News Blog

Naytahwaush Snodeo 200 Recap

Posted: 3/5/2025

Cor PowerSports was racing again in Naytahwaush, Minnesota after a quick turn around from Walker! The Cor crew and race teams were excited to be back in the Naytahwaush community for the annual Snodeo 200! Friday the weather was subpar with high winds blowing across the lake. Luckily for us Saturday and Sunday were forecasted to be highs of 40 degrees!

Racing got started Saturday morning with the two-lap Sport Improved qualifier. After two quick laps, Sullivan LaVoie was top qualifier on his Polaris with a time of 13 minutes 48.180 seconds. Also qualifying front row for the final was Elliott Clark (-2.163 seconds), Kyle Quesenberry (-7.924 seconds), Reese Novacek (-10.855 seconds), Braden Sillerud (-10.754 seconds), and Hayden Hoffarth (-13.577 seconds).

Race three on the day was the two-lap Pro Open and Semi Pro Improved qualifier. This also set the running order for their finals later in the day. After two laps Aaron Christensen was top dog of Pro Open with a time of 12 minutes 40.999 seconds on his Polaris. Joining him on the front row for the final would be Boe Bunke (-3.095 seconds), Taylor Bunke (-6.739 seconds), Evan Peppel (-7.628 seconds), Jesse Hallstrom (-7.981 seconds), and Justin Tate (15.079 seconds). In Semi Pro Improved, Luke Van Lyssel was top qualifier on his Polaris with a time of 13 minutes 5.624 seconds. Behind him were Luke Van Lyssel (-3.956 seconds), Oliver Olson (-5.885 seconds), Kyle Grover (-11.389 seconds), Draycen Byfuglien (-19.706 seconds), and Lucas Vaadi (-26.128 seconds) all qualifying front row.

Mid-day was filled with our classes who ran a two-day merged time format. Some class battles after day one included the Pro Factory Women and Junior 10-13 class. In the Pro Factory Women’s division, Leah Bauer had the lead after day one with a total time of 20 minutes 22.478 seconds. Very close behind in second was Reese Novacek with only a 0.163 second gap after three laps. In a close third place was Unity Gausen only 3.384 seconds out of the lead! This set up a great day two of racing. In the Junior 10-13 class. Cash Novacek held the lead by only 3.769 seconds over Cole Prusak. Sitting third only 6.021 seconds back was Bryden Diesen making this class one to watch on day two as well!

Race seven of the day was the five-lap heads-up Sport Improved final. Top qualifier Sullivan LaVoie got the holeshot and early race lead with Reese Novacek sitting second. These two sleds quickly separated themselves from the pack and never looked back. The third through eighth place racers swapped positions all race long keeping it a good race to watch! After five laps, Sullivan LaVoie earned the win on his Polaris with a total time of 33 minutes 14.683 seconds. Taking second place was Reese Novacek on her Polaris 12.221 seconds off the lead. Rounding out the podium was Kyle Quesenberry (-40.311 seconds) on his Arctic Cat just edging our fourth place Hayden Hoffman (-42.118 seconds). Rounding out the top five was Elliott Clark on his Arctic Cat (-43.542 seconds).

Race eight of day one was the six-lap heads-up Semi Pro Improved final. This race was hot from the start with the top three sleds of Van Lyssel, Olson, and Wolter quickly separating themselves and making it their own race up front. Bradon Wolter lead the early stages of the race until the final lap. Oliver Olson was able to take over the race lead on the last lap with Van Lyssel also getting around Wolter putting the race leader back to third. On the second to last corner, Luke Van Lyssel was able to make a clutch pass to take over the race lead and win the race! Van Lyssel’s winning time was 39 minutes 14.857 seconds. Finishing second by only 0.406 seconds was Oliver Olson and in third was Brandon Wolter only 1.344 seconds behind the leader. This made it a Polaris podium sweep. Finishing fourth was Kyle Grover (-45.377 seconds), and in fifth was Lucas Vaadi (-52.602 seconds) both on Polaris.

