VIRGINIA - The weekend of Jan. 12 was too warm for snowmobile ice racing, but the following weekend made up for it with temperatures that were back to something more normal for January in northeastern Minnesota. The rescheduled race on Pike Lake outside of Duluth went off without a hitch on January 19.
Joining us on Pike Lake on a cold and windy mid-January Saturday were two racers from the Kids Pro Ice group out of the cities who raced in the Improved 120 class. Neither of these racers was able to best our #10, Nick Peters from Britt, who claimed first place in that class (as well as both Champ 120 finals and the Sprint 120 final).
We
also had a couple of new racers and a former KCPRO-East racer from the
Duluth area participating, as well as two new racers from the Iron
Range. Hailey Hare from Britt raced Amateur 120 and Stock 120 and
claimed third place in Amateur 120 on her first outing, and Alexis Ramey
from the western end of the Range made her debut in the Super Stock 120
class and claimed fourth place.Like most any organization, KCPRO-East is interested in growing its membership and participation in the group’s race events so we were really happy to have racers from different areas of the state join us on Pike Lake. The City of Proctor sponsored this event, along with Tundra Storage of Hermantown and the Tailgate Sports Bar and Grill of Proctor. St. Louis County Rescue Squad personnel donated their time to provide stand-by EMS services on Pike Lake.
*****
Next up was KCPRO-East’s race debut on Bailey Lake in Virginia on January 26. There was a lot of excitement about this race. The Virginia City Council threw their support behind us holding a winter event for kids on Bailey Lake. Councilor Carl Baranzelli (a former snowmobile racer himself) went above and beyond by not only asking to be the liaison between KCPRO-East and the City Council, but also by being with us every step of the way to make sure that arrangements were not hindered in any fashion.
He helped us determine lake access and track location and
helped in arranging EMS services by the Virginia Fire Department. Carl
was on the lake with us from the start of the day – helping to set up
fencing and other early morning duties – to the end of the day of taking
the fencing down. Beyond that (much to his delight) his granddaughter,
8-year-old Kylie Baranzelli got the opportunity to get out on the
racetrack and she took home the third place trophy in the Amateur 120
class.Other new racers in Virginia included Trent Smith, a 4-year-old from the Grand Rapids area who raced both Beginner and Amateur 120, and 6-year-old Wesley Reini from Hibbing who took second place in Amateur 120. New member Tanner Banks, age 5 of Mountain Iron, took second place in the Beginner 120 final. Hailey Hare, racing as #202, returned for a second weekend and claimed a fourth place finish in Stock 120.
Providing some light-hearted moments during the day was young racer Zander Wilhelm of the Biwabik area who participated in Amateur and Stock Kitty Cat. During the heat and feature of the Amateur Kitty Cat races, his machine wasn’t turning well and he ended up in the snow bank more than once. During the Stock Kitty Cat races, after some adjustments, his sled turned too easily and wanted to go in a circle, rather than a straight line. This provoked some friendly laughter from the gathered spectators.
Young Zander seemed to take it all in stride and kept right on going. I’m willing to bet that his dad finds the right adjustments and that Zander will have more success on future outings. Every racer has had this type of situation or something similar occur somewhere along the line in their racing career.
Carrying the checkered flag in Virginia were:
#02 Emma Tucker (age 5, Devlin, Ontario) – Amateur Kitty Cat
#23 Cody Cramer (age 8, Dayton, MN) – Stock Kitty Cat
#44 Jake Jorgenson (age 8, Hermantown, MN) – Improved Kitty Cat
#12 Riley Pernat (age 11, Side Lake, MN) – F-1 Belt
#3 Ariel Weitzel (age 5, Bovey, MN) – Beginner 120
#2M Mercede Weitzel (age 7, Bovey, MN) – Amateur 120
#36 Jace Podgornik (age 9, Duluth, MN) – Stock 120
#4 Alex Peters (age 8, Britt, MN) – Super Stock 120
#127 David Anderson (age 12, Chisholm & Duluth, MN) – Pro 206
#227 Dennis Osvold (age 10, Cloquet, MN) – 340-1 and 340-2
#10 Nick Peters (age 10, Britt, MN) – Improved 120, Sprint 120, Champ 1 and Champ 2
(For complete race results, go to www.kcproeast.com.)
