........Snowmobile Racing

[~ Timbrwolf]

....Winters are long and sometimes brutal up here, and sometimes time just seems to crawl.
So Chili and I are always looking for something put some excitement in our life, until we can be in the wind again. Last year we started a little Winter Gathering of sorts, with a small group of good friends.
They all came up and hung out for the weekend, and we did all you can eat crabs one night, and Chili and I cooked for everyone the second night.


This year I saw a commercial on Tv for Snowmobile racing right around the time everyone was coming up, so we came up with the Idea of spending the night in Traverse after we gorged ourselves on crabs, and then checking out the races the next day.


Slyk Willy and his wife were the only ones to take us up on the races, due to the fact we would be spednign the day outside in some "cool" tempatures. But that was okay we got rooms at the local Holiday Inn and drove over to the Casino and stuffed ourselves on way too many crab legs. Afterwards we all hung out in the jacuzzi and enjoyed a bottle of wine that Chili bought with us. It was a nice jacuzzi and I hadnt been in one in a while, and with a nice glass of wine, it was a nice laid back evening.



The next morning we all got up and did the free hotel breakfast...bundled up...and headed on back to the Casino to check out the races. Now, this was the first time we ever went, heck it was only the second time that the Casino held the race. A guy in security told me that they redid the track this year and that you could fit the old one..inside the new one...it was so much bigger. It was indeed a *brisk* morning, but we had all dressed well and we were ready for some rumbling !



...We climbed up to the top of the bleachers, which were made of aluminum and VERY slippery, but after a few minutes we were at the top and the racing began. We found out that the amateurs and young ones were up first with the more experienced and professionals racing later in the day and into the night. But that was okay, because all these guys were banging gears and tearing up some snow !
This was the first sharp turn right off the line when they were all still fighting for posistion.






....There was a new race about every 20 minutes and this first curve was always a lot of action with lots of photo ops.







...There were a couple small whoop de doos and then this nice big hill, and after they got up some speed they would go sailing off the end of it !











....They would race around 3 times and they,ed flag the winner, then there would be a few minutes down time, then the next race would begin...







...This first curve was definitely my favorite as far as seeing some fierce action.







...Then they would hit those two small hills and get a little air...all the time those high torque engines winding and snow flying  !







....I started to get my timing down which was a little tedious in the beginning, cuz these dudes were flying ! ...But after a while just like with the motorcycle Ice racing we went to a couple years back, I started to get some good close ups !







...Then up that big hill and...Air Born !!







....Great shot of multiple machines getting some air..







.....I love all the snow flying...gives you a good Idea of how fast these suckers were flying !







....another good close up








...They would fly by and then go flying into the air !












....very cool shot







....then they,ed come ripping around that curve, fighting it out for first place !















...Then they,ed get some air !







..Flying by right in front of us...











...They had to be doing at least 50 mph when they flew up that hill and went air born !








...Then they,ed fly about 60 to 75 feet in the air before they landed !











...Then they,ed come ripping round again, fighting for position !







...Thats when I got an Idea and climbed back down and took a little sroll until I was standing at the end of that big ol hill and looking straight up at the cliff at the end...I began to pop some shots and and check them out and just like the motorcycle Ice racing, I new I had found "the zone"....so I took a few and until got in the range I was looking for and began to snap away...







...Oh Yeah....this is what I was looking for....these next shots are definitely my favorite !








...Like I said...these guy were literally flying by at 60 -70 mph...in mid air ! . ...and they went by in the blink of an eye and I wound up missing many, many shots completely, while others were front "fronts"..."backs"...."tops"...and " of "bottoms"...of flying machines...I left a few of the partial shots in, cuz I dig em !!

....I really dig this shot...check out the Coast Guard Helicopter in the background checking out the race !







....Talk about...getting some air !!!








....Ohhhhh Yeeeaaahhhhh








...These guys were about 10 to 15 feet in the air and flying by at 50 mph and faster !








...Then they,ed land *perfectly* and blast towards the finish line which was right around the corner !







...it was obvious that some of these guys were light years a head of the others....the guy on the right for instance...higher and getting more distance before he lands, and his body posture on the machine....perfect











...I dig these shots were one guy comes flying by on the ground while the next guy comes zooming by in mid air !







....This is a cool shot...the in the forefront on the green machine slowed down and drove over the hill, probably because he wasnt experienced enough to go air born...then he looks as the guy behind him goes flying by in mid air !







...Like I said...they come flying by and Id have to try and focus and get a shot off as fast as I could...sometimes they were high...sometimes low...







....one of my favorite shots  











....then, after every few races, they,ed roll this bad boy out and "groom" the track..








...Yeah...Id love to try this puppy out !












...Then it was time for some more flying !











....another of my favorite shots  







....side by side !. ..fighting it out for first place in mid air !!







...another cool shot







...I dig the jet flying by in the back ground..











....Banging on to the finish line !










...I dig the way the guy in front is looking behind him to see how close the other guy is !








....and then they,ed start all over again !











...you have to remember these guys are flying into these curves and banks at high speed, alot of them are right on the edged of the bank and almost going over the side and a few of them did go over !







...I dig the helmet cam on this dude..








....you know these guys are professionals...they,ed come tearing into that first curve balls out and not even slowing up as they screamed by on two skis !















