Hello everyone,

I’m a lot better racer than I am a speaker so bear

with me.

I would like to start by saying THANK YOU to

everyone for coming tonight and thank you to the
Anderson’s and all of those who have built the Hall
of Fame and help it grow for future generations.
What a great way to preserve the history of
snowmobiling. Mark Resch for starting the Legend
Laps. It’s awesome watching that grow each year. I
would also like to thank the board members and
everyone who voted me into the Hall of Fame, I
feel very honored!

I raced for over 34 years.

How I got into racing- I started racing at the age of

14. I wasn’t old enough to drive so I had to rely on
my older brother Guy to drive me to races. My
idol/ inspiration was Bob Eastman. He was
someone I watched closely on how he took turns
and how he handled the sled smoothly. My first
sled was a 1975 Arctic Cat 250Z, purchased from
my uncle Jerry’s Arctic Cat dealership. I started
racing junior 1 in the USSA series. I also dabbled in
grass drag racing with my now brothers-in-law and
Tom Van Eperen. We won the Hay-days cup in
1982. Also, I raced in the Chargers snowmobile
and conservation club in Appleton, WI. That’s
where I so to speak cut my teeth. I bought my first
IFS sled in 1983, an Arctic Cat snow pro, raced that
for a few years, put in a Rotax motor and raced it in
formula 2 and had great success. I then decided to
go to the big leagues and race with the big boys.

Then in my early 20’s I had my great battles with

my friends Dave Wahl, Dale Loritz, Bruce and Gary
Vessair, the Goodwins and Jaques Villenuve. We
are truly good friends on and off the track just
doing what we loved.
In 1985, we were invited by Ralph Richardson to
work out of the Jack’o Lantern Lodge because it
was so cold. The next morning our truck would
not start. Ralph then called his neighbor Tony
Swantech, who is now the head mechanic for
Judnick Racing, he had a truck and we put the sled,
gas and a small tool box in the back and headed to
the races. We won all of the heat and semifinals
by over a 1/2 a lap. On that Sunday our sled
missed and sputtered during the whole race, we
finished 3rd not far behind the leaders.

A Good Story about Woodsies luggage- traveling

to Valcourt, we ran into an ice storm. There was a
semi was jackknifed and the semi trailer hit the
back of our pickup truck and Woodsies luggage
and Ralph Richardson’s 2 - 12 packs or Pabst flew
out of the truck and all over the road. Poor
Woodsie was able to salvage 2 shirts. He hung
them up in the hotel to dry, we came back to the
room and his shirts were gone! The room service
must have thought someone left them behind, and
took them.
I remember those race seasons being so cold. Cold
to the point of our sleeping bags freezing to the
side of the campers and praying your vehicle
would start.

In 1987 we got our first twin tracker and placed 3rd.

My brother Jojo joined the team in 1988. We had

quite a big crew trying to keep now 4 sleds going.
My brother did really well and had made it to the
WC and I hadn’t, but I was very happy for him.

In the 90’s we were very consistent with the twin

tracker. Many ups and downs but we got a 2nd in
1995 in the WC.

One of our key memories from Ashland in the 90’s,

we won the sports seriers formula 1 final and I
picked up my head mechanic Tom Woods and
while doing a celebratory lap he dropped my ski
boots.
Another time we pulled into Brainard MN at the
track at 4am, to race in the morning, the old man
there asked if we were here to race, I said well,
were not here to deliver furniture.
Don’t get me wrong when I say this, we weren’t
fancy showing up in our furniture box truck, but
we were fast.

In 2000, I we joined Polaris. For that I would like to

thank Tom Rager Sr an Jr, Bill Raider and Rick
Bates. We built a sprint 440 sled. It was my
favorite oval sled and most dominant. We won 5
Eagle River World
Championships and numerous races. That year we
also should have won the WC but we broke a low
rod bearing on lap 20. Mike Houle and I had over a
half of a lap lead on everybody. That was my race.
In 2000 we were also the 1st oval racer to use the
fuel injections, Dragon button and program box.
Lots of learning curves but we figured it out.
Levi story about missing his flight. He turned out
alright (Haha)

Like many of the great Nascar racers like Mark

Martin and Rusty Wallace, who never won that
Daytona 500, I couldn’t get that Champ win at the
Eagle River championship. We came close many
times.

To this day, every Tuesday night, the guys still come

over to my shop, just like we used to in our racing
days. Now we putz on projects to keep our minds
going, and still get together.

I would like to thank my wife who has supported

me through it all, my kids for aways being my
biggest fans, all of the fans who had followed me
through my career. Last but not least my team and
their wives:
Tom Woods
Tom Van Eperen
 Dave Ring
Mark Huss
Micky Kardoskee
Kurt Wollenberg
And many others throughout the years.
Please give them a round of applause.

I couldn’t have done it without their hard work,

knowledge and dedication.

Mike Weindandt, WOW I can’t say thank you

enough, “the motor god” And for making us fast
and competitive.

I have been so blessed with many other people

from fabrication (Dean VanHandel), painting (Rick
Otto, Jason Vanhandel and Bob woods) and
machining (gordy Peterson, benny and johnny
verhagen, brian callaway, kevin muller).

I have a great drive and passion for this sport. I

know my friends and sponsors seen that in me.
To my sponsors who supported me:
Polaris
Furniture Solutions
Kens Sports
Gerritts Pluming
Zwiers Electric
Forest County Potawatomi Casino
Mike Wiendandt Machine
Miller Electric
Performance Welding
Performance Hot Rods
Modern Sheet Metal
Midwest Crankshaft
Woody’s
Fox Communities credit union
Castle
Team 2 Racing
Micro Belmont
Also, my siblings and business partners Guy and
Lorie for supporting me taking care of my
responsibilities at the store, and my passion
throughout the years, as well as all of my siblings
for their support.

It’s been an amazing ride and such great

memories.

This sport has left me with countless memories

and laughs that I wish I could share with you all. I
am very fortunate to have had the racing career I
had and feel very blessed to have met such great
people. Those were the days. I will cherish them
forever. I would like to congratulate you fellow
inductees on this great accomplishment. Again,
my team and their families, I can’t thank you
enough for you time. Thank you all again, I
appreciate it! God Bless.