KC PRO-East Oval Ice Racing

- It’s All About The Kids -

The fourth week of the 2009 racing season of KCPRO-EAST Oval Ice Racing (Kids Championship Power Racing Organization), which includes membership throughout most of  Northeastern Minnesota, and into Northwestern Wisconsin, was a two-day event at Side Lake, fifteen miles north of Chisholm, Minnesota.  There was excellent racing both Saturday and Sunday, January 24 and 25, 2009.  The weather was extremely brisk - the coldest racing so far this year - but the sky was clear and blue as approximately 24 competitors donned their racing helmets and lined up on the starting line for Kitty Cat, 120, 340 and F1 snowmobile racing events.  The oval ice track was in top condition and the snowmobiles seemed to be in their element in the below zero temperatures, running well with relatively few mechanical issues arising during the two days of cold weather racing.  The snowmobilers competed hard and there was superb driving by competitors of every age, four to fourteen.  Boys outnumber the girls 3-to-1.  The girls pay no attention to being outnumbered.

For myself, at the end of the day Saturday I was seriously pondering why these kids could not just play basketball or learn bowling – thoughts of the indoor climate were enticingly warm.  But with the weather being a couple of degrees warmer on Sunday and the wind off the lake being marginally more breeze-like, I was back to being a happy participant of the KCPRO-EAST racing events.  I was even happier when my eight year-old great-nephew, #127 David Anderson of Duluth and Chisholm, got the checkered flag twice, once on his Kitty Cat in the improved class and once on his 120 in the stock class.  These were both first place consolation wins, but he had been anxious to again make a victory lap carrying the checkered flag.  We were happy that he secured his first victory-lap wins of the season.  Although he had already had heat-race wins this year, a feature or consolation race win is required for the honor of carrying the checkered flag once around the racetrack.  No doubt, a first place finish in a feature race is just around the next race corner for #127.  After all, during his 2008 rookie season of racing, David had three first-place finals racing his Kitty Cat snowmobile and he placed second in the finals for Amateur Kitty Cat at the Minnesota State Championship in Forest Lake.

With the racing season only ten weekends long, the event in Grand Rapids on Saturday, January 31, 2009, marked the halfway point of the season.  The weekends really do fly by too quickly.  In stark contrast to the decidedly cold temperatures for the Side Lake races, this past weekend in Grand Rapids came with unseasonably warm weather for the final day of January.  It was 60+ degrees warmer than just one week earlier!  And, true to our Northern Minnesota nature, off came the heavy jackets and warm hats, even while standing on a still frozen lake.  Sweatshirts and bare hands were a common sight, as was puddled water on the race oval.  So many contradictions for a solitary, mid-winter afternoon – snowmobiles and above-freezing temperatures; ice racing next to water puddles; discarded jackets and a snow-covered landscape.

The time is racing by.  It seems like we were just at this year’s season opener held at Big Lake in Cloquet on January 3, 2009, with chilly temperatures and much excitement.  The kids seemed happy to be back together and racing again following the ten-month long off-season.  Friendships and acquaintances were renewed amongst the kids and the adults.  After being busy with the holidays, the new race season appeared to be a welcome change and nobody took much notice of the weather. The race season started out with two first-time racers, Brody Hill of Hibbing, Minnesota, and four-year old Alex Peters of Britt, Minnesota, as well as a first-time race winner, Evan Checkalski of Poplar, Wisconsin.  It is always fun to see new racers on the track, and first-time race winners are given due recognition for their accomplishment.

The events of the second race weekend of 2009 were held on January 10th at Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin.  Again there was a first-time racer, Brock Yecoshenko of Duluth, and a first-time winner, Mason Hill of Hibbing.  I watch with joy and amazement as the kids are in near constant motion throughout the entire day.  They don’t care about the cold.  Although they are in and out of the hauling trailers lining the race oval, it is more about play than seeking out warmth.  From 8:00 in the morning, when not snowmobiling around the race track, the kids are running up and down the sliding hills on the bank of the lake adjacent to the event area.  They switch gears effortlessly between competing and playing.  Their energy supply seems endless.  Their laughter and sense of fun, as well as their concern for each other on the track, are heartwarming.

There was no race event sponsored by KCPRO-EAST the third weekend of the season in order that the race families would be free to participate in the World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River, Wisconsin.  Seven KCPRO-EAST racing families attended the World Championships that weekend with nine racers among them.  The racers all competed well and represented Northeastern Minnesota in excellent fashion.  Best of all, #10 Nick Peters, age six, of Britt brought home not one, but two, world championships!  Bravo to Nick for his Amateur 120 and Stock 120 World Championships.  (See www.kidsproice.org, the race sponsor, for additional information, including a thank you to KCPRO-EAST for their assistance during this big event race weekend.)

One of the nicest aspects of this snowmobile racing organization is the family nature and hands-on participation required.  Parents don’t get to drop their kids off in the morning and pick them up at the end of the day; there is no team bus to get the kids to the race location; there is no separate coach to teach and guide the kids.

The multitude of duties and requirements of running the organization falls to the parents of the racers.  These obligations include putting in the race track on the lake for each race event, obtaining sponsors, arranging insurance and EMTs, and making sure that food, beverages and someplace to warm up are all available during the course of the race day.  The race day and events need to be organized; there is registration to be done and race line-ups to be ordered.  At least two people  monitor and record each race for starting positions, restart line-ups and the order in which participants cross the finish line.  Race directors stand on the starting line all day to line up the machines at the beginning of each race and make sure the kids know how many laps are to be raced in the upcoming event.  A flagman stands a few yards down from the starting line to wave, in turn, the green, white and checkered flags, and the red flag as needed.  There are also people situated in the corners of the racetrack with a red flag ready to stop the race should an incident occur on the racetrack that will require a restart, or should trackside assistance need to be provided to one of the competitors.  You also have techs who check to ensure that the winning snowmobiles are set up according to the rules applicable to each class of machine.  And, not least of all, there are awards, including trophies, plaques or medals (as well as treat bags) that bring each race program to a conclusion.  The awards all need to be purchased, transported and organized by class and finishing order for each feature and consolation race event.