....coming out of that tight curve then they were immediately air born !







...love this shot...this is coming balls out...barely keeping it under control !!!








...getting air right in front of us...thats a screen behind him showing the entire track from remote cameras..















....fighting for position







....camera crew filming the event on a tower off the back of the bleachers..







....Then they had the "little guys"....these younguns were 5 and 6 years old ! ...I know they had to be having a blast on those little machines...they,ed go buzzing by and barely make it up that big hill and then go down...







...I really dig the helmet cam on this little guy...he,ll be showing this to his kids one day..








...Well...needless to say...we had a blast ! ..It was very cool watching these guys flying on those machines....the Race,s go from 9 am until 10 pm, with all the true professionals racing after the sun goes down. They were supposed to have the "Free Style" ...after the sun went down also. But it was cancelled out of respect for the snowmobile racer that was killed doing flips at the X Games about 2 weeks ago. I dont know if any of you saw it, but he was doing a 1 1/2 in in mid air...miscalculated and came up short. His machine hit straight on into the ground and ejected him and then came tumbling over and slammed into his head and chest, and he died the next day. Just goes to show you dangerous these things can be.


...We were pretty cold by then anyway, not to mention hungry. So we stopped at a few places for some "goodies" and then made our way back to the woods and our humble abode, where we met up with some more friends and Chili and I git busy in the kitchen, with the help of our friends, Renae was giving Chili a hand.







.....Chili made her world famous...Bodacious Lasagna....and it was awesome !!!








.....A toast. ....To good Friends !!!! ...  

[old2soon]

Looks like you had a gooder time in da frozen north country.  With very few exceptions-if the word RACE is involved it's dangerous.  You have a lot of teriffic photos of the event.  And thanks for sharing with us.  RIDE SAFE.

[doubletee]

Fantastic pictures and story, Timber!   

[cookiedough]

great picture taking in those high speed conditions.

I like watching the winter x games especially when Tucker Hibbard on his Monster sled blows by the competition usually even lapping some of the other pros.  He is almost always if dialed in running away from the pack he makes it look like some of the other pros are amateurs even.  Ahh,  to be young and wild and free again.  I know if I ever tried jumping like that the landings would be deadly.

I have seen locally what they call 'radar' runs in classes and the fastest on a frozen lake was around 154 mph, now that is fast, while most are around 130-135 mph, still scary fast.  Most I have gone on frozen lake was around 100 mph before I backed off and didn't feel secure and safe to push the envelope any further although I am a total amateur on a snowmobile. 

[HayHauler]

Wow, quite a lot of fine pictures you have there Timbr...

Thanks for taking the time to put these together.

Hay 
Jimmyt

[Master Blaster]

Back around 78 I was stationed in Anchorage and there was some dude racing his on a local airstrip.  He let it get away from him and it ran under the wing of a parked bush plane.  The wing strut nearly took his head off.  They said he was running 100 MPH or better.  Those bad boys can be made to go fast and like a motorcycle can bite you in the ass if you get carelesss.

[Mike O]

If you get the chanch try the I-500 at the SOO. 500 miles of snowmobile racing in subzero temps. They have two drivers that switch off. Even the winner usually comes in with parts hanging off.
Mike

[Romeo]

First of all Dave, absolutely great pictures. Man that looks like a blast, it's been a long time. Those machines have come a long, long way since I pretended to do that. Just curious, which ones seemed to be the boss? Polaris, Cat, or the yellow ones?

[~ Timbrwolf]

...Thanks Gary


...This was the first time we,ve gone and they have only held this for 3 years now at Turtle Creek Casino. Last year it was cancelled due to lack of snow, but during that down year they did two things.
First they went out and bought five or six snow machines to make snow, and secondly they built a new track. Security was telling me that you could fit the old track inside the new one, it was so much bigger.


We met Bill and Renae there Friday night and we all pigged at the All you can eat crab legs at the Casino and got a hotel room for the night. The next morning we rode back to the Casino and climbed the grand stands. We werent sure of just how everything worked, but we found out that they start off in the morning with the "amateurs" and work up throughout the day in skill level. Professional and "Free Style" are held at night, although they didnt have the Free Style this year out of respect for that kid that was killed at the X Games a few weeks back. They had a new race about every 10 minutes. By mid afternoon they were really banging it hard and you could tell the skill level was definitely higher, as when they first started racers were slowing way up for the big hill and "driving over" it, but as the day wore on, they were hitting that hill at 60 mph and up and literally flying off it for 30 to 40 feet. It was hard to tell which sleds were more powerful as they had all different "classes", and you could tell some of them were really souped up with professional riders. I think this picture is a god illustration....this is right after the big hill and the one guy in the green is riding on the ground, while the guy in the air who was obviously more daring and skilled...is sailing by him in mid air. If you look at some of those mid air shots, you will see one guy on a yellow sled who is standing and leaning ever so slightly forward. He was one of the best out there and was usually way out in front of the others.
Right before we left around 3 PM they let a pack loose who were obviously pros. You could tell their sleds were souped up, they were louder and these guys never slowed down at all while going around the track. It was a great day and we are planning on going next year and getting our hotel room the day of the race so we can go back forth all day and get room and eat etc.