NORWAY – Cars lined Route 117 over the weekend as spectators gathered to watch snowmobile drag races and radar runs on Norway Lake.
The events on Saturday and Sunday were part of the Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club’s annual Snowfest. Great weather and a growing attendance this year were a boon for the club, which uses money raised from the event to help maintain more than 40 miles of local trails.
“We raised about $6,500 this year,” member Jaime Mowatt said. A portion of the money came from a $5 entry fee charged for each race. Also, Mowatt said, “Our food booth and our chowderfest did really well.”
Last year the club raised about $4,000 from the two-day event.
The radar runs – speed races timed by radar – and the drag races are held on both ice and snow tracks that stretch 660 feet across Norway Lake. The races are broken down into categories depending on engine size and modifications to the snowmobiles.
On Sunday, it was Jon Blaisdell who left the ice with the title Fastest Sled of the Day after hitting the top radar run speed of 114 mph.
No prizes are awarded at Snowfest, but club President Herb Kennison said a number of professional snowmobile races attend each year for practice.
Kennison said he’s seen more interest in the snowmobile club over the years, and people from as far away as Massachusetts and New York are members. “The club is getting bigger, better,” he said. “It’s growing and it’s great.”
Comments are no longer available on this story