Thank you Kathy for a great review.
2011 Chestermere ice press release
Official press release, Kathy Coonfer, Media Director, Second Gear Club
Well, another year has begun in fine fashion at the Second Gear Club’s 2011 CMA Alberta Provincial Oval Ice Series. 130 signatures graced our sign-up sheets as we ignored the -19 degree temperatures.
The regulation book states a course minimum width is 30 feet and can be oval or kidney shaped. Chestermere course measured in at 50 ft, well above minimum, yet narrower than most of last year’s courses. The course, built by Scott Coonfer, received mixed reviews from hating it, to liking the change up. Well, you can’t please them all!
It was great to see our neighbors to the north, wwwaaayyyy north in Lac la Biche, make the long drive to Chestermere. Devin Tardiff made it worth his while taking honors in ATV Under 500 Novice, Non-studded 4-wheel drive and coming awfully close in two-wheel drive, being beaten by Jon Yarwood of Rocky Mountain House! Tyler Duchnych, also from Lac la Biche followed Devin in the two-wheel drive class.
Laurie Anne Benko did the women proud by chasing Devin in the non-studded 4 wheel drive class and beating out Bobby Newbury! This non-studded class always has the crowd on their feet!
Anthony Bakken of Red Deer took second spot in the ATV Under 500 Novice watched dad, Mike Bakken take second in over 500 Expert between Bill Mackie and Ken Redekopp. It’s great to see families out there competing!
ATV Under 500 Expert saw all three of our favorites tearing up the ice with Billy Ling first, followed closely (sometimes too closely!), by Jamie Cayer and Chad Adams.
ATV Exhibition was a carbon copy of the ATV Over 500 Expert, with Bill Mackie taking first followed by Jamie Cayer and Chad Adams. All these guys run fairly close, so the upcoming races should prove to be very exciting. It will be anyone’s race!
It’s always great to see returning racers do well. In that category, it was exciting to see Hans Bergesen of Bentley and Lexi Pechout battling it out in the 250 Novice. Hans won, but Lexi sure made him work hard for it. Watch out Hans! You’re being chased by two pretty fast girls; Lexi Pechout and Val Hopwood! If he starts slowing down, we’ll know he just wants to be caught! Hans also took second in 450 Novice class behind Les Foster and ahead of Scott Graham. Good work fellas!
This year Shelby Coonfer has really been turning the throttle in 250 Intermediate and following the always fast Laurie Anne Benko in the Ladies class. Tracey Marshall will continue to be a threat in the ladies class, taking up third spot. These girls will be exciting to watch this season!
Shane Sugden came out this year and shining in the 450 Intermediate class followed closely by Scott Durocher and Charles Wilson. Shane also made a great showing in Vintage (1984 or prior) placing a solid second behind John Simms of Innisfail and ahead of Scott Hewgill of Calgary and taking first in the Open Intermediate followed closely by Tyler Gobin and Scott Hewgill!
There were only a couple riders in the Open Novice class at this race; Damiel Hewgill and Jayden Holt. Come on everyone…let’s give these guys some more competition!
The Four-Stroke class is always exciting with Bryan Watt taking first, Monty Brown chasing a close second and Sean Potter of Aldersyde keeping everyone honest! Monty, please stop bending over the side of your bike and looking at your engine. You’re giving Rhonda and I a heart attack!
Mitchell Brown of Airdrie took first in Two-Stroke, and as always has us gasping as he rides out the cracks and crevices on the track! He was followed by Dave Amyotte and his dad, Monty Brown.
The experts are as fast as ever this year. A newcomer to the 250 Expert Class, Matt Coonfer, worked hard to get ahead of the lightening fast Bryan Watt and Monty Brown. The 450 Experts saw Jim Titmus blazing ahead of Bryan Watt and Yvo Schmucki. Yvo is the newbie in this class but didn’t back off one little bit. He’s going to be a force to be reckoned with! Jim also took first in the Open Expert followed by the ever present Mitch Brown and Matt Coonfer in third.
The sidecar class turned out to be very small this year. The modified class didn’t make a showing, and it’s a good thing as I don’t think my nerves could take another year of that! FINALLY, Chris Benko and Jamie Evanation took first place! I think this is their year. Steve Patriquin and Rob Law took second over all and coming in third was the all-ladies team of the Baumann sisters, Rita and Melanie of Thorsby. You have to admire them as this class is fast and those rigs are tough to drive!
As always we had a huge contingent of kids come out to ride in the quad classes. These little guys and girls brave out the cold to compete. They give it their all and we are so proud of each and every one of them. They are the future of this sport and it’s great to see the torch being passed as they work their way up the ranks in their classes.
Last but not least, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! The Vet 29 racers came in order of Dave Amyotte and Randy Herrmann. The Vet 39 was, yet again, Jim Titmus, Monty Brown and Sean Potter. Don’t let the age fool you on these men. They are still as fast as ever and great fun to watch.
A family that plays together truly does stay together. I can vouch for that (or maybe I should stop cooking with cheese!). I’m so happy to see families out there competing and spending time and common interests together. There are so many great lessons to be learned from competing with/against your children, like being a humble winner or a gracious loser, being involved in the community and having respect for your competitors. They say that it takes a community to raise a child and I’m thankful for this community helping us raise ours!
See you in Dodd’s Lake in Innisfail, AB on the 30th of January!
Upcoming Alberta Ice races:
Jan.30th – Dodd’s Lake, Innisfail
Feb.6th – Cow Lake, Rocky Mountain House (National)
Feb.13th – Sylvan Lake
Feb. 20th – Gull Lake, Rimbey (National)
Mar.6th – Lac La Biche (National)
