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Special Features Kayla Solheid ...............................................4The Next Generation - Tyler Metz ................2Out of the Ordinary - Ricekiller ....................2

W.O.W. Jennifer Eriksen ..........................42Duluth ISOC ...............................................46

Tech Reviews Tire Pros .....................................................16Ask Mike....................................................32Sickies Garage ..........................................54

Rallys & Shows Frankensteiners Ball 7..................................14

Route 65 Classics ........................................34Bobbers Car Show on the Lake...................56

Departments Garage Built ...............................................10Boiling Point................................................12KimmyCats Corner.....................................24Off The Beaten Path Osceola Train Ride....ABATE of MN.............................................40Game On!..................................................50

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Photographers/WritersBILLY BOYLE MIKE BENOY

CEAJA PHILP ERIK TORMOENBRAD COPLAN JENNA OSTERLUNDJOSH MOEN MYLIE LAVOLDKIM NILES JOHN LENTZKOW

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#93KAYLA SOLH

U sually little girls have dreams of being an actress,model, doctor, teacher, or maybe a full time mom, butit isn't often you find one that says she wants to be aPro Motorsports athlete. Kayla Solheid of White Bear Lake, Minnesota was no different, until.....the many trips as a little girl toher grandparents cabin and the numerous hours riding with her younger cousins who were racers, turned her into a race junkie!

There were a few tracks nearby that the family would take her cousins and their PW 50s, which Kayla would ride also. She hathe time of her life, and up to this point nothing seemed to sparkher interest as much as riding, so her family made the decision totake Kayla to one of her cousins' races to see if it was somethinshe would like to do on a regular basis.


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www.WheelsofThunder.net PageNovember 2012

It was obvious Kayla fell in love with thethrill of racing, so her Dad, Dan found hera Honda 50 to call her own. Kayla startedracing at local tracks around Minnesota atage 9, and each year Dan would buy her anew bike to fit her size as she grew and ex-perience showed she could handle it. Shewent to a Kawasaki 65, to a Honda 85, thento a Suzuki 105cc. It was when the Suzukicame into play Kayla started getting seri-ous! The family started going to nationalevents, where Kayla did quite well andcontinued to prove herself. They decidedto have her start training sessions, and she

was already gaining sponsors and attending nationals with the good results she wakicking out. With everything happeningKayla was driven even more to make this full-time lifestyle, so her Mom, Nancy anDad bought her a Yamaha 125, which allowed her to start competing at a higher intensity level!

It may sound like many years would hav

had to take place, but this young athletemanaged to advance to the top in just eighshort ones. It isn't like she has sat bacand just let things happen. Kayla has puin her time training in every sense, working hard on and off the track. Her oftrack training consists of a lot oplyometrics and cardio to help battle off fatigue and build endurance. When it comesto on-track training, she pushes the limitsbut never forgets the basics that make good rider. She will be the first to admi

"No matter how skilled you are, it's alwayimportant to keep the basic fundamentalsof motocross in mind in order to keep yousafe and on target."

When I asked Kayla what she felt the bepart of her racing was, the answer was simple for her. "I love how it brought my family together!" Kayla is talking about heimmediate family, and also the race families she has gained along the way.

It hasn't all come without consequences

Written by Ceaja Philp

Photography by Jenny Ludowese

Every Girls....Dre


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this young woman has had her share of bumps and bruises. Well actually all out in-juries! She has a wrist with three pinsholding it together, a shattered ankle withscrews, and not too long ago...an injuredcollarbone. She had broke it and they al-lowed it to heal, however she continue tohave problems, and after a few tests theyfound it had never completely healed and itneeded to be re-broke. They needed to put

a plate and six screws in to fix the issue thisround. With injuries and surgeries Kaylawas frustrated having to be out for threemonths of competitive racing, but I thinkthat's pretty good for what she has beenthrough.

Kayla has some big things on her resumeof accomplishments, besides getting herself back into race condition after injuries shetook 5th place at the 2011 Loretta Lynn,4th at the 2011 Mesquite National, and2nd at the 2010 Winter Olympics. She iscurrently training for her last amateur race,the 2012 Winter Olympics in Florida. Shewill be riding and training with mentorShannon Niday to make sure she is ready.

