It may be giving way to shades of brown and green in your back yard, but at Shawnee Peak, the white stuff is going to be sticking around long enough for some of the area’s top snowmobile racers to get revved up one more time.
Rock Maple Racing’s East circuit will conclude the 2005 season this weekend at the Bridgton ski resort with a hillcross/snocross doubleheader. The hillcross competition takes center stage Saturday, while Sunday’s card features the final points-paying snocross race of the season.
Hundreds of racers, including several top racers from RMR Central, such as Simon Belzile, the 2005 Pro Open champion, and Maine native Ryan Scripture, are expected to compete. Entries also include Lewiston’s Michael Poissonnier, who looks for a strong finish to his rookie RMR season, and Robyn Smith of Jay, a veteran competitor.
Smith, who turns 18 later this month, started racing competitively at 14. He competed in the Junior Stock and Sport divisions last year, but decided to concentrate on Sport this season. He prepared for racing modifieds by competing in motorcross last summer.
“An Open sled is a lot faster and it’s really, really hard to hang on to,” said Smith, a senior a Jay High School. “The sleds have gotten a lot harder to drive.”
Smith adjusted quickly. He finished second in the RMR Central point standings in Sport Open and is currently tied for third in the RMR East Semi-Pro Open standings. Not bad, considering Smith had some reservations about competing in the Sport division in the first place.
“When I first started in Sport, it was less competition than the Junior division, but a lot of racers moved up this year and everyone stepped it up, so it was much more competitive,” he said.
He collected three wins in Sport, but he said the highlight of this season came in January in Malone, N.Y., when he started in the back row twice, yet managed to push his modified Ski-Doo to second and third-place finishes.
As a prelude to next season, when he plans on going semi-pro full-time, Smith will compete semi-pro in this, the second RMR event held at Shawnee this year.
The race concludes RMR’s 13th year of sanctioned snowmobile racing. RMR East, also known as the Maine Mini Series, launched last season.
Gates open both days at 8 a.m., with racing scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Admission is $12 per adult per day, with weekend passes available for $20. Children under the age of 10 are admitted free with a paying adult. Pit passes are also available.
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