(Text by Bret Kepner, photos from XIIR) -If it’s the third week in January, it’s time to start the season for one of the most unique forms of indoor motorsports on the planet. It’s the return of Nitro-burning Bikes On Ice! On Saturday, January 25, 2014, the AMA/Xtreme International Ice Racing season will stage the annual kickoff of its tour at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri, only thirty miles west from St. Louis’ Gateway Arch.

Celebrating the tenth year of what has become a multi-continental series, each XIIR event presents Speedway Ice Bikes, Flat Track motorcycles and Quads in a fast-paced program which includes nearly two dozen individual races in a show lasting only slightly more than two hours! Moreover, it may be one of the cheapest of all major indoor events. As an example, the most expensive ticket at the season opener, (right on the start/finish line), is $25. The lower deck tickets cost a mere $15 and the upper deck seats go for FIVE BUCKS!

While vehicles of all configurations have been competing outdoors on frozen lakes for almost a century, the XIIR format is configured to North American hockey arenas. The oval course is short and tight but requires a completely different riding technique than the quarter-mile outdoor FIM tracks which have made motorcycle ice racing one of the most popular forms of racing across Europe, Scandinavia and Russia.

The stars of the series are the Speedway Ice Bikes which are notorious for their use of over a thousand screws, (known as “studs”), inserted into the tires in an attempt to gain traction for both power application and steering. The spindly bikes weigh less than two hundred pounds and use no transmission and no brakes; the single rear gear and the studded tires allow the bikes to slow extremely quickly. The most dominant powerplant is the single-cylinder, four-valve, four-stroke Jawa/JMR engine. Unlike the FIM outdoor ice bikes, however, the XIIR racers compete under virtually no rules. Displacement is not restricted and, to gain the horsepower needed for 60 mph speeds on the shortened course, hefty loads of nitro fill the fuel tanks.

Like dirt Speedway events, XIIR heat races include no more than six riders and are contested for only four laps. The feature event starts with a maximum of eight racers and only lasts six laps; the nitro-burning Jawas wouldn’t stay together for much more. Barring frequent crashes or false starts, each heat race lasts barely ninety seconds and the feature is over in two minutes…but the action is intense! The XIIR roster boasts riders from Great Britain, New Zealand, central Europe, Canada and the United States earning points at each tour stop for the AMA Ice Race National Championship.

The Flat Track Motorcycle division is limited to 450cc engines in conventional AMA dirt track chassis using studded tires. While the combination requires a completely different riding technique than used by the Speedway Bikes, the class includes a variety of AMA dirt track standouts who use the winter series to keep in shape. The always-entertaining Outlaw Quads are restricted to a total of one hundred tire studs but have few other rules. While many local riders enter the Quad division in each city, a surprising number of quad competitors follow the entire tour.

One particular race at each series event is always worth the price of admission. The XIIR runs a special contest for “pit bikes”, (air-cooled engines less than 125 cc and NO TIRE STUDS), for a whopping $100 to win. It’s as hilarious as it sounds!

After the St. Louis opener, the XIIR heads to Everett, Washington, and Danville, Illinois, before a month-long tour of Australia. Once the XIIR returns to the States, Bangshift’s Brian Lohnes is under direct orders to attend the tour stop at the MassMutual Center in Springfield (MA) on March 28-29 for his first taste of Nitro Bikes On Ice! (Ed: HELL YES!)

Here, then, is BangShift’s video primer on all things XIIR starting with a quick profile of the undisputed King of the XIIR tour, the United Kingdom’s Anthony “The British Bulldog” Barlow, who competes in the Speedway Bike and Quad divisions at each event.

The XIIR battles are usually close and fast! The six-lap Feature Event includes heat winners the and the winner of the semi-feature. Here’s a near “photo finish” at the 2009 tour stop in Tampa (FL) in which Anthony Barlow squeezes out a victory over Calfornian Charlie “The Edge” Venegas:

Despite the small oval, XIIR Ice Bike racing requires a specific technique and riding style as shown in this clip from the XIIR tour stop in Erie (PA). By the way, the red flag only comes out if a crashed rider is blocking the track or requires medical assistance:

The six-lap feature event is a tough ride if only because the track is in its worst condition of the event. Here’s Great Britain’s James “Demolition” Mann winning the title at St. Louis (MO) in 2009:

Think it’s easy to ride quads on ice? Here’s some awesome raw GoPro helmet footage from nationally-ranked Zach Shaffer racing his 100-Stud Quad at Danville (IL) having a pretty rough night in a heat race: The carnage begins at 01:48:

Here’s more Helmet-Cam video of Zach Shaffer of Illinois racing his 100-Stud Quad at Elmira (NY). While this heat race starts at 01:46 into the video; check out the red flag “incident” at 01:57 in which another rider “gets his bell rung” when he goes head-first into the dasher:

More information is available at http://worldstoughesticerace.com/ but bear in mind the site was recently hacked and much information was lost. They’re busy rebuilding the site.