The 44th annual Haydays grass drag, swap meet and snowmobiling party is a less than a week away, and with its new location it’s bound to be interesting. Here is my unofficial, quickly thrown together and hardly thought about Top 10 Things About Haydays.
- The Swap Meet – This is where you can find the windshield you’ve been seeking for your primary sled, the seat for your older sled and the clutch for your vintage sled. Plus, you can sort through the mess of clapped out dirt bikes, occasional kitchen appliances, old neon beer signs, off-brand used power tools, tires & rims, artificial Christmas trees and weed whips, among other things. Remember to bring your best haggling skills.
- The Grass Drags – Call me old fashioned, but Haydays started as a grass drag, and I still truly enjoy seeing the boys (and occasional girls) settle the score for who can build and race the fastest equipment on dirt. It’s called a grass drag, but it sounds like the entire course this year will be on a clay surface. Either way, expect 500 feet of racing, lightning fast equipment, the smell of race gas and turbo-charged egos.
- Vendor Displays – Whether you want to check out the new sleds, talk to the guys who make traction products, leer at the pretty girls tossing out Ski-Doo T-shirts, shop for a new jacket or helmet, dream about the hot aftermarket performance setup for your sled or subscribe to the best damned snowmobile magazine in the sport (and I’m not talking about Snowmobile, Race Gas, Snow Action, City Sledder, Snow Week, Sno-X, SX illustrated, Snow Trader, Hot Sled, SnoTrack, Invitation to Snowmobiling, or Race & Rally – they’re all dead!), there’s a lot to see at Haydays.
- The Weather – Yeah, we all love winter, but it is kind of cool going to a snowmobiling event in shorts and a t-shirt, and better yet, seeing all of the gals at the event in shorts and T-shirts or bikini tops — helllllloooo ladies!
- The Motorsports Freestyle Shows – The high-flying freestyle show featuring sleds, bikes, quads and the occasional off-road truck has become a staple at Haydays over the last 10 years. See young men with more guts than sense fly launch off of ramps and do oddly-named and dangerous aerial maneuvers while obnoxious music blares through staticy speakers.
- Seeing Vintage Sleds – Haydays has a formal vintage sled area called Memory Lane where you can restored beauties, and the swap meet with packed with unrestored relics. Either way, Haydays is a great place to celebrate this sport’s great history.
- Food! – Haydays has become the alternative to the State Fair for many of us when it comes to getting a bunch of greasy, artery clogging food chased by warm beer. Let’s eat!
- ATV & UTV Demos – The host Sno Barons have created a demo track for ATVs and side-by-sides at their new site. Wanna go for a ride?
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Exercise – That’s right, tell your spouse that you’re going for a very, very long walk on Saturday or Sunday. If you’re the type that wants to see all of the vendor displays plus really wants to work the swap meet hard, plan on putting on about three miles.
- Autographs – Another staple of Haydays in recent years is collecting autographs. The snowmobile manufacturers always have their racers lined up signing posters. Meet Tucker Hibbert! Get a signed poster of Ross Martin! Better yet, stop by the Snow Goer booth and let Managing Editor Andy Swanson autograph your t-shirt – he’s famous, just ask him!
