At the second International Watercross Association (IWA) race of the 2010 season, Chad Maki and Brian McCurdy Jr. split wins in the Pro Ovals classes at the June 26-27 event in Ely, Minnesota.

Maki took the win in Pro Stock Oval, while McCurdy Jr. finished in the top spot in Pro Open Oval. Following Maki in Pro Stock was Andy Busse and Dan Hoffman. In Pro Open, Shawn Zurn took second and Dennis Rhyner finished third.

In the Semi-Pro Oval classes, Greg Metz topped the box in Open and Cody Engstrand finished first in Stock. Taking second in Open was Dan Dombrowsky and Nate Winberg took third. In Stock, David Fischer finished second and Troy Marsh took third.

In 600 Drags, Eric Keith took the win with Nick Benoy in second and Cole Engstrand in third. David Fischer was the winner in 800 Drags. Cody Engstrand took second and Clinton Fiosne finished third. In Mod Drags, Matt Ledin took the win, Aaron Hein finished second and Jeff Fischer took third.

With two events completed, Zurn currently leads the points race in Pro Open Oval. He is ahead of Busse by 14 points. In third is Rhyner and in fourth is McCurdy Jr. In Pro Stock Oval, Maki sits in first in points with Busse, Zurn and Hoffman following. Marsh leads the points race in Semi-Pro Stock and Open Oval. Similarly, in both Semi-Pro classes, Cody Engstrand is second and John Stadick is third.

In Mod Drags, Matt Ledin leads over Aaron Hein, Jeff Fischer and Chad Maki. Nick Benoy is leading the charge in points in 600 Drags. Eric Keith is second and Cody Engstrand is third. In 800 Drags, David Fischer is first. Krista Maki-Zurn and Cody Engstrand are second and third, respectively.

Next up on the IWA tour is the World Championship Watercross July 16-18 in Granstburg, Wisconsin. For more information, visit www.iwausa.org or www.grantsburgwatercross.com.



International Watercross Association
Ely, Minnesota
June 26-27, 2010

600 Drags: 1. Eric Keith (Pol); 2. Nick Benoy (Pol); 3. Cole Engrtrand (Pol)
800 Drags: 1. David Fischer (Doo); 2. Cody Engstrand (Pol); 3. Clinton Fjosne (Doo)
Mod Drags: 1. Matt Ledin (Pol); 2. Aaron Hein (Doo); 3. Jeff Fischer (Yam)
Semi-Pro Stock Oval: 1. Cody Engstrand (Pol); 2. David Fischer (Doo); 3. Troy Marsh (Yam)
Semi-Pro Open Oval: 1. Greg Metz (Pol); 2. Dan Dombrowsky (Yam); 3. Nate Winberg (Pol)
Pro Stock Oval: 1. Chad Maki (Doo); 2. Andy Busse (Doo); 3. Dan Hoffman (Pol)
Pro Open Oval: 1. Brian McCurdy Jr.; 2. Shawn Zurn (Doo); 3. Dennis Rhyner (Pol)

On September 18, the International Snowmobile Hall of Fame will induct six new members to honor their contributions to the sport of snowmobiling.

In addition to the induction ceremony, a full weekend of activities are planned for snowmobile enthusiasts. The Eagle River Derby track is hosting its annual reunion with grass drags and an antique/vintage snowmobile swap meet, and there also will be a golf outing, shopping tours, pontoon boat rides, horseshoe tournament and more.

This year's inductees include:

John Ehlert - Minnesota/Florida
John Ehlert has been an advocate of snowmobiling for over 30 years, first as a writer and then publisher, founding Ehlert Publishing in the late 1970s. He grew the business into the largest snowmobile publishing company in the industry with several magazine titles. His editorial department was instrumental in creating the annual reviews of new models and was a strong voice for the advancement of snowmobiling.

Fred Fox - Wisconsin
Fred Fox entered the snowmobile business manufacturing the Fox Trac snowmobile back in the early 1960s.The family went on to create the sport's largest aftermarket supply business under the name of Parts Unlimited. The company's motto, "We support the sport," is evident in the many ways that the Parts Unlimited name appears at numerous snowmobile events and activates as a sponsor or supporter of the event. Fox also has a very large collection of antique and vintage snowmobiles.

Judy and Bob King - Minnesota
The Kings have been active in snowmobile organizations and promotion of the sport since 1974. They have served officer capacities and chaired numerous special events throughout Minnesota since then including chairing the International Snowmobile Congress in 2007. Operating as a husband and wife team, the Kings have dedicated thousands of hours of their time supporting, training, educating and testifying on behalf of the sport.

Charles Kurtz -  New Hampshire
Since entering the sport in 1971, Charles "Charlie" Kurtz has been front and center in the promotion and development of the trail system in New Hampshire. Starting at the local club level, Charlie soon moved on to assume many offices at the county association level and then onto the state and national levels. He served as president of the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association and Chairman of the Northeast Chapter of the American Council of Snowmobile Associations.

