Corey Davidson wins I-500, driver dies at Mile 247

Corey Davidson of Holt, Minnesota, is the 2006 I-500 Snowmobile Race winner.

This was Davidson's first year on a Yamaha and his sixth I-500 win.

For much of the race Justin Winter of Elk River, Minnesota, led the pack on an Arctic Cat.

And the trackside buzz was that this might be the first race in the I-500's 38-year history won by an Arctic Cat.

But Winter finished fourth behind winner Davidson, Todd Krikke on a Yamaha in second place, and Troy Dewald on a Ski Doo in third place.

The Sunday edition of the Soo Evening News discloses that the event was marred by the death of driver Joe Burch from Rosebush, near Mount Pleasant in Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

Burch, 44, was pronounced dead at War Memorial Hospital after what's believed to have been a heart attack near Lap 247.

The driver "was riding down the backstretch when he apparently suffered a coronary [infarction] and fell from his machine" on a backstretch that couldn't be seen by spectators because of large mounds of snow, the newspaper said.

Spectators were advised only that a driver had fallen off his machine.

Toughest enduro race in the world

Race spokesman Ric Federau said there's a lot of prestige for manufacturers of the sled that wins the I-500.

"This is the toughest enduro race in the world," Federau said. "It's a major tribute to any manufacturer that has the most number of sleds at the end of the race."

Saturday's race started about noon with about 12 inches of ice on the track and 29 competitors.

It finished shortly before 6:30 p.m. on a track with almost no ice left and 15 competitors.

"A lot of spectators speculate that we're going to call the race because we're down to dirt," said Federau. "This is an endurance race. We go to the clay and there's no stopping this race."

Federau said that many other snowmobile races in the United States have been cancelled this year because of warm temperatures and lack of snow.

In order to have a thick enough base of ice on the track for the sleds to get 500 miles out of it on Saturday, organizers suspended use of the track since Wednesday.

Federau said they trucked in some snow on Wednesday afternoon and watered the track Wednesday and Thursday to build up the base.

Organizers also had to pull the plug on two popular events scheduled for Saturday: the senior's race and the vintage race.

"We had an option and Mother Nature wasn't helping much," said Federau. "So the option was to save the track for the big race."

But even with special modifications to the racing sleds, the 15 that stayed in the race until the end were obviously having problems with traction.

Sparks flew from studded tracks as the operators struggled to throw their sleds around the course for the final 50 laps.

Racers used high-octane fuel, similar to what's use in airplanes, said snowmobile enthusiast Travis Saunders.

Saunders, who runs a snowmobiler's resource website called SnowmobileGuys.com, said the fuel makes the machines faster but is more dangerous than standard fuel.

The perky but dangerous cocktail also changes the sled's engine pitch, he said.

The sleds have their steering adjusted so the skies are pointed slightly to the left when the handlebars are straight, said Saunders.

These and other sled modifications make it more likely for an operator to finish the grueling race, but only if properly prepared, he added.

"These guys have been training for this for months," Saunders said. "They have forearms like Popeye."

The following are the top 15 finishers in the 38th annual International 500 Snowmobile Race. For more results, click here.

1. Corey Davidson, number 03, 2. Todd Krikke, number 60 3. Troy Dewald, number 21 4. Justin Winter, number 63 5. Mike Gentz, number 14 6. Joel Diamond, number 02 7. Michael Haynes, number 26 8. John Hoos, number 67 9. Brent Vermeersch, number 31 10. Kraig Karalash, number 1 11. Doug Kammeraad, number 10 12. Joel St. John, number 66 13. Tyler Nickels, number 20 14. Chris Ryan, number 29 15. Jason Komarnizki, number 135