They come for the rush of speed, for the competition, for the camaraderie. Most of these guys have been doing this for years. It's the first year in Kalkaska County, though. That's on top of the four hours it takes before every race day. The track stretches for 1,900 feet in the rural countryside of Kalkaska County.
Sleds get twice the distance of the actual race track to stop.
It's on an old private small-plane landing strip owned by Todd and Renee Chwastek on Wood Road. Renee watches the races from her Suburban. Todd directs it all - standing on the track, flag in hand, checking the riders, signaling when to begin the series of start lights. It operates the lights, times the racers and calls the winner. Some neighbors were worried about the noise and traffic the races would cause before the track went in, but concerns seem to have subsided, Renee Chwastek said.