Kayla is extremely excited for 2013! Witheverything that has happened and at only

19 years of age...she will be racing in thePro Circuit on her Kawasaki 250F!

She would like to thank The Service Pavil-ion, Foundation 529, Alias MX, Scott USA,Feine Tune Motorsports, GPR Stabilizer,

Shannon Niday, EVS, Racing Unlimitedand all of her friends and family that havstood by her and is looking forward to finishing out strong this season and gettingready for the next!


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As all of us growing up we saw themovies like Gone in 60 SecondsandBullet. They had these 67 & 68Fastback Mustangs in them andsomeday we wanted to get one! Soat the Back to The 50s Car corral I

found this 68 Mustang and it was ingreat shape for a Minnesota car. Ihad 2 friends look at it and theythought the same. Well I bought it,drove it all summer as a driver andhad fun!Even thought my hair wasgrowing back.(no tickets yet)

After storing it for the winter, I got it back out again and thought, letstear this apart and redo this Fast-back! Oh Boy!

The body work started in March andwas finished in June. I had replacedall outside chrome, lights, bolts,screws, gaskets, newseats, headliner,visors,...well you get the picture.When we would put an old part onit, it looked bad so we just bought everything new on the car.

A good friend, Brice Anderson whodoes all my body and prep work, didanother perfect job on this, which it

has to be for painting it black. Thentook car to Raymond Auto Body inSt. Paul for Paint.

Then I started the hard part of put-ting the car back together without me putting a scratch in it, Brice took care of that also.

The motor was gone through; headswere ported and dressed up with allthe goodies to make it look OldSchool under the hood. Then with Alum 5 Spoke Wheels and MickeyThompson Tires we were ready toburn rubber.(no tickets yet)

Now that car is done, I take it to car shows and for rides down to Red-wing. It gets a lot of attention! Ithink everybody knows a Mustang when they see it, and give me thethumbs up. Being retired now, Ienjoy building cars to drive, but never seem to keep them very long as Im always looking for a New Proj-ect. Maybe a Factory 5, 66 CobraRoadster next.

Past Projects:*1932 Highboy (steel car)*1946 Ford Truck

www.WheelsofThunder.net Page 1November 2012


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As some of you are reading this article thePresidential election is gearing up, for oth-ers you may be reading this after the elec-tion so you late readers know the outcome.No matter when you are reading, no matterwhom you supported, no matter whomwon, we will have to live with the decisiongood, bad, or indifferent. The bottom-linewhatever candidate is in charge will weAmericans be better off in 2013? I really

hope so, for me I am sick to my stomachwhen I see Americans forced to live theway they are living and I am speaking tothose that are struggling like many of us tomake ends meet. The term paycheck topaycheck used to mean you constantly hadyour back to the wall, in 2012 it would bea blessing for many to have a weekly pay-check every week. As I watch the Presi-dential and Vice Presidential debates I haveto wonder do these guys really have ourback or are they watching out for their ownbest interest. Listening to the candidates

commentary, knee jerk answers, and bab-bling endlessly with off topic answers Ifound it hard to sway one way or the other.I never had a problem making a Presiden-tial decision before and when the timecomes to pull the lever I know my mindwill be made up, but until that moment Iam fence sitting, however leaning prettysolid in one direction. My issue is morejobs related, I have not had what my ex-wife would call a real job in quite some-time. I define real job as go to theworkplace everyday, have medical and den-

tal benefits, and a opportunity to move up

with an occasional promotion and raise.Now that sounds like 1970s and 1980smentality, and thats exactly what it is.

Just when you think the economy is takinga turn for the better, did I just say that?Thats what one candidate is saying, butbusinesses continue to go belly up, theworkforce is downsized, still importing jobs abroad, and frequent cutting of wages.Does anyone at the top get it, or have theybeen getting it all along? Im talking greenbacks. After all isnt this situation lack of money and credit whats it all about? Thinkback 10 years before the attack on UnitedStates soil. Were you better off then thanyou are today? Speaking for myself I knowI was. I was gainfully employed at a jobthat I always thought that I would retirefrom, I had a house, 2 cars, a boat, and avery tight knit family. Then a couple of years after 911, my world came crashingdown, job loss, followed by selling boat,losing house, divorce, but as bad as it getsnot caving into losing my family. Sound fa-miliar? The American dream followed bythe American scream. Well this scream isgoing to be heard loud and clear. I thoughtI was the only one that had the legs gotcutout from underneath me, but this was atypical scenario for most hard workingAmerican families. Its bad enough whenyoure kicked to the curb once, but everytime you try to pick yourself up wipe off the dirt, big brother goes to kicking again,and again, and again. My friends many of