The last race of day one was the ten-lap heads-up Pro Open final. Off the start Boe Bunke got the early race lead and led lap one with a 1.277 second gap over Aaron Christensen in second and Jesse Hallstrom in third (-3.819 seconds), Evan Peppel in fourth (-6.807 seconds) and Taylor Bunke in fifth (-7.564 seconds). On lap two, Christensen took over the race lead putting B. Bunke back into second (-1.505 seconds), Hallstrom still ran third (-8.241 seconds), Peppel in fourth (-10-826 seconds) and T. Bunke still in fifth (11.622 seconds). On lap three, Christensen pulled his lead out to 3.712 seconds over B. Bunke. Hallstrom was 15.319 seconds back in third, T. Bunke moved into fourth position (-17.355 seconds) putting Peppel in fifth (-18.700 seconds). On lap four, Christensen continued to grow his lead to 4.746 seconds over B. Bunke. The battle was heating up for third between Hallstrom and T. Bunke which was down to a one second gap. After five laps, Christensen had a 5.550 second lead over B. Bunke. T. Bunke was 22.165 seconds back with Hallstrom in fourth (-28.781 seconds) and in a close fifth place was now Zach Herfindahl (-29.629 seconds) who took over fifth from Peppel. With one lap to go B. Bunke found some fast lines and closed Christensen’s lead to 3.903 seconds. T. Bunke still ran third (-28.841 seconds), Hallstrom in fourth (-31.912 seconds) and Herfindahl in a close fifth (-22.774 seconds). Coming to the check Boe Bunke had reeled in the leader Christensen with the gap down to only 1.744 seconds but time ran short. Veteran Aaron Christensen was able to hold off the young buck Boe Bunke to take the win with a total time of 43 minutes 54.045 seconds. Taking second was Boe Bunke (-1.744 seconds) and rounding out the Polaris podium was Taylor Bunke (-30.566 seconds). Zach Herfindahl came in forth on his Arctic Cat (-38.26 seconds) and Jesse Hallstrom earned fifth on his Ski-Doo (-38.688 seconds).

Day two brought more sunshine and blue skies! The day started off with the Pro Factory Stock and Semi Pro Stock two-lap qualifier. In the Pro Stock class, Aaron Christensen was top qualifier on his Polaris with a time of 12 minutes 45.986 seconds. Also qualifying front row was Evan Peppel (-3.170 seconds), Justin Tate third (-6.446 seconds), Boe Bunke fourth (-9.554 seconds), Dan Revering fifth (-11.640 seconds), and sixth (-13.223 seconds). In the Semi Pro Stock class, Luke Van Lyssel was top qualifier with a time of 13 minutes 3.802 seconds on his Polaris. Also qualifying front row was Elliott Clark (-10.313 seconds), Unity Gausen (-24.902 seconds), Braden Sillerud (-27.292 seconds), Josh Mapes (-27.294 seconds), and Kyle Quesenberry (-29.023 seconds).

The next few races were those classes running a two-day timed format. In race three, the Junior 14-17 class duked it out with Luke Fredman taking the win with a total time of 41 minutes 51.775 seconds on his Polaris. Brady Wimpfheimer placed second and Bryden Diesen in third both on Arctic Cat. In the Junior 14-17 Girls class, Taylor Cloose took the win on her Polaris with a time of 44 minutes 15.719 seconds. Placing second was Charlie Kangas on her Ski-doo and Rachel Wimpfheimer took third on her Arctic Cat. In the Vet 30+ class, John Parker took the win on his Polaris with a total time of 42 minutes 12.793 seconds. In the Masters 50+ class, Tommie Quam took the win on his Polaris with a time of 42 minutes 47 seconds and taking second was Don McKay on his Polaris. The Classics class has had good racing all year and this weekend did not disappoint! After two days, Collin Grover took the overall win on his Polaris with a total time of 42 minutes 14.307 seconds. In seconds was Paul Votava on his Arctic Cat and in third was Nick Gustafson on his Polaris.

In race four, the Junior 10-13 class continued their close battle from day one. After their two laps on day two, Cole Prusak was able to track down Cash Novacek to take the overall win in the class. Novacek earned second both on Polaris and Arctic Cat racer Bryden Diesen placed third. In Junior 10-13 Girls, Kynsie Diesen got the win on her Arctic Cat. In the Junior 10-13 Transition class, Bretley Iverson took the win on his Arctic Cat with Aiden Jurina in second on Arctic Cat and Mia Landin in third on Polaris.

The Pro Factory Women class battle continued on day two in race five. Bauer, Novacek, and Gausen were all in a tight battle for the overall win. After three more laps on day two, Reese Novacek was able to clench the overall Pro Factory Women’s win by only 1.491 seconds over Leah Bauer in second. Rounding out the podium in a close race was Unity Gausen only 5.832 seconds out of first. This made it an all Polaris podium in the Women’s class and Novacek retook the points lead. In the Trail class, John Parker took the win on his Polaris with a time of 41 minutes 37.992 seconds. Placing in second was Glen Arlaud on Arctic Cat and in third was Anthony McKay on Polaris. In the Vintage class Nick Gustafson took the win on his Polaris!