Ed Skomoroh - Minnesota
Ed Skomoroh first got involved in snowmobiling in 1967 through his father's Arctic Cat dealership in Canada. Two years later he was hired in Arctic Cat's R&D department and quickly moved up through the ranks to become head of Arctic Cat - Canada. In 1981, Polaris came knocking and Ed became general manager of Polaris - Canada, moving up to Corporate vice president of sales and marketing worldwide in 1985. Retiring in 2000, Ed continues to actively promote the sport from the grassroots level whenever he can and is an avid rider.

ISHOF is in the World Snowmobile Headquarters in Eagle River. The facility opened in 2006 and it showcases several snowmobile groups and organizations. In 2009, ISHOF moved from northern Minnesota to the World Snowmobile Headquarters.

Snowmobilers and fans are welcome to join in on the weekend's activities and to be a part of this fun event.

When the 2010-11 International Series of Champions Amsoil Championship Snocross Series (ISOC ACSS) begins later this year, fans will see some changes to the National and Regional circuits.

In early June, the circuit released information on several changes that will take place. Notably, the Semi-Pro Open class has been dropped on the National and Regional series, according to information on ISOC's Web site. The featured class will be Semi-Pro Super Stock.

Other class changes include combining the Sport Womens and Pro Womens classes due to low participation. Those classes will be combined and become the Pro Am Women class. The Pro Plus 30 class will become the Pro Am Plus 30 class. The age of the Champ 7-14 class will now be Champ 6-12. Finally, International Snowmobile Racing, the rules governing body of the sport, changed the age group for the Junior 10-14 class to the ages of 10-13.

In Regional news, there will be two full days of racing. There will be two rounds and a final each day. Drivers can participate either on Saturday or Sunday or on both days. There will be year-end championships for each day and an overall champion. The Pro-Am Stock/Open class will be offered at the Regionals. This class will encourage the use of stock sleds, but it also will provide an option to run an Open-class sled. If a racer (Pro, Semi-Pro or Plus racer) chooses to run an Open sled at a Minnesota Regional, they will only be eligible for the Pro-Am Stock/Open class, and will not be allowed to run in any of the Stock classes with a different Stock sled. According to information on the ISOC Web site, the goal of this is to keep costs down for racers by eliminating the need for two sleds.

Also, ISOC plans to have six-race schedule in place for the Minnesota Regional series. The tentative plan is to conduct two races at ERX Motor Park in Elk River, Minnesota, two in Fertile, Minnesota, and two at a yet-to-be determined site.

In ISOC ACSS National news, Pro and Semi-Pro drivers can register for any of the eight planned events. Pro Am Women and Pro Am Plus 30 will compete at five National events. All other classes for certain events will need to pre-qualify through their regionals and will be invited based on their regional performance. The Duluth, Minnesota, and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, races will remain first come, first served until entries are full with top regional ISOC affiliate riders having first priority.

Sledder.net is gathering more information on the changes to the upcoming season. Check back for updates.

Arctic Cat announced that after more than a quarter century of having Suzuki-built snowmobile engines in its sleds, it is switching gears and plans to develop its own engines.

"Suzuki has been an outstanding engine supply partner for more than 25 years and remains a significant shareholder in Arctic Cat," said Arctic Cat CEO Christopher Twomey. "However, we are changing our engine strategy in order to gain more control over our products, and enhance our ability to meet regulatory and performance requirements. This also will enable us to better utilize our current engine manufacturing capacity, resulting in potentially better costs."

The company said that the engines will be built at its St. Cloud, Minnesota, facility beginning in its fiscal year 2015. Suzuki will continue to supply the company with engine parts to service existing engines after the 2014 model year.

Arctic Cat's 56,000 square-foot St. Cloud plant began building ATV engines in 2007. The company plans to use the existing plant capacity and personnel during the transition.

Just a few weeks after learning he was invited to compete for the first time in Super X (Supercross) event at Summer X Games 16 later this summer, Tucker Hibbert will have to watch from the sidelines as he tends to an injured knee.

According to a press release, Hibbert was practicing May 29 at the Spring Creek Motocross Park in Millville, Minnesota, when he hyper extended his right knee, causing a flare up from a 2005 injury. After a week of no improvement and a doctor evaluation, he canceled his summer racing schedule and shift his focus to being 100 percent healthy for this winter. In addition to the X Games event, Hibbert planned to race select rounds of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship series.

"This is the first year in my career that I won't be racing motorcycles," Hibbert said. "It's a huge disappointment but I had to make the decision to put my health first. I'm focused on taking this time to address this issue and expect to be at the top of my game by October 1. I know I need to be 100 percent healthy to pull off the racing schedule I'm working on for this winter and next summer."