DETROIT LAKES, Minn. – A Detroit Lakes man broke the world snowmobile speed record at the Minnesota State Championship Ice Drags this past weekend.

Danny Steinmetz flew over the eighth-mile track in 4.36 seconds, breaking the old record of 4.42 seconds, said Clint Holst, president of the Northern Drag Racing Series, the new club that held the ice drag races on Little Detroit Lake.

“On the very first pass,” Holst said, “the record was broken by Danny Steinmetz.” He was clocked at 155.29 miles per hour, and he covered the first 60 feet in 1.029 seconds.

He was driving a custom-built racing sled owned by Jeff Ratzlaff of Langdon, N.D.

The $50,000 snowmobile has a custom Proline chassis with a cutting-edge 600-plus horsepower engine built by Craig Campton’s team at Hypersports LLC in Arlington, Wis.

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The two-cylinder, even-fire four-stroke super engine has four valves per cylinder.

It cranks out 604 horsepower at 9,400 rpm with up to 50 psi of boost pressure, courtesy of a Precision turbocharger.

Holst said the event in Detroit Lakes went well, although he had been hoping for more competitors.

“We had a little bit lower turnout than what we expected,” he said. “With (poor) ice conditions around the Midwest, a lot of people didn’t get to test, and I’m sure some didn’t like the cold weather.”

The winners split the entry fees plus a $3,000 purse.

The group is considering holding another race event in Detroit Lakes on the first weekend of March, Holst said.