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Blades on Grass - Snowmobile Racers Get Early Start

October 29, 2008 - CASCO -- This is what comes of grudge races, according to Raymond Dingley of Casco.

Dingley is the owner of a frozen custard stand on Route 302 in Casco. Behind the stand is a field, 27 acres of which are owned by his mother, Mildred Dingley.

For years, Dingley and his friends, including Scott Allen, Loren Hall and Cory Mitchell, would race their snowmobiles once the hay was in. With the warm-up for a winter of traversing trails came bragging rights, and Dingley said as many as 60 racers might gather on autumn weekends.

Now, the hayfield will be the center of the snowmobile drag racing universe Saturday and Sunday as riders of all ages, both amateur and professional, match engines and nerves on a 500-foot track during the second annual Casco Grass Drags.

The races, which run from 10 a.m. to dark both Saturday, Oct. 25, and Sunday, Oct. 26, will draw the top professional riders in New England, according to Mike Ouellet, an organizer of the Northeast Grass Drag Series, a circuit of fall races extending through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

The organization, based in Colebrook, N.H., features more than a dozen professional drivers on its Web site www.grassdrags.net, and when Allen and Mitchell got involved as professional racers, they suggested Dingley create a track in the field behind the custard stand.

“They hounded me,” said Dingley, about efforts by Allen and Mitchell to lure professional grass drag races to Casco.

Mildred Dingley was less enthusiastic.

“She said ‘If you want this track, you figure it out’,” recalled Dingley.

Figuring it out came with a little help from his friends, as Mitchell, a project estimator with P&K Sand & Gravel Inc. in Naples, provided a bulldozer to scrape down and create a base for the track before it was refilled with loam. Allen and others helped with planning and labor last year.

Work for the 125-foot wide starting area was more extensive, as a base of clay three feet deep was installed so racers would all burst from the starting line under equal conditions.

Also integral to the track is the 1,250-foot shut-down stretch, where snowmobiles that reach speeds of more than 125 mph can come to a halt.

The first organized grass drag races were held over a weekend in September 2007.

According to Dingley, he and Allen and Mitchell expected maybe 500 to 800 fans for two days of racing. Advertising was minimal, although sponsorship from local companies and dealers was encouraging.

Expectations were exceeded by about 1,000, as an estimated 1,800 fans watched 25 professional and 12 amateur races each day in classes divided by the size of the snowmobile engines. Junior classes of riders ages 13-17 were included.

While not as large as the New Hampshire Snowmobile Association weekend races held in Fremont, N.H., which drew more than 25,000 people this month and awarded more than $20,000 in prizes, organizers are expecting 2,300 fans to attend the Casco races this year.


A Closer Look

The Casco Grass Drags will be run Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-dark. Races are run on a field behind Watkins Farm and Raymond’s Frozen Custard on Route 302 in Casco. The order of races for both professional and amateur drivers will be determined on race days.

Along with a midway area where visitors can buy food and see displays from local snowmobile dealers, the Rave X stunt riders from Gray will entertain on motorcycles and snowmobiles between races and youth races on smaller snowmobiles will be held.

Admission to the races is $10 per day or $15 for both days. Children under 12 are admitted free. For more information on the races, visit www.grassdrags.net.

Ouellet estimated that with 150 professional and amateur racers coming to the area, local motels and restaurants would see an economic boost to rival Columbus Day weekend.

“It’s pretty cool because the summertime people are coming back up to see stuff they would never see, said Allen, a part owner of the Naples Marina, said about the races, which were shifted from last year’s late September date because of competition with the Fryeburg Fair and Lakes Brew Fest.

For those with itchy throttle hands, the races are a chance to see how Polaris, Artic Cat and Ski-Doo stack up against each other, especially because the snowmobiles raced by amateurs undergo few modifications to race on grass instead of ice.

Mostly, it is a matter of stabilizing the suspension with additional wheels above the track or belt that propels the snowmobile and keeping the suspension cooler, although Dingley said changing the gear ratios and modifying the clutch can also improve performance.

Those changeS are to stock models, the custom sleds raced by professionals can be $25,000 to $30,000 investments funded partly by dealer and manufacturer sponsorships.

“It’s the same as NASCAR, what wins on Sunday sells on Monday,” said Ouellet, who prefers to race on grass and enjoys winter trail riding on snow at his own pace.

He estimated that grass racing could be as much as four decades old. The New England Grass Drags circuit was once filled by nearly a dozen races between Labor Day and the start of hunting season throughout northern New England and upstate New York. This year, four races were held because the pace for Ouellet and fellow organizers Tim Doyon and Paul Bellefeuille was too hectic in combination with their full-time jobs.

Fans will see more than snowmobiles in Casco this weekend as the races have been expanded to include all-terrain vehicles, and the Rave X team based in Gray will perform stunts on motorcycles and snowmobiles for the second year.

“Fans basically want to see stuff go,” said Allen, while Ouellet added that the ATVs are faster off the starting line and could draw some different fans while attracting more dealers for future sponsorships.

The best draw may yet be the youth races, where children race on smaller, 120cc engine-sized snowmobiles. While the times were not yet set, races are slated for both Saturday and Sunday.

“The sleds are not going fast, but it is fast to them,” said Allen.

All children entering receive trophies, and because children 12 and under are admitted free, it is hoped that more parents will also come to the races.

By David Harry
dharry@keepmecurrent.com
October 23, 2008


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