*****
We’ve been putting in extra time and effort to promote this kids organization and it seems like others are taking notice. We’ve gotten some press lately and even made the evening news. I was especially excited to having a racing picture on the front cover of the Jan. 18 edition of the Hometown Focus in conjunction with my article, Minnesota’s love affair with snowmobiles. Hometown Focus has been very supportive of KCPRO-East and we thank them for that support.
http://www.hometownfocus.us/news/2013-01-18/Features/Minnesotas_love_affair_with_snowmobiles.html
We’ve also gotten some nice coverage in the Proctor Journal, the Duluth News Tribune and the Mesabi Daily News.
Thank you also to our Virginia race sponsors: Sawmill Saloon/BayView Lodge, Silver Creek Liquor, Peak Roofing, Laurentian Monument, Granite and Stone, and Pike River DemRec, Inc.
Next up… another Bailey Lake race on Feb. 2, then on to Forest Lake in Grand Rapids on Feb. 9. Following the Grand Rapids race, we’ll be on Longyear Lake in Chisholm for Chisholm’s Polar Bear Days celebration.
The 2013 oval ice racing season of KCPRO-East got off to a great start on Saturday, Jan. 5. The first race of the season was held on Side Lake across from Bimbo’s Octagon with warm 20 degree temperatures.
Seventeen
racers competed in 14 classes of Kitty Cat, 120 and 340 snowmobile
races. These boys and girls, ages 4 – 14, came from as far away of
Oronoco, Minn. (near Rochester), Dayton, Minnesota (northwest of
Minneapolis), and Devlin, Ontario (across the international border). The
racers were both new to the sport, like four-year-old Avery Kuras from
Proctor who raced Amateur and Stock Kitty Cat on her pink snowmobile,
and veteran racers like Riley Pernat from Side Lake, Justin Johnson from
Hibbing, and David Anderson of Chisholm and Duluth.Also returning for another race season were siblings Nick and Alex Peters from Britt; Jasmine, Mercede and Ariel Weitzel, three sisters from Bovey in their second year of racing with KCPRO-East; Dennis and Jack Osvold from Cloquet; and Jake and Tyler Jorgenson from Hermantown.
Nick
Peters claimed the checkered flag in all four classes he raced and
sister, Alex, carried the checkered flag in Stock 120. Eight-year-old
Cody Cramer from Dayton took top honors in both Stock and Improved Kitty
Cat classes. Dennis Osvold, age 10 from Cloquet, swept the 340 Junior
Novice races. Four-year-old Emma Tucker from Canada bested new racer
Avery Kuras in Amateur Kitty Cat, while seven-year-old Mercede Weitzel
finished ahead of her sisters to carry the Amateur 120 checkered flag.
Jake Jorgenson, age 8, got a first place finish in Super Stock 120. The
checkered flag was also carried by five-year-old Ariel Weitzel in
Beginner 120 and by David Anderson, 12, in the new Pro 206 class.Adding to the fun of the day were five airplanes that flew over the race track mid-day, circled to the west and then landed on the ice. One by one these planes taxied
past various ice houses that dotted the lake,
including a purple ice house situated not far off turn one of where the
kids were racing. Before long, five variously colored airplanes were
lined up facing the starting line for the race events, their noses
covered. Situated not far from the Town of French on-site ambulance and
EMS personnel, they appeared to be silent sentries of the second half of
the race day.Following the conclusion of the day’s race events, an awards ceremony was held at Bimbo’s where trophies and medals were handed out to the race participants based on their feature race finishing positions. All racers also received the customary treat bag. Awaiting the racers and their families was a spaghetti dinner compliments of Bimbo’s, one of the race sponsors. Other race sponsors were Mohawk’s Salvage and Sunny Hill Distributors of Hibbing, Starkovich Distributing of Virginia, and Theisen Vending of Golden Valley.
Minnesota’s
usually cold January weather failed the racing group the second weekend
of the race season. The track on Pike Lake, outside of Duluth, the
second stop on the race schedule, had standing water across it on Friday
that necessitated canceling the January 12 race event. That race was rescheduled to the following weekend and hopefully the weather will be kinder for snowmobile racing on January 19.
Cindy Kujala lives in Mountain Iron, MN and is the treasurer of KCPRO-East Oval Ice Racing. She has been following her great-nephew, David Anderson, who races as #127, since his first race on Island Lake on January19, 2008. Her husband, John Lucas, is the group’s flagman, and her nephew, Brandon Anderson (David’s dad) is KCPRO-East president.
