Keith Curtis dominates Jackson Hole!

[sykosledhead]

For those wanting to see the snow bike race, this is the url. Its on youtube under snow bike race.

 

[cpa]

I think your comment proves my point very well from the racers point of view also reeb. The only RMSHA racer that doesn't have a day job is KC. Everyone else Kincaid, McClure, the Tapios, all the past greats Rick Ward both family's of Zollingers, Kirk Williamson etc all have/had day jobs. Like you said The problem is from the $ not the desire and no one other than KC can make a living racing

 

[Blown Motor]

I think your comment proves my point very well from the racers point of view also reeb. The only RMSHA racer that doesn't have a day job is KC. Everyone else Kincaid, McClure, the Tapios, all the past greats Rick Ward both family's of Zollingers, Kirk Williamson etc all have/had day jobs. Like you said The problem is from the $ not the desire and no one other than KC can make a living racing

Agree to disagree haha. Polaris didn't just start handing out money so that he is the only one not having to work and have a real job. He earned it. He provided a platform for those sponsors to come on board and believe in him, and he did it with hard work and determination. Just like any one of the names racers above could/can/should do. So we would argue that some of it could be desire....fact of the matter is, Keith worked hard enough to get to the point that he is at, just like anybody in the industry could. It's an open playing field, and quite frankly there are other riders in the field that straight come from money and have all the opportunity in the world. But it takes more than that, It takes sacrifice and some people cannot make that sacrifice for one reason or another.

 

[Scott]

Look at how rolled that chaincase is. WOW. You don't see that anymore.

 

[geo]

Everybody starts at the bottom. How hard you work opens the doors. But,,, only skill makes you a legend.

 

[snengineer]

Some good points on here, so what is the direction the manufacturers and race circuits are heading? For example, 45% of the entries at Jackson were Polaris, 22% Arctic Cat and 29% Skidoo and 4% Yamahas. Again these are entries not wins or finishes, this is not meant to be a brand bashing. It is clear the best and most consistent riders, namely KC and Luke Rainy ride for team Polaris, (Rainy was winning like he is now when he rode an XP). I have heard how much money and resources Polaris dumps into the Hillclimbs and sponsorships there, skidoo and cat seem to have little interest spending money in this department. So what does the future hold? If the best racers are forced to one brand because of available money its hard to see the hillclimbs growing anytime soon. Long story short, KC please go to cat or skidoo or yamaha for all I care, your a kid still so their is plenty of money to be made. I would just like to see this aspect of sledding continue to grow.

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

That Toby Shepherd run was awesome, made my day. I don't believe the 1:12 was coincidence, Dave's spirit was more than likely onboard. Sorry for being such a sap but I love to see when the great ones are remembered and honored. I saw another great tribute in the back window of a pickup the other day, it was a great big "3" with big Angel Wings attached, underneath it said "GOD NEEDED A NASCAR DRIVER".

 

[Blown Motor]

Some good points on here, so what is the direction the manufacturers and race circuits are heading? For example, 45% of the entries at Jackson were Polaris, 22% Arctic Cat and 29% Skidoo and 4% Yamahas. Again these are entries not wins or finishes, this is not meant to be a brand bashing. It is clear the best and most consistent riders, namely KC and Luke Rainy ride for team Polaris, (Rainy was winning like he is now when he rode an XP). I have heard how much money and resources Polaris dumps into the Hillclimbs and sponsorships there, skidoo and cat seem to have little interest spending money in this department. So what does the future hold? If the best racers are forced to one brand because of available money its hard to see the hillclimbs growing anytime soon. Long story short, KC please go to cat or skidoo or yamaha for all I care, your a kid still so their is plenty of money to be made. I would just like to see this aspect of sledding continue to grow.

Good questions! We talked a lot about this the past weekend at the event. It would be interesting to see what kind of investment, dollar wise there really is. Personally, and this is just our opinion, we bet that Yamaha has more invested in RMSHA right now than any other brand. All the Yamahas are factory rides. Although there are a ton of Polaris riders, most are on race contracts, buying sleds at a racer discount, not full rides. Very few sleds are legitimately "free", but all the Yamahas are funded. You are right in saying cat and doo seem to have little interest, at least that is what it looks like from the inside out.

Our theory is that Polaris is good at getting quality athletes, and keeping them within their program. Yes the sled and chassis work great, but at the end of the day we think you could put those top tier athletes on any sled and they would still win. Look at some of the sleds out there....not many parts are actually, Polaris, Doo, Cat, or Yam other than the plastics haha. Even the Boondocker sleds are not all 100% kits right off the shelf...

 

[rmscustom]

It does seem Yamaha has a lot invested in the hillclimbs. Have you see their video about their 700 imp win? If you didn't know much about hc racing it sounds like they dominated the whole event. haha

Meanwhile Polaris took 1st in 14 of 16 races in the Pro class. haha