Mother Nature wins again

IRONWOOD - The 2015 Ironwood Snowmobile Olympus enjoyed good weather conditions and excellent snowmobile racing that brought out good-sized crowds on Saturday.

But for the second year in a row, Mother Nature forced the cancelation of Sunday's races due to inclement weather.

"Yesterday, we had our best turnout (of fans) since our new startup in 2010," said Jim Gribble, chairman of the Friends of the Fair group. "We were very happy with the gate and we thank the local communities for their support. The weather was good and we tried different advertising such as giving out student passes in the area schools. And the drivers all had good things to say about the ice on our track."

But Sunday was a different story. Tom Auvinen, local race director, and his group of workers were at the track late Saturday night and then again at 5 a.m. on Sunday. Auvinen said weather conditions "weren't too bad," so the the fresh snow was plowed off the track and it was groomed.

"But it (the weather) got worse," Auvinen said.

Brett Richter, who is a major volunteer at the Snowmobile Olympus, said race officials didn't want to cancel but had no choice.

"It was a safety issue, visibility was not good," Richter said. "It was the new snow and the wind was blowing it up on the corners."

On Saturday, ice oval snowmobile racers from more than 15 states and four provinces in Canada converged on the 2015 Snowmobile Olympics and the Gogebic County Fairgrounds.

The 2015 TLR Cup Series is a nine-race competition and starts in Ironwood with two races-one on Saturday and a separate one on Sunday.

One of the special events was the Jim Adema Memorial Cup race on Saturday afternoon.

In December of 1975, Jim Adema was tragically killed in a snowmobile accident in Ironwood, leaving behind his wife, Patty, and a 3 1/2 year-old son and a five month-old daughter.

Patty (Adema) Senneker had never returned to the Ironwood track-until Saturday.

The Snowmobile Olympus welcomed her back for the 2nd Annual Jim Adema Memorial Cup race and she personally presented the unique trophy and $1,000 in cash to race winner Bret Murkowski, of Athens, Wis.

Murkowski said he was touched by the simple ceremony.

"This race is all about the history that goes with the remembrance of Jim's passing," Murkowski said. "It meant a lot to her and a lot to me. This is what it's all about. It's why I ride for my dad who died when I was 17.

"My mindset was that if I was going to win, I had to pick the best line and go. The people working at the track did a helluva job. At first, I wasn't in the top one-third of the lead. There's a lot better guys than me out there, but somehow I kept going and won."

Saturday's racing program concluded with the TLR Cup final and 12 of the nation's best drivers racing 15 laps for their share of more than $120,000 in season-long points money. Speeds in excess of 100 miles-per-hour are common on a surface that is pure ice.

Matt Schulze, 30, of Wausau, Wis. had never won in Ironwood, until he and his Ski-Doo snowmobile raced to a TLR Cup Final win in the Champ 440 class on Saturday.

"I was leading here last year until I had troubles, so this was a relief," Schulze said. "I didn't have a race strategy, but I had a good sled and everything went well. It was nice to get out in front and lead the whole race. I was real confident and this will be a real confidence-booster for Eagle River (in two weeks.)"

As confident as Schulze was, he didn't know he had the race won until the very end.

"I knew I won when I saw the checkered flag," Schulze said. "I knew Malcolm Chartier was behind me, but I didn't know where. He's dangerous and always the guy to beat."

In Vintage class racing, Aaron Ruder was a double-winner. He took the Super Stock 440 F/LQ and the TLR Cup #4 Super Mod 340 FA/LQ.

Sara Miller was a triple-winner in the Female Division with victories in the GPR-F-500 Sport, Women's GPR F-500 and Women's 340 Super Stock race.