ICE RACING SUMMARY PAGE

The ice racing season begins the first weekend of January and runs by alternating weekends through the end of February. The races are held on the BLM owned lake outside Georgetown, Colorado.
Georgetown sits in a deep valley which creates a funnel effect for some of the most vicious winds you could ever experience. I'm not kidding; veteran ice racers knowingly speak of "horizontal" snow storms with zero visibility.
The track is dog biscuit shaped for Cheaters and is alternated with a sock shaped track for Bare Rubber and Studs. Unlike bomber motorcyclists, only two vehicles are on the track at one time.
The competition rounds are divided into Men's and Women's classes and then into Pro and Novice division classes. They are then further divided by the type of tires used: Bare Rubber, Studs and Cheaters. Pro racers use three very different sets of tires. None of the Pro tires are street legal. Novice racers can run Bare Rubber or Studs (or both). Descriptions of the tires are listed below:

Four H78-15 recapped snow tires using a special "Polar Rubber".

Thousands of extra grooves are hand cut into the existing tread pattern with a grooving iron.

They are then "Tractionized".

It takes approximately 4 man hours to build one bare rubber tire.

Tires must remain "soft", never driven anywhere except on the ice, not even onto the trailer.

Protected from sunlight and heat during the summer months.

Four 29 x 1250 x 15 Terra Grip (Tractor tread).

Special drill used to drill holes in each bar.

Modified stud gun used to insert one special racing stud in each hole.

It takes approximately 8 man hours to build one stud tire.

Protected from pavement use, sunlight and heat.

An old set of these tires are used for the 4x4 pulls.

(Cheater tires are also called bolt tires.)

Four 255 x 60 x 15 radial tires (preferably worn out).

3/8" drill bit used to drill an even number of holes in an individualized pattern.

Sharpened 3/8" x 2" bolts with flat and fender washers are inserted from the inside, point first.

Another set of fender and flat washers are placed outside the tire.

Bolts are capped off with aircraft locking nuts and tightened with an impact wrench.

It takes approximately 40 man hours to build one cheater tire.

Bolts, washers and nuts add 35 pounds of weight to each tire.

These are very heavy, serious ice racing tires. Obviously, they are not driven anywhere but on the ice.

Protected from sunlight.