Press Release –
What do you get when you take two of the fastest cross-country snowmobile racers on the planet, stick them in the same race trailer, give them two Arctic Cat Sno Pro 600s and send them to the first AMSOIL Triple Crown event? A sweep, that’s what.
Brian Dick and D.J. Ekre teamed up to win both Pro 600 and Pro Open at the Mille Lacs 200 USCC event in Garrison, Minnesota, February 16-17, 2008.
The race was the first of three in the AMSOIL Triple Crown series which features the best cross-country racers in the world competing on the toughest courses imaginable for huge payouts.
Dick topped the time charts after the qualifying sessions followed by Ekre in third and Jesse West in sixth. Cat racers Chad Lian and Jason Kangas were also in the Top 10.
“The new 600 Sno Pro is a sweet sled,” said Ekre. “It’s a totally new and worked really well right out of the box . Like any new race sled, more testing time leads to better results. I think Brian and I showed the rest of the field what we’re capable of this past weekend and what kind of stellar results the Sno Pro 600 can post for the future.”
Riders left according to time in the Pro 600 final and Dick led the entire way until he had to pull over for a blown belt. From there, Ekre took over and nabbed the win followed by second place rookie pro Jesse West; who beat such notables like Dyrdahl and Bunke.
Lian and Dick rounded out the top 10. Dick’s luck was better in Pro Open where he and Ekre went 1-2 in the final with Jesse West coming in fourth.
“We are really proud of all our Team Arctic racers and the results they have posted aboard the new Sno Pro.” said Assistant Team Arctic Race Department Manager Mike Kloety. “With the strong field of talent in USCC racing, it’s quite an accomplishment for a rookie Pro racer like Jesse West to finish in second place. We are really pleased with his performance this season.”
Team Arctic’s run didn’t stop with the Pro classes. Bryce Buchanan won Semi-Pro 600, Kangas won the 440 class, Jolene Bute won the Women’s class, Adam Brandt won Amateur 600, Adam Mach won the Junior 10-13 class, Robert Doty won Fan 600, Noah Arneson won 120 Open and Sara Larson won the 120 Stock class.
In all, Arctic Cat riders won 10 of 18 classes. Team Arctic’s cross-country racers head to the second Triple Crown event in Brainerd this coming weekend, February 23-24, 2008.
