I’ll bet you thought I forgot about this story huh? No way! The 74 Cat factory machines are on my all time list of the coolest sleds ever made! But in case you are new to the story or have just forgotten, let’s recap.

In Part I of the series, we discussed the history of the original SnoPro series, as wells as the original Cats. In Part II, we clarified what we are looking for: The original sleds raced by the factory. We also learned that as many as 20 chassis were built but only 8 were raced buy Dave Thompson, Larry Coltom, Charlie Lofton and Tom Marks. In Part III of the series, we discussed how to tell a real one. Pretty easy since the sleds are very unique.

In Part IV, we took a little detour and talked about the odd man out, the only 74 twin tracker SnoPro built by Arctic in response to the Alouette twin tracker. In Part V we identify the first of the machines, Charlie Lofton’s 650.

So that leaves at Part VI, and as promised, We’ve located Dave Thompson’s original 340 machine.

It’s current owner is Canadian Darnell Nuhn. Darnell bought the sled as it is pictured here from Gordon Rhode. Gordon is very much worth mentioning here, as he and one other gentleman largely bought up ALL of the stuff from the Arctic Cat race shop when Cat went out of business in 1981. In fact as I understand it, they bought large semi loads of it, including this machine, for pennies on the dollar. Oh to have a time machine and to have been at that auction.

Gordon Rhode was an avid racer in the 1960’s. If you look at any old stats from Rhinelander, Eagle River or around upper Michigan, you will see Gordon Rhode’s name all over the place. He’s pictured in Warriors of Winter as well as in Phil Mickelson’s Ski-Doo racing book.

The photos come from John Jantsch. They were taken at Rhode’s auction sale in the fall of 1995. Note the sled was probably raced after 1974, as the hood has the "Pro-Mod" decals instead of the "Sno-Pro" decal it originally had.

You can clearly see the #22 of Dave Thompson on the tunnel. Is it 100% that this is Dave’s original 340 he raced? Well to be honest, we can’t know for sure. But the probability is so high that I would have to say it is the right sled.

Up next in Part VII: Tom Mark’s 650! Pictured below is mechanic and Chief Entertainment Officer for Arctic Cat, Dell Wahl and driver Tom Marks in Ironwood Michigan, December of 1973.

Gordy Vogelaar bought this 79 RXL hood out of the store some time back to put it on his Formula 340 race sled. Instead, he tore the whole sled down and started over, building clone RXL from an 81 Indy. It took 2.5 months of fabricating – but man oh man did it turn out sweet!

Nice job Gordy and we look forward to seeing it on the ice!

Rumor mill is running absolutely wild over this one… could the late model oval racing guys be making a move to gain back the popularity of oval racing that it once enjoyed?

What I’ve heard is that the racers themselves have decided to create and run their own corporation/association to run and promote races and the race drivers. The really exciting part? They want vintage oval racing to be a big part of the show! The big rumor is of a "pilot" race this winter (perhaps at the track in Sauk Centre?) to test the concept and the response.

Boy do I hope this is true. Nothing would make me smile like seeing thousands of fans out watching oval racing where ever it goes again. It’s going to take a lot of work, and the Internet will be absolutley key to the marketing success of such a venture… but I believe the drivers and race teams taking charge of thier own sport is the right way to go.

More to come …

UPDATE: THE RUMOR IS TRUE!

Check out this post in the Bull Sessions. From the post: "The Oval Racers Alliance is very happy to announce the 1st Annual Am-Can Nationals Ice Oval Race at I-94 Speedway in Sauk Centre, MN February 5th, 6th, and 7th, 2010. This organization was formed to help promote the sport of Ice Oval Racing and bring it back where it belongs as the premier form of Snowmobile Racing. Although the ORA was formed primarily by late model racers and crew members, we knew early on that including the Vintage Racing community was going to be essential to gain the membership and fan base that we would like to attain. We will have more details on the event itself in the next week or so, but as of last evening, the date is set and the race is ON!"

All in all a great day at the Rip Roarin’ ROLA days grass drags in New York Mills last Saturday. The event staff was doing a great job running races quickly, one right after the other. I must have talked to 3 dozen people out there, and all of them were in a great mood – despite the cloudy weather and occasional rain. It never rained hard enough to scare anyone away, so the races went on as planned. Enough of my blathering – here’s the photos.

"Reverend" Dale Sloper (middle) with Vance Elfering (magnumman) on the right. The bone stock Rupp F/A was one of the days big winners. I got to peak under the hood of that sled. It’s so clean we could have a nice dinner off of it. But it’s not just for show. This Rupp is tuned to perfection and kicks.

Dave Delaughter and crew lit up the cloudy air with this new Yamaha powered triple monster. We got some video of it running below.

The ever popular "Kawasaki Kate" is always gracious and sweet – till she gets behind a throttle and hammers on the boys till they cry for mercy! Kate, her dad and her brother were all having a great time. They must of run 2 dozen races.

Jeff Lausten gives his son some last minute top-secret advice before the race. "Now remember, the nitrous button is on the left!"

Top secret photo of a Mikuni powered Cuyuna engine with a stock {{cough, cough}} pipe.

Yesterday I spent several hours at Rip Roarin’ Rola days in New York Mills. This is their annual grass drags and get together. I have photos and some good video coming. For now, just wanted to say thanks to the guys putting it on and congrats to all the winners in the days events.

Out in Midland, Michigan it’s the Erskine Marine vintage show and our intrepid roving report Joe Desarmoux (”Demo”) is out there interviewing anyone who will stand in front of the camera. He got this really great footage Friday night of a restored sled with a special "emergency" kit in it. Check out the thread for updated photos and more videos.

Could this be the photo of the year for 2009? Rob Bye of RobByePhoto.com caught this moment in time at the March race on Beausejour Manitoba last winter.

Troy Lefko on the Ski-Doo is running head to head with Troy Pierce on his RXL. Most of the race was like this, but Troy Pierce on the Polaris did come out on top when Lefko ran into some mechanical problems.

What I love about the photo is the clarity, the detail and the subject matter. Notice how well Both machines look, and how well both drivers outfits blend in with the machines. All in all, with the sun light, the action – neither driver willing to give an inch. This is an excellent shot.

Have a great weekend – if you’re out and about, we’ll see you at the Erskine Marine show in Midland Michigan! You can discuss the photo on the Bull Sessions.

I’ve known Mike Meagher for quite a few years now. When I started racing, it was Mike I looked up to as the man to try and keep up with. His Arctic 250Z was the terror of Wolf Lake. Lately his son has been driving the 250, and Mike had been hauling the mail sometimes on a 340Z and a lot on a 440 Yamaha that is wicked, wicked fast. He’s got more wins under his belt than I could list here.

When he’s not racing, working or spending time with the family, he and his wife Judy are the people behind the VSCA.

Last year at Eagle River, Mike pulled off one of the most exciting near misses I’ve seen in all the races I’ve ever watched. First turn, 440 mod liquid class final at Eagle River. Mike and big pack of screaming 440’s came flying into the turn one. Mike went to grab for the brake, but a bump sent him flying into the hammer… for a split second the sled was facing the wrong way in some nasty, snarling traffic. Somehow, Mike got that sled pulled back around, pulled out a near fatal fishtail, survived getting smacked by a few guys and getting smacked himself.

Not only did he get it turned around – he won the class.

This year, Mike may be concentrating on being the race director at several Midwest races, but he will be racing wherever time permits. If you get a chance, you’ll want to try and catch him!