By Cindy Kujala
April, 2013
Rainy Lake was the location of the final race event of the season on March 9. It was a points race with the Super Stock 120 points champion yet to be decided.
It was fun to be back in I’Falls after not having raced there the last couple of years, although the snowy ride north in the early morning hours before dawn left you wondering about track conditions for the day. But the weather ended up more or less cooperating and we had a fun race day with good racing and a number of extra racers coming from Canada, Wisconsin, the Twin Cities area and Rochester.
Five-year-old Teegan Metz from Poplar, WI took his first checkered flag in the Amateur Kitty Cat final, while 5-year-old Ariel Weitzel of Bovey finished the race season with another checkered flag in Beginner 120. Ariel’s sisters, Mercede and Jasmine, finished 1st and 2nd in Amateur 120. Jake Jorgenson, age 8, of Hermantown took the checkered flag in Improved Kitty Cat, as well as Super Stock 120. Jake’s Super Stock win gave him enough points to claim the points championship in that class over 8-year-old Alex Peters of Britt who finished the race in 4th place. Jake topped Alex in points for the year by only a four-point margin. Alex finished top in points in Stock 120 though.
Max Nelson, age 11 from Princeton, MN, was dominant in multiple classes. He took the checkered flag in Champ 1, Champ 2 and 340 Junior Novice 1, while finishing second to 13-year-old Tyler Metz of Poplar, WI in 340 J.N. 2. Tyler finished second to Max Nelson in the first Junior Novice event. Both Junior Novice races were exciting and KCPRO-East season champion in both J.N. events, Dennis Osvold, age 11 of Cloquet, took third place in both events at Rainy. Brother Jack Osvold, who just turned 9, had a good showing with a 2nd place finish in Improved 120, while Ethan Beltrand of Princeton took 1st place. Full race results can be found at www.kcproeast.com.
Tyler Metz, a long-time KCPRO-East racer who moved on to big track racing this year, was recognized as the junior driver of the year at the USSA Pro Star Racing Series year-end banquet later in March. Congratulations Tyler!
At the end of the race day, the season was brought to a conclusion with the moms’ Champ race and the dads’ 340 race. Everybody enjoys seeing the parents get out on the track for a race of their own. Sally Nelson of Princeton, mom to Max Nelson, bested the other moms for the Champ win, while Troy Metz, dad to Tyler and Teegan, claimed the checkered flag for the 340 race.
And with that, all that was left to the race season was the day’s awards inside the Thunderbird Lodge and finalizing arrangements for the year-end race banquet to be held at the Coates Plaza Hotel in Virginia on May 4. Another season wrapped up. They fly by in flurry of activity and you’re left counting the weeks until next race season.
By CINDY KUJALA
March 14, 2013 - Forty-five families. Fifty-eight racers. Eighteen different race classes. One hundred eight-three race entries. And lots and lots of trophies.
Those are the numbers from the 2013 Northern Nationals – the State Championship race event for kids oval ice racing held at Side Lake on March 2 and 3. From Rochester in the southern part of the state stretching north to across the Canadian border. From northwestern Wisconsin on the east to the western boundaries of the Iron Range area. They came from everywhere and the trailers and sleds and orange-vested racers filled the Side Lake race track to overflowing. The Twin Port, the Twin Cities and the Iron Range were all well represented.
A regular race weekend for KCPRO-East this season has averaged about 25 racers, 14 classes and 65 race entries. So we had more than double the usual number of racers and almost triple the number of race entries as these young racers (aged 4 – 14) competed for titles and the biggest trophies of the weekend.
KCPRO-East officials and helpers were out on the track before dawn Saturday morning doing last minute plowing, setting up fencing and signs and generally getting things ready for the day. Registration went smoothly, hot laps were run on a tight schedule, the pre-race meeting was held and then the action started. There was a full day of round-robin heat races – so much so that we were losing daylight before the last heat race was completed just before 6 p.m.
Some of the racers attending the weekend’s events have fairly exotic-looking sleds. Others have pictures or slogans on the race trailers. The general atmosphere is pretty much that of a major league event, but it still comes down to young kids who climb the snow banks or toss a football when their attention isn’t focused on the race track. When it’s time to race, though, their focus is on garnering the checkered flag.
