Dean Sundahl 12-6-01

Combining desert, stadium supercrosses, motocrosses and TTs, Dean Sundahl, (refer with respect) “King” Dean Sundahl more than likely has more major ATV race wins than any other rider! His legacy is indeed our roots of the sport. In 1981 Honda’s Racing Coordinator, Wess McCoy signed Sundahl as the first ever full time factory ATV racer. At the time Sundahl had already ridden and raced ATVs (then three wheelers of course) for nearly 10 years! Later that year, Sundahl, Mark Weixeldorfer and Mike Chester, all under the Honda wing, took on the SCORE International Baja 1000 on their air-cooled ATC 250R. At the time they were laughed at. Most thought that a three-wheeler would never finish the grueling Baja and that they would only be in the way causing unsafe circumstances. Thanks to Sundahl’s wide open extreme speeds, the team not only won their class, but they beat several of the whiners in the four wheel car classes, and only two motorcycles finished ahead of them! This was a huge accomplishment considering that the team started last! From that point on Honda got serious about ATV racing and the then skeptics gave their respect to Sundahl and the ATV entries.Who would have thought some 20 years later that Sundahl, now 44 years old, would beat the desert yet again in the biggest desert race ever! That makes eight times he’s beat the desert and won the Baja! We spoke with the King just after he returned home from a complimentary trip to Bombardier’s Dealer Convention in FL, where he and his ’00 teammates were the life of the party. Here’s what he had to say about his recent success.

ATV Scene: Congratulations! Was that your first time on the Bombardier?
Sundahl: Thanks. Yeah I never rode one before. I didn’t even do any pre running on it either. The rest of the team had ridden it and they all loved it. After Greg (Row) talked with me about the machine, I had a pretty positive impression about how it would handle the long race.

ATV Scene: How was it?
Sundahl: Sure enough the shiny yellow Bombardier came rolling in right on time. I took off for my session and right away was amazed that the thing was only stock. The powerband and the feel of the quad is awesome! It’s got plenty of torque and power even with our taller gearing set up. I think it’s the ultimate desert racing quad! It pulls like a tractor. I would grab a gear, crack the throttle and it would roll on strong and hard but never scream its guts out and yank you around. It’s really fun and easy to ride. It’s all usable dependable power.

ATV Scene: Were you the go to guy as you usually are in these things? How many miles did they give you?
Sundahl: I’m pretty good at night so I volunteered to ride all the night sections. I logged about 500 miles – two 250-mile sections.

ATV Scene: With that many miles you guys had to have a few problems. Right?
Sundahl: Amazingly we didn’t have too many problems at all. We had about 2-3 hours of downtime total. We replaced a clutch and a swingarm pivot bolt. It broke from us over tightening it. I was riding it at the time. I held it in with my ankle and limped it in. Luckily I was only about 6 miles from the roadside where we could fix it. Other than that we went flawlessly. No crashes and no problems. We changed the airfilter but after looking at it, I don’t think it even needed changed – it wasn’t even dirty. And the stock skid-plate ended the race in perfect condition! That kind of thing is unheard of in desert racing, especially 2000 miles! Usually after a 1000 mile Baja the thing is all mangled or gone and everything else on the quad is completely wasted. We even got about 100 miles to the gallon!

ATV Scene: Describe the race to the checkers.
Sundahl: We had gotten word that we were in third place. While I was waiting for my turn, which was the final 250 miles to the checkers, I have to admit I was really feeling the pressure. Everyone was so stoked that we had a chance to catch the leaders and win the thing. They were all patting me on the back “You da man Deano – You da man!” Everyone was really fired up. I didn’t want to let them down. Greg calmed me a bit by telling me to just have fun and enjoy the ride. I took off with that thought. I think it helped me not ride over my head and end up on my head. I felt really good out there. Sure enough I reeled everyone in. I remember coming up on the leader. Just when I was coming up with a plan on the best way to pass him, he pulled over and let me go by. Guess he thought I was a truck or something. I was like SWEET! Thanks buddy! From there I put about twenty minutes on him.

