Watching Brad Hulings on his 250 leafer hauling the mail in December of 1976 left an impression on me. I wanted to ride that sled so bad I could taste it. Watching him win the 250 SnoPro class that day was about as good as it gets.
From that day forward, I had a secret dream of racing one of those 250 leafers around a track, because it just looked and sounded so darn cool.
In 2005, my friend Jim Haug and I were watching the vintage racing that was gaining popularity at a place called Wolf Lake very near the old Alexandria race track. We decided that it looked too fun, and we had to try it.
Over the summer, Jim and I built up two clones. Well, they were kind of clones. We took some TX chassis, added some updated suspensions, pipes and clutches. Jim used a super modified TXL engine, while I had Doug Monson build me a bullet-proof original 250 RXL motor from parts.
Thirty years after dreaming of racing a 1977 250 Snopro, it finally came true. The first few races I did well, always placing 2nd or so. The machine had potential, but it also had lots of bugs to work out.
On February 5th, 2006, Jim and I had our best day ever. He won two classes and in this video, I won my 250 Super-Mod class. To make things really great, Jim’s dad came all the way up from Southern Minnesota to watch his boy kick some butt and take some names!
Matt Goede took over on that little 250 the following year… and he won the Eagle River 250 Super Mod Championship every time he tried with it, except the one year that the motor blew up.
The sled is currently sitting in the garage, just the way it came off the track.
