Gogebic County brings back snowmobile races

IRONWOOD - "Snowmobile racing in the 1970s was huge in Ironwood," said Tom Auvinen, Gogebic County Fair Board member and Snowmobile Olympus organizer, "but in the 1980s it started to disappear, so now we are trying to bring it back."

Auvinen is a member of the United States Snowmobile Association and has been a snowmobile mechanic for over 30 years. He's one of many volunteers working to revive the Ironwood Snowmobile Olympus.

In recent years there has been Pro-vintage racing on an ice track at the fairgrounds on the first weekend of January. This year, organizers have added a second weekend of racing to the Olympus, as the USSA pro-series races are set for Saturday and Sunday.

This weekend's racing on the same ice track will include some of the biggest names and speeds in snowmobile racing, according to organizers.

The USSA pro-series racing will take place Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gogebic County Fairgrounds. A driver's meeting will be held at 9 a.m. each morning.

Pro-vintage racing took place this past weekend, but weather conditions cut the racing down to just three races on Sunday.

For more information, visit ironwoodsnowmobileolympus.com