It is with a heavy heart that that Hall of Fame Board of Directors has learned that 1988 Snowmobile Hall of Fame Inductee, Stan Hayes, passed away early on the morning of Saturday, April 4th, 2020.
Stan was the picture of great health for many years, but in recent months, a very rare blood disorder caught up with the hard-charging racer and talented engineer.
Entering the record books for the first time with a win at the first-ever Eagle River derby in 1964 at the age of 13, Stan went on to enjoy a long and successful career in snowmobile oval, enduro, and cross-country racing. He was sought after and hired by Polaris, Mercury, Ski-Doo and John Deere over his career.
Stan holds the distinction of being the only driver ever to win all three of the most coveted events in snowmobile racing: The Eagle River World Championship (1964), the Soo 5oo endurance race (1972 and 1976), and the grueling Winnipeg to St. Paul I-500 (1973).
Stan was instrumental in the development of the famed second-generation Mercury Sno-Twister in the middle 1970s, as well as the second-generation Fire Series at John Deere in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Stan was working on the IFS Liquifire project when John Deere pulled the plug on snowmobile operations in 1984. Stan’s last race was the 1990 Harricana cross-country Race which was a 3 man team race. It ran 1,500 miles across the province of Quebec over a period of 10 days. Stan’s team finished in second place only 27 seconds behind the winning time.
Stan was a long time supporter of the Hall of Fame, attending dozens of our Ride with the Champs events, and he will be dearly missed.
