Brothers Charlie and Dan Revering etched their name into snowmobile racing lore, winning the 56th running of the Soo I-500 snowmobile race on Saturday, February 1.
The brothers from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and the No. 18 Nelson Racing team for which they ride survived a day of heavy attrition in Sault Ste. Marie.
Despite having the best track conditions in several years, the 500 laps around the one-mile oval created havoc for the 36-sled field. Only 16 sleds were running at the end of the day. The race ate up a bunch of engines, tracks, drive belts, suspension components and a lot more.
In fact, running at the very front of the field over the course of the day seemed like a jinx, as many times the leader blew a belt or had other problems. But once the Revering boys grabbed the point, they didn’t let it go.
The Revering’s win also continues a seemingly statistically impossible run of Minnesota-based racers going over to the Soo and outgunning a broad field of extremely talented enduro racers from Michigan on their home track. Since 2011, 12 of the last 15 Soo I-500s have now been won by teams with Minnesota racers – many who are cross-country specialists by day and enduro racers at just this one race each year.

The First 100 Laps At The Soo I-500
After a couple of days of qualifying, 36 sleds lined up on the front stretch for the start of the historic Soo I-500 under bright sunshine for the 10 a.m. start. It was minus 10 degrees at the race start, but it warmed throughout the day.
As soon as the green flag flew, veteran enduro racer Troy Dewald on the No. 21 Cadarette Collision Arctic Cat out jumped ahead of his pole-position son, Zach DeWald on the No. 57 Mickey’s Factory Polaris. But then the son roared past his father on the backstretch.
However, the yellow flag was waved on the very first lap, as Scott Maciag’s No. 26 K.M.W. Polaris shut down in turn four and needed to be towed in. They were restarted two laps later in single file.
On lap eight, the yellow flag waved again when Jacob Ritchie disconnected from the Ritchie Racing Arctic Cat in turn one. At the 10-lap mark, the running order was Mickey’s Factory 57, Cadarette Collision 21, the Kovar Pike Racing 34, the R.C.I. Racing 62 and the DL Racing No. 29.
Lap 19 brought out another yellow when the Ritchie Racing 79 sled needed another tow, this time out of lap three. Danny Maki roared past both DeWalds on the restart on the Kovar-Pike 34 and opened up a gap at the front.
The lead was short-lived, though, because on lap 24 Maki’s Polaris grenaded the drive belt and coasted to a stop on top of turn three, bringing out another yellow flag as he flopped off the side panel and installed a new belt. That put him a lap down to the leaders.
Billy Skea showed the way on the No. 24 Novak Racing sled when the race went green again, followed by the two DeWalds with Joey Burch fourth on the No. 29 DL Racing Polaris. But the yellow waved for the fifth time after 32 laps when the No. 17 R&S Racing Polaris needed a tow.
When things got rolling again, seven-time winner Aaron Christensen on the No. 74 Bunke Racing Polaris worked his way to the front on lap 48 ahead of the Novak 24, followed by the emerging No. 67 Hoos Racing sled ridden by Jordan Carlson. Hoos shortly thereafter moved to the point.
At lap 50, meanwhile, the No. 18 Nelson Racing sled sat in ninth and the Hetteen Heritage No. 54 sat in 14th.
Caution flags waved again on lap 65, and again it was the leader that had the problem. Carlson could be seen on the FloRacing coverage punching his first into the air while he waited for his Hoos sled to be towed out of turn four. The problem: his sled ran out of gasoline.
This yellow scrambled the field, as most sleds ducked into the pits for gas, skis with a fresh set of carbides and some driver changes.
The only two sleds that didn’t pit – the Bouchard Racing No. 99 Arctic Cat four stroker and the Nelson Racing No. 18 Polaris – led the way when the race went green again, but the yellow came quickly when another front runner, this time pole sitter Zach DeWald on the No. 57 Mickey’s Polaris, tumbled in turn three when running third on lap 70. The Nelson 18 pitted this time, shifting them to the back of the field.
When officials tried to go green again there was immediately another incident, as the No. 52 Ironman Racing got sent tumbling in turn one.
Lap 91 brought another shocker – this time a twin. For the third time, the leading sled had problems, as the No. 99 Bouchard Racing slowed dramatically. Like the previous leader, it also ran out of fuel. Meanwhile, the Mickey’s 57 was stopped on the track and was busy changing the drive belt again. Being so close to lap 400, the Soo I-500 crew decided this was a great time for the first plow break, during which racers slowly made laps around the track and many took pit stops.
