What A Winter!
by Stan Jackson Jr.
As you sit down to enjoy this issue of the Boston Bimmer, a quick glance out your window will likely reveal green grass and trees full of leaves. Snow and ice are either a distant memory or a far away prospect for the future. Your anticipation of the summer sun has already passed and your loathing of the cold has long been in hibernation. Snow tires, what are they?
While you have been visiting your local dealer for service on your BMW or have been on the phone purchasing parts from our various sponsors, I have been watching the ice and snow melt away. Fear not, I'm here now to remind you of the wonderful side of winter and the incredible adventures that cannot be embarked upon in June!
Newfound Lake froze relatively early and it froze thick this year. We were still gaining ice well into March. Even where we race, we had a good two feet of ice this year. This was quite the opposite of 2002, when Newfound Lake froze for only two weeks! Such conditions made for a simply fantastic 2003 ice racing schedule. We held our first January race since, well, since I'm not sure when. We followed that up with a pair of events in February and again in March. No back-to-back-to-back weekends of ice racing this season.
While many areas of New England got clobbered with snow, the white stuff mostly stayed out of our way this winter. This is one of the reasons the ice got so thick. We did get socked pretty good during the fourth ice race, but overall, very little snow plowing was required this season. And as for that fourth event, the majestic snow-frosted mountainscape around the lake, after the storm, was worth the blinding afternoon of snowfall. Besides, it was kind of neat looking at the course and having no idea where the car was... or driving around the course wondering when the next cone would become visible! Not to mention that Subaru umbrella trick or the M3 in the parking area that was so buried it looked like it had been there for a month. See what you missed at just one ice race?
In fact, I think each ice race was something of a spectacle unto its own this season. What with the "BMW FTD-dominated first January ice race in years" event (BMWs swept FTD in all three divisions). The Iceman "hangover" event when Stan Jackson actually didn't win an FTD (he was just a wee bit tired after attending an ice race in upstate New York and then driving all the way back to run and race our event). To the very successful "Parker Spooner Memorial" event, and the "blinding snowstorm and everything is buried" event. Finishing finally with the infamous "I can't believe we got six runs" event!
For some of our events this season, the course was a bit longer than in the past. This resulted in fewer, but longer runs. While the long laps were fun, most participants seemed to prefer more runs, so we shifted back towards a shorter course. This resulted in a fifth event where we had six runs! Next year we will strive to land more in the middle. If not for participant preference, then for less complex scoring! Of course, the Practice Course was open almost all day for every event, so plenty of seat time was always available. Thank people like Justin Hughes, Sean Sosik-Hamor, Kris Marciniak, Mike Stukalin, Hunt Salisbury, Andrew Hobgood, and Tom Tate for leading the Practice Course crusade as well as helping out just about whenever necessary this season.
When you read this, we will have already held our Ice Racing After Dark Trophy and Video Presentation. If you were not there, you missed seeing some cool video and awesome trophies! However, you can find the final season standings online at www.boston-bmwcca.org. Check up on your friends and fellow members to see who competed, who finished where, and who won one of the coveted ice racing trophies.
And remember that could be you next year with some perseverance and a little luck. By my records, six novices managed to take home a trophy of some sort this season, including the mysterious Silver Sled in a beast of a BMW, Carl Sholz in a front-drive BMW, and Nikolay Nemchuk as part of the ever-growing Subaru contingent. Many other novices had a blast while developing competence in car control on ice.
Congratulations to all the ice racers who won a trophy or simply continued to improve and fine-tune their driving skills during yet another splendid winter on Newfound Lake. A special farewell to veteran, Andy Price, who has moved on to a distant land of no ice (sniffle, sniffle). We will miss his competition on the course and his generous assistance in the Timing Bobhouse.
Start planning now to venture up to New Hampshire for at least one of the ice races in 2004. The experience is unforgettable and an irreplaceable lesson in car control technique. The ice really can be your friend! I know there are more X-vehicles, Mini Coopers, and even M-vehicles that secretly wish their owners would bring them to Newfound Lake for a bit of icy fun. Heck, bring that convertible and run with the top down - it's been done!
Don't miss the 2003 Ice Racing Photo Gallery.
| 2003 Ice Racing Sponsors | |
 Bavarian Autosport |
 Foreign Motors West |
- June 2003 Boston Bimmer
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- Alpina's Holy Land
- BostonMember 49370: Manny DeSousa: Dedicated to All Things Automotive
- Sideways Shenanigans
- Advanced Driving Skills School: What is the ADSS?
- Boston Chapter Ice Racing: What A Winter!
- 2003 Boston Chapter Ice Racing Photo Gallery: Cars On Water
- June 2003 New Members
- Boston Chapter Autocross: Lights! Camera! Wheelspin!
- 2003 Boston Chapter Ice Racing Screen Saver: Ice Racing In The Summer
- More Boston Bimmer articles by Stan Jackson Jr.
- 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
- Boston Chapter Ice Racing: Where's The Ice? April 2001 Bimmer
- There are 9 more Boston Bimmer articles by Stan Jackson Jr.
