I-500

The I-500 is an American snowmobile race associated with the USCC Racing Association (USCC) which starts at the Seven Clans Casino in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The cross-country race is a 3-day event and is 500 miles long (170 miles a day). The race was first run in 1966 and was then run from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Saint Paul, Minnesota. The race is now started in Thief River Falls and is run through the Red Lake Indian Reservation and finishes again at the starting line. The I-500 has been known to be the most grueling snowmobile race of all time next to the Iron Dog in Alaska. Ski-Doo racer Bryan Dyrdahl currently holds the Pro 600 record at the I-500 at 5 wins (2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009). Arctic Cat racer Justin Morken currently holds the record as the youngest racer to ever finish the I-500 (14 years, 16 days old in 2007). On April 18, 2009, USCC Racing president Pat Mach announced at the USCC year-end awards ceremony in the Arrowood resort in Alexandria, Minnesota, that the USCC plans to race the original I-500 from Winnipeg to St. Paul in 2012. That would be the 40th anniversary for the I-500.