my former co-workers and acquaintancesdo this every single day. There doesnt seemto be any light at the end of the tunnel. Thelight might be a secure job, having a homeonce again, or a normal family lifestyle. Way back in the day when I went toschool, yes I can think back that far. Ilearned about the multiplier effect. Simpleequation was creating jobs; employeesspend money within a community, whichcreates more jobs, and so on. Will we everget back to the good old days? By the looksof it, the economy.not for a while. But

why rollover and play dead. Im sure enough of us got irritated to the point othe old movie saying from the movie Nework, where Peter Finch had his vieweropen the windows and had them shouIm mad as hell and Im not going to tait anymore. Then maybe some of thesmedia grabbing politicians would do something about it, and not just use it for an acampaign, for the sake of us voting you inFIGURE IT OUT AND DO SOMETHINABOUT.

The world turns on money, precious met-als, and credit. I know some of you are saing thats how we got into this mess, andcouldnt agree with you more. Think bacto 2001, whom gave the credit, why givthe credit, and why keep giving it especially to people that couldnt afford it tbegin with? The banks were banking onpeople not being able to keep up and tacking on interest at a rapid rate. For examplhere was one method to entice people tokeep spending after they had people ovea barrel. How about reverse amortizationThats where you can pick and choose youpayment. The lesser amount would add interest.lots of interest to the principal. Buthese criminals would tell you, the way thprice of homes are increasing you could re


Written by Billy Boyle

WILL WE BE BETTER OFF IN 2013?


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finance again and never miss a beat. Thatshow we got to where we are today. Thatsjust scratching the surface of tactics by cor-porate America to suck the life out of YOU!

So here we are today do a quick survey inyour neighborhood, community, town orcity. How many people do you personallyknow that are no longer employed or em-ployed where they were 10 years ago? Wereforeclosed on? How many businesses haveshut down? How many of your family,friends, neighbors are businesses, or com-munities are hanging on by a thread hop-ing to get past this financial mess? Its nota pretty situation. I can think off the top of my head of a dozen once thriving and suc-cessful custom bike businesses or support-ers like fabrication, frames, paint,maintenance, and accessories that had toshut the doors. I mentioned earlier in thearticle of the multiplier effect, just the op-posite the domino effect can crush an in-

dustry, community, and a society quickly, .Heres a synopsis of that dilemma. Custombike shop produces a work of art, but thebanks are reluctant to give loans for thetoy as they put it, even if you were gain-fully employed with a solid credit score. Sothe bike, like the other 2 dozen sit and col-lect dust. Cant move these bikes, whybuild more. Frame builder cant build morewithout getting paid for the hard work andcraftsmanship that they put into the previ-ous bunch that went out several monthsago. Painter has no orders either so they

keep themselves busy with a variety of projects because thats what painters do.Repair shop lay off 4 of the 5 mechanics for

lack of work; bike accessories are sold atflea market value just to put a little food onthe table. The bottom line no one is gettinga paycheck, no one is spending money atthe grocery store, local restaurants, MovieTheater, bar, liquor store, etc. Which inturn these businesses lay off some of theiremployees because of lack of spendingfrom the consumer. This is reality, this iswhat crushes a community, and this is

what turns people to a life that they neverwould fathom. Have you reached yourBoiling Point yet? Are you mad as helland not going to take it anymore?

Some situations although dismal as it ap-pears some people and businesses havemanaged to survive the financial crunch,or did they? What about these survivors?Heres another example of a survivor friendrecent situation. My friend has a job, prettydecent job, my friend has a home not a lotof equity but its his, my friend has a credit

score above 700, for those of you that dontknow much about credit scores a 700 wascarte blanche 10 years ago. My friend hadhis eye on his life long dream of owning aonce very expensive and now affordablemotorcycle. My friend put money down asa sign of good faith; my friend spent a goodhour completing an on-line bank applica-tion. By the end of 2 days of submittingloan applications, my friend was denied by21 banks. The moral of this story; if thebanks wont give loans to people of this cal-iber then why would a dealer remain open?

