Ice Race in North East

[4cefed]

Hey youse guys in New England. There is an ice race in upstate NY this weekend. It's run by a BMW club. here's the address.

http://www.boston-bmwcca.org

Follow links for "Ice Racing" I think you have to pre register for events. They have an ice race every sunday I guess. I just went to one in NH last weekend. They go out on a frozen lake and set up a basic auto cross course. It takes a couple minutes to get around but it is lots of fun. Someone on the new I-club also let the word out, so there were a bunch of Sube guys there. I was with the Audis. *Reconize* There were so many people at this one it took a while to get going, BUT they set up a practice course away from the action and it turned into a free-for-all later in the day. It was worth the $20 to blow donuts and screw around on a frozen lake with your friends. This weekend they are supposed to be near Albany, but I hear there is a smaller one in Burlington VT. I didn't have my new 240 legal yet, so I rode with my friend in his Audi 90. It was a hell of a time I highly reccomend going.

[240_Keyy]

I wish we had Ice Racing here in Southern Texas

[Mayhem_J30]

that looks like hella fun but how safe is it to drive on a frozen lake?

[Tino]

sounds fun... damn schedule of mine wont allow it.

[4cefed]

Mayhem:

Well, the lake we were on last weekend was measured a few days before the event at 13" thick, so they were thinking it was about 15" at the race. They have a couple rules like parking at least 15 feet away from other cars and stuff. It's kind of creepy hearing the ice crack once in a while. I guess they do this all the time and the've never had any sinkings.

I forgot I posted this in the 240 general forum, should this be moved to the general general forum? There dosen't seem to be a lot of members in the N.E.

[MaineExport]

4cefed,

I have this weekend off, I think I might make the trip. I haven't checked out their site yet, but if I can still register I will. One question... do they run studded tires or something.... or is traction just an option? I'm thinking I'd be better off racing my truck instead of the 240! Regardless, it will give me an excuse to stop by VT and see the parents.... they'll be thrilled.

Mayhem,

The general rule is that 3" of ice wll easily support a vehicle. The northeast has been below 0 degrees everyday for about 2 weeks. We haven't seen temps above freezing in over two months! Needless to say, the ice is probably nearly 2 feet thick by now. I drive across the lakes up here all the time. Some of the ice fishing tourneys have HUGE bulldozers and dump trucks out on the ice. It is a little eery at times, as you can hear the ice crack and groan, but it is very safe this time of year.

[MaineExport]

I just went to their site. I couldn't find anything about an Albany, NY race. But, it looks like they will be on Newfound Lake in new Hampshire this sunday. That's just over an hour from here... if so I will at least go check it out. Thanks for the link man.

[4cefed]

I think their site is really confusing to navigate. Maybe the one in Albany is not associated with these guys. Maybe they race at the same lake every weekend. I don't know. I think I'm still going to go to the one in Burlington though. You can run studed tires, snow tires, summer tires, whatever you want. I'm going to build a set of spiked tires tomorrow. Some guys screw 1" sheet metal screws from the inside of the tire out. They work well. Traction really isn't an option, but it's real fun. 2WD cars in general didn't seem to be having as much fun, but if I get tires built, I bet the 240 will go pretty good. The fastest car there last weekend was an N/A MR2 with spiked tires.

[MaineExport]

Spiked tires, now that sounds fun.... but even that ain't gonna help my 240... absolutely the WORST car I've ever driven in the snow. I've had 2wd pickups go better in foul weather.

BTW.... is the Burlington race on Champlain?

And I agree, that Boston BMW site is a nightmare to navigate... who the hell is in charge over there!

[4cefed]

I got my tires all made up, the look pretty gnarly. I'll try and post a few pics later. Maybe I'll get some good video of the 240 this weekend. I don't know if the race is on Champlain, I doubt it is. If yo relly want to know I can find out.

[MaineExport]

Let me know what lake it is.... and directions from either Rt7 or I89 if you could (if not I can just use mapquest as long as I have a destination). Me and my last girlfriend are planning to go to the NH race, but I'd rather go to Burlington for many reasons. I just don't know where the hell the race is.

Well, good luck racing, hopefully I'll be there to watch! Thanks

[4cefed]

Sorry, I had some computer issues and couldn't get on for a while. The official event up in Burlington was cancelled due to water on the ice, but a bunch of friends went over to Mallet's bay. We set up a few cones and raced around for free. It was awesome. The tires I made worked great. I'm still working on some pics. The ones I made might be for sale though, I think I'm going to convert to 5-lug hubs this summer, so my brand new steelies won't fit. I also got some video, maybe I'll transfew a little to the computer.