Whiteouts and Traction

Ice Racing has just a few simple rules. (all photos by Ron Sisco)

If the ice can hold all of these people, it sure can hold a car.

Mission Control: The Bobhouse.

Spectating was almost as fun as driving!

Erik Wensberg (right) at his first Ice Race.

Steve Bernstein asks the Webers: Just how quick is that 532iT?

Team Prytherch.

Peter Weber in his 88 325iX.

Catherine and Peter Chesla enjoy checking out the action.

The final two Ice Races of the 1999 season provided some very interesting conditions.

Event Four was held at the tail end of the largest snowstorm of the winter. Thirty-five of you diehards braved the wintry weather to attend that day. We had forty-one total entries, only one shy of the previous week when the threat of rain had scared so many off.

Stanley Jackson dutifully plowed the course on Saturday evening, for fear that by Sunday morning there would be too much snow to plow without the traction of pavement underneath. Sunday brought the end to the snow, but it also brought high winds that created whiteout conditions at times during the day. Part way through the event we were forced to take a break while we set up cones all around the course. The wind had been so strong that the snowbanks had almost completely blown away! Our course boundary had just up and disappeared.

Since the ice underneath was still slick as could be, this was a challenging event. The slow course times, combined with massive amounts of snow that still required moving Sunday morning, limited us to three runs for the day. But because of the snow in the air and on the ground, this was a spectacular event to watch. I hope by the time you read this we have been able to put some photos up on the website of Ice Racers perfecting the "four-wheel drift" in high-flying spumes of snow. For a while that day, the conditions reminded me of the Ice Races of yore, when there were almost always snowbanks you had to stay out of.

Deciding that we really did have ice, several veterans finally appeared for the first time this season. I am left wondering if they blew in with the snowstorm, or whether that was just coincidence. The snow drifts and the open course design spread out the performances a bit at this event.

Alex Shchipkov in his 325i managed to cement his lead in Class A. Meanwhile, in the tightest race of the day, Sean Bauer in his Wolfsburg Golf and Christopher Dinsmore in his Saturn SC2 jumped to the top of the fray in Class E as they battled it out. Veteran Ted Mendham managed to score his first victory of the year in Class G driving his Honda Civic, edging out Steve Jackson handily in the snow. But Steve continued his dominance in Class S with the venerable M535is and succeeded in taking his fourth FTD of the season. Glenn Lawton and Bob Blake both beat each other in their own cars in Classes X and Y, but Charles Moss managed to beat them both in Class Y.

The fifth and final Ice Race was held on March 14th. This may have been the latest event we have ever held. Finally this season, we got warm sunny weather for an Ice Race! Along with that warm sun comes traction, and lots of it. This was Ice Racing at its best. When the conditions are like this, it is almost like being on dirt. The times quickly converge on days like these, and FTDs are suddenly up for grabs for most Classes. We've never had so many participants as this season, and unfortunately, we beat up the ice a bit too much. After two runs we had to suspend official timing for the event, as the course had become too potholed. Next year, we will know to do something different under these conditions. Perhaps we will try to establish two courses, and give participants two runs on each. Because we only had two runs, placing for the event was determined by participants' single best run, not the average of the best two.

With the soft grippy ice, some very interesting battles developed. After one run, Fred Beck was holding onto Division 1 FTD over the apparently invulnerable Stan Jackson. Proving he really was invincible this year, Stan came back to take his fifth straight Division 1 FTD with his second run. Ann Weber took second in Class C in the family 532iT, and must have given husband Peter a little scare, as she ended the season only one point behind him. There were a number of other very tight races, but none was more thrilling than in the Rent-a-Racer. We had an unprecedented thirteen entries, and the top six were within about 1.3 seconds of each other! Mike Klepikov managed to pull out a victory in this extremely competitive Class. Please check out the results see some of the other close competition that occurred.

As always, I would like to thank all of those who helped out at the Ice Races this year. There are a number of people who can always be counted on to come through for us when necessary. I hope I don't miss anybody, but Fred Beck, Steve Bernstein, the Mendhams, and the Webers (especially Brittany!) come to mind quickly. There are several more of you who were very willing this year, and I anticipate you will be around in the future. Finally, please don't forget our sponsors, Foreign Motors West and Bavarian Autosport. I can't say enough about our sponsors; they were still there after two horrible years of almost no Ice Racing.

Don't miss A Big Year for Ice Racing and Ice Racing Adventure.

The 1999 Boston Chapter Autocross Series is sponsored by the Massachusetts BMW Retailers. BMW Gallery Norwood (Norwood, MA) BMW of Peabody (Peabody, MA) Foreign Motors West (Natick, MA) Herb Chambers BMW (Boston, MA) Wagner BMW (Boylston, MA) Trans-Atlantic BMW (Hyannis, MA)

May 1999 BIMMER

Behind the Wheel: Glorious Sun and Convertibles by Mike Webb

Under the Hood: The Track Box by Greg Scott

Crushing The Cones: One Down, Seven to Go! by Fred Beck and Justin Hughes

May 1999 New Members by Barry Tarr

Keys In Hand: Many May Events by Fred Beck

On The Ice: Whiteouts and Traction by Stan Jackson Jr.

On The Ice: Ice Racing Adventure by Rick Shrier

On The Ice: A Big Year for Ice Racing by Stan Jackson Jr.

On The Ice: Ice Race 5 Photo Gallery by Ron Sisco

On The Ice: 1999 Ice Racing Photo Gallery by Alex Shchipkov

Car Audio Tech Session at Rich's CarTunes by Mike Webb

Rich's CarTunes Tech Session Photo Gallery by Dan Mull

1998 Income and Expense Report by Bruce Augenstein

More Boston Bimmer articles by Stan Jackson Jr.

Boston Chapter Ice Racing: What A Winter! June 2003 Boston Bimmer

2002 Ice Racing: What Happened To Winter? May 2002 Boston Bimmer

2002 Boston Chapter Ice Racing: Stinson Lake April 2002 Boston Bimmer

Boston Chapter Ice Racing: Racing In (A) 2002 January/February 2002 Bimmer

Boston Chapter Ice Racing: Ice Racing 2001: Slippin' And Slidin' Again May 2001 Bimmer

There are 9 more Boston Bimmer articles by Stan Jackson Jr.