With a trio of former champions literally breathing down the back of their necks, Christian Brothers Racing refused to buckle under the pressure delivering the #17X Arctic Cat to the Winner’s Circle as 21-year-old Zach Herfindahl claimed the checkered flag in the 50th running of the I-500 Snowmobile Race.
“We just had an awesome day,” said Co-Driver Wes Selby, thanking the crew for their hard work in preparing the machine for the grueling 500 mile endurance run.
Herfindahl revealed his secret in a trackside interview immediately after notching his first victory in the biggest stage in snowmobile racing: “Try not to look back too much with those guys chasing us.”
And those doing the tailing — Gabe Bunke, Corey Davidson and Troy DeWald — were armed with Snowmobile Hall of Fame credentials combining to win more than a dozen I–500 races and came equipped with machines that were more than capable of keeping up with the competition.
Bunke, with co-driver Aaron Christensen, took the #74 Bunke Racing Polaris to second place finishing just 3.097 seconds behind Herfindahl. The #3 XLT Engineering Polaris driven by Corey Davidson and Eric Gausen came in less than 14 seconds behind the leader.
Pole Sitter Troy DeWald with Ryan Spencer and Bill Wilkes also finished the full 500 miles aboard the #21 Cadarette Collision machine in fourth — less than 20 seconds off the pace, producing a historical day of racing with four sleds finishing on the lead lap.
The #414 Yovich Racing Polaris, featuring James Hicks, Eric Zellar and Isaac Wolfgang came in fifth place, completing 498 laps — just ahead of the #537 Bunke Racing Polaris which couldn’t overcome a Turn #1 mishap around Lap 400 that knocked them off the leaders’ pace.
It was another mishap, shortly after Lap 300, that appeared to take out one of the fastest machines on the track. The #19 Tommie Bauer Racing Polaris had led more than half of the first 300 laps when it likewise had trouble in Turn #1. After being towed to the pits, the crew worked to return Tyler Nickels along Co-Drivers Chad and Cody Bauer to the track, with some success, but they were not competitive after that finishing in 26th place with 311 laps.
The #9 Polaris featuring Aaron, Anthony and Josh Mayer was running in the Top 10 early in the race until one of the drivers toppled on the northern end to the track. The driver drew cheers from those in attendance as he gave the “thumbs up” sign before being loaded into an ambulance. Mayer Racing was able to get the machine back on the track until as informed sources explained “it threw a belt and took out the crank seal,” ending the Rudyard team’s run with 330 laps, good for 25th place.
The #353 Kolbus Racing team comprised of 66-year-old Mike Kolbus Sr. and Derek Kolbus of Munising, along with Walt Komarnizki of the Sault, fared a little better with 385 laps coming in 22nd.
All four of the major manufacturers were represented on Saturday with Polaris dominating the entries — fielding 26 machines with eight finishing in the Top 10. Arctic Cat had eight machines when the green flag dropped, including the eventual winner.
Yamaha was represented with the #245 Gainforth Racing entry which Keith Gainforth and Mitch Sebastian drive to an 18th place finish, completing 447 laps.
Ski-Doo’s lone entry was the #35 Team Torture machine of Dillon Dohrn, Dustin Schwandt and Andy Juglen which finished 33rd with 137 laps.