PHOTOS COURTESY SAULT STE. MARIE CONVENTION & VISITOR BUREAU
Racers average speeds from 100 to 113 miles per hour as they shoot around the 1-mile oval track during the I-500 in Sault Ste. Marie.
PHOTOS COURTESY SAULT STE. MARIE CONVENTION & VISITOR BUREAU
Racers average speeds from 100 to 113 miles per hour as they shoot around the 1-mile oval track during the I-500 in Sault Ste. Marie.
In February the International 500 Snowmobile Race in Sault Ste. Marie celebrates 50 years of the endurance event on its 1-mile oval ice track – the only one in the country and with “banked turns that would make NASA queasy,” touts the race’s promoters.
It takes nearly nine hours to do the 500 laps to reach the 500-mile goal as the racers – and each race team has at least two drivers available – battle the elements while struggling to pass by their competitors. You may not want to watch the full race, but you don’t want to miss the finish. Last year, the first- and second-place finishers logged 8 hours and 41 minutes, with just 11 seconds separating them.
“It’s man against machine for the first 400 miles,” says Ric Federau, race chairman, “and the last 100 miles, it’s pretty tough.”
The race started in 1969, patterned after the Indy 500, and has turned into a week of events.
As part of the 50th anniversary celebration, Sault Ste. Marie will try to break the Guinness World Record for the largest snowmobile parade Feb. 1. Organizers hope to get at least 1,048 snowmobiles (one more than the previous parade record) for a 2 p.m. parade. Participants pay a small fee and must have a valid driver’s license and a registered sled.
The I-500 normally draws about 12,000 spectators, but the anniversary is expected to bring thousands more.
“It’s huge for the community,” Ric says. “It’s great for the snowmobile industry and winter sports enthusiasts.”
I-500 Snowmobile Race, Feb. 3, Sault Ste. Marie. www.I-500.com. For details and to sign up for the world record parade, call Sault Events at 906-632-3366.