The Granddaddy called Grantsburg
This is another installment in the Watercross Series. To read the other articles in this series, please check out the category: Watercross 2017 Season.
Grantsburg: The Granddaddy of them all. This past weekend we joined up with the Apes in Grantsburg, Wisconsin to capture them competing at the highest level of watercross racing that there is: The Grantsburg World Championships. Grantsburg brings in racers from all over the world including from countries like Finland and Norway. In addition to these international visitors we have visitors joining us for the weekend from as far as New York and New Hampshire. The International Watercross Association (IWA) and the Eastern Watercross Association (EWA) come together for one big competition one time a year.
Grantsburg Weekend
We thought it would be beneficial to know the kind of event Grantsburg puts on each year. Unlike any other IWA race of the year, Grantsburg starts on Friday with the drag class qualifying, a vintage sled run, and an East/West Challenge. In the vintage sled run, individuals will race their vintage sleds as far as they can across the lake to see what their sleds can handle. In the East/West Challenge, competitors will race 8 laps in a clockwise fashion (left turns only); then they will come back and race 8 more laps in a counterclockwise fashion (right turns only). This year, Derek McPheeters put his sled to the test and took home the Dan Hill Cup for the East/West Challenge. Following the Friday qualifying and challenges, Saturday is set aside for the oval qualifying races and one hell of an after party. Saturday night Grantsburg treated us to some the coolest snowmobile jumps, some of the best fireworks we've ever seen, and all around, a great street dance party. Sunday was the big day, well-rested or not, it was time for the racers to take the starting line. Beginning at 9:30 in the morning, the drag finals would start, the ovals would follow for the remainder of the day, and finishing up with the award ceremony.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
We had a few Apes whose weekends were certainly considered successful. Some of the Apes had their very first dry weekend, some of them looked faster than ever on their sleds, and some of them even made into the final races at Grantsburg. But as always, with the good comes the bad. Between engines blowing up and simply being one step behind the problem, a few of the Apes had an uphill battle against their machines this weekend. Despite the bad, the ugly still looms. A couple of the Apes had some scary crashes this weekend leaving for some ugly bumps and bruises.
The Good
Despite not advancing onto the finals on Sunday, #120 KJ Johnson had his very first dry weekend.
In addition to his success #174 Cory Kostreba's sled looked faster than ever this past weekend and successfully beat a run off and made it into the finals on Sunday. Also qualifying for finals this past weekend was #471 Corey Huls who, despite some very fast competition, held his own through the races. #721 Emma Godeen made it into the finals on Sunday taking home a 3rd place finish. #813 Aaron Godeen's sled looked faster than ever this weekend giving us hope that he is finally tuning in on exactly where he wants his new sled to be. #524 Scott Martinson battled his way this whole weekend into the final race of the mod drag class and took home a 4th place at Grantsburg. Lastly, #913 Court Klaphake came to Grantsburg to take it by storm; Klaphake qualified in first place position as we moved into finals on Sunday and ended up taking 2nd place home after a very close final race.
The Bad
Some of the Apes, however, struggled with their machines this weekend. #18 Adam Vowles' sled was not quite where he wanted to be and while he thought he had a clutching issue, he discovered that it was actually an exhaust valve issue. We are confident Adam will have his sled figured out by Iowa. #128 Jacob Champa ran into issues this past weekend when his Piston had catastrophic failure which could potentially put his remaining season on hold. #8 Jerry Tongen Jr. also ran into issues with his sled mechanically this weekend but still managed to make the finals on Sunday but did not make it into the final race for a trophy.
The Ugly
This weekend we witnessed a few very scary crashes. Two of those crashes involved a couple of the Apes. First off the line was #223 Aaron Vowles. Aaron's sled looked faster than ever as he cleared the first buoy; Aaron's sled suddenly flat-slid into the corner resulting in a high speed, frightening crash. We're happy to report that the only thing bugging Aaron from the crash is where he came down on his rear.
In addition to Aaron's crash another one of the Apes had a bit of a scary crash as well when he came to an abrupt halt on the water. #188 Ian VanVickle stated that he ran into issues when his secondary clutch blew and because of this and a few other issues, every time the clutch would open it up it would shred his belt.
This weekend tested many of the Apes in many different ways from mechanically, to mentally, to physically. For other Apes, this weekend was competitive showdown between sleds that gave us one hell of a show. No one left without a lesson to be learned this weekend. Hopefully our guys and gals can take those lessons into the Rivers Bend Shootout this coming weekend in Rock Valley, Iowa.