The running of the World Championship Snowmobile Derby is something that everyone should experience, no matter if you live in Eagle River or not. Thousands of fans flock to the North Woods for this weekend of racing and the Vintage World Championships usually the weekend prior.
Ice oval racing, where professional drivers hit the front and back stretch at a high speed and throw their sleds into the corners at nearly 100 miles per hour, is more exciting than any other racing I’ve experienced.
My experience with the Derby probably started when I was still in high school down in the Milwaukee area. It was a blast watching the neon yellow sled of Cardell Potter winning a World Championship in 2015, along with Polaris rider Nick Van Strydonk taking it in 2017.
While balancing school and after-school activities, my family and I would make the four-hour trek up to Eagle River on Friday nights pretty much every weekend, especially for Derby Weekend.
Between my dad, my sister and I, we would make sure we would be in attendance for Friday Night Thunder, along with part of the Saturday festivities and again for Championship Sunday. Starting in the winter of 2018 we were able to witness over the next three years a run for the history books. Blaine Stephenson and his 102 Polaris ride began a string of dominance only he has accomplished at the derby track. The Minnesota native was the first champ rider to accomplish three consecutive world championships in Eagle River, which he did in 2020.
He followed that up with a fourth consecutive in 2021, which again made him the only rider to do so at the half-mile Eagle River track.
After moving to Stevens Point for a few years after graduating college in 2022, I missed out on the last few years, but I am glad to be back.
Ski-Doo riders have dominated the Derby over the years, with 28 wins in the 61 runnings of the event. From 1985, that specific manufacturer won 17 straight World Championships, which finally ended in 2001 when a Polaris led the field.
Most recently, Ski-Doo rider Matt Goede, of New Germany, Minn., has consecutive wins in Eagle River heading into the 2025 championship and has a chance to make history.
If he was able to lead the pack Sunday afternoon, he would collect his third-straight World Title and become just the second rider (along with Stephenson) at Eagle River to win for three straight years.
Action at the World Championship Derby Complex starts tomorrow, with practice and World Championship FIII time trials to kick off racing Friday at 10:30 a.m.
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