There are lots of special moments at an event such as this. People helping other people. Their kids may be competitors, but everybody still wants all the sleds on the track competing. If a sled has some mechanical problem, several dads are soon on their knees surrounding it to get the problem fixed. Somebody else comes running with parts or tools. There is genuine goodness and camaraderie on the track. That’s not to say that there aren’t also disagreements on restarts or whether inappropriate bumping took place during a particular race, but all in all for the races run (114 heat races were run on Saturday alone!) the issues were few.
Saturday’s heat races sent the top six finishers to Sunday’s feature races.
It was back on the ice early Sunday morning and another full day of racing. There were 62 last chance qualifying heat races, 10 consolation races and the highlight of the weekend… the 18 feature races. During regular race weeks, we put up to six sleds on the starting line. At Northern Nationals, six sleds line up for heat races, but the consolation and feature races line up eight sleds. It is really a sight to behold in these short-track racing events, whether it is the Amateur Kitty Cat racers coming down the straight stretch like a herd of bumblebees, or the premier 120 Champ sleds coming out of the corner in perfect symmetry with the racers all leaning off the left side of their machines. Six years of being involved in racing and I never fail to be mesmerized by the Champ sleds on the track. For some reason I always think of a symphony while watching them, albeit a symphony of high speed precision in a white cloud of dust as the sleds grind the ice into powdery crystals.
I stand in awe of all of our young racers and what they are able to accomplish on the track, but never more so than when watching the Champ racers or the big 340 sleds. These are, after all, young kids with amazing talent who drive with the precision of the biggest names in NASCAR.
These top two classes of the kids racing are the culmination of years on the track. Most, if not all, of these Champ and 340 racers were once the Amateur Kitty Cat or Beginner 120 racers. Little by little they moved up the ranks to the stock and modified classes. At age 7 they’re eligible for the Champ class, but they have to be 10 years old to participate in the 340 class.
Another special treat we had during the weekend was the return of a long-time KCPRO-East racer who this year moved on to big track racing (USSA Pro Star Racing Series and ORA), but who returned to KCPRO-East to race his 340 sled at this state championship event. We’ve missed the Metz family from Poplar, Wisconsin and their long-term racer, 13-year old Tyler (and 5-year old Teegen who is just beginning his race career). Not surprisingly, Tyler took the championship title in both 340 Junior Novice events. At the end of the day, Tyler took his 380 Junior 1 Sprint sled used for big track racing out onto the track for several exhibition laps. What a treat! Even on the smaller Side Lake track he was super fast. Most of my pictures caught the front end of his sled, the back end of his sled, or none of him and his sled. Neither my camera nor I reacted fast enough to catch many good pictures that included Tyler and his entire sled in one frame.
The days were long, the weather was great, the racing was spectacular and the trophies were big. Before you knew it, the weekend was over. You’re both glad (and tired), but a bit sad too. You know the season is almost over and 10 months is a long time to wait for the start of the 2014 race season. But we still had a last race of the season… a return trip to International Falls after not being there the last few years… to look forward to. Then the 2013 race season really would be over with.
Full result of the 2013 State Championship event can be found at www.kcproeast.com. I will write about our final race weekend – March 9 at Rainy Lake – with the next update to Minnesota North Outdoors in two weeks.
February 27, 2013 - There was a good turn-out of racers for the KCPRO-East race event held in conjunction with Polar Bear Days in Chisholm on Feb. 16.
KCPRO-East has been racing at Polar Bear Days for five-years running. It’s my hometown so the race always feels special. If you take pictures from certain locations on the lake, the Chisholm water tower provides an identifying backdrop to the race track.
I always love how in-tune our young racers are to every aspect of racing. Starting with hot laps in the morning and continuing throughout the day, many of them expressed how much they liked the Chisholm racetrack.
Club president Brandon Anderson was in charge of the Chisholm race and
he put in a wide track that was appreciated by the racers. They gave him
a ‘thumbs up’ on length and corners too. These young racers can very
articulately tell you the minor differences between tracks at each race
location and what they like or don’t like about it. The tracks follow
ISR (International Snowmobile Racing) parameters, but the kids notice
differences – whether it’s the width or length of the track, the angle
or degrees of the corners, and where every bump, ridge or groove in the
ice is located.It turned out that the most exciting race
came at the end of the day with
five competitors chasing the checkered flag in the Super Stock 120
event. Eight-year-old Alex Peters (#4) from Britt edged out
eight-year-old Jake Jorgenson (#44) of Hermantown for the win. These two
are also running neck-and-neck for the points’ championship in the
Super Stock 120 class.Alex also came away with the checkered flag in the Stock 120 event, while her brother, 10-year-old Nick Peters (#10), continued his dominance in multiple classes and 11-year-old Dennis Osvold of Cloquet (Happy Birthday #227) again swept both 340 Junior Novice races. Nine-year-old Ashley Reini was a first-time winner on Amateur Kitty Cat, Cody Cramer (#23), age 8, again took the Stock Kitty Cat checkered flag, while sisters from Bovey, Ariel Weitzel (#3), age 5, took Beginner 120 and Mercede Weitzel (#2M), age 7, took Amateur 120. Jake Jorgenson also claimed the Improved Kitty Cat checkered flag.
