Winning combo for Race of Champions

PLYMOUTH – Good weather, fierce competition and nice attendance made for another winning combination at the annual Budweiser Classic Race of Champions last weekend at Sheboygan County Fair Park.

“It was a great show,” said an enthusiastic Dan Schmitz, co-chairperson for the event along with Tim McMullen.

“We had a record number of entries overall and for snow-cross. We probably had the most sleds in the pits that I’ve ever seen.”

The 32nd annual snowmobile racing event included U.S. Snowmoble Association Pro-Star Racing Series competition, Greater Northern Sno-X Series racing and the Wisconsin Kitty Cat Racers. The snow-cross racing, that included 120 entries, was a regional event for the Greater Northern point series.

The Race of Champions, held Saturday and Sunday, was hosted by the Plymouth Snow Rangers club. It will air on Plymouth Community TV.

The event is the longest continuous USSA-sanctioned event in the country.

For results, visit the following web sites: ussaprostar.net (USSA races), gnssracing.com (snow-cross) and wkcr.net (Kitty Cat).

Vintage races were also part of the show. Brent Klemme of Sheboygan Falls won Saturday’s Oval Millennium Open event and Plymouth’s Lloyd Feldmann was second.

In Sunday’s Millennium Vintage competition, Kevin Hitsman of Howards Grove was the champion. Howards’ Scott Hahn earned runner-up honors.

Schmitz thought it was good crowd for the weekend, considering the Green Bay Packers were playing Sunday afternoon in the NFL playoffs.

“We had approximately 5,000 fans for the weekend. It’s always a factor when the Packers are playing. It definitely affected the crowd [size] Sunday,” he observed.

“Our club did an excellent job [hosting the event].

“The races have a tremendous impact on the community,” Schmitz said, referring to the amount of money spent by race fans and competitors at local businesses such as hotels and restaurants.

“Thanks to all of the local businesses and people who helped make the event a success.”