AMA Ice Race Grand Championship Adds Ice Moto to 2014 Program

If racing around an ice track on spiked tires with perfect traction, inches from your fellow competitors, isn’t thrilling enough, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Ice Race Grand Championship in Cadillac, Mich., Feb. 8-9, is offering an exciting twist to the traditional format.

Typical ice-race courses mirror short-track or half-mile dirt track events, with an oval layout. For the 2014 Ice Race Grand Championship, event promoter North American Action Sports LLC is supplementing the program at Mitchell State Park with ice moto, which introduces right-hand turns to the course.

"Ice moto is not really new, but while you do see it occasionally at some local events and at casual, recreational rides, this is the first time it has been run as a warm up for the national championship event," said NAAS Patrick Grzebinski. "The course will include both right- and left-hand turns, much like a road-race course. This type of racing attracts motocross racers, woods racers and trail riders. We expect to have approximately a 1-mile-long ice moto course."

Grzebinski says the ice moto portion of the program will run Saturday, Feb. 8, and feature select classes.

Immediately following the ice moto competition, the national championship classes of the Ice Race Grand Championship will get underway, racing into the night under the lights on a separate half-mile oval track. Grand championship racing will continue on Sunday, Feb. 9. The Kold Kutter Shootout, an exhibition non-championship event for pro and A classified riders, will feature some of the fastest ice racers on the planet.

The AMA Racing Ice Race Grand Championship features classes for riders from 4 years old to 50-plus competing on bikes ranging from lightly modified off-road machines to full-on, purpose-built ice racers. Riders will battle for AMA national No. 1 plates in a number of classes. The top riders at the event also will compete for the AMA Ice Racer of the Year award, given to the most impressive rider on the ice, while the youth riders will chase the honor of AMA Youth Rider of the Year.

The boards of the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC), Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (SVIA), and the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROHVA) voted unanimously to appoint Scott Schloegel as acting president and CEO of the associations. Diana Sanchez was appointed acting chief operating officer.

Schloegel and Sanchez, whose appointments are effective immediately, will also continue to serve in their current roles as senior vice president of government relations and vice president of operations respectively. The interim leadership was selected to ensure a seamless transition as the associations’ search committee continues to conduct a comprehensive review of the position of president and CEO, and a subsequent search to replace outgoing President and CEO Erik Pritchard.