The bike shop closed shortly after, theframe builder and painter have closed thedoors too and have ventured off to other

projects. My friend found some old beatethat he could pay cash for, but certainly nowhat he had in mind.

My friends this a bike scenario, but the scenario plays out in the other arenas as welwatercraft, ATVs, snowmobiles to name few. I can see the banks being cautious, buI have to think back at how these bloodsuckers enticed many with the villain likemustache twilling, stove top pipe black hatactics with Ill tell you what Im goingdo for you. The short answers squeezyou and screw you for everything you goI think about the businesses that are stilpopular, but yet still struggling. Even witin house financing available its not alwayan option for everyone that walkethrough the door because of the bumpsthey may have hit in the road the last feyears. Even these popular businesses feethe pain everyday. Whether it is physicastuff bought off the floor or repairs anservice. We all take the hit.

Again think back at 10 years ago, woulanyone of you reading this article have evethought that our economy, financial system, everyday life would be where it today? The bastards did more than fly jetinto our buildings and the ground. Theyhit us in the pocket and hit us hard, andthats all of us. Thats what terrorism is aabout. Its not about killing people itabout killing a society, a dream, a livelhood. Terrorist come in all sorts of attirother than what first comes to mind; theyalso wear suits, frequent Wall Street, drivexpensive cars, and live their dream, muchlike the moguls in the desert. I dont knowabout you, but I am mad as hell andwont take it anymore. You can hit us ithe pocket, but you will never kill ouspirit!

I would welcome any feedback, commentissues that may have been raised regardinthis article we need to keep the spirit alivethats what America is all about. We wibounce back!!! We just need a leader thabelieves in America!



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Tyler has been racing since he was four, outof the car seat and onto the snowmobile!

The urge for snowmobiling started with hisMom and Dad at that early age toolingaround the country roads and fields, Tylerwas bit by that bug way back then. Forsome of us that way back when is decadesfor this guy a few years. In just that shorttime Tyler has gone from Kitty Cat sleds toan Artic Cat 370. Tyler has jumped rightinto the top rankings for his age group.Last year his accomplishments were 13

first places, 2 second place, and 1 thirdplace. Thats a lot of hardware to lug awayfrom the Oval track for a 12 year old.

Tyler obviously has the support and helpfrom his mom, dad, at every race angrandparents when time allows. I spoke toTyler and found him to be interestingfunny, and one of the most enthusiastic 12year olds I have ever spoken to! Tyler one of those kids that can make anyonsmile. He talked not only about his racinand family, but talked about his friendsteachers, his school, his dogs, and ocourse his chickens. You see Tyler is juslike any 12 year old with chores and anresponsibilities. One of his chores are th26 chickens he raises. Tyler doesnt know iyet but he is already is a champion. Hcommitment to his friends, family, pets

and yes, even his chickens, is what is shaping him for the future of being that champion racer. I asked Tyler if at 12 years owhat the girls thought of him, he laughedat the question, I was serious, Do they looat you at being a Justin Beiber?, his aswer No, the girls are my friends thethink of me of being Tyler Metz.

Tyler has goals in the racing oval. He is seting his sights on being a World Championat the Eagle River Derby in the 440 ClasThats a heck of a race to set your sights obut after talking to Tyler and looking at hiaccomplishments I think this 12 year oldwill be on to National or World stardom aa teen or adult. Like most young boys thahave an athlete they look up to and mimieverything that athlete does, Tylers hero Nick Van Strydonk. If anyone knows Nick

Tyler Metz #19 From a Kitty Cat to a

Growling Champion!Written by Billy Boyle

2005, Tyler was 5 years old

Dan Lewis Photographywww.danlewisphoto.net

Tyler taking on a corner on his F1

120 Champ Class, taken in 2010. Tyler has the lead in front of Daulton Schoon. (Schoon has sincequit racing sleds, but their group of family/friends were sure great to race with for that year!)


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story they can see why this boy idolizesthis champion oval racer.

Tyler cant wait until the snow falls and getout on the track and maybe a chance ortwo to watch Nick compete, but in themean time Tyler spends his time hunting,playing with his dogs, a Rottweiler namedZena and a German Shepard/Husky mixnamed Crayon. Crayon? As Tyler laughed,

he explained, his tail looks like a crayon.Tyler also has another family fan hisyounger brother Teegan. His brother Tee-gan is right at the age of 4, which the sameage as when Tyler started to race. So do youthink we will be doing a Next Generationon this little guy in a few years? Im think-ing YEAH!

