Dick Extends Lead On Day 2 Of USCC Red Lake I-500 Hallstrom Wins First Ever USCC Vintage I-500 Class

Thief River Falls, Minn. (January 22, 2011) - Arctic Cat rider Brian Dick extended his lead on a bitterly cold Day 2 of the USCC National Guard Cross-Country Snowmobile Championship Seven Clans Red Lake I-500. While temperatures once again hovered in the single digits below zero Fahrenheit, Day 2 dawned clear and sunny with light winds, making for an overall pleasant day for both racers and fans. The Day 2 course brought riders North out of Seven Clans Casino and onto the river into Thief River Falls. Riders then headed West to Warren, Minn., to make the first of two fuel stops. The second loop sent riders North and West and then back around to Warren, then it was basically Southeast all the way back to the Casino. Day 1 saw amazingly low attrition with only 13 riders falling out of the race. Day 2 saw the attrition rate increase to around 20 riders.

The starting order for the FXR Pro 600 class was inverted so Dick left back in the pack of riders. Arctic Cat rider Cory Davis broke trail most of the day and was followed by Ski-Doo riders Ross Erdman and Cory Grant. Dick ran the 170+-mile course in 2:38:59.462 for a two-day total time of 4:57:05.000, stretching his lead over second place Arctic Cat rider Ryan Simons to 4:34.000. Arctic Cat rider Zach Pattyn sits in third, 9:21.000 out of first place; after Pattyn sits Davis (10:29.000 out), Erdman (10:34.000 out), Aaron Christensen (11:04.000 out), Corey Davidson (11:49.000 out) and Justin Tate (17:45.000 out). Other notables include last year's winner Dan Ebert in 11th place, 21:03.000 out of first place and Gabe Bunke, who sits in 12th place 21:47.000 behind first place.

Arctic Cat rider Ryan Greening sits atop the time charts in the Ski-Doo Semi-Pro 600 class with a two-day time of 5:18:20.000. Greening has over a 14-minute lead on second place rider Ken Christensen and over 16 minutes on third place rider Mike Hedlund.

The first ever USCC Red Lake I-500 Vintage class took to the course, following the modern sleds and riding the full course including fuel stops. There were 34 sleds registered and seven finished. Arctic Cat (1979 El Tigre Cross-Country Cat) rider Joey "Hollywood" Hallstrom led the pack into the casino taking the win. He was followed by two-time I-500 winner (1976,1978) Brian Nelson, Joey Potucek, Dylan Slominski, Mike Fugleberg, Steve Wosick, Brian Hitt and Marcus Wetterlund.

The Day 3 course will take riders along the same route North out of Seven Clans Casino and into Thief River Falls and then head East to the fuel stop in Goodridge, Minn. Then riders will head North to Grygla, then loop back south back to Goodridge, then it's East, South and West back to the Casino. There will be an awards banquet at 3:30 after the race.

Fans will be able to follow the race live online at www.usccracing.com as well as on the USCC fan page on Facebook. For more information on USCC racing please visit www.usccracing.com.

The USCC racing circuit is entering its ninth year and is the largest cross-country snowmobile racing organization in North America. USCC has expanded with an Eastern circuit called USCC East. The USCC and USCC East hold races in six states including North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Maine and New Hampshire. Follow USCC on Facebook or visit www.usccracing.com for information, registration, news and race results. Contact USCC at: 701-248-2029. For sponsorship information contact Noel Schanilec: noel@usccracing.com. Media contact, Jim Urquhart: jimu@usccracing.com.