THUNDER BAY - Mackenzie Holmwood wasn’t sure if his car was going to run this morning, but once he got it started, hit the ice, there was no stopping him.
“I haven’t been in the car yet this year,” Holmwood said. “It wasn’t really running very good this morning during practice and I wasn’t sure it was going to run at all. But it just kind of seemed to burn the demons out and finish the race.”
On Sunday, Holmwood was one of more than 18 drivers competing in the first race of the Thunder Bay Autosports Club ice racing season, which got off to a late start due to some unusually warm January weather.
“Unfortunately, during the month of January and a little bit of December, mother nature wasn’t as kind as we would have liked,” said Gary Adomko, president of the Thunder Bay Autosports Club. “We had freezing rain conditions that caused snow mounds on the track. When we went to plough the track last weekend, we had a lot of unevenness.”
The racing season was originally scheduled to start Jan. 22, but with the warm weather wreaking havoc with the track, it was postponed for two weeks.
Normally the season includes 10 weekends of racing at Mission Bay, but Adomko said this season it will have to be shortened to seven weekends, with a double weekend scheduled for March.
“The long term forecast, we look at that, and we are going until the end of February with good cold temperatures and I think we should be able to finish off the season into the second weekend in March,” Adomko said.
During his first race of the season, Holmwood was close behind the lead car in the studded tire class. IN second place throughout the entire race with snow constantly blinding his vision, he finally made his move on the last lap.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it around him,” he said. “The car seems to have longer legs when I get it out there so I managed to keep an eye on him on the back corners, catch him, and just make a good pass.”
Holmwood finished his first race in first place, which is a good start to the season, especially since he wasn’t sure he was even going to get a chance to race this year.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen at all,” he said. “It was cancelled and then it got really warm. I just figured they would kibosh the whole season, but they decided to try it anyway.”
For insurance purposes, at least 16 inches of ice at Mission Bay is required to race. According to Adomko, it was actually the unexpected rain in January that saved the season.
“We had the warm spell the last couple of weeks and the rain actually helped us correct the situation,” he said.
Melissa Lamothe was participating in her very first ice racing season. After several practice runs on the track, she had a few slippery moments.
“I’ve been out three times so far,” she said. “The first two were okay, but the third I ended up in the snowbank. But that’s okay. That’s part of the sport.”
For Lamothe, the decision to take up the sport of ice racing came after seeing the cars racing on the dirt track at Mosquito Raceway, as well as wanting something to do in the winter.
“It does sound a little crazy, but we’re Canadian and we only have four months of the year that are summer, so you have to do something in the winter, too,” she said. “I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s definitely something different to do with your winter and everyone is very welcoming. We’ve had a great time so far and I can see us doing this for a long time.”
Adomko said the sport, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, is gaining popularity, with more cars coming out each year.
“Thunder Bay has always been strong on the sport and we’re hoping for many more years to have the sport around,” he said. “My grandchildren are actually coming up and I’m probably going to be putting one of those guys in the cars shortly.”
When it comes to racing on ice, with studded tires or just bare rubber, there are some simple strategies that the drivers employ.
“Never brake hard,” Lamothe said. “Everyone here will say it’s about car control. So know your car, know where you’re going, and hope for the best.”
For Holmwood, the strategy is similar, just a little more simple.
“No brakes is good,” he said. “And a heavy right foot and a little back bone maybe.”
