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Ritchie family continues tradition at I500

Ted Ritchie Sr. was a member of the first Canadian team to win the event
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As the International-500 snowmobile race wrapped up for another year on Saturday, a local family continued a history of being a partof the event.

The Ritchie family is no stranger to the race, held annually in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

Ted Ritchie Sr. was a member of the first Canadian team to win the event, finishing first alongside Ken Littleton in the 1978 race.

Ted Ritchie Jr. has competed in the event regularly and this year, his son Jake also ran in the event as a member of Team Rivercity Motorsports along with his father and Brandon Lemieux.

“It’s nice to keep the ball rolling,” Ted Jr. said. “It would be a shame to stop now.”

Ritchie said his son always had an interest in the sport but “I was leery about just throwing him out there. This year he came to me and said, ‘I’ll give it a try.’ It didn’t take him long at all (to adjust). He didn’t get much seat time the last couple of races and we just threw him to the wolves and he almost went faster than I did.”

Machine issues led to an early finish at the event on Saturday but for Ted, the competition keeps him coming back.

“In the last few years, I’ve gone out and led laps,” Ritchie said. “You get an idea that ‘Hey, I can still do this.’”

A veteran of nearly 30 years, Ted said the physical demands make racing tough.

“The only thing that even makes me think of stopping is physical,” Ritchie said.

“It’s harder than people imagine because it looks like you’re just sitting there,” Ritchie said. “It’s like motocross but even worse because the suspension isn’t as good as a motocross bike. You get beat up even more. With the speeds that you hit the bumps at, the suspension can’t even absorb it fast enough and you take the jarring yourself.”

Ritchie noted the recovery time following a race takes longer as well. 

“I used to be able to go trail running a couple of days after the I500, now a couple of weeks later I can finally put my boots on,” Ritchie joked.

The elder Ritchie ran the qualifying laps for Saturday’s race while Jake and Lemieux were set to run the race itself. 

“They were excited, and it was nice to see,” Ted said.


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Brad Coccimiglio

About the Author: Brad Coccimiglio

A graduate of Loyalist College’s Sports Journalism program, Brad Coccimiglio’s work has appeared in The Hockey News as well as online at FoxSports.com in addition to regular freelance work with SooToday before joining the team full time.
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