WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ICE SPEEDWAY COMES OF AGE IN VEGAS!

In 1977 the first ever series of indoor speedway ice race championships were organized and presented by International Championship Events/ICE. “In those early days the only machines on the track were nitro burning speedway motorcycles.” According to Gary Densford president of ICE. “In the early 1980’s, while preparing for an ICE Championship at the old Market Square Arena in Indianapolis my phone was ringing off the hook with these ATV guys wanting to race. They didn’t have a clue, they were game racers who wanted to give it a go. We had to get them right with tires and studs and try to make sure they didn’t kill each other out there.”

“We had about a 50/50 mix of 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers at the first go in Indy. They put on an awesome show when all was said and done. Of course when the insurance company saw photos of the trikes they put a stop to them. There were a lot of problems and litigation going on back then.”

After seeing the Quads and liking what he saw, Densford struggled for awhile in an attempt to put together a set of technical rules that would satisfy the overall big picture of this emerging sport. Should it be a 250 class, a 500 class, multiple classes? “I don’t know exactly when or where it struck me, but all of a sudden it was as clear as can be. We don’t need no stinkin rules! Except for certain safety requirements on the machines why complicate matters, require tear down, etc for this great type of racing. They need to have dead man kill switches, nerfs and bumpers, no sharp edges or pointed parts on them and that’s about it. Oh yea, we found that we had to limit the maximum width to 50 inches or we had trouble getting four machines lined up on the starting lines side by side. I name the new division Unlimited Outlaw ICE Speedway Quads and hoped for the best. Any ATV or motorcycle engine that that was available to the public, any displacement, any fuel was and still is legal.”

This new Outlaw Quad class was a big hit with the fans and racers from the get go. Most events over the years have been won on modified Suzuki's, Hondas, Kawasaki's and Yamahas. However, with the absence of rules, ICE Speedway has seen some wild Outlaws show up to compete over the years. Michael Goodrich and Steve Hollander stuffed an 883 Harley-Davidson in a Suzuki chassis about 10 years ago. Around that same time John “Mountain Man” Grant built his “Monster Quad” around a 900cc four cylinder Kawasaki engine. The “Monster” is still competing with Matt King at the controls. One ingenious young man from Tucson showed up with a Suzuki that had sprockets on both side of the engine. He hooked up one side to the rear and the other to a front drive system giving him a 4-wheel drive race quad. It was fast but broke early. After that event ICE banned front drive when they saw the potential for those razor sharp steel studded front tires to run up over a fellow competitor’s backside, literally. Brent Densford and Joe Thomas brought their purpose built oval track Pit Bulls to the race with 500cc nitro burning speedway bike engines. Word is Desperado Racing Chassis will have a new Pit Bull at the track in 05 fitted with an XR-750 Harley-Davidson race engine. They’re currently involved in a search for a Kamikaze pilot to ride it!

The history of Outlaw Quad ICE Speedway marched on over the years. Champions were crowned each and every season. Bigger fields, tire,/chassis set-ups, the level of competition got better and more sophisticated all the while.

In 2000 something unique and special took place. This petite 18 year old blue eyed blonde girl from Los Banos, CA showed up to race the World Championship ICE Speedway Series. ICE racing had seen other ladies give it a try. Lora Anderson had some success with her efforts. But there was something different about this new babe, who called herself Mandy “Wild Child” Brodil. She was intensely focused, hard charging, and eager to learn and master the sport. After several events across the country she shocked everyone involved in this previously male dominated sport by winning a World Championship points race in Alexandria, LA, in her first season no less!

Brodil had just done what most ice racing pundits thought wasn’t possible, a woman winning a major ICE championship event. Many of the guys were immediately saying things like: “she got lucky, it was a fluke, she’s a flash in the pan.” Indeed, their words seemed at the time to hold some credence when it was learned Mandy wouldn’t be returning in 2001. She had decided to return to college full time.

SURPRISE! In 2002 Brodil came back mature and ready to race! According to Densford, “I knew she had the skills and feel for our unique motorsport, I just didn’t realize yet she had that special, impossible to define, championship winning quality. You know what I mean? That something deep inside a human being so many of us try to find but only a very few ever do. The heart, commitment, desire, intensity and focus to win it all!” The world found out that particular winter Mandy Brodil had all of those assets and then some. She fought tooth and nail to earn every possible World Championship point putting herself in a position to win it all at that year’s final in Bossier City, LA. She defied all odds, and all the unpredictable obstacles on the track that night, to win the event and the overall 2002 ICE Speedway World Championship. Brodil became the first woman to win a World Championship in a professional oval track motorsport discipline in which men and women compete together. WOW! In 2003 a very confident and focused Brodil returned and 2-peated showing the world her first one wasn’t a fluke!

This brings us to the present where Brodil, former champion Dick Matei from Canada and Wisconsin’s Denny Sommerfeldt have all owned the WC points lead at one time during the season. All real dog fight. By Round 5 Mandy was on her game plan 110%. She stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park by winning the 28th Annual Speedway ICE National Championships in Boise, ID. She was victorious over a stellar full field of Pro Outlaw Quads that numbered 20 participants.

