So just because the glaciers come in and swallow everything during the winters in Wisconsin doesn’t mean that hot rodding has to stop. Sure, if someone from California set foot on a frozen lake in sub-zero temperatures they would be frozen stiff in mere minutes but the rest of us with thick blood and a pure love of gasoline, noise, and speed can still get it on with impunity at the Merrill (Wisconsin) Ice Drags. Every Saturday in January and February the diehards and the curiosity seekers show up on a frozen lake and watch as cars that are way too powerful for their own good, race down an honest to God eighth mile drag strip paved of frozen water. They have spiked tires in most cases and they are not taking it easy. In fact there are videos of guys who are nearly touching 130mph, IN THE EIGHTH….ON FLIPPING ICE.
In this video we ride with a guy named Ryan Podeweltz. Ryan’s Camaro is a tough customer and it sounds really mean as he takes it toward the starting line. You’ll note that he whacks the throttle before coming into staging and we’re pretty sure that he does it to clear any frozen junk out of the spikes so that the tires get the best grip possible. This car had a load of power and when he really gets into it, you’ll see Ryan working the wheel like a mad man to keep the thing off of the snow banks. There are guys with full on dragsters showing up now and that’s a far cry from when this began with some dudes in muscle cars screwing around. You know how things escalate and frozen drag racing insanity isn’t immune to that same evolution.
The lanes are wide and there’s a large snow divider between the two of them. Ryan doesn’t need it on this run although he does use a lot of his side of the course. Wait until you see how fast this thing is going when he crosses the finish line, it is crazy!
