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What is ice racing?
THE FASTEST SPORT ON ICE!
The NASCC has been organizing ice racing on Alberta’s frozen lakes since the 1950s. Our ice racing format is designed to maximize safety and fun while being the most affordable way to go wheel-to-wheel racing in Alberta!
From the first Sunday in January until the shore thaws in March, week-ends are for ice racing.
A course of right and left-hand turns is snow-plowed out on a lake. Straights are a quarter mile or less, to keep speeds under 100 mph. Traction is also limited. The net effect is less wear and tear on cars and very cheap racing – about 10% the cost of pavement racing!
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
There are 2 ways, both easier thank you think, to get involved in ice racing! The first, and most important, is volunteering as a race worker – no better way to get close to the action! The second, equally as fun, is to build a car, assemble a team, and go racing! See below for a quick summary on how to do either!
BECOMING A RACE WORKER
The heart and soul of our events are our race workers! From working corners, timing and scoring, officiating, driving support vehicles or otherwise – there exists a plethora of opportunities to get involved all at no cost! Benefits are many including being right next to the racing action, free food and beverage, universal appreciation and, most important, the ability to go work professional races like Indy & F1!
If you want to know more about getting involved as a race worker, don’t hesitate to come out to a club meeting or, simply register as a volunteer at nascc.motorsportreg.com and show up to a race, we’re always happy to find a spot for you!
GOING RACING
There is no more exciting way of testing you and your cars abilities than door-to-door racing! Going racing is an amazing adventure – and can be as expensive or cost effective as you’d like. The steps to go Sprint Racing & Endurance racing are generally quite similar, and are itemized below. Most important is don’t panic – we all started from 0 – don’t hesitate to come ask questions!
Steps to go racing:
- Get a license by attending an ice race school – see quick links above
- Build a car, following the NASCC rules & classing outlined below
- Acquire the required driver safety equipment (helmet, HANS, suit, boots, gloves, etc- all detailed in the NASCC ice race supplemental regulations linked below)
- Get registered – assemble a team or just you, buy club memberships, get your licenses at wcma.motorsportreg.com & register at nascc.motorsportreg.com
- Go racing!
When in doubt, ask questions! We all started in the same place. Attend a club meeting (see About us for details) or hit our Facebook to ask!
If you’d like to work with a shop to help you along the way, there are plenty of NASCC affiliated shops in Alberta that would be happy to work with you. Check out our sponsors page for more details!
ICE RACE DETAILS & REGULATIONS
ICE RACING FORMAT
Ice racing has core classes as outlined below and is governed primarily by supplemental regulations(rules) written by the club – see below. Racing is door-to-door sprint style with each race day typically containing a practice session (30 minutes) and 3-4 races (13 minutes + 1 lap). In addition to racing, we also run non-competitive lapping during each day allowing people to take their street cars out or test their race cars as desired.
ICE RACING RULES (SUPPLEMENTAL REGULATIONS)
The NASCC drafts a rule set for ice-racing yearly called “NASCC Ice Race Supplemental Regulations” – these are the core rule set that govern ice racing. Because ice racing is not a WCMA classified type of racing, this works a bit differently than road racing.
The NASCC works with the WCMA (our race sanctioning body) to draft general safety and sporting regulations that compliment the NASCC Ice Racing Supplemental Regulations. These cover safety, conduct, marshaling, officiating and many other areas.
The top of page links contain PDF downloads of all pertinent ice race rules and regulations. A driver wishing to partake in ice racing is required to read them – it is a good idea to print a copy and have them on hand at events. If any of the links here seem out of date it is a good idea to check the Forms & Downloads page.
ICE RACING CLASSES
Our classing focus is simplicity to make it easy to get involved:
- Chevette (CH) & Chevette Street Stud (CHSS) – based around 1975 to 1986 Chevrolet Chevettes & Pontiac Acadians, this “mostly stock” Chevette race class has been the cornerstone of our ice-race program since the 90’s.
- No-stud (NS) – open to most modern sub-compacts and lightweight cars (FWD or RWD) this class races on “spec” winter tires (Toyo GSI-5/6) for an ice experience unlike any other – balancing finesse with speed while racing inches from your competitors!
- Limited stud (LS) – running a spec, NASCC supplied 1/4″ fender bolt with approximately 11mm of protrusion (9 per foot of tire) this is the ultimate class in terms of speed, sliding and racing action!
- All-wheel drive (AWD) – for cars that have power applied through all 4 drive wheels, running on our spec studded tire.
- Lapping (LAP) – not for racing but for lapping on ice in your street car – run throughout the day!
- Street Safe (SS) – our newest class, allowing door to door racing with minimal preparation.