In race six, two pro racers battled it out for the win in the Pro Vet 35+ class. Aaron Christensen took the overall race win with a time of 38 minutes 45.082 seconds. Placing second only 0.563 second back was Justin Tate! Placing third was Jeff McKay all on Polaris sleds. Dave Jurina won the overall in the Masters 40+ class with a time of 45 minutes .870 seconds. Luke Fredman won the Expert 600 Limited class on his Polaris with a time of 41 minutes 54.322 seconds. Placing second was Brady Wimpfheimer and in third was Rielly Clark both on Arctic Cats.

Next up was the five-lap heads-up Sport Stock final. Sullivan LaVoie did just as he did on Saturday and took the early race lead. This time he stretched out his lead from the rest of the pack alone and everyone was trying to track him down! After six laps, Sullivan LaVoie took the Sport Stock win with a time of 33 minutes 17.493 seconds Polaris. Taking second was Elliott Clark on his Arctic Cat (-16.8 seconds), and in third was Unity Gausen on Polaris (-18.887 seconds). Placing fourth was Kyle Quesenberry on Arctic Cat and (-3.896 seconds from third) and Braden Sillerud in fifth on Arctic Cat (-3.825 seconds from fourth).

Semi Pro Factory Stock was next up with their six-laps heads-up final. Luke Van Lyssel took the early race lead on his Polaris and ran away with it. He led all six laps and did not look back. He came away with the race win with a total time of 39 minutes 1.464 seconds. Second place was a tight battle between Oliver Olson and Kyle Grover. Olson held second for much of the race with Grove following closely behind. With a few laps to go, Collin Grover got around Olson to steal the second place spot on the podium (-19.21 seconds out of first) with Oliver Olson taking third (-22.287 seconds). Placing fourth was Canadian Reagen Niakrok (-58.318 seconds) and in fifth was Tyler Brown (-59.567 seconds) making it an all Polaris top five.

The final race of the weekend was the eleven-lap heads-up Pro Factory Stock final! Sleds lined up in rows of six and got the green light. Evan Peppel took the early race lead with Taylor Bunke close behind. During lap one T. Bunke got around Peppel for the race lead but by the time they made it back to clock in lap one, Peppel was back out front by 0.451 seconds. D. Revering ran third (-1.538 seconds), Justin Tate in fourth (-1.874 seconds), and Boe Bunke in fifth (-2.473 seconds). On lap two, Peppel still held the race lead but D. Revering got around T. Bunke for the second spot with Tate in fourth and B. Bunke in fifth and Hallstrom in a close sixth. The top six sleds were all within 8 seconds. After four laps, Peppel still held the lead by only 0.758 seconds over D. Revering. T. Bunke ran third (-8.519 seconds), B. Bunke ran fourth (-13.213 seconds) and Christensen in fifth (-14.052 seconds). Hallstrom crashed hard while running sixth, taking him out of the race. After five laps, Peppel held a 1.495 second gap over second place D. Revering with T. Bunke holding third (-13.260 seconds), B. Bunke held fifth (-16.228 seconds) and Christensen now in fifth (-17.151 seconds). The following lap Revering closed the gap down to 0.863 seconds on the race leader Peppel. Back 20.707 seconds was B. Bunke in third, Christensen got around T. Bunke and they ran fourth and fifth only 2 seconds behind Boe. On lap seven, race leader Evan Peppel ran his fastest lap at a 6:20.477 lap time. He stretched his lead back to 5.865 seconds over Dan Revering. Christensen made the pass on Boe Bunke and they ran in third and fourth with Taylor Bunke still running fifth. On lap eight, Revering and Christensen both fueled mixing up on the on track order but Peppel still held a solid lead. On lap nine, the race lead fueled but got out of the fuel lane before second place so still held the race lead. Boe Bunke also fueled this lap shuffling him back. After everyone fueled and the white flag flew, the top three running order was Peppel, Revering, and Christensen. Coming into the checkered flag, Peppel had pulled a 7.404 second gap over second place and took home the win in the Pro Factory Stock class on his Polaris. His winning time was 1 hour 10 minutes 50.890 seconds. Earning second place was Dan Revering (-7.404 seconds) and rounding out the podium was Aaron Christensen (-21.684 seconds) all on Polaris. Placing fourth was Boe Bunke (-38.452) and in fifth was Taylor Bunke (-1:05.452) both on Polaris.

Cor PowerSports will be back racing in just under two weeks in Ironwood, Michigan for the season finale! Race registration for the Gogebic Community College Ironwood Trilogy Cup Championship Presented by Travel Ironwood closes Tuesday March 11 at 6pm so get signed up TODAY!!

Hope to see everyone there!

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