Valentine’s Day was celebrated with a candy exchange between the racers at the awards ceremony held at Snickers Pizza in Chisholm. The trophies handed out were red in honor of the occasion. In addition to Snickers Pizza, other weekend sponsors were Northern Belt & Conveyor of Eveleth, R.C. Fabricators and Northern Mining Services of Hibbing, Hematite Lodge #274 of Chisholm, Chisholm Inn & Suites, and the Virginia Rotary Club. Thank you to our sponsors and to the St. Louis County Rescue Squad for again providing us with stand-by EMS services.
Feb. 23 brought KCPRO-East to their usual end-of-February race location on Fish Lake outside of Duluth. This is always an especially fun event due to a LOT of activity on the lake and generally nice weather. The Kiwanis Club of Cloquet held their annual fishing contest on Fish Lake that day so there is much activity near the track as fishing contest participants head out to their area of the lake.
The biggest event on the lake each year, though, is the Fish Lake Classic Snowmobile Challenge – this
year was the 15th
annual – billed as “Northern Minnesota’s Largest Vintage Ride” with
over 400 sleds participating. Throughout the course of the day, you see
snowmobiles of every make, model, shape, size, color, incarnation and
age. But it is a sight to behold when they cross the lake en masse; a
sea of movement across the frozen lake with helmeted operators in
colorful snowmobile garb.All that activity, of course, brings out more people so we always end up with lots of spectators. Our racers didn’t disappoint. In our largest turnout of the year, 26 racers registered for a total of 67 entries. We had first-time winners and a first-time racer, as well as two former KCPRO racers rejoining the group for the Fish Lake race.
Hailey Hare (#202), age 11 of Britt, one of our new racers this year, got her first win in Stock 120. Another new racer this year, four-year-old Avery Kuras of Proctor (#10K) got her first win in Amateur Kitty Cat when five-year-old Emma Tucker (#02) from Ontario slowed down before crossing the finish line.
This week Jasmine Weitzel, age 8 of Bovey (#1) the oldest of the three sisters, claimed the Amateur 120 checkered flag ahead of sister Mercede. Jake Jorgenson won the Super Stock 120 and Improved Kitty Cat finals. Ariel Weitzel again took Beginner 120 and Cody Cramer claimed Stock Kitty. #127 David Anderson, age 12, took the Pro 206 checkered flag, while Nick Peters and Dennis Osvold claimed top spots in the other six classes.
Hi-Banks Resort on Fish Lake lent a hand to KCPRO-East’s Tim Jorgenson and Korrie Osvold in putting in the track. Alan White/Amsoil and Superior Trophy provided sponsorship assistance. Reservoir Riders Snowmobile Club lent their clubhouse for an end-of-the-day potluck dinner and the awards ceremony, and the Fredenberg Volunteer Fire Department provided stand-by EMS services. Thanks to everyone for their help.
The time since last weekend’s Fish Lake race has been especially busy preparing for the 2013 Northern Nationals race event. This two-day event, to be held on Side Lake on March 2 and 3, is the Minnesota State Championship event for this age group of oval ice racers. Racers from Wisconsin and throughout Minnesota will be joining our regular racers for the big event. Over 45 families will be traveling to Side Lake, with almost 60 racers registered for approximately 170 race entries in 18 different classes. The event is hosted by KCPRO-East Oval Ice Racing and is being supported by Kids Pro Ice Racing from the Twin Cities area. The awards ceremony will be held at Bimbo’s Octagon, across the highway from the site of the races.
Weekend sponsors include SnoBarons’ Snowmobile Club (famous for the Hay Days Grass Drags event), Recreational Motorsports, a performance machine shop and dyno center out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa , and Olson Brothers Distributing of Stacy, Minnesota, who is a leading provider of FXR apparel and products for mini-snowmobiles, ATVs, RVs and more.