Speaking to Tylers mom, Tyler strictly racesice oval, We decided it was best to put allof our efforts into one sport. We have comea long way as a race team from our firstrace with the kitty cat in the back of thetruck and who knows where it will take usin the future! Racing is what makes Tyler

smile and as long as he wants to do it, was a family, will do everything possible tget him to that world champion dream!

From this writers perspective and a parenI couldnt agree with you more. Good lucto Tyler Metz and his family!


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Mark Strand started racing Ice Ovals withKids Pro Ice (KPI) back in 2008 when he 7 years old. The very first class he ever entered was aboard a borrowed Kitty Cat SnowmobiThe machine was donated by Greg Bihner. It had ready competed for several years so it was ready trace. Mark progressed in Kitty Cat and in no timewas aboard a ZR 120 Arctic Cat.

Retired at Age 11


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Throughout his years with KPI, Mark racedseveral classes including Vintage Kitty,

Stock Kitty, Improved Stock Kitty, Stock120, Improved Stock 120, Super Stock 120and Champ 120. Mark finished up his IceRacing career at the 2012 KC Pro EastNorthern Nationals in Chisholm, Min-nesota in March. He has earned many tro-phies and awards during this period andthey are all displayed proudly at the Strandfamily home in Mapleton, Minnesota.

Being a member of Kids Pro Ice (www.kid-sproice.org) has its benefits. They are well

known for producing some of the finestracers in the Oval Racers Alliance(www.ovalracersalliance.co), the Big Guys! Weekend youth racing of the 120 Champ

class in KPI is like racing Eagle River eveweekend. The amount of top class equip

ment and talented drivers and teams theydraw is the absolute best in the snowbelt.

Mark began Grass Racing in 2007. Hplaced 3rd at the Princeton Outlaw GrasDrags his first time out. Typically, the 120cclass racers spend about 2-3 years racinice ovals before moving up to grass dragbut Mark was able to tackle both sports ithe same year. Racing 120cc classes can bvery cost effective when youre runninyear round. You just need to swap out the

skis for a wheel mounted grass ski and threar suspension that is set up for grass wita series of wheels instead of hyfax slideThe engines are also switched to the 250ctwo cycles.

Dan Strand is Marks dad. He is the ownand head mechanic for the team. He doemost of the work on the equipment andhandles all the pit duties on race day. Thteam also relies on help from fellow racindad Gregg Chil

(www.bulldozerracing.com) at BulldozerRacing in Rochester, Minnesota. Bulldozedoes the bulk of the chassis work and troubleshooting whenever needed. This alsoconsists of swapping engines from winte120cc four stroke racing to summer 250ctwo stroke racing. The 250cc single cylinder Suzukis are the prominent engine usein the Kids Pro Mods class.

The kids that race grass drags around herare mostly the same ones who race togethe

Written by KimKimmyCat Niles

Photography by

Darryl Gershman PhotoCPTC Beausejour, MBCanada


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on ice in the winter. So, some racing dadsgot together and started up a grassroots or-ganization called Kids Pro Mods. They givecredit to Perry Schlueter with the NSRA forallowing this circuit to compete with hisorganization. We want the kids to be safeand have fun, but not get into dangerousspeeds until they are older and able to han-dle it, said Dan. One of the rules they have

put in place is Single Cylinder EnginesOnly. On ice, the kids can reach speeds of just under 40 mph. However, the grassdrags are a bit faster! The kids run somepretty impressive times with the 250cc en-gines in 500ft.

In 2012, Mark raced the Pro Mod 250bracket series and placed in the semi finalsat Princeton and Douglas, and took 3rdplace in the finals at Wausau, Wisconsin.That earned him the bragging rights of being the biggest money maker in the classaboard a youth size machine. He plans to

save up his big winnings for video gamesand maybe a car. For those kids who mightbe interested in taking up racing KittyCats, Mark pointed out that it is a goodsport, lots of fun and pretty competitive.Plus, you get medals and trophies andgoodie bags!

