NORWAY — Despite below-freezing wind chills on Saturday during the first day of the two-day Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club’s annual Snowfest, between 500 and 1,000 people came out to watch sled drag-racing on ice, club secretary Mark McGovern said.

“We had a fabulous crowd,” he said. “A lot of people were there. We were very happy.”

Normally, Saturday’s snowmobile races offer both ice and snow courses, with sledders racing concurrently on two tracks.

But Monday’s heavy rains melted all of the snow and left club members worrying if it would hamper races altogether. Thankfully, cold weather quickly returned, McGovern said.

“When I got here at 8 o’clock this morning, the temperature was 5 degrees, and that slowly increased to around 10 or 12 degrees,” he said.

Out on the ice midway down the 660-foot track, Samantha Roakes of Norway added more layers of clothing to her children.

“We came out here yesterday because the girls said they wanted to go down to the lake, but it was so cold and windy that we figured today, we’d dress in a lot more layers,” she said of 4-year-old Mallory Moulton and 3-year-old Sheri Moulton.

Each child was wearing three to four pairs of pants over long johns, four shirts, sweaters, two hats, and even a few layers of gloves. Roakes added black neck warmers to complete the bulky fashion ensembles.

The smell of spent octane-rich gas from the races and engines being revved constantly overpowered food odors emanating from the club’s new burger barn on the lake’s edge.

Just beyond the barn, Paula Holman and her daughter Beth of Dixfield stood bundled up beside Snowfest’s on-lake warming fire. They came to watch and support Paula’s husband-and-son racing team.

“We’ve been coming here five years now, and we’re getting more into snowmobile racing,” Beth Holman said. “It was a cold day, but other than that first scare on the ice, it was good.”

She was referring to an accident just beyond the starting area when a drag racer’s modified-class sled suddenly flipped up and over and he jumped free.

“The snowmobile came down but not on top of him, and then it crashed into the fence in the right lane,” Beth Holman said.

“He got up and he was OK, and then they moved the spectator line back after that,” she said. “That’s what happens sometimes when they get these big powerful sleds.”

More than 50 sleds competed in several categories.

  It was the first year the drag racing competition was run by the Maine Snowmobile Drag Racing Association. As a result, racing began late.

“It takes time to tech all the sleds,” McGovern said.

Before each race, drivers brought their sleds into a staging area where they were aligned by association technicians, and engines were revved to clean out motors and put correct temperatures in the exhaust pipes, said Andy Palmer of Fryeburg, a member of the Pine Street Performance Team.

“It helps the motor make power faster,” he said.

Drag racing sleds run on 114 octane fuel that costs $40 to $50 a gallon, said Eddie DeLeo, 65, of Houlton. 

A bottle redemption center owner, DeLeo builds drag racing snowmobiles. He brought two of them — a 700 modified and a 1000 pro stock — to Norway.

He said the secret to drag racing sleds is accelerating without spinning and having enough power to get past your opponent.

Because the sleds were racing on ice, each sported a few hundred 1.2-inch metal studs with either chisel or pick points for traction, DeLeo said.

“The 1000 pro stock machines will do the 660-foot track in 5 seconds, hitting 120 to 125 mph,” he said. “That’s moving. The 600 stock sleds will do it in 6 seconds.”

“This is better than sitting on your butt and watching football and hockey,” DeLeo said.

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Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club Snowfest events for Sunday, Jan. 31:

Signup for Radar Runs on the 660-foot-long track starts at 9:30 a.m., with a drivers’ meeting around 10:15 a.m. and racing shortly afterward. Drivers must be 18 or older to race. To run on the ice track, drivers must have ice picks on their tracks. There is a $5 per run entry fee. Classes are 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, and 1000 in the following classes: stock, improved stock, pro stock and modified. There is also an open class.

The annual Chowder Fest will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the clubhouse, also known as The Little Red School House on Route 118. A highlight of the weekend, the menu usually includes corn, fish, salmon and clam chowders, along with beef stew, chili, breads and desserts. It’s “all you can eat” at $7 for adults and $3 for children under 12.

The Antique Snowmobile Show parade for machines more than 25 years old is scheduled to begin at noon, but entrants can register their antiques for spectator-chosen trophies until 2 p.m.

Madenna Lanford, left, and Travis Fillebrown of Leeds stay warm by the
fire at the annual Oxford Hills Snowfest on Norway Lake on Saturday.
The festival, sponsored by the Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club, attracted snowmobile drag racers from
around the state.

Brittney Marston, 18, of Fairfield waits for
her next race at the annual Oxford Hills Snowfest on Norway Lake
on Saturday. The festival’s snowmobile drag races attracted
racers from around the state.

Samantha Roakes of Norway adjusts a neck warmer on 3-year-old Sheri Moulton of Norway prior to watching snowmobile drag racing on Lake Penneseewassee during Saturday’s annual Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club Snowfest.

Kevin Bailey of Windham waits for the green light in his race at Norway
Lake on Saturday. Snowmobile racers from around the state gathered at
Norway Lake for the annual Oxford Hills Snowfest sponsored by the
Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club.

Saturday’s snowmobile drag racers sported a few hundred 1.2-inch metal studs in their tracks for traction on Lake Pennesseewassee’s ice-racing course during Saturday’s annual Snowfest in Norway.

Paula Holman, left, and her daughter, Beth, of Dixfield, get warmed up during Saturday’s Snowfest snowmobile drag racing on Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway.

A snowmobile drag racer leans forward to reduce drag while speeding down Saturday’s 660-foot-long ice course on Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway during the Norway Trackers Snowmobile Club’s annual Snowfest.

A small crowd of snowmobile racing enthusiasts watch as a drag racer launches himself down a 660-foot-long course during Saturday’s annual Snowfest on Lake Pennesseewassee in Norway.