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The World Championship Snowmobile Derby is the World championship snowmobile race. It is held at the Eagle River Derby Track along U.S. Route 45 in Eagle River, Wisconsin on the third weekend in January. Eagle River is known as the "Snowmobile Capital of the World" because it hosts the Derby. Eagle River is located in the same county as Sayner, Wisconsin, the place that Carl Eliason invented one of the first modern snowmobiles.
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History
The first event was held in 1964. The event was founded by innkeeper John Alward, his wife Betty, and their friend Walter Goldsworthy. Alward's son Jake said "We had a couple of snowmobiles in the garage, and Dad figured more than a few other people did, too. He decided to have a rally." The event was a cross country race run on and around Dollar Lake. Many snowmobiles were unable to climb a small hill. The first winner was an eighth grade student named Stan Hayes, who won the marquee race in a 9 horsepower sled. The Alward's held the race at their inn in 1965 before passing it on to the Eagle River Lions Club. The Lions Club trademarked the term "World Championship Snowmobile Derby".
The 1968 derby was broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports. Numerous guests attended the event, including Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke and Fuzzy Thurston from the Super Bowl II Green Bay Packers championship team. The track was reconfigured to a 0.5-mile high banked oval in 1974.
The current event features 1400+ entrants racing snocross or on the oval track in vintage and modern snowmobiles. 30,000 spectators frequently attend the event.
Qualifying
The riders with the sixteen fastest qualifying speeds during the Thursday night qualifying race in two heats on Friday night. The top five finishers in the two heats advance to a qualifying race. The top finisher in the ten competitor qualifying race starts on the pole position for the world championship feature on Sunday. The other nine competitors keep their seed for in a series of heat races, quarterfinals, semi-finals and consolation races to qualify for the Sunday world championship event.
Winners
P. J. Wanderscheid is the only rider to win four world championships (2002, 2003, 2006, 2011). Two drivers won the championship three times Jacques Villeneuve (1980, 1982, 1986) and Dave Wahl (1990, 1996, 1997). The two time winners are Steve Ave (1966, 1968), Mike Trapp (1971, 1972), Steve Thorsen (1977, 1978), Brad Hulings (1981, 1983), Dale Loritz (1994, 1995), Mike Houle (1999, 2000), Gary Moyle (2005, 2007), and Brian Bewcyk (2008, 2009).