Gunnar
Sterne
United States
·
Snowmobile
Date of birth | April 4, 1993 |
|---|---|
Birthplace | West Chicago, Illinois |
Age | 32 |
Nationality | United States |
Career start | 2012 |
Disciplines | Snowmobile Race |
Gunnar Sterne’s love of snowmobile racing dates back to his childhood on the outskirts of Chicago, drag racing on his first Ski-Doo Mini Z. “I got hooked on it, my dad got hooked on it, and my mom has graciously let us keep doing it for as long we’ve been doing it, even though it’s made her pull some of her hair out, I’m sure,” he says.
He came up on the amateur oval racing series in Illinois and Wisconsin, winning Amateur Driver of the Year in 2008, then Semi-Pro Driver of the Year in 2010. He achieved his first pro class win in 2017 and went on to dominate the sport for the next three years, collecting back-to-back championship titles in the USA and Canada from 2017-2019.
Sterne picked up three race wins on the USSA ProStar circuit in 2020, finishing fourth overall, with a Sterne Racing team behind him that includes his parents Shawn and Juli Sterne, mechanics Tim Sniezek and Dave Defreece and Snowmobile Hall of Famer Mike Houle.
In 2021 Sterne launched "Ice Warrior: Drive It Like You Stole It," a new podcast following his race season and delving into the history of ice oval racing going back to the 1950s.
“There are so many cool facets of our sport,” he says. “People who have never seen the sport before can’t believe the speeds we reach, or how close we race to each other, or how long it’s been around. It’s pretty cool to see how far the sport has come, and to place the success I’ve had in that context.”