to the Bracket finals.
In the other semifinal, Marvin Kelly had his hands full competing with the famous Billy Howard of Team Howard’s. In one of the tightest races of the weekend, Kelly edged Howard out by inches.
When the finals came around, a launch button failure on Prevost’s sled caused him to red light at the start, and the Sunday Bracket class win was all Kelly’s from the start.
Kelly’s 2001 Polaris 800 XCR was a perfect example of a real regular racer at its finest. You won’t find any sponsor stickers on Kelly’s sled. That’s because he has only one: his own Greenford Tractor Sales company. There are no fancy performance-adding parts; his XCR is bone stock.
The most intriguing fact about Kelly’s sled is that in its 17-year existence, it’s never touched snow. He bought the sled brand new and took it out of the crate with his only intentions being asphalt racing. Every single one of the sled’s 994 miles has been collected on the track. That’s a lot of passes down the ¼-mile!
Sunday’s Outlaw semifinals saw major racing credentials toe the line. Last year, a Shilts (Kyle) won Sunday’s Outlaw class with a world record E.T. This year, another Shilts (Kelly) – yes, they are related – earned a bye through the semifinals, where he awaited the winner between straight-line racing legend Glen Hall and the always dangerous Todd Serra.
Serra’s semifinal run of 4.68 seconds at 155.82 mph bested Hall’s 5.00, and also broke Kyle Shilts’ world-record E.T. of 4.699 set at this event last year. Serra was through to face Kelly Shilts in the finals. Serra’s Pro-Stock Inc. all-black “Diablo” snowmobile was still up to world-record par to take the win with a pass of 4.658 seconds at 156.63 mph, setting a new world-record E.T. for the second time in as many passes. The win was a long time coming for Serra and his hard working Pro Stock Inc. crew.
With that win, Serra put an exclamation point on another memorable year at the
AmSnow / Aeroquip Super Sled Shootout. A quick survey of teams in attendance will tell you that Race Director Jamie Bellman puts on the Super Bowl of summer snowmobile drag racing. Maybe that’s why no one ever says, “Goodbye,” at the end of the weekend. On your way out, the only thing you’ll hear is “We’ll see you next year!”