Blaine Stephenson earned the season points championship on the traveling USSA ProStar Cup ice oval racing circuit for the 2024-25 season, but he wasn’t the first one to the waving checkered flag in Saturday’s Pro Champ final at Beausejour, Manitoba. Neither was his main rival, Gunnar Sterne.
Instead, veteran racer Justin Peterson of Campbellsport, Wisconsin, scored a popular breakthrough win in a particularly intriguing final on the expertly manicured high-speed oval in one of snowmobile racing’s most historic towns. Brett Richter was there, and files the complete report seen below:
ProStar Cup Tour Round 9 Recap
A long, nine-race ProStar Cup Tour season was scheduled to end right where it began, on the big half mile oval in Beausejour, Manitoba. And end it did. The weariness of seven straight weekends of racing to end the season was evident on the teams which committed to all of the stops on the 2024-2025 Tour.
The weekend was scheduled to begin with a Friday afternoon practice session, but warm weather the week prior to the race caused organizers at the Canadian Power Tobaggon Championships (CPTC) to air on the side of caution and cancel practice. That decision allowed the half-mile ice oval circuit surface to get a good night’s rest under very cold conditions. With Saturday morning’s early temperature near 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, the track was more than ready for the grueling 50-race schedule set before it.
The Beausejour race staff divided the race program into two distinct sessions running the “sport” classes first followed by a time-specific “Pro” class schedule. This new schedule allowed both local fans and live stream audiences to concentrate their viewing time into a 3.5-hour block for the Pro classes. It also required teams to sharpen their tuning skills as turn around times were minimized.
As with all ProStar Cup Tour events, the 440 Pro Champ class ran three rounds of heats followed by a last-chance qualifier (LCQ) and a 15-lap final. With 22 registered drivers, about half of the field would be watching the final from the grandstands. Knowing this, the heat races were extremely competitive and hard fought.
In the first round of heats, ProStar Cup Tour points leader Blaine Stephenson driving his No. 102 Wahl Brothers Polaris took the checkered flag first. Gunnar Sterne, second in points on the Tour, also captured a heat victory on his No. 220 Red Bull Ski-Doo. The third heat went to top five Tour driver Justin Peterson on his number 39X Ski-Doo. It was the beginning of a very good day for Peterson.
The three rounds of heat races were run competitively, efficiently and without incident. The fields were closely bunched with never a clear run away winner. Round two of the heats found both Stephenson and Sterne with another heat victory. The third heat of round two went to the No. 75 Ski-Doo of Calvin Cook, a testament to all of the work Cook has put in this season to bring a competitive sled to the track. This one race left the entire Cook family eager for the start of next season.
The third round of heats found Stephenson and Sterne in the same heat with Sterne taking the victory and Stephenson finishing in second. Heat two went to the No. 221 of Reed Klinger, again the sign of a good evening still to come. Heat three went to Tanner Foss on the No. 111 Wahl Brothers Polaris. Unfortunately, Danick Lambert, sitting in 3rd place on the season long Tour, suffered a broken ski loop on his Weatherill Racing Ski-Doo, forcing him to run the LCQ, Thankfully, a large margin between Lambert and fourth place Peterson relieved Lambert of any extra pressure.
The Final Final In Pro Champ
In front of a nice-sized crowd, 12 sleds lined up for the last 15-lap final of the 2024-2025 ProStar Cup Tour season. CPTC Flagman Riley Baker pulled the green flag and the entire field drove fearlessly into turn one. When the field crossed the start/finish line for the first time, lap one was being led by the Ski-Doo of Gunnar Sterne. Sterne was followed by Justin Peterson, Reed Klinger, Travis MacDonald, Blaine Stephenson and the rest of the field. With temperatures cooling rapidly, snow dust was a consistent issue, limiting visibility and challenging racers mired in mid pack.
Sterne stretched out to a half-straightaway lead, but right around the halfway point the powerplant on his No. 220 ride started to sound off; a sound even the most casual fan knew was troublesome. Two laps later, Sterne pulled to the inside of the frontstretch and retired from the race. The dejection in Sterne’s body language told the tale.
Justin Peterson roared by into the lead, with Travis MacDonald on the No. 8 Ski-Doo running a strong second and Stephenson pushing his way up to third.
With Sterne sidelined, many observers expected the No. 102 Polaris of Stephenson to begin marching forward. But with three laps remaining, the normally reliable Wahl Brothers machine developed an illness and limped around the remaining few laps.
Sterne, Calvin Cook and Sabrina Blanchet all pulled off with mechanical issues before the 15-lap race was completed. With Stephenson losing power, Reed Klinger’s grabbed third-place position but was being pestered by his brother, Dane Klinger.
The final went 15 laps green to checkered ending a very safe day of racing. The final race order was Justin Peterson, MacDonald, Reed Klinger, Dane Klinger, Phillip Roy-Lalonde, Tanner Foss, Danick Lambert, Gavin Peterson, Stephenson, Cook, Sterne and Blanchet.
With the 9th round completed, the No. 102 Polaris of Blaine Stephenson of Hutchinson, Minnesota, secured the season long championship, followed by the No. 220 Ski-Doo of Gunnar Sterne of West Chicago, Illinois in second place and the No. 3 Ski-Doo of Quebec’s Danick Lambert third.
The ProStar Cup Tour will celebrate their season at the year end banquet on March 22, 2025 in Wausau, Wisconsin.
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CPTC the fastest safest super speed way snowmobile track in the world, a true delight to race on and watch racing.
I watched the whole weekend of racing over 4-5 days on the CPTC TV option and again this year I was very impressed with their high-quality race coverage. The best coverage of covering the whole track that I have seen. Good instant replays and real good racer interviews during track down time. That track sure seems like excellent racers track and appears to be a safe track and the flagman and whole track crew seem outstanding. That is one race I would love to make it to as a fan. Congrats to all the racers and Champion Stephenson. I liked pulling for some of handful or more of great women racers. Sabrina and the Westlund girls are fun to watch.