In these last couple of weekends before Christmas, the snowmobile racing world is rather quiet. All heck is going to break loose in January, with dozens of races every single weekend. But until then there are just a select few events for motorheads like us who love the smell of race gas on a cold morning.
That’s not to say there’s nothing to pay attention to, however.
The big daddy this weekend is the season opener on the new United States X-Country (USXC) racing circuit. The annual Gerald Dyrdahl Memorial Pine Lake 200 near tiny Gonvick, Minnesota, has long been the place where the cross-country/ice lemans racing crowd finds out “who’s got the smoke” for the coming season. The course cuts a serpentine path across a small lake in Northwest Minnesota. Like many years, there’s just a very light snowcover on the ice this year, so expect these guys to have the tracks studded up like oval racers.
Speaking of oval racers, two-time Eagle River World Champion Gary Moyle is making the trip over to Gonvick from his native Upper Peninsula to give cross-country racing a try. Moyle is at an interesting stage in his career, as he plans to run the Soo I-500 enduro race and some cross-country races while he continues to mentally debate if he wants to remain in oval racing.
While going to the race sounds like a great idea, it is frankly held pretty darn far from anywhere. But you can follow the action this weekend with a live webcast on Xsan.
Also this weekend, the Michigan Xtreme Racing snocross circuit has a race scheduled for Shanty Creek, Michigan, while the ISOC Regional circuit based in Minnesota will be hosted a race at ERX Motorsports Park in Elk River, Minnesota.
