Action Tracks, Winter 2013-’14
Page 5
World-class Oval, Sno-Cross racing
to mark 51st Snowmobile Derby
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BY GARY RIDDERBUSCH
NEWS-REVIEW EDITOR
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The world’s most prestigious snowmobile race — the AMSOIL World Championship Snowmobile Derby — will be held
Eagle River Jan. 16-19.
The “Indianapolis 500 of snowmobile
racing” draws the best ice Oval and SnoCross racers from the United States and
Canada, according to AMSOIL Derby
Track owner Chuck Decker.
Last year, fans and racers joined in by
celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby — a historic milestone in the
sport of snowmobiling.
It’s the oldest and grandest event in
snowmobile racing, dating back to the first
race on Dollar Lake in 1964. The race grew
in the late 1960s and 1970s under the direction of the Eagle River Lions Club,
which moved the race to a track between
Highway 45 and Pleasure Island Road.
Dozens of snowmobile manufacturers
helped draw thousands of people to the
event. The race show and Derby Track
went to new heights under the direction of
the Decker racing family, which purchased
the race and facility in 1986. Today, the
show includes world-class Oval racing,
high-fl