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| 4/2/2009 4:11:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Justin Durand shows engine that powered world record speed
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Turbo-charged sled lights up 162 mph
Dave Greschner
Sports editor
Justin Durand gets a twinkle in his eye when he recalls a January afternoon of going fast on a snowmobile.
That would be world record fast.
"I was never on something so fast in my life," said Durand of the 7-second rush.
On smooth lake ice at Buffalo, Minn., the 29-year old Rice Lake snowmobile speed runner clocked 162.406 mph, a National Straightline Snowmobile Racing world's record for a full-bodied production snowmobile.
The new record shattered the previous mark by nearly 10 mph over the 1,000-foot track.
The speed record was a long time coming for Durand, who began tinkering with snowmobiles when he bought his first sled with paper route money as a 12-year old in Wyoming.
For the past 5 years, tinkering with snowmobiles has involved getting a turbocharger kit to coax his goal of 160 mph out of a 1994 Yamaha V-Max machine fueled by 125 octane gas.
"I had my share of problems. It took 3 or 4 years to get it dialed in," said Durand, whose 2009 racing season officially ends when he picks up an armful of trophies at the NSSR awards banquet Saturday.
Durand also had his share of doubters. He was told that snowmobile turbo charging had already been done with grim to fair results.
"One gentleman in the industry told me I was wasting my time and money. He said I should save my nickels and dimes and then come see him and he'd build me a sled," recalls Durand.
"I wasn't going to have anyone else build me a sled. So that was a challenge. It was on."
Durand traces his background in turbo charging to his dad's tractor pulling days in the 1970s. Bruce Durand was driving turbo diesel tractors which use exhaust gas pressure to increase power.
"I knew there was a lot of potential in doing the same to a snowmobile," said Durand.
When Durand left the mountain snowmobile riding he knew as a teenager in Wyoming and moved to Wisconsin, he found trail riding didn't fill his urge for excitement. He got into riding fast on lakes and began wondering just how fast he could go.
The world record quest officially began in 2001 when Durand found a 7-year old Yamaha V-Max snowmobile still in the crate.
Durand worked on the "brand new" 1994 machine and went racing. He laughs at the memory.
"I was hooked on this speed thing. I thought I had it souped up pretty fast, but then I got my butt handed to me at the speed run," Durand said.
But that was another "game on" challenge, recalls Durand, who spent the next 5 years building his own custom turbo charger kit for the 1994 factory snowmobile's two-stroke engine.
Two years were spent researching and designing before any fabrication work began. He was helped along the way by Tri-M Welding in Chetek and Trego Machine and Tool in Barron.
There were trials, errors and embarrassments. There were days when the sled bolted off the green light but sputtered and gurgled long before the timing lights recorded the speed.
But in the winter of 2008, Durand and his Caveman Racing Team, including Curt Wald of Cable and Paul Susienka of Washburn, clocked 144.48 mph. Durand knew he was closing in on his 160 mph goal.
After more modifications last summer, Durand put the sled on an engine dyno machine to measure the horsepower. The engine that put out 150 hp from the factory was now at an incredible 500 plus.
That didn't mean that Durand could hold on for a world record. When he was finally able to test it on lake ice in early winter, the front end was rising 8 inches off the ice. That was too much, for the sled has to be tight to the ice to lessen wind resistance.
After changes in the suspension to correct the lift, Durand was ready for the first race of the NSSR season. On Jan. 17, he brought the sled to the line at Buffalo.
"It started lifting some on me so I backed off a little. I thought, 'That was horrible,'" recalls Durand.
But the timing lights between 900 and 1,000 feet had recorded 158.5 mph. It was a new record and close to the 160 mark. The team stiffened the rear suspension, and on Durand's second round there was no backing off.
The display board flashed 162.406 mph, a speed previously unheard of for a full-bodied, production chassis snowmobile at 750 pounds (sled and driver).
"It felt good," said Durand with a smile.
Smaller sleds with turbo-charged motorcycle engines have turned 177 mph. Now, Durand wants to go 170 mph with his full-body.
With more tinkering there's room for more boost, he says. Boost is positive air pressure into the motor, providing more power, which equals more speed.
But at the line, when Durand looks down at two orange cones that mark the timing lights between 900 and 1,000 feet, he's still amazed at how fast he'll cover the length of three football fields atop a sled on an 11-inch wide rubber track.
"I think there's no way I can go that far in 7 seconds. It takes just about all I can do to hang on," said Durand, who weighs about 240 pounds.
"For the first 50 feet you walk off the line slowly," said Durand, who is racing only against time, not other drivers. "When you accelerate it sets you back. The game is on and you tuck your body down."
After the speed is recorded, it takes all 2,500 feet of the shutdown area to stop the sled.
Durand has never had an accident. Every nut, every bolt is meticulously inspected before he pulls on his leather race suit. He says there is talk of requiring sleds to use parachutes, such as in car drag racing.
Durand's world record speed this year will actually be recorded in two divisions: in the Open Lake Racer class and for all full-bodied snowmobiles. This weekend he'll also be honored for the points championship in Open Lake Racer, in which he was undefeated during the five-race series at Minnesota tracks.
Durand hopes the world record will bring in sponsorships to offset some production costs. It has already brought in inquiries from racers wanting Durand to build them a sled, a cost the Rice Lake racer estimates at $40,000.
But for now, Durand continues in the commercial recycling business with his dad. Together they operate Badger State Recovery, picking up waste that includes paper and X-ray films.
And for all the speed Durand enjoys on lake tracks, he also goes trail riding on snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles with his wife and two children.
That must take Durand back to the days when he was 12 years old, riding his first Yamaha sled that went 40 mph "on a good day." Now it's 40 mph times four.
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