295/s

[Wildfire II]

Vintagecatman You have message

[Munsee]

I would like to see the photo you are referring to, my dad is Gary Munsee. It would be neat to see a photo of him on the starting line of the I 500. I still have some of his race stuff that he brought back with him.

[75rat]

Mike,
Haven’t been on here for a while, but just saw your post. Here’s a screen shot from the video of the 1974 I-500. Your dad is 3rd sled in, next to Marv Zimmerman (#321) and Jim Dano (#89). Looks like the late Jon Carlson (#58) on his right.
Pretty sure I have a better still photo of the lineup, but haven’t found yet…I’ll keep looking. Also attached a 1974 JD race team photo which shows your dad.

[Munsee]

Thanks for posting this still shot. I have watched the video that the shot came from, but I never noticed him in the video until seeing your posted. I went back and watched it again and could seem him in the video.(Pretty cool)

I have seen the factory team photo that you posted, but it is always neat to see these old memories. The gentleman to his right was, his mechanic, Fred Clayton. Sadly my dad and Fred have within the last few years both passed. I wish I would have had some more detailed conversations of his racing days. This forum seems like has a lot of people who might have been involved or know of some stories/memories of early years of John Deere snowmobile racing.

I still have some of his stuff from his racing. I do remember the sled that they sent him in the fall of 73 to practice with to prepare for the winter of racing. I also remember the racing sled that he was eventually able to bring home (295s). That sled set in a storage trailer for years, but I'm not quite sure where it ended up. It had the bigger front tank, backrest, twist throttle, hood lettered up with "Munsee Sales and Service" different exhaust and other things not found on the stock models.

I really appreciate the time you have taken to share these memories, as years pass they will only become harder to come by. If you find anything else I would love to see what you found.

[75rat]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your dad and his mechanic. We are loosing too many of these guys, along with their stories, too fast. I did attend the 1974 I-500, but unfortunately was not able participate….so no great race stories to share.
Would be neat if you could track down his old 295/S. Yes, very different from a stock sled and nearly impossible to find now. What kind of racing stuff did he save? Old race stuff is always cool!

Several of the old Deere race guys are involved with the Snowmobile Hall of Fame (HOF) and many attend their annual banquet. (Actually being held this weekend.)

[dator-bob]

Hi Mike, sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad. I was on the John Deere race team with your Dad in 1973-74 I'm on the bottom row 2nd from the left with my mechanic Gerry Anseeuw on my right. Your dad was larger than life he was fun to be around. One time after we had dinner at a restaurant in Beaver Dam, we all went to the bar next door for a few pop's. We were all having a good time and playing the jute box. We would put a quarter in and punch in a song, but it kept playing the same song over and over ( Hey did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world today) by Charlie Rich. Your dad had rigged the jute box to play the same song over and over, we all had a good laugh over that.--------------- Bob Enns

[Munsee]

75rat....I know we still have his suit and helmet. I will have to do some investigating on the whereabouts of the sled, but I'm afraid it's long gone. I wish I could find that old sled (295s), after reading other posts on here I see how rare these sleds are. Pretty cool that you could attend the race. After watching the video that you posted, I also notice that he is in a clip a little later in the video that shows him taking off from the starting line.

Bob.....Thanks for posting a great memory of time spent with my dad. When I read your post, I couldn't believe I was able to connect with someone that actually raced along side of him and experienced the once in a life time chance to race on a team like that. I'm sure you have lots of stories and memories of racing and other time spent preparing for racing. I really appreciate you taking the time to post back to me, I really enjoy hearing of the experiences. I did see somewhere on the internet that showed the results of the race and it appears that my dad didn't finish even the first leg of the race and was wondering what happened that kept him from making the first check point? What other races did you guys race in?

[dator-bob]

Hey Mike---We definitely living the dream of racing for JD. It was quite the experience. Before the Wpg I-500 we went to the South Dakota Governors Cup race, that was fun not sure a how we all did, I broke a chain case by hitting a rock in the ditch. Travelling with such a big group was interesting, 20 some guys going to a restaurant was fun, as was checking into hotels organized confusion.
I'm not sure what took your dad out of the Winnipeg race, most of the guys had some problems. I finished 3Rd fast time the second day, then heading to Wpg the last day I was leading and the flags sent us down into a big drainage ditch, there was a huge snow drift that was over hanging the other side that I had to go thru to get back into the road ditch, well I got so stuck in about 4 feet of soft snow that it took me about 10 min to get going again, by that time a bunch of sleds had passed me. About 5 more miles I started losing power, and then it sized up, a bunch of snow got sucked into the air box a leaned one cylinder out, end of the race for me about 2-3 miles from the Canadian boarder.

[Munsee]

Bob...Sounds like you were having some real success, it must have been a big let down when your sled seized up. The way you were running you were probably heading for a nice finish. Keep the stories coming!

75rat....I did some digging around and I think I at least found one of the race chassis (practice or race I don't know). I have attached some photos of what I found, one photo is of the larger tank which I think were only on the race sleds. Another photo is of the serial tag, I'm sure someone on here can tell verify if this is a race chassis.(JDSOC 020029M Nov 73) The other photo is of the hood. There is some stuff missing like the engine, skis, seat, etc., I will keep searching and see what I can fine. Let me know if any of this stuff is from the 74 factory racing days.

I will try to get some better photo, it is in an old shed.

[75rat]

Congratulations Mike, you definitely have a factory ‘74 I-500 race sled. Most likely your dad’s. Is there anything else on the tunnel? Would like to see more pics. Are you planning to restore it?
Btw; the hood is from a factory ‘73 JD500 racer. Was he in the ‘73 race too?
Jim

[AirborneX4Special]

[Munsee]

He raced on the JD team in both 73 and 74 seasons. I will get some better photos when I can, its in an old shed and there is a bunch of snow keeping the door from opening. When the weather gets better I will get it outside and take some other photos. There is not a lot left of it, like I said before the motor, seat, hood, etc. missing, it is basically the chassis. I will try to track some of the other parts down, but this is a start. I would like to know if the serial number will positively identify the chassis.

[AirborneX4Special]

Having the intact chassis is a big deal.