Despite distance County duo pursue snowmobile drag racing

Episode 397

May 1, 2022

Story of long-distance racing

Living and working in Aroostook County and commuting a minimum of 4 1/2 hours to race requires dedication, desire, money, and yes, a little bit of craziness. Jesse Michaud and his girlfriend Stacy Robey of Caribou have been doing this a few years and plan to continue for the 2022 racing season.

Recently Jesse sat down and produced a record of what long distance racing looked like for this two-person team. They began racing “down south” in the vintage race series run by Wicked Good Vintage Racing Association.

Jesse Michaud driving and Stacy Robey in the passenger seat for parade laps at Unity Raceway for the last Long John weekend in 2017. One of the last before the pavement was ripped up. (photo by C&W Photographs Unlimited)

Michaud in Alan Gassett’s Diamond Four Ford at Arundel Speedway as part of the vintage racing celebration day. (Stacy Robey photo)

The emphasis shifted from racing vintage stock cars to converted stock cars for drag racing as well as drag race snowmobiles. Michaud lights up the tires on his 56 Chevy Hardy Ketch tribute car at Winterport Dragway in Winterport, Maine during a Gassah Guys event. (Stacy Robey photo)

Here is where we pick up the story in Jesse’s own words…

How drag racing came to be for Stacy and I.

This story actually starts in 2014 at Loring of all places. You see there is a saying at Loring, “like drag racing without the dicks”. An obvious play against the attitudes of drag racers.

I never really questioned it, just went along with it. Loring race control, Frank John was getting going at Winterport Dragway (WPDW) and really having a great time. He had a Suzuki GS he had converted to electric and was having a great time with it.

He would tell me how great the people were and I was truly interested. I will make some runs this fall I said. That turned into 2015 and I thought I will make some runs this fall.

It never happened, it never even got close. In 2016 it was going to happen! Land Speed Racing (LSR) season was done and I wanted to go drag racing. I switched over some stuff on the land speed Buell (motorcycle) in preparation to go drag racing. I was excited yet nervous. I asked so many questions. I hadn’t been to a drag strip since 2000 or 2001.

The truck was loaded. Bike, leathers, helmet, tools, here we go! Up at 3:45 on Sunday Oct 2nd to hit the road (this would later become a normal routine) a look at the weather…. It looks terrible. Tons of rain moving in, I better wait on this trip. Sure, enough by 7 am officials cancel the race.

Ok, next weekend; loaded and ready, up at 3:45 again……rain. So, I stay home, and sure enough the races are cancelled again. The following weekend was the final weekend. I wanted to go but also know that late in the year things need to go right in order to get everything in with the fast-fading daylight. I opted to not go. I didn’t want to be that guy that throws a rod at the 60foot mark and ruin a day for everyone. Next year!?

Next year?

2017, nope.

2018, nope.

As 2019 approached. I talk to Frank (John) all the time about drag racing, I really want to try this, but with what? The Buell now has 500 cc single cylinder in it. None of my other bikes are remotely close to being a good learning platform. On top of all of that all of my money is tied up in the 56 Chevy Hardy Ketch tribute car to go LSR racing.

I decide to hold off on vintage racing so I can appropriate funds and time towards possibly going drag racing. On May 5, 2019 that all changed. Neil Martin approached me about driving one of his cars. This is an entire story in itself, but by saying yes that opened up all sorts of opportunities. It’s a long story but this was a big blessing.

Jesse Michaud driving the old Russ Nutting 37 Plymouth at Wiscasset Speedway for a Wicked Good Vintage Racing Association event, The race car was owned by the late Neil Martin. (Stacy Robey photo)

We were scheduled for our then yearly trip to New York City that very week. Off to the big apple we go. One night while in NYC, I attend a Yankees game with “Uncle” Joe Daly. Not a Yankees fan (need to point that out) but everyone needs to go to Yankee Stadium at least one time in their life. So naturally as Joe, Joe, Joe and I (yes 3 Joes, Father, son, grandson) sit in a skybox at the house that Ruth built we naturally talk about racing. Baseball? Nahh

Joe says he has a 2003 Harley Davidson Sportster 883 that was a Superstorm Sandy bike. He bought it from an insurance company for cheap and I can have it if I want to go drag racing with it. Great! I am in. In preparation for the bike to arrive in July when Uncle Joe makes the trip to Loring, I finally start attending drag races at WPDW.

