2012 Race Report 6

Wisconsin Ice Racing February 11 & 12, 2012

Saturday I was off to hunt down some ice races. The Southern Wisconsin weather has been mild and ice racing has been called off at the last minute several times during the first six weeks of what should be the ice racing season here in Wisconsin. This week the zero degree weather should have helped the ice thickness considerably. My first trip was to Pardeeville where they were supposed to have a race last year but the ice was too thin and they have the city permission to try again this year. Today was to have been the event but the birds had kept the water open at the ramp where they wanted to enter the lake so they will try again next week. I headed east to Fox Lake where there was no one around the Fish N Fun where the races were in the past. I later found out the ice is thin on the north side of the lake so they are racing on Wedges Bay off the Boat House on the south side of the lake. Saturday’s races were already underway as I arrived about 1PM and I found out the program has been changed from the two separate shows of last year to three classes: Front wheel drive (7 cars), Rear wheel drive (18 cars) and Open class (20 entries). All the cars in the open class also raced in one of the other classes today so there were actually 25 race cars at the meet. The track is about 1/3-mile ice oval and the plowed snow (not much this year) forms a small bank to mark the inside and outside of the track. They also have some old Christmas trees along the inside to help mark the turns. They ran two sets of heats then the three feature races. The day was bright and sunny but very windy and cold but the ice was good and thick and during intermission they drilled some holes and brought up some water to make some slush and better traction for the features. Tim Sheppard started from the front row of the FWD feature and won the race that was slowed by one yellow for a stalled car. The RWD feature had 17 starters and 4 yellows as the non-studded cars went to the very outside of the course looking for grip along the snow bank that forms the “outside wall”. John Schantz started 16^th and used the “cushion” to find the fast way around the oval and take the win over Jeff Rechek with Lisa Leckman coming in third. The open feature started 19 cars and only had one yellow for a stall to wrap up the day with Sheppard starting 8^th and holding off the big power plants for another win. Sunday it was a short drive over to Hustisford Wisconsin for a visit to the Lake Sinissippi ice races that start about 11AM on the lake made just above the dam on the Rock River. They have been doing work on the dam and apparently drawing down the lake and with this movement and mild weather the ice was not forming well enough to race on. In fact today for their first race of the year there was open water just a half mile down from Karen’s Lone Pine Tap where the racers meet to start and end the day on the lake. The track was set up to the west of where they usually run more toward the island as apparently the ice was still thin just in front of the Tap. I parked on shore where I could see the track and watched from my car as the heats were already started. They run two sets of heats and then semis and features for the 3 classes of: front wheel drive (6 cars), rear wheel drive cars (22 cars) and the open class (about 20 cars). The track was marked with big orange cones and plastic barrels and was very wide with the cars going very wide into the fresh snow outside the backstretch looking for traction. Travis Ottesen scored a big win in the RWD semi and John Schantz taking the feature from 8^th starting spot. The number 90 started 3^rd and won the FWD feature of just 3 cars. He then came from 8^th to claim the open semi. Jesse Kanas won the open class feature from last (9^th) over Ottesen and Schantz to wrap up caution free feature racing just before 4PM on a sunny and pleasant afternoon.