62nd Eagle River World Championship Preview: The Competitors

A very impressive field of 25 high-quality drivers has signed up in the Formula III class to make a run at a World Championship in Eagle River, Wisconsin, this coming weekend, January 17-19.

The field includes past World Champions like four-timer Blaine Stephenson and two-time defending champion Matt Goede. It also features four other hungry drivers who have finished second in this greatest of all oval sprint races – Michiganders Joe Burch and Zach Dewald, Wisconsinite Tom Olson and decorated multi-time points champ Gunnar Sterne from Illinois – and now desperately want to make it onto the podium’s top step.

The list of drivers also includes folks who have excelled at other forms of racing, including enduro, cross-country and vintage, plus young stars in the making. Is the next PJ Wandersheid (who won his first World Championship in 2001 at age 18) or Blaine Stephenson (who won his first at age 21 in 2018) in the field? They weren’t household names until they forced their way into history with stunning victories!

Time trials for the World Championship class will be Friday morning on the Derby’s famed half-mile, high-banked ice oval. Racing Friday night will put one driver in Sunday’s final; the other 24 drivers will battle for the nine remaining front-row starting positions with heats, quarterfinals and semifinals Saturday afternoon. Then two more drivers will earn second-row starting positions on Sunday morning in the last chance qualifier.

2024 Eagle River
Opening ceremonies before the 2024 Eagle River World Championship final.

Other exciting racing action will also fill the weekend in multiple classes. But the big World Championship final will run at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. That’s when a dozen drivers will dice it out for 25 laps to see who next gets their name inscribed on the Snow Goer Cup traveling trophy.

Snow Goer is headed Eagle River this weekend, and will cover the event like a cozy blanket. Check our website and our social media throughout the weekend for updated. That includes our exclusive Snow Goer Tip Sheet fictional odds for each front-row qualifier on Saturday night. Snow Goer and its dearly departed sister publication Snow Week have been setting fictional odds on this race since about 1990, long, long before some podcasters ripped off the idea and format and now set their own odds!

ALSO, tune into our Snow Goer Live episode Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. central time on Facebook and Youtube for a preview of the World Championship race with a famous past champion!

Now, without further delay, here’s the 2024 Formula III World Championship field based on who has registered for the class as of noon on Wednesday, January 15 (below). For drivers who have previously earned a spot into a World Championship final, we’ve shown their best finish according to our records. If no “best finish” is listed, it means that driver has not yet made it into the W.C. final.

NAME, AGE, SLED, HOMETOWN, BEST FINISH (if applicable)

Joe Burch, 33, No. 29 Polaris, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan BEST FINISH: 2nd in 2024
Calvin Cook, 22, No. 75 Polaris, Dayton, Minnesota BEST FINISH: 9th in 2023
Zach DeWald, 23, No. 57 Polaris, Twining, Michigan BEST FINISH: 2nd in 2023
Tanner Foss, 26, No. 14 Polaris, Middle River, Minnesota
Tyler Foster, 23, No. 33T Polaris, Unionville, Michigan
Matt Goede, 36, No. 28 Ski-Doo, New Germany, Minnesota BEST FINISH: Winner in 2023, 2024
Ezra Graumann, 23, No. 61 Polaris, Chelsea, Wisconsin
Dakota Harris, 25, No. 23 Polaris, Morley, Michigan BEST FINISH: 5th in 2022
Reed Klinger, 22, No. 221 Polaris, Athens, Wisconsin
Benjamin Langaas, 29, No. 231 Arctic Cat, Thief River Falls, Minnesota BEST FINISH: 6th in 2022
Ryan McCaig, 28. No. 54 Polaris, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario
Bobby Menne, 33, No. 131 Polaris, Anoka, Minnesota
Luke Olson, 20, No. 29 Polaris, Ishpeming, Michigan BEST FINISH: 12th in 2023 & 2024
Tom Olson, 36, No. 39 Polaris, Madison, Wisconsin BEST FINISH: 2nd in 2021
Tavish Perry, 29. No. 85x Ski-Doo, Eagle River, Wisconsin
Gavin Peterson, 18, No. 6 Ski-Doo, Chisago City, Minnesota BEST FINISH: 5th in 2024
Zach Rogers, 21, No. 21 Polaris, Wausau, Wisconsin
Mason Schuette, 25, No. 48x Polaris, Eagle River, Wisconsin BEST FINISH: 8th in 2024
Dustin Schwandt, 36, No. 326 Arctic Cat, Fox Lake, Wisconsin
Andy Shoemaker, 32, No. 22 Polaris, Pinconning, Michigan BEST FINISH: 5th in 2023
Blaine Stephenson, 28, No. 102 Polaris, Hutchinson, Minnesota BEST FINISH: Winner in 2018, 2019, 2020 & 2021
Gunnar Sterne, 31, No. 220 Ski-Doo, West Chicago, Illinois BEST FINISH: 2nd in 2022
Tyler Town, 28, No. 2 Ski-Doo, Traverse City, Michigan BEST FINISH: 9th in 2024
Jarrett VanDolder, 24, No. 991 Ski-Doo, Owen Sound, Ontario
Dan Voeltner, No. 11V Polaris, Eagle River, Wisconsin



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