Over the years I have forgotten about some aspects of my high school career, however I do remember I used to attend high school with this awesome girl who drag raced snowmobiles. I’ve always noticed her posts on Facebook showing her fully modded out F7 Arctic Cat and watched the videos and images from her races across Ontario; I’m pretty sure she beat most of the men in her class. As a fellow snowmobiler I’m so envious that she races. I always wonder how exhilarating it must feel to drag race a snowmobile but never I’ve never known how to get into it and try it out. When I heard that the 2nd Annual Drag at the Mag was on my boyfriend and I decided we’d attend. I was so excited, finally I’d try my hand at drag racing!
The event offers a full weekend of snowmobile drag racing at the Victory Air Field in Magnetawan, about 3 hours north of Toronto. There’s also food, helicopter rides, raffles and vendors (MBRP, GGB Exhaust, Honda, etc). The low admission cost of $10 and a $30 race fee draws curious sledders from all over with all funds raised going to the local community (Magnetawan Lions, The Magnetawan Ridge Runners, fire department and local food bank.
Sunday rolled around and I was up incredibly early getting everything ready—fueled the sled, checked the oil and my drive components—making sure nothing would go wrong while having my sled completely pinned down a track. Luckily for us, we were able to ride the trails from our house in McKellar to Magnetawan. We took the 803 trail to the C101 north, continued on that until we connected with the 801 crossing Bear Lake and then crossed Ahmic Lake which brought us right into the village of Magnetawan. From there we took the C104D to River Road up to the airfield where the drags were held. The whole ride total took us 30-45 minutes. Even though the online OFSC trail map states that some of these trails were yellow they were in very good condition with the only rough part being the trail along River Road for less than 1km.
Upon arrival to the drags we were notified that we were actually too late to enter the classes as registration was from 8am to 10am. However, the amazing volunteers squeezed us into the 800 stock class. Yes!
Registered for Drag at the Mag!
We watched a few races, ate some great locally grown and made food and then our class was called for staging. Even though I have experience pinning it on a lake and going fast my heart was pounding and I’m pretty sure that I was one of the few or maybe the only girl in my class that day.
The structure of Drag of the Mag is very simple: go as fast as you can, the first one to the end wins, the one who loses doesn’t get to run again. My first run was awesome. Pulling up to the line my heart was pounding out of my chest but it all went away when I was staged and ready to go. My first run I was hilariously up against my boyfriend. He was running his 2015 Polaris Pro RMK 800 163” and I was on my 2016 Skidoo Freeride 800 137” both with no studs. He pulled me off the start. With mountain gearing in his sled he has a lot more bottom end than me but I ended up pulling around him like he was standing still with a top speed of 80mph.
My second run I didn’t fare so well. I was up against a fully modded Skidoo with the largest studs I’ve ever seen in the track. This time I was in the right lane, which had more exposed ice on it than the left lane I was in the first time. We lined up, and off the start I was stuck spinning while he had already hooked up and was half way down the track by the time I had stopped spinning. I lost that race but it was still exhilarating and fun! The announcer gave me points for being the most “colourful one on the track today”.
From everything I heard and saw, the Drag at the Mag was a huge success and it’ll be happening again in 2017. It was incredibly fun and exhilarating drag racing my snowmobile for the first time. You don’t have to be a pro racer of any sort, anyone can enter (they even have a 120cc class for kids!). If you are planning on heading up for the event there are a good amount of places to stay in the area and great places to eat – check out the places below for accommodations, food and check the Drag at the Mag Facebook page for next years dates!
Accommodations Around Magnetawan
Quiet Bay Log Motel & Cafe – Magnetawan, Ontario
Ahmic Lake Resort – Ahmic Harbour, Ontario
Caswell Resort Hotel – Sundridge, Ontario
Where to Eat Around Magnetawan
Swiss Country House & Old Mill Lounge – Ahmic Harbour, Ontario
Magnetawan Grill and Grocery – Magnetawan, Ontario
Red Brick Cafe & Gift House -Sundridge, Ontario
Danny’s Justa’ Pasta – Sundridge, Ontario
Chelsey Hennig
Latest posts by Chelsey Hennig (see all)
- Living the Dream in Northern Ontario - March 18, 2016
- Drag at the Mag - March 3, 2016
- Last Minute Sled Prep – Are You Ready for Snowmobile Season? - January 5, 2016