Gaylord shop tunes up drag-racing snowmobiles

Nov. 30, 2016

Jason Price is a well-known name in the realm of high-octane snowmobile racing. He races. He builds. He fixes. He’s even been known to help out his competitors at racing events.

Best of all, he gets to do it for a living, he said while grinning.

“We take a stock sled, pick it apart, find the flaws and fix them,” Price said from inside his Gaylord-based business, Priceless Performance. “There are a lot of parts we develop and have others manufacture for us.”

The local company strictly works on drag-racing sleds, not so much for long-distance endurance racers such as those who compete in the International 500 Snowmobile Race in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Price also serves clients who seek to improve the durability of their trail-riding snowmobiles but admits the most exciting work is for the racers.

“We really concentrate on clutch kits for sleds, basically the transmission of a snowmobile. It’s called a clutch kit, and that’s what we really specialize in,” Price said.
Several of his clients compete in a series of nine races throughout the season, the first scheduled for Jan. 6-7 in Mancelona.

Price explained how older snowmobiles were always built with carburetors, but today’s machines are designed with electronic fuel injection systems. Those can only be adjusted with specialized computer equipment.

“It’s the brains of the snowmobile,” Price said.

And it turns out there are only so many people across the country who do this kind of work. Specifically, Price said he is one of five, though a sixth guy operates out of Quebec. Price owns a truly unique business in Michigan, he said.

Why such a specialized industry?

“It’s mainly about watching a customer’s smile after they get done riding,” Price said. “That’s why I do this. It’s what people want.”

Priceless Performance is in its eighth year of business, though it’s only been at 2484 S. Otsego Ave. in Gaylord for two winters. Price said he launched the operation after working a couple of gigs at other snowmobile and power sports shops in Gaylord, including a failed Arctic Cat dealer and a now-closed business called Total Powersports. He found his capitalistic sweet spot with the specific performance and durability niche, Price said.

“We certainly don’t do normal snowmobile repair here,” said Patti Gates, service and parts manager at the business. “It’s all about performance. You want to go fast? We can help with that.”

The folks at Priceless Performance also do a fair amount of financial secret-keeping, Gates joked as she folded billing statements and stuffed them into envelopes. “The thing I hear more than anything else is, ‘Please don’t tell my wife,’” she said with a laugh. “And we don’t.”

Todd Kuhn of Vassar said he is a longtime customer because of the exceptional customer service he receives at Price’s business. He said Price himself is highly regarded across the international snowmobile racing world and is considered a genuinely nice guy.

“I’ve been with him at races, and he has customers coming up to him at a race — when he’s racing against them — but he’ll still be dialing in their machines for them,” Kuhn said. “Anything he touches he wants to be the best. It’s amazing.

“And his phone will ring 24/7 this time of year,” Kuhn said. “He takes the time.”

Priceless Performance can be reached by phone at 989-889-0200 or found online on Facebook by searching Priceless Performance.

Sheri McWhirter is a freelance writer.