Fargo, ND (February 7, 2011) – Bunke Racing sleds took two of the Top 5 spots at the Soo I-500 this past Saturday, February 5, in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It was the culmination of a week of final preparations, and then a week of qualifying before the storied 500-mile event took place on Saturday.

One of the longest-running and most prestigious races in snowmobiling, the Soo I-500 is a grueling 500-mile enduro run on a 1-mile ice oval. Like the Indy 500, riders qualify in the days leading up to the race and, while qualifying is often a feather in the cap of the fastest riders, it does not indicate any likelihood in how the riders will do in the actual race. It is a race that favors experience, and coming into the event Bunke Racing had that in spades with Gabe Bunke having won the race twice (2002, 2005) and an experienced crew backing up both teams.

The Bunke Racing Walker Evans Racing No. 74 sled was run by Bunke and Aaron Christensen and the crew consisted of Crew Chief Tom Connelly, Dale White, Matt Burkhardt, Tom Campbell, Larry Rugland, Thora Bunke, Cody Wittrock and Jerry Klema. The Bunke Racing 2 No. 242 sled was ridden by Jeff Klein and Ryan Faust and their crew chief was Terry Faust. 

“The crews did an excellent job behind the scenes letting us know where we were on the track,” said Bunke. “Knowing right down to the lap how much fuel we had burned and when it would be safe to pit. They were critical to our success all week.”

Gabe qualified the No. 74 sled 11th with a best lap time of 41.835 at 86.052mph. Jeff Klein qualified the Bunke Racing 2 No. 242 sled 29th with a best lap time of 44.091 at 81.649mph.

“I was more than happy with how we qualified,” said Bunke. “Setup is always a compromise between speed, handling and bumps. The Soo track gets rough late in the race so if you set up for qualifying it hurts you later on. With our setup we were fast in qualifying and still had the setup for the rough stuff too.”

The green flag flew at 10AM Saturday morning and the No. 74 sled took the lead shortly into the event. The team held the lead off and on throughout the race for 202 laps, more than any other sled in the field. It wasn’t until lap 450 that the No. 74 fell out of first place after Aaron Christensen, the second rider behind Bunke, lost control going into a turn and came off the sled. Christensen never lost the lead despite the crash, but a quick pit stop to repair some damage lost the team a lap and dropped them back to third. The team regained a spot a few laps later then fell back to fourth after the track derailed. Christensen came in with the track smoking, but the veteran crew had it back on the sled in short order and they lost only a couple laps.

Meanwhile, the No 242 sled was slowly working its way up the order with Ryan Faust handling most of the riding. Faust and Klein came from 12th at 290 laps to 10th at 311 laps, then to 8th at 350 laps, 7th at 406 then 6th at 419 laps. Finally, the No. 242 was in fifth at 442 laps.

“We just kept plugging along and pretty soon we were near the top of the order,” said Klein. “We had a great race strategy and it paid off huge.”

In the waning laps the No. 74 sled held steady and finished 4th with the No. 242 sled right behind in 5th. The No. 242 team also got the Most Improved award.

“This race is a team effort and I truly believe we had the best team and equipment. With a little luck we would have won that race hands down,” said Bunke. “Polaris Racing and Walker Evans Racing are the reason we were so dominant all day. With Ben Hayes on chassis setup and Larry Rugland from LRM building the motor package for both sleds our machines were top notch.”

“I want to thank the riders and crew from the 242 Bunke Racing sled for their hard work all week,” continued Bunke. “A special thanks for an awesome job by the team’s rookie rider Ryan Faust for lending the team his talent behind the reins of the sled. I am confident Ryan was the hardest driver for me to pass all day and I hope to have him back again next year. I was very happy that they finished in 5th with everything that goes on in throughout the day at the Soo a rookie team finishing in the Top 5 is excellent.”

Bunke Racing was part of an increased effort on the part of Polaris to get more sleds into the Soo. Polaris Racing was more than happy with the team’s results and wants to proceed with more machines next year. If there are teams interested in enduro sleds contact Tom Rager at Polaris Racing or Gabe Bunke through www.bunkeracing.com.

Bunke Racing would also like to welcome new sponsors USI Skis, XLT Performance and White Pine Lodge located in Christmas, Michigan.

Next up for Bunke Racing is the USCC Chase On The Lake Walker 100 in Walker, Minnesota, February 13, 2011. For more info on Bunke Racing visit www.bunkeracing.com. Follow Bunke Racing on the team’s Facebook fan page.