Snowmobilers revved for Race on the Rock at Marble

CORNER BROOK - It very well may be the only celebration of winter that typically marks the beginning of spring.

The Western Sno-Riders Snowmobile Club is holding its annual Race on the Rock snowmobile races at Marble Mountain again this year, with uphill drag races and sno-cross races slated to take place on Saturday and Sunday.

A total of 112 racers are expected to take part in this year's edition of the races, from all corners of the province, as well as from Nova Scotia and Ontario.

Sherry Holwell, office administrator with the Western Sno-Riders, believes the professionalism of the event keeps people coming back for more each year.

"According to our racers who come back every year, they keep saying it's the way the event is run - it's professional," Holwell told The Western Star. "We have some racers that started eight or nine years ago when we started this and they can see how it has grown and how we have grown over the years.

"We take opinions and ideas from our racers and change things from year to year to make it better," she added. "I guess our reputation just grew from that."

Final registration takes place from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, with a tech inspection scheduled for 6:30-9:30 p.m.

The uphill drags begin at 12 p.m. Saturday, which will be followed by a presentation of awards.

The sno-cross races kick off on Sunday, with a 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. final registration slot, coinciding with a tech inspection from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. The sno-cross races officially begin at 1 p.m., with an awards presentation to follow at the conclusion of the day.

"This year we did all of our registration online, so the pre-registration fees are already paid and we know we have a full slate of racers coming," said Holwell. "During that final registration period on Friday night racers will pay their class money - each sled is allowed to register in three classes - so they pay their class money that night.

"The tech inspection is basically just checking over the machines for safety reasons and making sure the stock sleds run in stock classes and the improved sleds run in modified classes and so on."

Some racers will compete in both the uphill drags and the sno-cross, although Holwell said it's mostly one or the other for many riders.

"There are usually a lot more uphill racers than sno-cross racers," she said.

The uphill drags are fairly straightforward, as the fastest sled to ascend 800 feet up the Cruiser slope is the winner. The sno-cross is a little bit trickier.

"The sno-cross is humps, bumps, tabletop jumps and it's not really about who has the best sled, it's more about who is the best driver," said Holwell.

Cash prizes are divided among first, second and third place for uphill drag racers and there is a plaque for King of the Hill, which goes to whoever wins the open class of the event. The sno-cross will feature medals for first, second and third-place finishers, along with a King of the Bumps plaque for the first-place finisher. There are eight different classes in sno-cross and 21 classes for uphill drags.

Of course, Holwell and company are hoping the weather will co-operate and the rain forecasted for the next couple of days doesn't dampen their plans.

"We all have our fingers crossed, our toes crossed and everything else," she said. "It calls for good days on Saturday and Sunday, so hopefully Mother Nature will hold out for us over the course of the weekend."