The 100 Mile House Snow Drags has moved to Forest Grove this year.
Traditionally held at the 100 Mile House Snowmobile Club House at the end of Ainsworth Road, this year the club and the South Cariboo Track and Trail Dirtbike Association have chosen to move it to 100 Mile Horsepower Ranch near Forest Grove. 100 Mile Horsepower Ranch co-owner Leanna Davies said she is excited to be hosting the Snow Drags on Saturday, March 1.
"We've been trying to expand and get some other events going at our property and we thought it would be really neat to do snowmobiles and incorporate trucks into the snow drag racing," Davies said. "We've got the usual snowmobile classes they used to have at the South Cariboo Track and Trail and we've added some truck classes to that. We'll do a 500-foot snowmobile lane and then do 200-foot truck lanes side-by-side style racing. We're going to do a double knockout kind of competition for both the snowmobiles and trucks, just to make it more fun and interesting."
100 Mile Horsepower Ranch is best known for its mud races during the summer where hundreds come out to watch trucks race and jump across their track. Davies said that the move into hosting the snow drags is partially to diversify but also partially practical for the 100 Mile House Snowmobile Club.
Last year the snow drags were cancelled after unseasonably warm temperatures led to little to no snow being on the ground by race day. 100 Mile Horsepower Ranch, however, is at a higher elevation and gets more snow than 100 Mile House, due to its location near Mount Timothy.
"We get a lot of the weather systems that come up from Timothy Mountain and Lac La Hache so we have a bit more snow and just a little bit more snow flurries through the season," Davies said.
Davies said that registration is open online at horsepowerranch.ca now for the races and will be open until race day. She added that participants are welcome to come test and tune their snowmobiles or trucks at the ranch on Friday, Feb. 28. Davies noted that while racers can register online, they can wait until race day to pay if they choose.
"We have the king class to the junior class so it ranges from $10 all the way up to $100," Davies remarked. "We've got about 20 people signed up so far but it sounds like there is going to be quite a few more people that just haven't signed up yet."
Hosting this event for the first time will definitely have a bit of a learning curve, but Davies said she is confident with the assistance of South Cariboo Track and Trail and the 100 Mile House Snowmobile Club things will go well. She noted they're always open to feedback and are already considering ways to grow the event for next year.
"We're pondering next year doing a two-day event instead of a one-day event," Davies remarked.
"(This year) I think it's going to be a great day. Looking at what the weather is supposed to do I think it's going to warm up a little bit but I think we'll still have quite a bit of snow. If you've not raced and you're thinking about racing we love to encourage people to come out. It's a very welcoming community and as far as spectators go we're trying to accommodate as much as we can."
100 Mile Horse Power Ranch is located at 2750 Bradley Creek Road in Forest Grove. Davies said the races will get underway between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 1 and will run until the races are complete.
