More than just a hobby for Port

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Jan. 31, 1997

By Devlyn Brooks

Staff Writer

For Bemidji resident John Port, 31, snowmobiling is more than just a hobby. It has been a lifelong love affair, and two years ago it became a weekend job -- albeit not necessarily a money-making job.

He is one of the few area riders that race on the International Series of Champions snowmobiling circuit, a Minnesota-based circuit which consists of about 10 races each winter. He is also the only Bemidji resident so far registered to race in this weekend's ISOC 500, a race that runs from Beausejour, Manitoba, to Bemidji over three days.

Port started racing the ISOC circuit a year ago because of the combination of enjoyment and a desire to be able to ride faster. Post said he has always enjoyed riding, but the speeds on snowmobiling trails have been decreasing year by year. So he started racing in the ISOC-sanctioned events.

"I've been snowmobiling for as long as I can remember, but you can't really ride fast on the trails anymore," he said. "So, we messed around with some little races, but we figured we might as well try it, if we were going to try it," he said of the bigger ISOC races.

Port's racing team is a family affair, with brothers David and Tim and his father, Gary, consisting of most of the crew. Tim does the artistic work with the sleds, including painting the hood designs, while David and Gary help with the mechanics.

In fact, Gary and David had planned on riding this weekend's race with John, making it a father-son-and-son combination. But Gary was hurt playing hockey and David could not race.

Port races a factory model .440 Polaris sled, but due to engine problems he may use his father's Ski Doo this weekend instead. He blew up his engine this week testing it for the race and does not know if it will be in running condition by Sunday's race start.

"We're going to bring two sleds up (to Manitoba) to test," he said. "We'll use which ever one lasts."

Engine problems and crashes are something familiar to Port this year, he said. He has entered every ISOC race he has been able to, but has missed a couple due to mechanical problems. Port has only finished one race of the half dozen he has entered, and never finished the ISOC 500 last year.

"I have had three crashes, two blowouts and now this," he said, laughing. "We've had a lot of mechanical problems this season."

Port admits the mechanical problems have made this a "spendy season" and said he is not racing to get rich. Few people do, he added.

Repairs on his sled have cost $1,000 to $2,000 this year alone, he said, and he probably could not keep racing without his sponsors.

He had no predictions for this weekend's race, which ends Tuesday near Paul and Babe on Lake Bemidji.

"Hopefully, I'll just finish this year," he said. "Besides, it gives me something to do in the cold."