skipschulz
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It will be a strong field of Competitors at this years Winternationals Hillclimb on Saturday, Jan 16th in South Range, Michigan. South Range is located in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan's Western UP.
On that list of competitors for Saturday, Jan 16th Winternationals is past Copper Peak Hillcliimb Pro Mod King of the Hill winner, Matt Tingstad of Bessemer. 'Tinger' won the "King" title in 2008. The popular professional snowmobiler qualified for the King of the Hill 'shoot-out' last year and ended up taking a second.
Tingstad is not the only driver looking for 'revenge' at this years Hillclimb. After three years of dominating at the MASTERS Circuit Copper Peak Snowmobile Hillclimb, Pelkie's Wyler "Wild Man" Miller looks to get back what he lost last year. That is "Pro Stock and/or Pro Mod King of the Hill" title.
The Winternationals is the Midwest Qualifying event for the World Championship Snowmobile Hillclimb in Jackson, Wyoming, March 25th-28th. This years Winternationals will include MASTERS Circuit drivers that qualified for the World Championship's last year. This list includes Miller, Jason Carter of Marquette, Cook, Tingstad, Jason Kleinschmidt of Merrill (WI), Nick Gustafson of Roseau (MN), Jesse Stanton of Minneapolis (MN), and Layne Stank of Menomonee.
This Saturday's hillcliimb will also see the return of former Pro Stock and Pro Mod King of the Hill, Mike Fraki of Atlantic Mine. Fraki was a repeat King of the Hill winner in 1999 and 2000.
"This event is going to have some classes where we will have multiple former 'Kings,' and World Championship Qualifiers all running in the same class. Only the winner of the class advances to the King of the Hill 'shoot-out,' and only the top two drivers in the class qualify for Jackson," commented MASTERS Circuit President Skip Schulz.
The event has drivers coming from Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan according to the drivers list released last week.
"Drivers will come from hundreds of miles away to compete at this years event," stated Schulz.
The Winternationals marks a return of a Snowmobile Hillclimb at the South Range hill. Schulz was a part of the first sanctioned Snowmobile Hillclimb at Whealkate Bluff in the early 90's. Due to construction at Copper Peak, the MASTERS Circuit turned to the privately-owned land at Whealkate to run a hillclimb this winter. While the MASTERS Circuit acknowledges that Whealkate is not as long or steep as Copper Peak, the South Range hill has one element that will make the event challenging. That is snow.
"When one considers the amount of snow at the hill, and then forcing the drivers to go around 3 gates, I'm sure we will have our share of 'spills," replied Schulz.
The select list of drivers that were selected to compete at the Winternationals will be vying for a shot at the $1000 winner-take-all in both the Pro Stock and Pro Mod King of the hill, but according to Schulz many of the drivers will be satisfied just having a sled 'together' at the end of the competition.
The Winternationals will also include a 120cc young child King/Queen of the Hill. Parents that would like to sign their child up for the 120cc class will need to do this at this coming Friday Night's mandatory Drivers Meeting. The Drivers Meeting and the Saturday Night Awards Presentation will take place at the Range Snowmobile Clubhouse in Atlantic Mine. Both will begin at 7:00 pm.
The Gates for this Saturday's Winternationals will open at 7:00 am, with competition to start at 8:30 am.
"We will have a lot of reserved parking right at the bottom of the hill where people can watch the event right from their vehicle. We will have an FM Transmitter patched into the PA System so they can listen to the competition on their radio," Schulz continued, "The only thing we are concerned about is we only have a limited amount of Regular Parking at the site. People that do not want the Reserved Parking are reminded to get to the hill as early as they can."
Reserved parking is $25.00 per vehicle. Regular parking is $5.00 per vehicle. Admission is $10.00 for everyone 7 and older. Glad Tidings Church of Hancock will be providing food and concessions on the grounds.
Profits from this Saturday's Winternationals will go to help start the Motorsport Enthusiasts that Care (METC) Foundation. The METC Foundation will donate money to families and individuals battling cancer and families in need.
