SPORTS FLASHBACK 1979: Snowmobile racing not for the faint of heart

I spent the coldest afternoon of my life at Richer Sunday, dividing my time equally between getting a few pictures of the snowmobile races and sitting in my car trying in vain to warm up between races.

The Richer Snowmobile Riders Club with the assistance of the Central Canadian Snowmobile Racing Association, staged a very successful event under less than ideal conditions.

The Richer track was in great shape and competition was keen with 111 entries, and though the Carillon photographer wasn’t exactly surrounded by spectators, snowmobile racing fans could hardly be blamed for not showing up in the 25-below weather (not counting the windchill).

There weren’t any major mishaps, which is a tribute to the quality of the track, and the event ran smoothly, which is a tribute to the organizers.

In spite of the temperature, which dipped to 25 below, the Richer Snowmobile Riders and Central Canadian Racing Association enjoyed a great turnout for the second annual oval track races at Richer Sunday.

More than 100 entries competed in the afternoon schedule of racing events with trophies and prize money attracting top drivers from Brandon, Selkirk, Stony Mountain, Birds Hill, Souris, Morden, Arborg, Winnipeg and Winnipeg Beach, as well as local racers and a few from the United States.

While the race was the single major event scheduled for Richer this season, there may be a second CCRA race later in the year, should one of the sponsors of another sanctified race be forced to cancel.

The feature race of the afternoon for the Dawson Trail Cup had half a dozen entries and was 25 laps. Polaris rider Del Aracson of Grandin, North Dakota, edged out Gary Querel, Winnipeg, who was also on a Polaris and Murray Friesen of Morden, who was riding a Yamaha.

Sixteen-year-old Lisa Fischer enjoyed a successful debut to the 1979 racing schedule. She drove a Yamaha to victory in the Women’s II class, finished second in the Mod-Stock III and third in the Stock A class.

Querel and John Jonsson of Victoria Beach each won four individual classes. Querel drove his Polaris to win in Super-Stock II and Super-Stock III, Super-Mod II and the 440 X.

Jonsson got his Arctic Cat across the finish line first in Stock A, B and C, and also in Mod-Stock II.