The Maine Vintage Race Car Association recently released the names of the six inductees for the Class of 2018 Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame, including the first snowmobile racer selected for the prestigious honor — Presque Isle resident Tom Peters.
Peters was born May 25, 1944, in Stockholm, located about 15 miles north of Caribou. His parents were William and Rose Peters. At the age of six, his father was tragically killed in a logging accident when he was crushed by a log.
Stockholm school provided Tom Peters with an education until he went to Caribou High School for his junior and senior years. Since no transportation was provided for students from Stockholm, Peters hitched rides to and from Caribou daily. He persevered and graduated in 1962.
After spending a year driving the State of Maine Bookmobile, he moved to Warwick, Rhode Island, to work in a welding shop. But he kept visiting Aroostook County and soon proposed to his girlfriend, Dianne Conant, with the two marrying in December of 1963.
Soon after returning to Rhode Island, the newlyweds agreed that, although Tom had no job to go home to, their place was back in The County. After returning north, Tom worked at a local fabrication shop followed by a welding supply company. After semi-retiring, he worked at an auto parts store. He is now fully retired but busier than ever, according to his daughter Jenn.
The move back to The County was key to his racing career. The snowmobile craze was just hitting full stride and it seemed that many folks wanted to get a “sled” to ride around the fields and woods. There were no groomed trails to travel from town to town in those early years.
It seems all it takes is two people with motorized vehicles, whether it be a snowmobile or a scooter, and the next thing you know, you have racing. Northern Maine was a great place to take advantage of the new snow machines.
Peters got his start in 1967 with a 1963 Polaris L55, which he rode on the fields near his home. Since childhood he had followed the racing scene in Grand Prix and Le Mans as well as horse racing. He felt that he could be a racer if given an opportunity.
That opportunity came in 1968 aboard a 1966 Ski-Doo 370 Twin Super Olympic which he entered in a cross-country race at Mapleton, sponsored by the Mapleton Lions Club. He still has the third-place trophy he won that day.
One of his so-called racing rivals of that era was Ronnie Thibodeau of Caribou. Ironically the racers had married sisters. I am unsure if racing was the topic of conversation at family get-togethers.
A long-time friendship with Leo Kieffer was forged by Peters when a group of local racers including Thibodeau, Kieffer, Peters and Lionel Plourde ran under the banner of Kieffer & Plourde. Peters would work on his sled at the dealership in Caribou since he had no shop of his own to work in.
The last race for Peters was in 1972 because building a home, work and raising a family consumed most of his time. He did however enter one more cross-country race in 1976. He found out that there was going to be a race from WAGM-TV in Presque Isle to Caribou High School featuring several younger local hot shots like Reggie Thibodeau (younger brother of Ronnie Thibodeau) and the Haines boys, Danny and David, who were favored to win.
Since WAGM-TV is directly across the road from his house, Peters told his wife he was going over to register for the race on the day it was to be held.
Without giving away his secret, I will say he won the race on his Polaris 340, needing only 14 minutes to get from WAGM-TV to Caribou High School. Peters said after the race, “The young fellers didn’t laugh at the old man then.”
On his selection to the Maine Motorsports Hall of Fame, Peters said, “I am feeling very humble, honored and still in disbelief as I know that there are other snowmobile racers out there probably more deserving of this honor. There are so many people to thank, so that will be very difficult.”
“I guess it pays to be a pack rat and saving all the items and documentation, which according to Joe (Joe Chamberlain of Woodland, a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee) makes all the difference,” he added.
Peters has a notebook over two inches thick with all the newspaper clippings, photos, and stories about his career as a snowmobile racer. In addition, he has a couple of his racing sleds, suit, and helmet that he used during this era.
The ceremony will take place April 14, 2018, at the Augusta Civic Center.