When the race went green again for lap 106, it was Cadarette 21, RCI 62, Piche Racing 13, World Class Racing 41 and Jay’s Power Center 2 up front.

The Next 100 At The Soo I-500
With fresh drivers on most of the sleds, a plowed track and fresh skis and carbides again, racing was fast and furious when the race went green again.
The R.C.I. Racing 62 sled with Kyle Richter aboard launched toward the front with Gunner Arlaud now on the Cadarette sled running second.
The next yellow came at lap 112 when Taylor Bunke of the defending champ Bunke Racing 74 took a very hard and nasty tumble in turn three. He would later show images on social media of a whole bunch of battle scars on arms, legs and body from tangling with the sled’s studded track. The sled was also rather torn up – meaning the Bunke team wouldn’t be a factor for the win for the rest of the day, though they eventually repaired the sled and re-entered the fray.
The next yellow occurred at lap 127 when the No. 8 Kolbus Racing sled shut down atop turn 1.
When it went yellow, another ex-champ moved to the front as the No. 32 H.C. Racing of Zach Herfindahl and Ryan Trout jumped to the lead but the yellow quickly waved again. Meanwhile, the Hoos Racing 67 got towed off the track again.
Right after green, the race went yellow yet again when the four-stroke Bouchard Racing sled shut down on the backstretch. When the race went green again on lap 135, the No. 57 Mickey’s sled darted past the leaders to get one of their lost laps back, but they still sat two laps down.
Up front, the Piche Racing 13 moved to the front ahead of the Herfindahl sled, with the Nelson 28 third. But two laps later, the No. 52 Ironman Racing sled brought out another yellow after a big tumble. The Bouchard racing sled stalled out again and brought out the yellow flag again on lap 145. At the midway point before the next plow break, it brought many sleds to the pits.
Kyle Richter on the RCI 62 grabbed the lead at about lap 150, but the Piche sled soon moved back to the front. Lap 160 saw another yellow flag wave when the No. 33 Team Alaska Polaris with Iron Dog specialist Robby Schacle shut down in turn two. This yellow brought more pit stops, including the Piche sled and some of the other front runners.
On green, Bobby Menne showed the way on the Jay’s Power Center No. 2 Polaris. He traded the lead back-and-forth with the Herfindahl/Trout sled. Eleven sleds were on the lead lap at lap 165. The Cadarette sled soon pulled up to third, and the W.V. Racing sled clawed its way up to fourth.
Lap 185 saw the next yellow when No. 2 Town Bros. Ski-Doo lost its antifreeze and shut down. The yellow waved again when the No. 20 R&R Racing sled needed a tow lap 195. Time for another plow and set of pit stops.
The Next 100 At The Soo I-500
After those pit stops, the No. 54 Hetteen Heritage sled moved to the front ahead of the Cadarette 21, RCI 62, 44 W.V. and 18 Nelson sled for the restart on lap 208. Lap 217 brought the next yellow when the Northern Crankshafts No. 50 Arctic Cat shut down.
The RCI 62 showed the way on the restart and had an interesting engagement with the two-laps-down No. 19 Tommy Bauer Racing Polaris. The Bauer sled stayed ahead until lap 227, when the World Class Racing No. Polaris brought out the next yellow flag, and thus gained a lap back.
On green, the No. 57 Mickey’s pole-sitting sled with Larry Young Jr. aboard roared around the outside of the leader, which put them on the end of the lead lap. That was a huge comeback after, at one point, being four laps down. It was short-lived, though, as their drive belt snapped on the backstretch, causing the yellow to fly again.
Lap 244 brought out another caution flag, with the Northern Crankshafts Cat down again. After green, this is how the top 10 sat at the 250-lap midway point: 1. RCI 62 Polaris; 2. Nelson Racing 18 Polaris; 3. Nelson Racing 28 Polaris; 4. Cadarette 21 Cat; 5. Hetteen Heritage 54 Polaris; 6. Jay’s Power Center 2 Polaris; 7. DL Racing 29 Polaris; 8 WV Racing 44 Polaris; 9. Novak Motorsports 24 Polaris; 10. Piche Racing 13 Polaris.
The Nelson Racing 18 moved to the front for the first time on lap 252.

Finally the race started to round into a rhythm with a decent green flag run, but fuel levels became an increasing concern. On about lap 270, the 62 R.C.I. that was running third ran out of fuel, but he was able to get far enough off of the track to not trigger a caution. The yellow flag did wave at lap 286 when the Countryside No. 12 shut down.
With 290 laps left, only five sleds were on the lead lap: The Nelson 18, Nelson 28, Bauer 19, Cadarette 21 and DL Racing 29. And just about everybody needed fuel. Being this close to the 300-lap mark, it was time for another plow break.
