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Centervllle Lake was the site for the International Ice Racing Association Win- ter Nationals Ice Racing held on Saturday and Sunday, February 17th and 18th. The race, sponsored by Old Volks Home En- terprises, owned by Centervllle resident, David Kapaun, was held on Centerville Lake for the first time. Nearly thirty race cars arrived from as far away as Thunder Bay, Ontario, Iowa, Milwaukee, with the majority of racers from Minnesota. The event brought in over three hundred crew members and spec:t3tors over the weekend The International Ice Racing Associa- tion (liRA) is the largest sanctioning body for automobile racing on ice in North America. The race series is run on week- ends in January and February on a num- ber of frozen lakes, and orpnized by sev- eral sanctioned clubs. The typical race weekend includes practice and qualifying sessions; half hour rubber-to-ice; studded sprint and solo (rookie) sprint races on Saturdays, with a half hour studded sprint race and 2+ hour endurance race on Sundays. There are six classes of cars racing in the series, four modified and two stock. This provides an opportunity for a wide wriety of race cars to compete in the events. In the 25+ years since the liRA was created, many professional race driv- ers have discovered the fun and wlue of ice racing in this series. However, it is a race series that anyone interested can get involved in. Each category may have different rules regarding appearance, modifications, tires, etc. All cars are re- quired to meet the general rules section. The track length is 1.113 miles with a combination of six right and left turns and approximately SO' wide. The track is designed specifically to hold the speed down, with straight away's no longer than 518 of a mile. The Ice Racing Association organiza- tion will be celebrating their SOth year next year and is proud of the way they run a tight operation for their event with safety issues kept as a top priority. Spec- tators are kept at a safe distance from the track and alcohol is prohibited on the track and pit area during the race. Holes had been drilled to check the thickness of the ice and was determined to be 22" to 25" thick. Thick enough to hold the ad- ditional weight that would be on the lake for the event Each race car must be registered and inspected by the Tech Inspector before they are allowed out on the track. According to Steve Dunsworth, Chief Series Steward, ice racing is a safe form of racing because speeds are not that high. It's fast for going on ice, but with the studded tires the driver has rea- sonably good control. Rigorous safety standards are established for the cars pertaining to roll cages, helmets and things of that nature, as they do at NAS- CAR. The evidence is clear as to the ef- fectiveness of the safety measures taken when a driver walks away from a collision with another car on the ice. After hearing all of the safety meas- ures that they must take and seeing how the race cars are designed, I felt ex- tremely comfortable in accepting a ride from a driver and allowed my 13 year old son to experience the same. We each enjoyed three laps around the track at speeds sometimes over 100 mph! An extensive amount of work must be done prior to the big weekend. The track must be prepared, emergency per- sonnel is arranged, food, and portable "fad1ities" must be rented, just to name a few. Signs with arrows are strategically set up along the side of the track indicat- ing an upcoming turn. With so much ice dust caused by the cars in the lead, a driver may lose visual contact with the track and must begin his turn when th~( see the sign. In ice racing. one must ;i, ways be planning ahead, to determine what the car wiU be doing. due to the less than perfect control that the driver has. The races went off without a hitch and the crew and drivers went home happy. I hope that Centervllle Lake will be considered as a site for their 200 I racing schedule, as it brought great enter- tainment for a cold, winter weekend in Minnesota! For additional information on the Ice Racing Association, check out their web- site at www.angelflre.comlmnlicerace Joining a neighborhood watch group not only enables you to assist your neighbors and your communltr. it helps you. Help maintain this commun/t,y as a great place to live and work. Join Neighborhood Crime Watch! r~' For information on starting a Neighborhood Crime Watch contact: Centennial Lakes Police Department at 763/784-2501