In a decade of drag racing excellence that began in the mid-1990s, Bill Bickford of Epsom, New Hampshire, achieved a stunning record of wins and championship titles at the largest and most important events in North America. Racing for Ski-Doo, Bickford was a dominant force in Stock and Improved Stock categories at the most prestigious eastern and Midwestern grass drag events and circuits.

Bickford began his career in 1982 as an oval racer out of his family’s Moto-Ski dealership. He developed into a top regional racer in the northeast, including winning the 1983 NESRA high-point championship title. A switch to drag racing in 1990 would prove fortuitous. In the span of a few years, Bickford went from winning local events to claiming state championship titles in New York and Maine, followed by regional championship titles throughout New England. Driven with a fiery competitiveness and aptitude for details, Bickford hit his stride in 1994 with an ISR World Series of Grass Drag win. His expertise and experienced fused at the famed 1995 Hay Days grass drags, where in one stunning weekend he claimed the High Point Stock title; the East-West Shootout and the Minnesota Cup. It was the beginning of a remarkable run of success at the sport’s most important event during a period in which the industry had elevated grass drags to its highest pedestal.

Bickford would claim the Minnesota Cup again in 2000, as well as adding multiple state and New England titles before retiring as a driver in 2001. His drag racing success continued as a team owner, sled builder and chief mechanic. With his Ski-Doo snowmobiles piloted by Chris Anderson, Bickford claimed the 2002 and 2003 Minnesota Cup, 2003 Canadian Grass Drag Championships and many dozens of individual class victories. Bickford retired his involvement from competition in 2006 to fully concentrate on the Ski-Doo dealership that he bought from his parents in 1998.