Saturday will be all heat races in a round-robin format. Sunday will start with last chance qualifying, move to consolation races and conclude with the 18 feature races with eight (rather than the usual six) sleds on the starting line. The weather’s is predicted to be nice, but hopefully not so nice that we’re racing with water on top of the ice as we did a couple of years back at this event. It’s going to be fun with lots of action, strong competition and plenty of excitement. Come and check it out!
February 14, 2013
The cold temperatures may have kept many spectators away from the race action on Bailey Lake on February 2nd, but they didn’t deter the racers during their second outing in Virginia.
The skies were blue and the sun (with no wind) kept the day
pleasant as 22 young racers took to the ice with temperatures that
started out below zero. Four-year-old Xander Wilhelm was back on his Kitty Cat without any of the difficulties he encountered the week before. Xander claimed a 2nd place finish in Amateur Kitty Cat and a 4th place finishing in the Stock Kitty Cat final. Way to hang in there Xander!
New racer Kylie Baranzelli carried the checkered flag in Amateur 120 in only her second outing with KCPRO-East. Congratulations Kylie!
Long-time KCPRO-East racer Maddie Sweeney of Proctor, the most senior of our racers at age 14, called it quits after running the 340 Junior Novice events in Virginia. The other racers lined up on the track in Maddie’s honor as she took a final lap in her KCPRO-East race career.
Although
she could have finished out the race season, she decided to devote her
weekends to her other passion, ballet.Goodfellas Bar & Grille in Eveleth was a sponsor and the location of the awards following the day’s events.
Claiming the 1st place trophies were:
Emma Tucker, age 5, Amateur Kitty Cat
Cody Cramer, age 8, Stock Kitty Cat
Jake Jorgenson, age 8, Improved Kitty Cat
Ariel Weitzel, age 5, Beginner 120
Kylie Baranzelli, age 8, Amateur 120
Alex Peters, age 8, Stock 120 and Super Stock 120
Nick Peters, age 10, Improved 120, Sprint 120, Champ 1 and Champ 2
David Anderson, age 12, Pro 206
Dennis Osvold, age 10, 340 J.N. 1, 340 J.N. 2
As
a small non-profit organization, we depend on fundraising and sponsors.
But there are others who go less recognized that help out in ways that
are no less significant. For both of our weekends of racing on Bailey
Lake, Waschke Auto Plaza in Virginia gave us the use of a plow truck to
clear the parking area around the race track, which was a big help to
the 4-wheelers taking care of the track.Terri Holland-Vajdl at Bark Design in Chisholm helped us out when we weren’t able to find a company to make the race bibs our racers wear to display their race number.
After spending much time searching for a comparable
product to no avail, Terri not only suggested the possibility of having
the race bibs homemade, she asked her aunt (Sharon Zgonc) to make them
for us. Not only did we end up with the race bibs we needed, they were
of exceptional quality. And not only did Sharon make the bibs, she
delivered them to Bark Design for lettering. Talk about personal
service.Feb. 9 – the halfway point of the race season – brought us to Forest Lake in Grand Rapids. The Weitzel family from Bovey, with their racers Jasmine, Mercede and Ariel, hosted the event that was sponsored by Toivo’s Restaurant & Sports Bar, Turf and Tree, Inc. and Country Kitchen of Grand Rapids. Meds-1 of Grand Rapids provided stand-by EMS services for the day. We had a number of new racers join us and quite a lot of spectators.
The racers who carried the checkered flag in Grand Rapids’ feature races were:
Amateur Kitty Cat: Ashley Reini (a first-time racer and winner)
Stock Kitty Cat: Cody Cramer
Improved Kitty Cat: Jake Jorgenson
Beginner 120: Ariel Weitzel
Amateur 120: Jasmine Weitzel (a first-time winner)
Stock 120: Alex Peters
Super Stock 120: Jake Jorgenson
Improved 120, Sprint 120, Champ 1: Nick Peters
Champ 2: Eric Wittlief
Pro 206: David Anderson
340 J.N. 1 and 340 J.N. 2: Dennis Osvold
It was one of those pleasant days and it seemed that many were not anxious to get off the ice at the end of the race day. Before loading the sleds back into the trailers, several of the racers tried out other machines. They would stop in the pit area and make a quick switch of sleds and head back out on the ice for a few laps of informal completion on somebody else’s snowmobile. Some of the dads got in on the action too – jumping on a sled for a few turns around the track.