On that list of competitors for Saturday, Jan 16th Winternationals is past Copper Peak Hillcliimb Pro Mod King of the Hill winner, Matt Tingstad of Bessemer. 'Tinger' won the "King" title in 2008. The popular professional snowmobiler qualified for the King of the Hill 'shoot-out' last year and ended up taking a second.
Tingstad is not the only driver looking for 'revenge' at this years Hillclimb. After three years of dominating at the MASTERS Circuit Copper Peak Snowmobile Hillclimb, Pelkie's Wyler "Wild Man" Miller looks to get back what he lost last year. That is "Pro Stock and/or Pro Mod King of the Hill" title.
The Winternationals is the Midwest Qualifying event for the World Championship Snowmobile Hillclimb in Jackson, Wyoming, March 25th-28th. This years Winternationals will include MASTERS Circuit drivers that qualified for the World Championship's last year. This list includes Miller, Jason Carter of Marquette, Cook, Tingstad, Jason Kleinschmidt of Merrill (WI), Nick Gustafson of Roseau (MN), Jesse Stanton of Minneapolis (MN), and Layne Stank of Menomonee.
This Saturday's hillcliimb will also see the return of former Pro Stock and Pro Mod King of the Hill, Mike Fraki of Atlantic Mine. Fraki was a repeat King of the Hill winner in 1999 and 2000.
"This event is going to have some classes where we will have multiple former 'Kings,' and World Championship Qualifiers all running in the same class. Only the winner of the class advances to the King of the Hill 'shoot-out,' and only the top two drivers in the class qualify for Jackson," commented MASTERS Circuit President Skip Schulz.
The event has drivers coming from Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan according to the drivers list released last week.
"Drivers will come from hundreds of miles away to compete at this years event," stated Schulz.
The Winternationals marks a return of a Snowmobile Hillclimb at the South Range hill. Schulz was a part of the first sanctioned Snowmobile Hillclimb at Whealkate Bluff in the early 90's. Due to construction at Copper Peak, the MASTERS Circuit turned to the privately-owned land at Whealkate to run a hillclimb this winter. While the MASTERS Circuit acknowledges that Whealkate is not as long or steep as Copper Peak, the South Range hill has one element that will make the event challenging. That is snow.
"When one considers the amount of snow at the hill, and then forcing the drivers to go around 3 gates, I'm sure we will have our share of 'spills," replied Schulz.
The select list of drivers that were selected to compete at the Winternationals will be vying for a shot at the $1000 winner-take-all in both the Pro Stock and Pro Mod King of the hill, but according to Schulz many of the drivers will be satisfied just having a sled 'together' at the end of the competition.
The Winternationals will also include a 120cc young child King/Queen of the Hill. Parents that would like to sign their child up for the 120cc class will need to do this at this coming Friday Night's mandatory Drivers Meeting. The Drivers Meeting and the Saturday Night Awards Presentation will take place at the Range Snowmobile Clubhouse in Atlantic Mine. Both will begin at 7:00 pm.
The Gates for this Saturday's Winternationals will open at 7:00 am, with competition to start at 8:30 am.
"We will have a lot of reserved parking right at the bottom of the hill where people can watch the event right from their vehicle. We will have an FM Transmitter patched into the PA System so they can listen to the competition on their radio," Schulz continued, "The only thing we are concerned about is we only have a limited amount of Regular Parking at the site. People that do not want the Reserved Parking are reminded to get to the hill as early as they can."
Reserved parking is $25.00 per vehicle. Regular parking is $5.00 per vehicle. Admission is $10.00 for everyone 7 and older. Glad Tidings Church of Hancock will be providing food and concessions on the grounds.
Profits from this Saturday's Winternationals will go to help start the Motorsport Enthusiasts that Care (METC) Foundation. The METC Foundation will donate money to families and individuals battling cancer and families in need.