The 42nd running of the Seven Clans I-500 is in the books. A total of 80 participants left the Red River Coop Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 10, but only one - Zach Herfindahl of Christian Brothers Racing - was awarded the winning trophy.
The USXC race organization had originally planned the route to go from Winnipeg to Willmar, but poor snow conditions forced a change of plans. Instead, the race began in Winnipeg and ended in Bemidji, Minn.
The drivers raced over 200 miles the first day, ending at the Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls, Minn. The Pro leader after Day 1 was Re Wadena on an Arctic Cat. Herfindahl was the first to the finish line aboard his Arctic Cat on Day 1, but his overall time put him in 4th place on the scoring charts.
Day 2 was run in the ditches around the Thief River Falls area for a total of 195 miles. The riders left in reverse order, so Herfindahl started far back in the pack. This did not deter him, however, as he finished the day with a 6-minute lead over the rest of the field, allowing his team to take the one-hour maintenance session and adding a minute to his time.
Day 3 saw the drivers racing 125 miles over rivers, woods and ditches to Bemidji, Minn. Herfindahl started 5 minutes 19 seconds ahead of everyone else and, with clear course ahead, he was able to make time on the field and secure the win.
“This was a long, tough race, but our Arctic Cat snowmobile handled awesome,” said Hefindahl. “We can’t thank Arctic Cat enough for what they do. In a race like this their work really comes through. We came out with our first win in the I-500 and had a lot of fun doing it!”
The event spanned a total of 525 miles, and Herfindahl's total time was 7 hours, 46 minutes, 23 seconds. Juniors and Vintage racers joined the race for Day 3, with over 100 machines leaving the starting line in Thief River Falls. For full results from the USXC I-500 Winnipeg to Bemidji race, click here.
The next USXC event will be the Seven Clans Warroad 200, which runs Feb. 25-26. Racers can register online here.
For more info, visit www.usxcracing.com.
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