The Penultimate 100 At The Soo I-500
A total of 23 sleds took the green flag with 199 laps left to go, with a few more sleds being repaired by re-entering later. Post pit stop, the DL Racing Polaris was up front with the Cadarette 21 Cat in second and Tommy Bauer 19 third. Then came the two Nelson sleds.
Lap 311 brought a yellow with the Piche Racing 13 parked up against the hay bales with a blown drive belt. It was a quick yellow, though, and soon the sleds were roaring around the 1-mile oval again.
With DL 29 leading, the No. 13 Piche sled brought out yet another yellow flag with 178 laps left, thanks to what looked like a broken ski.
When the race went green again, the leading No. 29 DL Racing Polaris was under assault and got passed by several sleds but never lost the lead. Instead, sixth place No. 24 was pestering the leader and got a lap back, and the No. 2 Jay’s Power Center and 54 Hetteen Heritage sled were fighting for their laps back too, along with the several-laps-down 57 Mickey’s sled.
Meanwhile, the No. 28 Nelson sled that had been strong all day had its track come apart while they were running fourth. Their day was now done.
The rest of the top five ran in order, calmly clicking off laps, until there were 126 laps left – when Ryan Spencer who was now on the Cadarette Cat, roared past the DL 29 to grab the lead. Seconds later, the yellow flag waved again.
On the restart with 133 laps left, Spencer led the field up front on the Cadarette 21, quickly opening a gap on other lead-lap sleds. He was chased, though, but more lapped sleds who were giving it their all to get more laps back from the leader.
A yellow flag bunched the field again with 116 laps left. When it went green again, only the Caderette 21, Tommy Bauer 19 and DL Racing 29 were on the lead lap, though the Nelson 18, Jay’s 2, Hetteen 54 and Novak 24 were all only one lap down. Spencer ran the 21 sled bullishly, trying to keep those lap-down sleds where they were.
The Bauer 19 Polaris with Ryan Macaig behind the handlebar grabbed the lead on the backstretch with 112 laps left, but on that same lap the No. 57 Mickey’s sled blew yet another drive belt and caused another yellow flag. Soo officials decided to use this yellow as the race’s final plow break.
The Last 100 At The Soo I-500
Through pit stop reshuffles, the race was actually started with the No. 54 Hetteen Heritage sled taking the green flag first, at the tail end of the lead lap. The Bauer sled that actually was the leader stayed in his wake, with the Nelson 18, Cadarette 21 and DL Racing 29 behind them.
Then the leader of the race got bit again as the No. 19 Bauer sled slowed on the front stretch. It appeared he shredded the track on the backstretch. He nursed the sled into the infield but their race was done with 87 laps left.
After a few sleds roared in for pit stops with 84 laps left, including the No. 18 Nelson Racing Polaris that had inherited the lead, the field was aligned in order for a restart with the No. 21 Cadarette Cat now in front with Gunnar Arlaud in the saddle. He was followed by the DL 29, Nelson 18 and Hetteen 54 as the lone sleds on the lead lap.
The caution waved again with 78 laps left, but it only lasted a lap before the sleds roared again. Things were getting serious. The DL Racing No. 29 with Nick Wickerham aboard grabbed the top spot with a pass around the outside with 76 laps left, and at about the same time the Hetteen 54 moved past the Cadarette sled into third.
That Hetteen sled was on the charge. After fighting all day to get back up on the lead lap, the sled with Paul Brown now behind the bars roared past the other two, grabbed the lead and started to pull away. A yellow flag waved again when the Brownlee Boys Polaris shut down with 69 laps left.
After 10 uneventful green laps, the No. 18 Nelson Racing sled with Dan Revering driving dove under the No. 54 sled and grabbed the lead back with, coincidentally, 54 laps left. Brown on sled 54 fought back immediately, and the two drivers staged a battle that looked like it should happen in the last lap. They were nose-to-tail at some times, side-by-side at others as there still 50 to go.
Revering drifted high with 48 laps left, opening the door to Brown to cut under him and grab the lead back. Then, with 46 laps left and Revering directly behind him, Brown suddenly slowed on the 54 sled and threw a hand up to warn following riders. He banged his fist on the handlebar as he coasted to a stop. Then he tried to pull the recoil, but we could see on the FloRacing coverage that rope wasn’t moving – the engine has seized after 454 laps of race action.
Another leader was eliminated.