On to the 2004 finals held at the brand spanking new and beautiful Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada USA! Twenty-one Outlaws showed up to compete including past champions Matei, Randy Bigham, Jason Montgomery (who races sprint cars in the summer months), Jim DiGiovanni and of course 2X champion Brodil.

It’s no small wonder all the stars of ICE Speedway were out those special Friday and Saturday nights of February 6th & 7th. The biggest Outlaw Quad purse in history was up for grabs, a very cool $10,000! Spectacular trophies, the Inaugural World Championship Open title and the overall 2004 World Championship title were at stake. All this in the worlds most famous and exciting city for the first time ever. The pressure was definitely on!

All the races were up for the occasion and rode their hearts out all weekend. Lots of great and very fast wheel to wheel racing, bumping and grinding and a few upside down quads thrown in at no additional charge. The top 12 riders from Friday night’s Qualifying Championship transferred on to Saturday night’s finals to meet the top four seeded racers, based on their current WC points standings. The riders who watched on Friday to see who the 12 racers they were going to face on Saturday would be were Brodil, Sommerfeldt, Matei and Mandy’s dad Jeff.

All of the 16 finalists on Saturday would compete in a series of Heats and a Last Chance race to determine the 8 Main Event riders and their starting positions in the big money, 6 lap high stakes gamble called the Main Event.

The 8 riders who worked their way into the Main were: (front row from the pole to outside) Jason Montgomery, Denny Sommerfeldt, Mandy Brodil, and Jim DiGiovanni. The racers starting from the second row were: Jeff Brodil, Chad Lukkasen, Matt King and Dick Matei.

When Official Starter Keith “The King” Brewer released the electronic starting gate all 8 riders drag raced to turn one. Sommerfeldt emerged the leader out of the first turn traffic jam with Mandy and Jason right on his tail. By lap two Denny’s hot rod Banshee started to show its muscle (rumored to be pushing 100HP!). By the half way point he had pulled out to alittle over a quad length lead ahead of Brodil and Montgomery both on Hondas. One slight bobble by Sommerfeldt would have cost him the lead in an instant. What must have seemed an eternity to Denny, in reality took around 15 seconds to see that 6th and final lap flag. He was flawless to the end and crossed the finish line ahead of the pack. Mandy gave it her all for a close second with Jason breathing down her neck.

At the awards celebration the jubilant Sommerfeldt hoisted his big trophy and $5,000 first place check to the cheers of the thousands of excited race fans on hand. Equally as happy 2nd place finisher Mandy Brodil received loud cheers from her adoring fans when it was announced she had earned enough points for the 3-peat! Undisputed 3X Unlimited Outlaw ICE Speedway Quad World Champion! Special mention also goes out to Jason Montgomery for a fine out of retirement 3rd place finish. Hats off to all the participants who took part in World Championship Open I, arguably the most exciting ice race in the 28 year history of the sport. Great racing, perfect arena for ICE Speedway, can’t wait for 2005!

For additional information about World Championship ICE Speedway and World Championship Open II at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas visit http://www.icespeedway.com/.

Official Results:
Las Vegas World Championship Open
Orleans Arena – 2/6-7/04

Heat 1
1st Jeff Brodil
2nd Steve Palmer
3rd Lenny Haines
4th Rick Tomlinson

Heat 2
1st Jason Montgomery
2nd Dick Matei
3rd Todd Seaver
4th Chad Lukkasen

Heat 3
1st Dennis Sommerfeldt
2nd Darryl Shutte
3rd Lance Hallworth
4th Randy Bradley

Heat 4
1st Jim DiGiovanni
2nd Mandy Brodil
3rd Matt King
4th Shawn Bigham

Heat 5
1st Lance Hallworth
2nd Matt King
3rd Lenny Haines
4th Todd Seaver (DQ)

Heat 6
1st Jason Montgomery
2nd Jim DiGiovanni
3rd Darryl Shutte
4th Randy Bradley

Heat 7
1st Dennis Sommerfeldt
2nd Dick Matei
3rd Rick Tomlinson
4th Jeff Brodil (DQ)

Heat 8
1st Mandy Brodil
2nd Chad Lukkasen
3rd Steve Palmer
4th Shawn Bigham (DQ)

Last Chance
1st Jeff Brodil
2nd Chad Lukkasen
3rd Matt King
4th Dick Matei
5th Steve Palmer
6th Darryl Shutte
7th Lance Hallworth
8th Lenny Haines (DQ)

Main Event
1st Dennis Sommerfeldt
2nd Mandy Brodil
3rd Jason Montgomery
4th Jeff Brodil
5th Dick Matei
6th Jim DiGiovanni
7th Chad Lukkasen
8th Matt King

2004 World Championship ICE Speedway Top 10 Points
1st Mandy Brodil 271 Points
2nd Dick Matei 241
3rd Dennis Sommerfeldt 238
4th Jeff Brodil 230
5th Steve Palmer 139
6th Lance Hallworth 138
7th Darryl Shutte 77
8th Craig Frisch 69
9th Jason Montgomery 50
10 Matt King 34

International Championship Events/ICE
158 Gardner Lacy Rd. #104
Myrtle Beach, SC 29579
Phone: (843) 234-2777
Email: ice@icespeedway.com
Web Site: http://www.icespeedway.com/

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