This winter has not been very kind to the snowmobile racing world. The Salisbury Ridge Runners where hoping that Mother Nature would cooperate with them as they hosted their ice drags January 23 in Salisbury, N.Y. The track was kept clear of snow so the ground could freeze. With a little luck the weather got cold, the ground froze and 50,000 gallons of water created a fantastic frozen track, and the race was on!
The club had planned on a P/S 1000 shootout for big money, but the poor winter kept some racers away. However, there was still a total of 26 classes, including vintage classes. It turned into a great day of racing!
First up was the P/S 1000 shootout featuring eight entries: Those 8 racers where Rob Lawrence, Ron Smithell, Josh Hoxie, Brian Lapointe, K Mac Racing, Shawn Murray, Brian Weaving and Dan Roarke. This was a single elimination event and racers were ready. The final came down to Josh Hoxie and Matt Robertson from K Mac Racing. The winner was Matt Robertson of the $3,000 purse.
The rest of racing involved classes from vintage to 'run what you brung.' The track held together nicely and was able to handle some great speeds. The fastest went to Matt Robertson with 116.67 mph and Josh Hoxie had the best reaction time with a .001-second light. Brian Lapointe had the best ET with a 4.385 seconds down the track.
At the end of the day, many good things were said about the event, and the club is planning on doing this every year. They are also planning on having a grass drag event in the fall. For more information, visit the club website http://www.salisburyridgerunners.com/
Story by Jon Johnville. Photos by JJ's Outlaw Photography.