Decision time about bike racing at WPDW

I was apprehensive about approaching everyone because drag racers are not supposed to be the friendly type. Stacy and I go and watch, observe, and learn. How do people stage, what is burnout technique, and so on.

It didn’t take long to figure out in order to be competitive with the motorcycle, I was going to need an air shifter, 2 step and good tires. Ok no big deal.

July arrives along with the Sportster. With the bike sitting for so long, the motor is locked up. Not a big deal, maybe a hone and rings can take care of it. At that point though might as well put 1200 cc cylinders on it, might as well do cams and the carb also to take advantage of the increased displacement. Add in tires, chain, sprockets, electrical, a 2 step, an air shifter and it didn’t take long to see that this budget build wasn’t budget friendly.

I was looking at upwards of $4k to see if I wanted to do this. So now what? Buy a cheap bike that runs and prep it? Same thing. It can be done, but by the time you get good tires, go through the carbs, service and so on it is more than I want to spend on something I don’t know if I will like.

Hmmmmmm…maybe snowmobile drag racing?

What about my snowmobile? Plenty of those racing at WPDW with the motorcycle class, what will that cost? For a new track, drivers, wheels to build skis and some various parts for a cooling system I would be at about $1000. This was more like it.

On top of that if I didn’t like it, it seemed as though most of this stuff had good resale value. Back we go to WPDW taking pictures of suspensions, cooling setups and so on. We did all of this from a distance, remember, drag racers are bad. The only person I did talk to was Jim Marston. He treated me very well and told me I could look under one of his sleds to see how the suspension was done. I just gave a quick glance; I didn’t want to wear out my welcome.

Jesse Michaud with his low mileage Arctic Cat converted to drag race mode. (Stacy Robey photo)

The next three weeks roughly was a struggle of how do I convert this. Google was my friend. On Aug 18, 2019, I made my first pass on an asphalt snowmobile. I had successfully converted my 2017 Arctic Cat XF6000 (with 2003 miles) to run on pavement. After a little tweaking I ran a 7.494 just passing my 7.50 goal. WPDW is an 1/8-mile track.

The drag racers that are so bad? Well, they are pretty awesome. Any questions they were happy to help. It was really great. I just ran in test-and-tune for the first 2 or 3 weeks to try and figure this thing out.

Stacy Robey with the initial sled converted to run the asphalt at WPDW. (Paul Fusco photo)

By mid-September Stacy was curious and wanted to give it a try. She struggled a bit with taking off, she was nervous about just pinning it. We got into a routine. I would race and whatever round I would lose, she would get on the sled in test-and-tune and start making passes.

By the end of that first season, I made it to the semis one time and the finals one time. Granted I l lost (you will learn I do that a lot) and Stacy had run an 8.22. She was getting closer but we had lots to discuss over the off season.

Do I put the sled back on snow? Do we convert Stacy’s 2015 Ski Doo 600 ACE to asphalt? What’s the plan? After lots of discussion we decided she would race my sled and we would sell hers to buy something faster that I would race. Riding in the winter was out. That previous winter was a prime example. We both ended up sick for some time with the flu. I fell off a roof and broke some ribs.

It was a rough winter. We only rode about 20 miles total. It was a prime selling point to go asphalt racing.

The search was on. There were several model sleds I had my eye on, but an 1100 Turbo Arctic Cat was what I really wanted. After a sled being sold out from underneath me four hours from home, we did what any normal person would do; we drove to Mirror Lake, New Hampshire, to buy a 2009 Z1 turbo off an ad on Craigslist and two text messages.

We bought the sled, brought it home and dug into building a sled that I was hoping would break into the 5’s. First item up was building a new skid for the rear. An asphalt specific skid will cost close to $4000; I was hoping to build one myself for less than one fourth that.

Jim Marston who by this time had helped me so much, allowed me to draw up prints of the suspension on his sleds. This would help a ton. I put over 100 hours in that first skid in hopes it would work. I spent the majority of that winter getting the sled ready to go, then Covid happened.

A learning year…2020

Opening day at WPDW was pushed back to August and we were to have a 10-race schedule. Opening day, I didn’t do well, suffering the “new build blues”. Boost leaks, a coil that was cutting out, 2 step issues, all kinds of stuff.

