The International Watercross Association kicked off its 2008 race season this past weekend at the Moose Lake Grand Prix in Moose Lake MN. The weather was spectacular as was the action this weekend. Not only was this the first event of the season for the IWA, it was also the first leg of the $3,500 SnoBaron’s Haydays Triple Crown. This great 3-race series will provide bonus money to the top finishers in the Pro-Open and Semi-Pro Open classes, compiling the racer’s points for the Moose Lake Grand Prix, The Ely/Winton Longbranch Clash in Ely, MN and the IWA Season Grand Finale in Wausau, WI.
In the Stock 600 drag class, Shawn Cummings of Pine City, MN took the win aboard his Ski-Doo. The Stock 800 Drag victory went to Travis Erzar of Ely, MN, also on a Ski-Doo. For the premier Mod Drag class, the action was fast and furious all weekend long but when the smoke cleared, it was Jeff Fischer on his Motorsports Plus Yamaha powering past the rest of the field. In the 4-Man final, you could throw a blanket over the 4 competitors at the end of the 500 foot course. What a show!
The Semi-Pro oval classes were dominated by Brian Laybourn of Fairwater, WI. His Busse Motorsports, Straightline Performance prepared Ski-Doos were untouchable all weekend long as he took the wins in Semi-Pro Stock as well as Semi-Pro Open. Keep your eyes on the #704 of Laybourn this year, he is going to turn a lot of heads!
Moving into the feature classes of Pro Stock and Pro Open, the competition was as good as we have ever seen. 17 year old Chad Maki, running his Ski-Doo racing REV XP was the class of the field in Pro Stock. His XPS, Danner Sales Ski-Doo was lightning fast and carried him to the Pro-Stock win.
In the biggest race of the weekend, the Pro-Open 8-lap final, the field was narrowed down to the 6 fastest Pro riders. Jeff Fischer of Eagan MN, Chad Maki of Inver Grove Heights, MN, Shawn Zurn of Downing, WI, Kenny Kolitsch of Little Saumico, WI, Aaron Wallin of West Bend, WI and Brian McCurdy Jr of Lindstrom, MN lining up to battle it out.
McCurdy Jr took the holeshot out of lane 1 and that was all it would take. The Benoy Racing, Bikeman Performance machine was absolutely flying all weekend long, culminating with the Pro-Open victory. Shawn Zurn kept the pressure on for all 8 laps but in the end the #442 of McCurdy Jr held him off for the victory. Speaking with Brian after the race he was thrilled with the win and even more exciting about heading into the Ely/Winton Longbranch clash with the IWA points lead as well as being the front runner in the SnoBaron’s Haydays Triple Crown Challenge. McCurdy said “I spent a lot more time making sure everything was perfect on the machine before the season started and the preparation really paid off today”.
The IWA heads to Ely on June28th and 29th for the secong leg of the SnoBaron’s Haydays Triple Crown Challenge. If you’d like more info on any IWA events, please vist our website at www.iwausa.org or call (651) 307-6435.
