Ebert Wins USCC Red Lake I-500
Day 3 of the Seven Clans Casino Red Lake I-500 Presented by C&A Pro Skis proved rife with drama as two of the top runners went out and Arctic Cat rider Dan Ebert rose from fourth place on the time charts into first, taking the victory and the $10,000 cash purse.
Riders left according to time and first out was Arctic Cat rider D.J. Ekre. He was followed by Arctic Cat riders Ryan Huston and Cory Davis. Ebert started fourth and then there was a gap of nearly three minutes to Polaris rider Gabe Bunke. They took to the same course they ran Friday which took them through Thief River Falls, then East to Goodridge for a fuel stop. From there they swung North and back down to Goodridge for another fuel stop, then south and East back to the Casino. Conditions were markedly different than on Friday and in many places the snow was thinned out from sleds running through and the snow had set up from the warm temperatures on Saturday resulting in many hard edges.
Ekre had the lead and was pulling time on the field going into the first fuel stop. He was followed by Huston, Ebert and Bunke. Davis was missing from the order and was soon seen coming down the ditch with no body panels on his sled. He pulled up to the stop sign for the gas stop crossing and killed the sled; his track had ripped lengthwise into three pieces. It was a harbinger of things to come for Ekre as his track came apart on the second leg, knocking him out of the race. Meanwhile, Huston had an off just after the first gas stop putting Ebert into the lead.
I saw Huston crash and passed him, said Ebert. Then I saw Ekres sled down and at that point I was pretty sure I was in the lead. I was thinking, Holy crap, whats going on? said Ebert.
Well into the second leg, Ebert got crossed up in some bumps leading into a road approach and came off his sled.
I got excited and I was riding pretty hard, said Ebert. I didnt know what pace I should keep. In a snocross race if youre in front you just go as hard as you can. I had never led a cross-country race.
Ebert arrived at the second fuel stop and his crew chief and father Russ Ebert asked him if his track was ratcheting. He said, No, and Russ told him if started to ratchet take it easy.
I had all these things running through my head and that just gave me one more thing to worry about, said Ebert.
While running in second place, Hustons track was ratcheting and was failing just like Davis and Ekres so he had slowed down. Bunke caught and passed Huston to take second place and was gaining time on Ebert.
I got on the last stretch of river and every corner I went around I just kept hoping to see some snow dust that would tell me I was closing in, but it never happened, said Bunke.
Bunke logged the FXR Pro 600 fast time of the day and won an FXR jacket, but he wasnt able to make enough time to catch Ebert.
Ebert crossed the line with a three day time of 8:11:35.371. Bunkes time was 8:13:42.290. In third place was Huston (8:16:22.969) followed by Cody Kallock (Arctic Cat, 8:27:43.946), Aaron Christensen (Polaris, 8:32:20.999), Chad Lian (Arctic Cat, 8:33:20.420) Jesse Thelen (Polaris, 8:33:36.338) and Arne Rantanen Jr. (Arctic Cat, 8:38:24.748).
This race win is something I will think about every day for the rest of my life, said Ebert after accepting the $10,000 cash prize.
After leading for two days, Ken Christensen went out of the race and Cole Nymann took the win in the ArcticFX Semi-Pro 600 class with a three day time of 8:36:09.315. Trevor John overcame a wicked crash to stay atop the Brothers Motorsports Expert 85 class with a three day time of 9:10:33.592.
Other class winners include: Gabe Bunke, Fox Racing Shox Pro Open (Polaris, 8:13:42.290); Erik Bute (Arctic Cat, 9:04:43.877) AMSOIL Semi-Pro Improved; Jeff Gruhlke (Arctic Cat, 9:29:21.335) Arctic Cat Expert 85 Improved; Marty Feil (Arctic Cat, 10:15:12.513) Trophy 85; Jon Arneson (Arctic Cat, 8:56:39.766) Stud Boy Masters 40+; Dennis Topp (Polaris, 9:30:10.050) Speedwerx Masters 50+; Chris Sobeck (Arctic Cat, 9:54:38.044) Orion Industries Trail; Chad Lian (Arctic Cat, 8:33:20.420) RV Sports Vet 30+; Jolene Bute (Arctic Cat, 10:03:16.395) Powermadd Womens;Chris Hoff(Arctic Cat, 8:42:03.385) Trophy 600; Team RUSH (9:17:56.406) Team 600; Trevor Rose, 120 Stock; Sara Larson, 120 Improved.
Next up for the USCC is the Red Lake 200, January 30-31. It is the second race in the Seven Clans 7-7-7 Challenge. For more info visit www.usccracing.com. Be sure to follow USCC on Facebook and sign up for the USCC newsletter, The Course Marker, on the USCC Web site.
