Nick Van Strydonk

Let’s say hello to the 13, Nick Van Strydonk. Something happened to Strydonk, he’s back to fourth. In the moment, it’s kind of like you’ve got to be kidding me. From paychecks to bragging rights, find out what truly drives a racer to lay it all out on the line.

Welcome to the AMSOIL Signature Series. Nick Van Strydonk, I raced to number 13 Polaris* for TNN Racing. Started racing snowmobiles when I was four years old. We were driving up through Menaka one day and we went past a venue where they were kitty cat racing.

So we turned around and went and looked at it and kind of checked it out because we’d never heard of it before. And when we got there, we found out you could rent kitty cats for the weekend and you just show up and bring the safety gear and your kids and everybody had a good time. We went back the next weekend and we got hooked instantly. Winning at Eagle River is always the biggest prize in our sport.

It’s a tough race to win and you’ve just got to do the best you can. You’ve had a little more drama at Eagle River than some people have and you’re kind of a legend here due to your unique moments. That’s a way to put it, unique moments. We got a real bad hole shot at the beginning of the race and we had to fight through traffic.

We ended up dropping back from third and fourth all the way back to sixth or eighth. But one by one, you know, I eventually got myself up to the third spot. Something clicked where it was like I had a second wind and grabbed another gear and got around in the second and Matt was ahead of me. I could tell he was getting tired.

So I just grabbed the low line and came out side by side and it was kind of a drag race to the finish. It was a come-behind victory and last corner, a thrilling race for the fans to watch. And there’s just that little bit more of, you know, sense of pride and accomplishment. When you come through the pack, fight your way through things and to win is just, it’s huge.

Getting the win in 2012 was just a giant burden off your shoulders. There’s no words really to explain how it feels. Who’s ready for the 51st running of the AMSOIL World Championship? All right, getting ready to go.

The flagger points about. Here we go. Going into that year, we were trying some new things and upon the start of the race, we were two laps in and coming out of corner two, I felt the belt flip upside down. Something happened to Strydon.

He’s back to fourth. And it just happened to break in corner three on the last lap coming down for the break. I sat in the middle of the corner bummed because you plan and you train and everything that revolves around ice oval racing in the wintertime is because of this place. And the corner worker came up and I told him that I blew a belt and I asked him if he could bring a sled to haul me back down to the start line so he could put a new belt on it.

And he told me that if I go on a sled, I’m going back to the pits. So I looked at him and I said, well, I’m going to push it to the finish line then. Nobody believed me, so I picked up my sled and I just started pushing it. And I knew that if I got my sled there, my guys would be able to put a new belt on it.

My guys put in hours that are unmeasurable, time away from loved ones, you know. I couldn’t just run 10 laps at the World Championship and call it quits. I tried to do it all in one push, but came up short quite a bit. Give him a big round of applause.

He could do it. But man, this is stressful. Nick Van Strydonk tried on. He’s trying.

You can do it, Nick. Come on, we’re pulling for you. What Nick did was pure determination and just the want to, you know, finish the race, take that checkered flag no matter what. The physical and mental strength that it took to do that is just astonishing.

Eagle River is definitely a physically demanding racetrack. You’re just shot by the end of the weekend the way it is. And for him to, you know, pick up that sled, push it down this right away across the finish line says a ton about, you know, his endurance and his character. I got it across the line and, you know, I knew my guys would take care of me and we did.

We put a new belt on it and I think that year we still ended up finishing fifth. The love of the sport really is what drives me. The drive just comes from your heart. I mean, you have to want to have it.

This isn’t a sport where you’re just going to give 90 percent. It’s got to be 110 percent, 110 percent of the time if you want any results. Eagle River is one of those tracks where it wants you to win or it doesn’t. And then Nick, with his unfortunate luck last night, you know, he looked super fast, definitely one of the favorites to win.

And you have an unfortunate incident on mechanical failure. The drive belt ended up letting go. The track’s really rough. The ruts are pretty deep.

When you’re bouncing through them at 90 miles an hour, it don’t take very long to wear and tear on something. So that’s why it’s called racing, though. So we’ll be back. It is time to go.

The 54th running of the AMSOIL World Championships. Louisville Derby presented by Country Cat is just about to go green. First one down towards the corner right now. The number 13 sled up high on a racetrack playing stride up front.

Nick rolls out of turn number four. Captain of the ship right now. The number 13 sled’s got to go up where he was it before. Now going to try to make it work around the outside.

Not going to happen. Cardell Potter gets around him. Here comes Nick down the back straightaway. Got a run on him.

He’s going to take the lane away from Cardell Potter. It is Nick Van Strydonk bringing him hot onto the front straightaway. Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for two-time world champion Nick Van Strydonk. An emotional victory for Nick Van Strydonk who was facing adversity on Friday night.

How does it feel to be a world champion for a second time Nick? Tell you what, it’s a dream come true. We’ve been chasing this thing for a long time. Went through a lot of hardships.

Had to push one to the finish one year. You know, it’s just a dream come true.