Besides the World Championship race on Sunday afternoon, Friday Night Thunder is arguably the high light of the Eagle River Snowmobile Derby. The evening started off with the Semi-Pro Champ class. Joey Fjerstad, of Minneapolis, Minn., got a great hole shot and established an early lead. Fast on his Polaris, it became clear the rest of the field would have to run hard to catch him.
Out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Travis MacDonald appeared up to the challenge. Aboard his Ski-Doo, he pursued the chase. Fellow Canadian Curtis Boivin was also in the running on his Polaris. MacDonald and Boivin traded for the second and third position throughout the race but neither were able to catch Fjerstad, who took the win. MacDonald finished second and Boivin third.
Beau Van Strydonk, of Tomahawk, Wisc., added two more checkered flags to his collection this Friday night. Aboard his Polaris, Van Strydonk got wins in Pro Sprint 600 and Junior III Sprint 600. He certainly earned his win in the Junior class after a battle with both Matt Ritchie and Gunnar Sterne, on Polaris’s. By the third lap of the seven-lap race, however, Van Strydonk had taken the lead.
The 46th Annual Eagle River World Championship Snowmobile Derby continues Saturday and Sunday, when a new Eagle River World Champion will be crowned.