(FARGO, ND), October 19, 2009 – Polaris Pro-Racer, Gabe Bunke will appear at SleddinXpo 2009 to be held Saturday, November 14th at The Sports Bubble in Fargo.

Ask Gabe Bunke’s two boys what their dad does for a living and they would tell you “he races snowmobiles”. Bunke is a Pro Cross Country Racer for Polaris Industries. Currently residing in Moorhead, MN with wife Thora and his two sons, Bunke is originally from Roseau, MN where snowmobiling history runs very deep. Bunke is a major player in the United States Cross Country Racing Circuit and has been since he started racing at the late age of 20.

A two time winner of the SOO I-500 race, a 500 mile race on a one mile ice oval track, as well as the recent winner of the USCC Iron Man award at the 2009 United States Cross Country awards banquet in recognition of him having raced in every USCC event – 43 consecutive races. Bunke’s amazing run has included three USCC class point titles and consistent top-five finishes.

Racing in His Blood
Bunke was born in Winona, a city in southeastern Minnesota, but his family moved to Roseau when he was 6 months old because his father, the late Jerry Bunke, was joining the Polaris Factory Race Team.

Jerry Bunke was a tremendously successful oval racer in the late-1970s. Racing on the legendary Polaris race team that was dubbed the “Midnight Blue Express,” he was the 1977 USSA Driver of the Year. He continued to win in the 1978 season before dying as the result of a racing accident in February 1978. He was 26. Jerry Bunke was inducted into the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in 1996, and he is still revered by Polaris race fans and old friends in Roseau.

“Everybody plays hockey in Roseau, and I played from the time I could skate until I was about 13 or 14, when I started to drift over to snowmobiles,” Gabe Bunke said. “I was pretty much consumed with snowmobiles.

“The first year I raced was the 1996-1997 season, when I was 20 years old. Burt Bassett at Pro 5 [a Roseau performance shop] was one of my main supporters. I almost want to call him my second dad. He had had a good relationship with my dad when he was young and after he saw what I could do, he really helped me.”

Gabe Bunke has raced several disciplines, but his heart is in cross-country racing, where he has carved out the reputation of a consistent and determined winner.

Bunke will be a part of the Celebrity Sledder Meet and Greet at the first annual SleddinXpo 2009 to be held at The Sports Bubble, November 14th. Show hours are 3pm – 9pm. Admission is free and open to the public. For additional information, visit www.sleddinxpo.com or call 701-388-0532