The sled never even broke out of the 7’s. Stacy on the other hand was straight up Rockstar making pass-after-pass in the 7.30 range at 90 mph. We did some driveway test-and-tune and I ended up getting right on the sled with her and showing her that wide-open from the hit was ok.

That’s all it took. She was doing very good. The next few weeks we both just ran test-and-tune. I was making improvements, but the learning curve was steep. Jim would always offer help when I asked and just kept picking away at it. 6.50’s, 6.40’s, 6.30’s and so on. Finally, on August 30th I ran a 5.997 at 118 mph. That was it, goal accomplished, I will just take a little power out and race it. Nope. maybe I can get it to run an .80, then a .70. By the end of that short 2020 season Stacy and I each made it to the final one time and I had run a 5.65 at 121 mph.

2021 brings mixed blessings

Stacy Robey left and Jesse Michaud, right with their Arctic Cat snowmobiles which are modified to race on dragstrip asphalt in 2021. (Stacy Robey photo)

The 2021 race season fast approached and what was to be part-time racing for us quickly turned into racing every weekend. Up at 3:45 am every Sunday to hit the road for a day of racing.

By August, not only were we racing sleds every weekend, we were also hauling the 56 Chevy down for Gassah Guy events and sleeping in the sled trailer at the track. Five-star accommodations!

I kept working with the sled and with Jim’s help it became pretty consistent; 5.40’s at 125 mph. With my weight that’s really about all this current combo will run. It might dip into the .30’s someday, but doubtful to do it every pass.

Stacy made the finals in mid-July and went red. I hadn’t raced much throughout the season as I was chasing that number. On September 5, 2021, we met each other in the finals. Finally, one of us was going to be a winner at WPDW.

Not going to lie, she had me covered. She was far more consistent and running better lights than me all day. We stage, the tree drops and Stacy goes red. I was excited because I finally won, but sad because I was hoping it would have at least been a race between us. At the end of the season, I finished 4th in points with 2 wins in 2 final round appearances. Stacy would end up finishing the season in 3rd with 2 runners up finishes.

The highlight of the summer wasn’t winning and wasn’t Stacy becoming better on her sled. It was on the last weekend of the season when I tuned my sled down and put Stacy on it.

Now my sled is really intimidating. The stack coming through the hood, the weight, the power, it can get in your head really quick. She rolled it in, lit both bulbs and made three absolutely perfect passes on 15 pounds of boost. 6.08, 6.03 and 6.08 @ 108 mph. That was the true highlight. From just two seasons ago, not going wide open, to running this thing perfectly was a real treat.

What’s 2022 have in store? Well, more sled racing, more power in the 56 and more good rimes at WPDW. Oh, goes without saying but a big thanks to Jim Marston,

The checklist for prepping the 56 Chevy is written on the windshield and reminds Michaud of the length of the list and the shortness of time. Included in the prep for 2022 is a new turbocharger. (Stacy Robey photo)

This is where the magic happens proving once again a huge race shop is not an absolute necessity to turn out quality race cars. (HTF Motorsports photo)

Sting Ray Robb on Podium at Barber Motorsports Park

Sting Ray Robb finishes on the podium at the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park the second race of the Indy Lights Road to Indy Series Presented by Cooper Tires. Robb on right finished third with Benjamin Pederson on left in second and race winner Linus Lundqvist center. The next race for the Indy Lights Series is the doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course May 13 & 14. (Photo courtesy Andretti Autosports)

Kody Swanson finishes 7th after snagging the pole 

Kody Swanson Fast Time winner at the USAC Silver Crown season opener at Terre Haute Action Track, Indiana. The Sumar Classic was Swanson’s 37th pole award. Justin Grant won the race followed by Jerry Coons and Brady Bacon. USAC Silver Crown next races at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park May 27th. (USAC Racing photo)

Agriculture community mourns the loss of young farmer

The Aroostook County farming industry lost a young woman who wanted to be a potato farmer her whole life. The 19-year-old woman died April 24th after a short illness. The celebration of life was held Saturday at Central Aroostook High School, her alma mater.

Libby Grass coffin transported aboard a trailer prepared by her school. The trailer was hauled by her dad, Neil Grass. The truck was the one driven by Libby at harvest. (photo provided by Glenney Charles Mahan)

The show of support for the family made me proud of the folks from the County. Drone photo of the truck and tractor tribute lineup for Libby Grass funeral procession courtesy Madore Farms/Mark Madore

After mourning Libby,

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Psalm 73:26)