Ice racing in Georgetown

Aaron Storms

2/3/2005 - The 29th Annual Season has begun for the Our Gang 4 Wheelers who organize ice races on Georgetown Lake in beautiful Georgetown, Colorado every January and February. They have four wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles of all kinds and classes for all levels of drivers, though the beautifully modified old 40’s and 50’s flat fender Willys Jeeps are worth the drive on their own. They invite everyone to come out and compete with them this season, and are a friendly bunch of family type folks who are easy to talk to and helpful with explanations. If you'd rather watch someone else have all the fun, you can watch the ice racing events for free, and you won’t be disappointed and will never see events like these. 

  This past weekend, the weather was great, with the sun providing a bit of warmth on the icy lake. Fortunately there was very little wind, so the conditions were near perfect. Before the officials will let anyone on the ice, they do a core drilling to determine the depth, which must be over 14 inches, but usually ranges in the low 20’s. In over thirty years of ice racing, there has only been one incident where a vehicle went through the ice, and that was due to a tow rig parking too close to an ice fishing hole near the edge. The vehicle was retrieved with no problem.

  All racers must wear helmets, and none seemed to object, as they probably helped to keep some heat in these mostly open-air jeeps. After four hours of racing, there were no accidents and only one moment of breakage – a spectacular, hard cornering moment when the outside axle shaft snapped into at the ears, flopping the wheel and tire flat on the ice. Everyone was cool about the whole affair and helped the owner evaluate the damage and to move the jeep out of the way of the course marked on the ice.

  The course was designed in such a way as to have two vehicles competing against each other and the clock at the same time. Each would line up at the starting line facing the opposite way and run a sort of dog-legfigure eight course, with a high-speed flying finish. Spectators were allowed a safe distance away behind the cones on the lake, so everyone had a great view.

  There were ladies and men’s classes in three different race series based on the tires used: Competition Studs, ProStreet Studs, and Cheaters. The latter are wicked looking tires made with one-inch sharpened bolts punched through the tire tread area, which give unbelievable traction on the ice.

  Most of the ice racing vehicles were based on the old Jeep Willys flat-fenders, but that’s where the similarities left the norm. Almost all were lowered, with beefed up suspension, heavy-duty axles and lockers, lightened bodies and lengthened frames, and some flavor of hot-rodded V8 motor. As with most competition sports, the newest vehicles were smaller and lighter, with single seats and roof spoiler wings related to sprint cars that run the dirt tracks. Fiberglass front clips were prevalent, for weight savings and propane seemed to becoming into it’s own with the cleaner burning high 135-140 octane, over the expensive and lower 110 octane racing gas. As with most race cars, amenities were kept to a minimum, with mostly functional gauges and equipment, and roll cages for all vehicles. There aren’t many accidents at the ice races, but a photographer caught a spectacular roll sequence in the past few years that prove anything can happen.

The 12th Annual Kid's Race

  The 12^th Annual Kid's Race will be Sunday, February 6th. Kids from infants to teens (without driver's licenses or permits) get to take a lap and experience driving. Children sit on their parents’ laps and steer, or if the child is capable and big enough to reach the pedals on their own, they can drive themselves with a parent in the passenger seat. Every child that participates will get a trophy. It's free to participate, but you must sign up in advance, as there are only 50 time slots available. The sign-up sheet will be available at the lake only, starting Saturday, February 5^th, and it's done on a first-come, first-served basis.

Getting started with Ice Racing

  Getting started with the Our Gang 4 Wheelers is easy and lots of fun. All you need to start, is a Four Wheel Drive Vehicle and a Driver's License. Their Street Stock Bare Rubber class is for the beginner and is run every Sunday Morning – you get to race your daily driver out there on the course. The next race weekend will be February 5th and 6th, so don’t miss it – you’ll have a blast!