Mercury Through The Years...

**bernie** · 08-27-2019, 07:49 PM

Think it was the first year for racing there - 1971? I was running a 1970 Mod 1 Polaris Playmate, had got a hold of a factory race sled set up for alcohol. Had practiced on the SnoBol, running with the local Polaris dealer team - thier new '71 sleds couldn't run with my '70 Playmate, I was a 12" wide track and the new sleds were 15". Anyway, race day, I'm on the starting line, ready to go, somebody taps me on the shoulder and motions me off the track! What the hell? Referee shows me a letter from the United States Snomobile Ass'n - they had outlawed the 12" track machines only days earlier - too dangerous. Bull ****, they were still beating the new factory sleds. So ended my racing career, I couldn't afford a new sled.

**Dave Strong** · 08-27-2019, 08:01 PM

Originally Posted by bernie

Think it was the first year for racing there - 1971? I was running a 1970 Mod 1 Polaris Playmate, had got a hold of a factory race sled set up for alcohol. Had practiced on the SnoBol, running with the local Polaris dealer team - thier new '71 sleds couldn't run with my '70 Playmate, I was a 12" wide track and the new sleds were 15". Anyway, race day, I'm on the starting line, ready to go, somebody taps me on the shoulder and motions me off the track! What the hell? Referee shows me a letter from the United States Snomobile Ass'n - they had outlawed the 12" track machines only days earlier - too dangerous. Bull ****, they were still beating the new factory sleds. So ended my racing career, I couldn't afford a new sled.

All about the track speed, take more horsepower to turn a 15" track over a 12". Up here in the mountains with the 2 and 2 1/2" tracks the thing was to drop and roll the chain case to provide more clearance between the track and tunnel. 5/8 to 7/8" made a huge difference.

Dave