The race went green again with 54 laps left and Revering on the No. 18 Nelson Polaris led the way with the Cadarette and DL Racing sleds in traffic behind him. Immediately behind Revering and aggressively trying to get back one of the 22 laps they were behind was the No. 57 Mickey’s sled. But once more, that 57 quit on the track and needed a tow. This time it was terminal, though. They’d be scored 17th overall.
The race went green again with 37 laps left but yellow waved quickly again, this time for the No. 77 Brownlee Boys sled that was stopped on the backstretch. They were also done – and ended up 16th.
The green waved again with 33 laps left. Revering again led the way on the Nelson 18. Ryan Spencer on the Cadarette sled stayed within a second or two of Revering for awhile while Joey Burch on the DL Racing 29 drifted back into traffic.
Then Spencer tightened up to Revering’s snowflap with 24 laps left, trying different lines to find an opening. He hung there for a bit but then Revering started to creep away again. The lead grew to 3 seconds by lap 482, with Burch on the DL 29 more than a half-lap back.
Dan Revering continued to bounce around the track, putting in one flawless lap after another as he pulled away to what looked like an inevitable win. With 10 laps to go, the lead had ballooned to 7 seconds. But in a 500-mile race at tough as the Soo, nothing is guaranteed.
A potential tangle when lapping the K&E Polaris with six laps left probably got a few hearts racing, but it was the waving yellow flag with 2.5 laps to go that turned this marathon race into a sprint. The Let’s Go Racing No. 10 Polaris had stopped up by the haybales and was missing a ski. That sled was cleared quickly, though, so the racers were able to take the green flag and the white flag together, with only one lapped sled between the Nelson Racing leader and the second-place Cadarette Cat.
Dan Revering clearly wasn’t in the mood for drama. On green he launched hard and blasted far ahead of the field. Leaving turn two, the lead was already about 15 sled lengths. Revering appeared to ease the Nelson sled through turns three an four and then pinned his Polaris toward the waving checkered flag. He finished 1.358 seconds ahead of the Cadarette Cat. The DL Racing Polaris with Burch in the saddle finished third.
The rest of the top 5 were the W.V. Racing 44 Polaris (1 lap back) in fourth, then the Jay’s Power Center 02 Polaris (three laps back). They were followed by the Langaas 23 Arctic Cat (-5 laps), the R.C.I. 62 Polaris (-13 laps), the Novak 24 Polaris (-15 laps), the Let’s Go Racing Polaris (-16 laps) and the K&E Racing Polaris (-17 laps).
Words With Champions
Brothers Charlie and Dan Revering from Fergus Falls, Minnesota, etched their names into the history books with this stunning win on the Nelson Racing 18. The grandsons of the famous John Bosek split driving duties throughout the day, but they took a victory lap together around the track, with Charlie holding the checkered flag sitting behind driving Dan.
Interviewed after the race over the P.A. system and on the excellent FloRacing coverage, Dan Revering said, “That one feels good… The whole team and everything was awesome, it’s unreal, I can’t believe it.”
Asked about the battle with Paul Brown on the 54 Hetteen sled, he said, “Paul had some smoke, he was riding well, so when I saw him I thought, ‘Oh man, now I’ve really got to wick it up!’” Dan Revering said. “We battled for quite a while and then he went down with something. And then I was just kind of cruising and trying to ride fast and [Ryan] Spencer showed up all of a sudden, and I’m like, ‘Oh no!’ because I knew the [Cadarette No.] 21 was in second. So I knew I had to hammer down again. But now it feels so good – it’s unbelievable.
“You just hope it holds up – dad, Charlie and I, we sit down and talk about everything. We were in the slot, the setup was close to right where we needed it to be,” Dan Revering continued.
Charlie Revering expanded on that thought.
“The machine was absolutely dialed,” Charlie Revering said. “As Dan said, we were aiming for a slot because the Soo is ever-changing. We made some last-minute changes last night and we were going back and forth. Then we woke up this morning and we talked about them again, and we were satisfied with where we were [before the changes] and we moved back to that.
“I mean, right away when Dan went out on the track [to start the race] we were a little uneasy about the setup, but then the track just worked right into our setup. From then on [the plan] was keep moving forward, keep maintaining position and try to maintain our equipment. We just tried to stay out of the dirt and the bumps and just try to make it to [lap] 501, and we made it.”
Along with a picture of the second-place trophy, the Cadarette team posted on Facebook, “Gave it everything we had one more time, and managed to put our Arctic Cat – Snowmobiles ZR back on the podium for the 3rd year in a row, finishing 2nd at the International 500 Snowmobile Race! Thank you to all of our crew, family, fans, and sponsors for making this another unforgettable race!”