ATV Scene: OK now you’re rolling into the finish, pretty much knowing you were going to win the biggest desert race ever promoted. How did that feel?
Sundahl:You ain’t kidding! It was such a great feeling. I came up to a really slow section with lots of turns, rocks and stuff. I just concentrated on being smooth and not doing anything stupid. I got through that and saw the lights of San Lucas. All I could think of was what my teammates must be thinking and how nervous as hell they must have been in not knowing if I could pass the three guys a head of me. It was a cool feeling knowing I was going to pull in and make them all so happy. Let me tell you it was one sweet victory!

ATV Scene:Any trouble with sand fleas? You know the Mexican degenerates that want to see someone crash at 80 mph?
Sundahl: I started to see a lot of them as I got closer to the finish. I call their traps Mexican speed bumps. They want to see some air or a wreck. It’s their excitement I guess. After all these years, I’m pretty hip to what to look for. I go around their obstacles. Once I see a bunch of people I somewhat head straight at them, then pitch it sideways and roost sand at them. They all go running and scattering. It’s great because it becomes fun for me and a scare for them. Kind of reverse the whole situation!

ATV Scene: All these years, Honda and Yamaha factory race teams, all the incredible rides you’ve had — are you saying this was your biggest win?
Sundahl: You know what? I think so. It was a huge race and a major accomplishment.

ATV Scene: So I take it you guys did some major celebrating down there?
Sundahl: O hell yeah! They gave you 80 hours to finish so we had two days to celebrate before they started the awards ceremonies. It was a lot of fun.

ATV Scene: Are you sore?
Sundahl: No not at all. The Bombardier rides great. It’s really smooth. I think I was sorer from dancing and celebrating the win than I was the actual race.

ATV Scene: So it’s safe to say the best moment of the race was crossing the checkers?
Sundahl: Yeah the climax is always the best moment. Right?

ATV Scene: Very true Dean. Others can only dream of the climax you had.
Sundahl: And they gave us a great Governor’s Cup Trophy’s for it too.

ATV Scene: Looks like Bombardier is pretty stoked on the win. What was the Florida trip all about?
Sundahl: I’m really excited about how excited they’ve become with this. Now that it’s a race proven machine — they’ll promote the win quite a bit. They flew us all to Florida as their guests for their dealer meetings. We were pretty well liked that’s for sure. There was a ton of reps, sales people and executives there. It was a first class deal. They have some beautiful property there with a man made lake and a test track – the whole works. The lake even has alligators in it! (Laughing) There were lots of locked doors with top-secret stuff behind them. Not even the reps were allowed to see back there.

ATV Scene: (Laughing) Maybe they release the alligators at you if you wonder into any forbidden places to insure that you wont be leaking any top secret stuff. So do you think they are interested in fielding a professionally backed factory race team?
Sundahl: It looks like it. I can tell you they want to do something with us for ’01. Right now I don’t know any details, but they are extremely enthusiastic about the Baja win and I think it’s got them in that kind of mind set.

ATV Scene: For those that don’t know, Bombardier is no small company. In fact they employ over 56,000 people all over the world. They not only make a complete line of motorized recreational vehicles, but they’re also a manufacturer of jet aircrafts, and rail transportation equipment. What we’re saying is that they have the finances to really help out our sport and get involved in a big way.
Sundahl: With out a doubt, they have the capability of fielding full on teams. Best part is they really understand the concept of what wins on Sunday sells on Monday. I think if they were to get involved they could easily dominate ATV racing. I really think they are going to.

ATV Scene: So what’s up for your future?
Sundahl: The whole team will be at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA for a sand sport trade show. Bombardier will be there with us. We’re going to promote the quad and the big win. As for racing, I want to compete in the Best of the Desert series – hopefully as a Bombardier factory rider. Then who knows maybe I could help them out by being a representative for their ATV products.

ATV Scene: Any last words?
Sundahl: I would like to thank Bombardier, My teammates, and my family for the sweet win.

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