One of a handful of snowmobile racing originals who forged the profile of the sport in the very early days, Dale Cormican began his competition career when the rider-over-tunnel formula was just beginning to emerge. A successful competitor at local races in Minnesota, Cormican made headlines across North America with consecutive wins in the heralded Winnipeg-to-St. Paul International 500 cross-country race in 1968 and 1969 aboard Arctic Cat Panthers.

An innovator who displayed an intuitive feel for snowmobile performance, Cormican developed engineering breakthroughs in the early 1970’s including lightweight fabrication, rack steering and fuel injection. Teamed with late designer Denny Ray, Dale built and raced a turbine-powered snowmobile speed record vehicle called the Boss Cat that set several early records after a fiery explosion at a trial run in Boonville, New York, in 1970.

Joining forces with John Deere in the mid-1970’s, Cormican worked on the original John Deere cross-country 340S model and later the Liquidator that won the International 500 in 1976 with Brian Nelson in the saddle. he also engineered a smaller Deere model called the “Little John” (which became the Spitfire) that predicted direct-drive technology. Still active in the 1990’s, Cormican continues to develop snowmobile technology as he engineers new skis, suspensions and drive systems.