Notched slide rails for snowmobile drive track systems

A snowmobile comprising:

• a chassis;
• and
• a drive track system coupled to the chassis, the drive track system comprising:
• a slide rail having a forward section and an aft section, the aft section of the slide rail having a monolithic construction and defining an aftmost wheel station, a second-to-aftmost wheel station forward of the aftmost wheel station and a clearance notch at least partially disposed between the aftmost wheel station and the second-to-aftmost wheel station in a longitudinal direction of the slide rail;
• an aftmost wheel rotatably coupled to the slide rail at the aftmost wheel station;
• a second-to-aftmost wheel rotatably coupled to the slide rail at the second-to-aftmost wheel station;
• and
• a drive track having a path of travel between the aftmost wheel and the second-to-aftmost wheel, the drive track and the slide rail forming a gap therebetween at the path of travel.