Our Gang 4 Wheelers will be celebrating 35 years of ice racing in 2011, but our type of ice racing can be traced back even further, to approximately 1965. It all started when a group of guys got together and decided to try driving on a frozen pond above Central City. Eventually one of the guys decided to put chains on the tires and then they were off to the races. These guys began seeking out new ways to get traction and their group grew. The Rat Patrol was formed and this group over the next decade or so began to evolve it into a unique sport. Races were held on Crystal Lake/Pine Junction and St. Mary's Glacier. After the rise and fall of several different clubs, Our Gang 4 Wheelers was formed in 1977. The charter members (listed on the official charter) of Our Gang were Pode Baliff, Keith Clemons, Joe Irvine, Steve Larson, Kenny Olson, Jim Olson and Orville Olson.
The Inaugural Season for Our Gang was held in 1977 at Twin Lakes. Racing remained there until around 1980 when the regular season races were moved to Georgetown. The Tri-State (Championship) events were still held at Twin Lakes until 1982 when all events moved to Georgetown where they remain now. Our Gang started out by hosting 3 events and has gradually increased the season over the years to 6 weekends (72 regular season races, 4 Championship events, a Kid's Race and 2 Fun Days).
In the early days, drivers with street legal vehicles and those with vehicles built for ice racing participated together in Bare Rubber, Studs and even Cheaters. Bare Rubber was the most popular class and was the first to be split into "Novice" and "Pro" divisions to make the classes more competitive and manageable. Street legal vehicles were considered "Novice" while the race vehicles were considered "Pro". Studs were the next to be split into "Novice" and "Pro" because of popularity around 1988. The "Novice" and "Pro" names were changed in the late 90's to "Street" and "Competition". Again, the Street Bare Rubber class was split in the late 90's to accomodate an influx of new, novice drivers in SUVs and stock 4x4s. So, the official divisions became "Competition", "Pro Street" and "Street Stock". To learn more about our current divisions and classes click here.
The "heads up" style of racing we still use can be attributed to those first guys who wanted to race their friends on that pond. This method allows us to race one another without any of the problems wheel to wheel racing can bring, especially on ice. The Dog Bone track has been used since ice racing started and it is unknown who designed it. Lee Bashline created the Sock track, Peanut track, the ill-fated Alice Twak and was the first to set up the Oval track. Around 2004 we started setting up "road courses" that had no specific shape and we began running modified versions of the original tracks for variety. The Dog Bone was run exclusively in Cheaters until the 2000's, when Jimmy Olson started using modified tracks in this class as well. The driving style has changed over the years. In the beginning, laps were run with short bursts of speed and slow corners. Cheater laps averaged the times our stud classes now run. The laps run today are more fluid with constant motion, even in the corners. Cheater laps run times around 20-25 seconds.
Around 1968 (before Our Gang was formed) the special built ice racers began popping up. "Super Jeep", "Red Baron", "Quiksilver" and "Green Latrine" were just a few of the new rigs specially built for ice racing. A lot of racers have named their Jeeps over the years out of tradition. Numbers were never used because they weren't a factor in Registration or Race Operation. Some of the more famous names over the years have been "Sting", "Black Jack", "Four Play", "Bunsen Burner", "Adrenalin", "Family Addiction", "Born Loser", "The Beast", "Half a Deck", "Blew By You", "Half Fast", "Tough Enough", "Fire 'n' Ice", "Thumper", "Ice Grinder", "Frozen Assets", "Jeep Thrills", "Rockett" and "Black Ice".
The mechanical evolution of ice racing is and will always be changing. A lot of the mechanics have prided themselves on being able to make a competitive machine using creative solutions. Lots of things have been tried and with such a small group you can guarantee if something works well, someone (if not everyone) will have made the switch by the next race. The race set-ups in the beginning were comparable to a set-up for drag racing. Today's set-ups are similar to those used by competitors on dirt ovals. Many changes have affected the sport; automatic transmissions, more horsepower, lightened vehicles, lengthening and then shortening the bolts in cheater tires, lower profile bolt tires, specialty bare rubber tires and the incorporation of racing chassis set-ups have been some of the more prominent changes. Larry Dreith was one of the more innovative mechanics and Jim and Jimmy Olson (Edgewater Jeep Repair) have influenced, built and maintained a lot of the past and current vehicles. And although the majority of the vehicles that participated in our races have been Jeeps (the choice vehicle of our four wheeling founders) we have seen Scouts, Trucks, Cherokees, Blazers, Audis, Subarus, 4Runners, Suzukis, Luxury SUVs, etc... come out and be very competitive. To the above list we add a variety of vehicles that competed in exhibition classes; from vehicles with tracks to motorized bar stools, to four wheel drive Mustangs to the "Pipe Mobile" to Hill Climb Wells Coyotes and Trucks.
Our Gang members have made the races possible the last 35 years. All the work they have done has been on a volunteer basis. The club leadership and influence has changed many times over the years. Our Presidents have included Kirby Smith, Jim Olson, Kent Johnson, Joe Burbach, Todd Hammond, Dave Tscherpel and Jean Denny (to name a few). The first female President was Anita Bashline in 1998. You can learn more about past Our Gang leaders and members by clicking here.
All of our Championship races are run once a year. Each division holds an open championship race (the Go fors) and there is also an Invitational Championship. The first Championship race combining men and women was the "Go for the Gold" race in 1980. The first two runnings of this race were bolted tire events. In 1982, the race was changed to stud tires to attract more participants. Currently it remains a Championship race with studded tires. Spencer Steele has won the most Go for the Gold titles with 12. The first "Go for the Silver" race was held in 1992. It's the Championship race for the Pro Street classes and is run with studded tires. The first "Go for the Bronze" race was held in 2002. This race is for our Street Stock Bare Rubber competitiors. The Cheater Invitational was first run in 1995. It's the most prestigious race Our Gang has because all 16 competitiors earn their spots and are invited to participate. This race is for the cheater class competitors. There have been 3 female Champions and 6 different male Champions. Jimmy Olson has won the most with 5 wins (1999, 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2009). To learn more about all of our Championship races, click here.
Many people have come and gone over the years. Ice racing has had many good drivers and each was has left their mark on the racing today. Whether they had good ideas, quality set-ups or just talent some drivers have managed dominant streaks through various points in ice racing; a short list of these drivers include Butch Brooks, Dick Hedges, Kenny Olson, Dan Keller, Sandi Specht, Mike Specht, Larry Dreith, Kent Johnson, Jim Olson, Kristy Loghry, Ginny Parko, Spencer Steele, Steve Googins, Jimmy Olson, Rhonda Anderson, Jean Denny, Mike Palmer, Kirk Blaha, JEnnifer Gleason, Earl Garczynski, Jolene Fay, Susan Tubutis and many others.
Our Gang 4 Wheelers will be celebrating 35 years of ice racing in 2011, but our type of ice racing can be traced back even further, to approximately 1965. It all started when a group of guys got together and decided to try driving on a frozen pond above Central City. Eventually one of the guys decided to put chains on the tires and then they were off to the races. These guys began seeking out new ways to get traction and their group grew. The Rat Patrol was formed and this group over the next decade or so began to evolve it into a unique sport. Races were held on Crystal Lake/Pine Junction and St. Mary's Glacier. After the rise and fall of several different clubs, Our Gang 4 Wheelers was formed in 1977. The charter members (listed on the official charter) of Our Gang were Pode Baliff, Keith Clemons, Joe Irvine, Steve Larson, Kenny Olson, Jim Olson and Orville Olson.
