In Green Bay they called it the "frozen tundra" - the snow-covered Lambeau Field that's hosted some of the greatest games in football history. On the weekend of Saturday February 12th, a man-made glacier covered that field and hosted the most exciting snowmobile races yet seen in an American stadium.
The Ultimate Lambeau Leap, hosted by
the World Snowmobile Association (WSA), humbled the mighty stadium
with this world championship event. The 100 yards appear smaller
than ever under jumbo jumps and snow drifts. A linebacker is
usually the largest object on the field, not a giant track groomer.
The snowmobiles and riders sail across those yards in short
seconds.
The groomer kept the snow several feet above the grass, said A.J. Giroux, a flagman for WSA. "They're really strict on us. We can't touch grass at all," he said.
"This is probably our best event. It's unreal. It's in one of the most popular stadiums in the NFL." Any other day the field would be large, but this weekend all the racers noted how tight the course was.
"It's hard to pass," said Giroux, "So you've got to trade some paint to get around the guy.
There's really not any other way."
About 4,200 fans attended each day of the event, leaving most of the seats empty but filling one section. Pit access cost an extra $10, which was the first chance many had to walk on the famous field, even if it was under snow. Freestyle snowmobile jumper Jimmy Blaze demonstrated flips and vertical jumps on his modified machine. A special ramp with teeth to match his machine's track let him take to the air with an amazingly short sprint. There was plenty to entertain Levi Linsmeier of Menominee, MI. It was the 16-year-old Packers fan's first time in Lambeau.
"I thought the field would be a little bit bigger, and the track would be bigger, but it's alright." He and his friends came to follow Blair Morgan around the track. During one of his heats Morgan had been edged out of seizing the hole shot. "They kind of robbed it from him. He pretty much had it. They were taking him out in the corners and stuff."
"It's pretty sweet," said
17-year-old Scott Harris, also of Menominee. "I watch the
races on TV. This is the first time I've ever actually went to one.
It's a lot better watching it here."
The Ultimate Lambeau Leap last year was in the stadium's parking lot. Five days earlier rain had melted all of the snow and only snow hauled in from area businesses salvaged the event. The salt and debris in that snow kept it off the grass, and afterwards a shopping cart was pulled from the melting remains.
This year the newly renovated Lambeau offered its concessions and facilities. Using ATVs and wheeled carts to push their machines from the staging area to the track, racers and their teams lined up in a long tunnel filled with fumes, boredom and anticipation. Their team semis and mechanics were in the parking lot, but the action was in the stadium.
The last race was the most dizzying, with 20 laps before the checkered flag of the Pro Open, the leaders quickly passed lap traffic and speedily danced around congestion.
"My Ski-doo rocked
it up front," said #7c Blair Morgan, who won the Pro Open and
the Pro Stock final on his Ski-Doo. "To win both in here is
just great," he said. "It's a really cool atmosphere.
The track's a little bit small, but I think the fans had a good
show. A lot of banging going on out there. It makes it that much
easier when I get a good start and don't have to fight to get to
the front."
Morgan had a brief fight for the lead when #18 Stevie Martin broke out to the front of the first lap and later snatched the lead back just before the midway point.
"I pulled the hole shot and led it for a couple laps, and Blair got me," the man from Evanston , WY , said. "I just tried to stay on Blair's back bumper. He's the man, so I just tried to stay right behind him because if he was going to make a mistake I was going to be right there. I got by him once, but he got by me again," he said, disappointedly.
"I just had to get him right back as soon as possible," said Morgan, of Prince Albert , Saskatchewan . "You don't want to let him get away." That position of second place was his for less than a lap.
Racers were tumbling off the course
throughout. In the very first corner #58 Matt Judnick collided with
another racer and was forced to scramble back aboard. Martin
said,
"When it's a tight track like this, and there's a rider down, It's almost like the whole track is in yellow."
#4 Bobbie Malinoski of Humboldt , Saskatchewan , finished third and said the race compared to a blender.
"Oh, man, you couldn't see
nothing. The roost was throwing in our faces and the snow was so
heavy it was sticking to our goggles. It was definitely tough
seeing." The stadium itself was an inspiration, he said. " Green Bay rules. It was pretty cool when we came up for
this final. The whole stadium was lit up, it was pretty cool to
see."
On the tight corners, racers did what they could to
grab the lead. At the last turn of the Semi-Pro Open, #311 Ross
Erdman tried to leave second place by taking a daring turn across
the inside barrier. He almost succeeded to win, but suddenly
tumbled off his machine and it flew into a roll that nearly
collided with #837 Ross Martin's Polaris. The runaway sled was no
more than 12 inches from hitting the back end of the lead machine.
Erdman finished last of the 15 racers.
Scrambling to make up for problems is common to every team. Martin won the Semi Pro Open, but not because he was lucky.
"The second (round) I was having a little
trouble. I caught on fire had to get off, finish last. The third
round, my clutches were wet or something, it wouldn't take off off
the line. It wasn't running right. It was just looking bad from
there. And the LCQ, I ended up pulling the hole shot. I won
that." That victory put him in the Semi Pro Open, but he
started from the back row. "The first race I ever won was
from the back row. I knew I had a chance to do it," he
said.
Dodging the floundered Ski-Doo of Bell , #19 Brett Bender of Colden , NY , rode his Polaris to second place and #233 Phil Johnson from Twin Harbors MN took third. Martin and Erdman had traded the lead on two consecutive laps just before the halfway point.
#711 Kyle Fiebelkorn, of Willmar , MN , had trouble of his own in the qualifying rounds before he won the Sport Open.
"I just can't thank my team enough. They got my sled going today after I smashed it up and it worked awesome." The Polaris of #282 Kyle Strandlund pulled him to second place and $483 Ryan Carey rode his own Polaris to third.
Racers can't lose
concentration, said Mike Island of Barrie Ontario, who took second
in the Pro Stock Final on his Ski-Doo.
"Definitely not. Never, ever, when you're riding snowmobiles". With Morgan easily winning first, both top spots went to men from Canada . Third place went to TJ Gulla of So Hero, VT, and his Polaris.
Accidents are no stranger to Tomi Ahmasalo, who finished ninth in the Pro Stock and eleventh in the Pro Open. His left knee was bent backwards at the X-Games the previous weekend. Ahmasalo of Rovaneimi, Finland , was the only European racer at the event.
"Basically nothing is really broken, but it's just painful to drive. I just try to go through this week and get as much points as I can and that's it." Dealing with that pain meant taking it easy on the course and not winning any races. "It's mainly the impact that hurts, and when you go to the corner and there's a small bump and you have to bend your leg a lot, then it hurts a lot." He's hoping for a recovery before the end of the season.
This event, and the upcoming races in Buffalo , NY , and others are sponsored by the U.S. Air Force. Symbolism with the helmets of a Packer, a pilot and a snowmobile racer played into the awards ceremonies, which had triumphant music and offered gratitude to the armed forces. General Dutch Remkes, the leader of the Air Force's recruiting wing and a former fighter pilot, rode his first racing snowmobile around the track after getting about 5 seconds of instruction.
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