Ice Racing

Homer Annual Ice Racing – Beluga Lake 2010

Every Winter, the Homer Ice Racing Association puts on a show that blows the doors off winter activities. Action begins on weekends the way it does every year -- with screaming engines and exhaust fumes permeating the frigid air on Beluga Lake.

"Go fast and turn left!" shouted association president Stacey Murphy after a brief drivers meeting before the inaugural 2009 race, a seven-lap heat for the stock car division.
And go fast they DO!  The stock cars, a colorful gang of beat-up, rusted out Fords, Chevys, Toyotas and others, start things off with a bang, their drivers putting the pedal to the metal trying to gain any advantage they can on the 900-foot oval track. Skidding around on the ice and kicking up plumes of snow behind them, the cars jostled for position, often banging into each other heading into the turns and sometimes helplessly spinning out into the berms.

This kind of action always draws a crowd, most of them huddled in their vehicles a safe distance away from the mayhem, staying close to their heaters and radios -- the racing play-by-play is broadcast on 99.5 FM -- and honked horns approve and validate their favorite drivers. The dead cold temperature -- minus 4 degrees at race time -- makes the coffee and hot chocolate necessary. 

"It's a great family activity," said one couple who are participants. "We have to work on those cars during the week and the kids will actually stay home and help you work on your car."

Phil Celtic, the defending stock car division champion who took the division in his number 88 Chevy, a black-and-white job affectionately called "Cop-Sicle," echoed the sentiment.

"A lot of people out here bring their families," said Celtic, who has been racing since 1991 and is joined in the pit area by his wife and daughter. "It's just way too much fun."

Mike Devaney, a seasoned ice racing veteran with 50 years experience under his belt, won the modified division in his number 10 car, a big, noisy behemoth of a vehicle built on a Ford chassis with a Chevy engine and transmission. The secret to his success on the ice, he said, is patience.

"You don't have to have the fastest car. You just have to be ready to capitalize on other people's mistakes," said Devaney.

The Homer Ice Racing Association will continue holding races every Sunday at noon throughout the winter.

"As long as the ice holds, we're there," said Murphy.