Local Ice Racers Compete On Big Lake

Wes Vork-NSO

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Jan 17

Wes Vork-NSO

The 2011 State Championship Ice Racing Series kicked off its 2011 season on Big Lake near Cloquet on Saturday. Motorcycles which are normally used to race on dirt tracks are adapted to race on the ice of frozen lakes at speeds in excess of 80 mph. Modifications such as tire studs for traction and longer front fenders to protect the riders are made to the bikes.

Ice racing promoter Jimmy Quick was very happy with the kickoff event, now in its sixth year at Big Lake, “We had an amazing turn out of spectators and racers at Big Lake; the races ran all day long, right up until it got dark.” Quick told Northland Sports Online.

As far as the winners go; both 2010 Minnesota State Champions ruled supreme in their respective classes – Cameron Johnson of Cloquet, MN won the ‘Studded Quad Open Pro’ class while Craig Torgerson of Foxboro, WI won the ‘Bike Open Pro’ class.

Another stand out was John Hogie of Chisago City, MN, who won the ‘Studded Quad 450 B’ class, taking top honors in the largest gate drop of the day. Hogie managed to hold off the competition in all three of his events on Saturday, taking home three first place trophies.

The competition wasn’t limited to adults however, with classes for racers from age 5 on up. Two such racers were brothers Tevin and Cole Liimatainen of Cloquet. Although Tevin is just 10 yrs old and Cole is 12 they could qualify as seasoned veterans with Tevin having 3-4 years experience and Cole taking to the track a couple of years ago. “With the studs, I believe they have more control than on dirt.” Jason Liimatainen, Tevin and Cole’s
father commented. “It is safer than dirt bike racing because it is a flat course on a lake. A large part of dirt bike courses are the jumps, which is where a lot of the injuries occur.” He explained.

Racing an 85cc motorcycle, Tevin won both the 9-15 yr old class and the schoolboy class on Saturday. Winning is nothing new to the brothers, who are involved in football and karate also. Last fall they played on the 5th and 6th grade Cloquet Grey football team that went undefeated and won the league championship. On the surface the three sports appear different as night and day, however according to Jason each sport compliments the other. “Football helps a lot with the conditioning, while Karate helps develop hand-eye coordination, which is huge in racing.” Jason explained.

For those wanting to take in an ice race, there will be racing on Saturday, January 22 on Allouez Bay in Superior. All proceeds from this race will go to support the American Cancer Society with Murphy Oil matching all donations.

Round #2 of the State Championship Ice Racing Series is in Pine City on Saturday, January 29. More details can be found at www.mniceracing.com

Wes Vork can be reached at wes@northlandsportsonline.com