Ice Racing Is on Thin Ice… Literally

For many people, thoughts of amateur motorsport conjure images of sweltering days standing in dusty pits, sweating in Nomex suits during heats, and then slathering on extra layers of sunscreen and sucking on sports drinks between them. But for another group of racers, the fun doesn’t get started until the temperatures are well below zero, where a successful day not only requires returning home with undamaged fenders but with frostbite-free fingers and toes, too.

That pursuit is, of course, ice racing, an endeavor people have been perfecting for more than 100 years now. Thanks to its very specific environmental requirements, it has always remained something of a regional pursuit. These days, unfortunately, the locales suitable for hosting are getting smaller and the seasons shorter.

Ice racing is about the most fun you can have on two or four wheels, and, if you do it right, it’s among the most accessible forms of motorsport out there. That accessibility has taken a hit in recent times, because ice racing quite naturally requires good ice, and the milder weather over the last several winters has meant that’s increasingly hard to find. As a result, ice racing clubs are failing, series are shuttering, and the future of this low-temp grassroots motorsport is, well, on thin ice. Here’s a look back at what has made ice racing so great, and why its impending death is such a shame.

Variety

The only consistency you have in ice racing as you move from one region to the next is the surface upon which the racing takes place. While the American Motorcycle Association has standardized regulations for motorcycles and ATVs, everything else tends to be small-scale and region-specific. 

The lone exception might be France’s professional Trophée Andros series, which got its start in 1990 and featured many well-known drivers, including Alain Prost. Sadly, that series came to an end in 2024, for reasons we’ll explore in just a moment.

Locally, you’ll find clubs catering to everything from 50cc karts to high-horsepower monsters. Some clubs exclusively do time trials, and some do wheel-to-wheel racing. Some clubs race on ovals, some plow out complex circuits, and some only do straight drag races. 

My experience over 20-ish years of ice racing has exclusively been done in cars with fenders, racing wheel-to-wheel on circuits that turn both left and right. I’ve spent all of that time racing with the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club (AMEC), which since 1954 has earned the respect of many communities in and around New York’s Adirondack Park. It’s thanks to that respect that the club has also earned the permission to race on some of the pristine lakes dotted throughout that stunning landscape, often carving out courses that ignore the best and thickest ice to make room for the communities of ice fishing shanties that pop up in winter. For most of its 70-plus years, AMEC has been racing with remarkable consistency, though recent changes have affected the group.

Finding Ice

In most forms of motorsport, the biggest barriers to entry are getting a car and getting it to the racing venue. Ice racing, though, presents its own set of challenges.

You still need a vehicle, sure, and you still need to get it to the water. But the biggest challenge these days is finding usable ice. The people I’ve raced with all these years differ widely in terms of their economic, societal, and political backgrounds, but there’s one thing they all seem to agree on: Climate change is making it harder to enjoy their sport.

Throughout its history, AMEC has had a near-perfect record of running, with seasons typically starting in early January and going well into March. Over the years, however, the seasons have started later and ended earlier—until 2023, when the racing just didn’t happen at all. There simply wasn’t enough ice to be found, and there hasn’t been any since.

And how much ice is enough? Twelve solid inches of ice throughout the course and pit area is the bare minimum, and while we’ve often had that volume in the past few years, the quality of the ice—which is just as important as the depth—has lacked. A mid-January thaw, ill-timed rainstorm, or even a big blizzard can create pockets or layers of bad ice that just won’t do for cars sliding sideways at over 100 mph.

Consistently inconsistent weather has meant fewer races on smaller tracks than the club has been known for, but it’s a club that is blessed with dedicated volunteers who have decades of ice-checking know-how. They’re absolute gurus at what they do, and we racers have literally trusted them with our lives every time we go out there. 

Those gurus are now often saying that the ice isn’t safe. 

Death of a Pastime

Dave Burnham is one of those guys checking the ice, probing for depth, and, when things look a little uncertain, taking core samples to look for soft sections lurking below the surface. Lately, bad ice is about all he’s been finding. 

It’s a dangerous job, too. In 2022, John Cook, who had been a member of the Lakes Region Ice Racing Club in central New Hampshire for more than 40 years, died while checking the ice conditions ahead of an event.

Burnham, who’s been ice racing since 1982 and served as president of AMEC for many years, told me the ice is getting harder to read. “These wild temperature changes are not good for the ice. It can fracture or make it brittle and then soft,” he said. He places the blame squarely on climate change. 

As do many other members I spoke with. Caleb Pocok is the current vice president of AMEC and has been an avid racer since 2013. “I can’t see how it can be anything other than climate change when you have club members for 50-plus years telling you the differences in winters and ice over the years,” he said.

Pocock called the sport the “best bang for your buck racing you’ll find anywhere as far as seat time, cost, and fun factors go.” It’s a sentiment echoed by Paul Dudley, owner/instructor at Dudley’s Driving Academy in Vermont. Dudley has been doing ice racing and on-ice time trials for 21 years now, including organizing time trials and gymkhana events with the Sports Car Club of Vermont (SCCV).

“It’s a pretty depressing topic,” he said. “It’s the most incredible, challenging, dynamic, and unique motorsport I have ever seen.” He also fears that its days are numbered. “I would not be surprised if 10 years from now, ice racing is just something we tell our kids we used to do.”

But it isn’t just bad ice that’s killing the sport. As with other forms of motorsport, rising insurance costs don’t help, and neither do societal shifts. A major factor is finding volunteers, with too few younger members stepping up to help out. “Ice racing is not easy now, between the things we have to do to keep the town happy, lake associations happy, insurance, volunteers, etc.,” Burnham wrote in a letter to a local motorsports magazine. “It’s just not easy anymore.”

Dudley was able to find enough ice on Lake Elmore in northern Vermont to run a few time trial events this past season with SCCV, but those increasing challenges have killed other clubs in and around New England, including the Central New York Ice Racing Association and Maine’s New Meadows Ice Racing Association. 

And there is, of course, the aforementioned Trophée Andros series, which ran its last race in January 2024. “The more it goes, the more we are forced to find races in France at an altitude of 1500 meters (5000 feet) to be sure to have ice,” Max Mamers, co-founder of the series, said when announcing its termination. “This climate story is a recurring theme, and it’s global, it’s not just France.”

But there are still clubs out there that are making it work for cars, like Our Gang Ice Racing in Colorado and, indeed, the Lakes Region Ice Racing Club in New Hampshire. Or, if you’re more into quads or bikes, those lighter vehicles and smaller courses mean lower demands for ice, making it easier for groups like the Upper Michigan Ice Racing Association or the Central Wisconsin Ice Racing Association to keep their members busy. 

If you’re lucky to live near one of the clubs that is still racing, go sign up, become a member, and ask how you can help. The future of this sport is not guaranteed. A little extra help might just keep your local club running for a few more years—and keep you out there smiling through chattering teeth in the pit lane.