Brad Hulings 1983 World Champion Ski-Doo Twin-Tracker
The Real Deal Returned to Fighting Condition
Alright, I know what you’re thinking. A Ski-Doo on Starfirekids.com??
I agree, it’s strange to see an NBR (Not Built in Roseau) sled here on a site that celebrates all things from the golden era of Polaris racing.
But this one is special. Very special. It’s also the product of an official Starfire Kid.
The last time I saw this sled was in December of 1981 at the Dayco Holiday Spectacular. I stood right behind it as Brad Hulings was being interviewed on it by some television station.
Since then, no one knew for sure where it went. But several people believed they had it, and those clones have changed hands for big money. I feel for the people that have the clones now, because they just didn’t know, and at the time, there wasn’t a great resource like the Derby track to begin the verification process.
The story of the real sled started in 1981, when the twin-tracker program at Ski-Doo was struggling, and Brad Hulings was winning every single race with his Scorpion SnoPro.
Ski-Doo race director Chester Duval saw one way to fix the twin-trackers: Hire Brad Hulings. He did, and the 1982 Twin-Tracker took all the of the magic Hulings built into that Scorpion to the next-level of oval racing technology.
There were no new twin-trackers made for 1983, but there was plenty of improvements and some new fiberglass for 1983. When Brad won the World Championship in 1983, this sled had the 1983 glass, vs the 1982 glass you see here.
This was in a collection in Canada for a great many years, and about eight years ago, Brad Warning bought it. It was verified through the Eagle River Derby track, and then it went right to Brad Hulings, who, by all accounts was astonished to be reunited with his World Championship sled.
To Brad Warnings surprise, Brad Hulings expressed and interest in bringing the old gal back to life. The one condition Hulings had was that it had to fully tested and tuned and as close to being battle ready as it was the day it won the World Championship.
Seven years later, they loaded up the sled and did a shakedown run at a lake in Central Michigan, and that was just a couple of days ago. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hulings so happy” said Warning, who himself was in disbelief at how amazing this piece of history has turned out.
Hulings brings the fire to the belly of the beast.
The man himself, no helmet and all, does a very
short run to assess how the sled is reacting.
