Mix motorcycles and ice and what do you get?<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll find out when the World Championship Ice Racing Series comes to the ShoWare Center 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 18 in Kent.<\/p>\n
More than 30 professional racers will compete on motorcycles and four-wheel, all-terrain vehicles around an oval track on the ice. Racers can go from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds on the motorcycles and reach speeds of 50 mph on the all-terrain vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quick, high-impact, extreme racing, up close and personal,\u201d said Brent Densford, president of South Carolina-based International Championship Events, the sponsor of the event, in a phone interview Thursday. \u201cThere is a lot of bump-and-grinding and crashing. It\u2019s very fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kent is one of 15 stops on the 2009-2010 series.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty insane,\u201d said Densford. \u201cIt\u2019s faster than anybody thought you could go on ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
This marks the 34th season of the racing series. Gary Densford, Brent\u2019s father, helped start the series in 1976 when about a dozen or so motorcyclists raced at four events at indoor arenas.<\/p>\n
The two professional divisions of the series include the Manufacturers World Cup Bikes and the Unlimited Outlaw Quads.<\/p>\n
The state-of-the-art racing motorcycles feature lightweight aluminum frames with 450cc, four-stroke, single-cylinder racing engines. The bikes are manufactured by ATK, Honda, Husqvarna, Kawasaki, KTM, Suzuki and Yamaha. Riders install studs on the tires for traction.<\/p>\n
The quads are highly modified four-wheel, all-terrain vehicles built and prepared specifically for oval-track racing. The quads are noteworthy for a complete lack of spoilsport rules. That means any engine or chassis configuration is allowed, so long as the machine is rear-wheel driven and no wider than 50 inches at any point.<\/p>\n
Nearly 2,000 razor-sharp tire studs are used on the quads for traction.<\/p>\n
Amateurs can bring their own all-terrain vehicle to the ShoWare to try out ice racing during the event\u2019s Ice Breakers race.<\/p>\n
Amateur racers must be at least 16 years old. Machines must be at least 125cc or larger engine displacement. Riders must wear acceptable helmets and eye protection, high-top protective boots, long pants and sleeves.<\/p>\n
Race officials will give the amateur participants 100 racing studs to install in their tires. The studs are provided as part of a $50 entry fee. Another $25 must be paid for a back gate fee to the pits.<\/p>\n
For more information about the Ice Breakers race, e-mail info@icespeedway.com.<\/p>\n
Fans will see more than 30 races during the night. Four racers compete in the pro qualifying heats. Eight compete in the main event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s high-energy crazy,\u201d Densford said.<\/p>\n
There are crashes as well as injuries. But Densford said the series has been fortunate this season to avoid any major injuries to riders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of running into each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Besides the racers who compete on the full circuit, local racers also will join the pro division in Kent.<\/p>\n
Two of the top riders to watch in the Manufacturers World Cup Bikes division include Jammin\u2019 Jared Mees and Smokin\u2019 Joe Kopp, who is from the Spokane area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expect a good crowd,\u201d Densford said about the series debut in Kent. \u201cWe\u2019ve been in the (Seattle) area before and draw good crowds. It\u2019s been well accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series heads Saturday night to the Memorial Coliseum Portland.<\/p>\n
For more information about ice racing, go to www.icespeedway.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mix motorcycles and ice and what do you get?
\nYou\u2019ll find out when the World Championship Ice Racing Series comes to the ShoWare Center 8 p.m. Dec. 18 in Kent.
\nMore than 30 professional racers will compete on motorcycles and four-wheel, all-terrain vehicles around an oval track on the ice. Racers can go from 0 to 60 mph in less than 3 seconds on the motorcycles and reach speeds of 50 mph on the all-terrain vehicles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":3991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4185"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}