U.P. snowmobilers win 2013 Masters Racing Points Championship

Michigan Upper Peninsula Snowmobilers win 2013 MASTERS Racing Points Championship

From the first MASTERS Snowmobile Drag Races of the season at Caspian, to the final race of the season at Marquette Mountain, the coveted TOP GUN Points Champion was going to come from Iron River.  The question that would not be answered till that final race in Marquette was, ‘which’ snowmobile racer from Iron River, Michigan,  would it be?

It was after the third of four MASTERS Snow Drags that racers, families, and fans knew it was going to be a Goldbach Racing Snowmobile.  However it was both the team owner, Louie Goldbach and one of his drivers, Chris Nordang that were in a tight point battle for the TOP GUN Champion of the season.

It was in the Quarterfinals that both Goldbach and Nordang would end up racing each other, with only one of the drivers advancing.  Nordang won that race and went on to win the TOP GUN Feature to claim the 2013 TOP GUN Champion Trophy.  It was a Crystal Falls, Michigan, driver that won the 2012 TOP GUN Trophy, that being Jeff Szanto.  Nordang defeated Thief River Falls, Minnesota’s, Troy Fredrich and Mohawk, Michigan’s John Mihelich, in a very close TOP GUN final.

Even though Goldbach failed to win the TOP GUN Season points championship, the Ski-Doo Race Team owner won the Pat’s Motorsports Open Mod Points Championship.  He won that class point title by a mere 1 point over Nordang.  Nordang edged out Goldbach in the Open Mod Feature at Marquette Mountain.  An Open Mod Feature that had 3 Iron River drivers, Goldbach, Nordang, and Jim Storti.

Goldbach did defeat Nordang and Lake Linden’s Jerry Buschell in the Mod 800 Final.  Buschell went on to claim the MASTERS Racing Circuit Pat’s Motorsports High Point Driver trophy.  Buschell will carry the title of MASTERS Racing Circuit Number One Driver into next season without losing a Mod 700 Final throughout this past season.

Last season’s High Point Driver, Atlantic Mine, Michigan’s,  Derek Peterson may have lost the crown, but he failed to lose in a Stock 600 feature for the past 3 years.  Peterson also took home the features in Stock 700 and Open Stock.  The only Stock Class that the Polaris driver lost was in Stock 800, which was won by a fellow Polaris driver, Shay Thompson of Negaunee.  Thompson, who focused on MASTERS Racing Circuit Hillclimbs this past season also won in Mod 600.

Long time professional Woman Sno-Cross Racer, Victoria Hawley of Skandia, Michigan, won the Mod 500 class.

Bessemer, Michigan’s, Keegan Boggetto won the 120cc Mod Class, while Champion, Michigan’s, Carter LaCosse won the Stock 120 cc class.

“Unlike the previous winter when the MASTERS Racing Circuit had to cancel both Big Powderhorn events and Marquette Mountain due to temps in the 80’s and no snow, this year we ended our race season at two ski hills that had between 4 and 7 feet of snow,” commented MASTERS Racing Circuit President, Skip Schulz.

Schulz stated that the events at Big Powderhorn and Marquette Mountain drew drivers, crews, and families from all over the Midwest.  Some drivers traveling over 9 hours to compete.

While Schulz states that he is happy the season ended with so many drivers competing, if he would have known that those Ski Hills would have closed for Skiing and still had the snow they currently have, he wished he would have scheduled another event for later in April.

“It’s difficult to predict the weather, especially when we set up our schedule in the Spring and Summer.  In the next two months, the MASTERS Racing Circuit is going to decide on locations and dates for the 2014 MASTERS Racing Circuit season,” concluded Schulz.

Marquette Country Convention and Visitors Bureau MASTERS Racing Circuit Uphill Drags at Marquette Mountain Results:

Stock 120 cc:  1)  Carter LaCosse, Polaris, Champion (MI); 2) Emma Goldbach, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 3) Sidney Storti,  Arctic Cat, Iron River (MI)

Mod 120 cc:  1)  Keegan Boggetto, Polaris, Bessemer (MI); 2) Nathan LaCosse, Polaris, Champion (MI); 3) Evan Hawley, Ski-Doo, Skandia (MI)

Stock 600:  1) Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI); 2) Mathew Kleinschmidt, Yamaha, Merrill (WI); 3) John Mihelich, Arctic Cat, Mohawk (MI)

Stock 700:  1) Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI); 2) Victoria Hawley, Ski-Doo, Skandia (MI); 3) Ray Nolan, Arctic Cat, Manistique (MI)

Stock 800:  1) Shay Thompson, Polaris, Negaunee (MI); 2) Derek Pelkala, Arctic Cat, Marquette (MI); 3) Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Open Stock:  1) Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI); 2) Derek Pelkala, Arctic Cat, Marquette (MI); 3) Shay Thompson, Polaris, Negaunee (MI)

Mod 500:  1) Victoria Hawley, Ski-Doo, Skandia (MI); 2) John Mihelich, Arctic Cat, Mohawk (MI); 3) Matt LaCosse, Ski-Doo, Champion (MI)

Mod 600:  1) Shay Thompson, Polaris, Negaunee (MI); 2) Jim Johnson, Polaris, Skanee (MI); 3) Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Mod 700:  1) Jerry Buschell, Ski-Doo, Lake Linden (MI); 2) Matt LaCosse, Ski-Doo, Champion (MI); 3) Jim Johnson, Polaris, Skanee (MI)

Mod 800:  1) Louie Goldbach, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 2) Chris Nordang, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 3) Jerry Buschell, Ski-Doo, Lake Linden (MI)

Open Mod:  1)  Chris Nordang, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 2) Louie Goldbach, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 3) Jim Storti, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI)

TOP GUN:  1) Chris Nordang, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI); 2) Troy Fredrich, Arctic Cat, Thief River Falls (MN); 3) John Mihelich, Ski-Doo, Mohawk (MI)

2013 MASTERS Racing Circuit Pat’s Motorsports High Point Driver:  Jerry Buschell, Ski-Doo, LakeLinden (MI)

2013 MASTERS Racing Circuit Pat’s Motorsports TOP GUN Champion:  Chris Nordang, Ski-Doo, IronRiver (MI)

2013 MASTERS Pat’s Motorsport Class Champions

Stock 600:  Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Stock 700:  Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Stock 800:  Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Open Stock:  Derek Peterson, Polaris, Atlantic Mine (MI)

Mod 500:  Matt LaCosse, Ski-Doo, Champion (MI)

Mod 600:  Jim Johnson, Polaris, Skanee (MI)

Mod 700:  Jerry Buschell, Ski-Doo, Lake Linden (MI)

Mod 800:  Chris Nordang, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI)

Open Mod:  Louie Goldbach, Ski-Doo, Iron River (MI)

Stock 120 cc:  Carter LaCosse, Polaris, Champion (MI)

Mod 120 cc:  Nathan LaCosse, Polaris, Champion (MI) & Keegan Boggetto, Polaris, Bessemer (MI)  TIE