Mark shared his funniest race, which wasat Turtle Lake, Wisconsin when he waseight years old. He was doing great until

his right ski flew off in turn 3, putting himin last place. Dad calls those the memorymakers and they serve as a reminder thatyou can do everything right and prep theengine, but still have something unex-pected go wrong. Although Mark was bothangry and sad at the time, hes able to lookback that day and laugh about it now.

Mark also raced in Canada last year andwas there when Curtis Boivin crashed, al-

though he only saw what happened afterthe crash. Mark knew just what it was likeafter he raced his Ski-Doo at the ChisholmNationals. He spun out three times in thefinal and when he finally got ahead hespun out again in turn 3 and the race wasover.

In addition to racing snowmobiles, Markenjoys playing trumpet in the band andalso likes to play chess, when he has time.Fishing and hunting with how dad are alsoat the top of his list. When asked what hisfavorite season is, it was no surprise that

he answered winter. Although, its not forthe snow or ice racing that he prefers win-tertime. When asked why, he simply statedno ticks.

www.kidsproice.com Kids Pro Ice Raciis a non-profit youth ice racing associationbased in the Twin Cities. They have ove30 active families from Minnesota, Wiconsin and North Dakota who teach kidssafe driving and racing practices, as well agood sportsmanship and friendships.

www.bulldozerracing.com BulldozRacing is a Performance Business designe& operated strictly for the Modified YouthRacing Snowmobile market.

www.ovalracersalliance.com The Ov

Racers Alliance is an organization operating Professional Snowmobile Ice Oval Raing during the winter racing season.


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BEST OF THE

MIDWEST! Opportunities for

business who qualify for The

Best of the Midwest are

now available!

Call

Scott Robinson612-730-3719


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W hen you think of road-racing andautocross events, trucks and SUVsare usually not what you expect tosee out on the course. Trucks and SUVs generally find their home as 4x4 off-roaders, drag-trucks, or show-trucks. Rob Brooks' Yukon though does alittle bit of everything which is what makes itstand out in its own right.

Written and photographed by John Krueger for Ricekiller.com


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make their rounds. You can see the two atpretty much any meet or show in the TwinCities. The cool thing though is Rob isn't

afraid to drive this SUV. I saw him up atBrainerd International Raceway over thesummer for the Powercruise 2 event wherehe was putting his Yukon through its paceson the road-course. I never thought Iwould see a big SUV flying around a road-course, but Rob showed me. It really isgreat to see an enthusiast enjoying his/her

creation whether it's on the race track, theshow field, or just cruising around.

Of course Rob isn't done with SNWBALLas the Yukon has been dubbed. He has afew plans to really take the SUV to the nextlevel. This winter, Rob has a 6.0L LQ9truck motor that will be going in to replacethe 383 along with a pair of turbo-charg-ers. Talk about upping the horsepowerstakes. Rob also plans on redoing the inte-

rior again and adding an upgraded soundsystem. So, be sure to keep your eyespeeled for the next iteration of Snwball as

it's shaping up to be something quite special, and definitely something that wistand out from the ordinary.


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BEST OF THE

MIDWEST!

Opportunities for business who

qualify for The Best of the

Midwest are now available!

Call

Scott Robinson

612-730-3719


32/72

Q.I am beginning a frame-off restoration of a 65 Mustang this

winter. I am going to do somecustom body work and I am trying to de-cide which brand and type of welder Ishould purchase for doing this kind of work at home in my garage. Any sug-gestions?

Kyle, Princeton, MN

A.Thank you for the question Kyle!Choosing a good all around welderfor your home workshop dependsentirely on your skill level as a welder andultimately what kind of things you plan todo with it. Like everything these days, thetechnology has advanced rapidly and thechoices have expanded when looking atwelding equipment.

For most people that are welding at ahobby level, I would recommend a MIGwelder. There are a lot of choices outthere and they are generally easy to workwith even if you are a beginner. I would,however, avoid machines that are limitedto flux-core wire as the shielding method.Flux-core rigs can be OK for certainthings, but I found gas shielding to bemuch more consistent. One of the bestnew innovations I have seen with MIGwelders is Millers Auto-Set feature that isavailable on many models. This allowsthe user to enter two variables into themachine and it decides where to set thewire speed and amperage to give you thebest results. You simply select the wiresize you are using and the thickness of thematerial and the machine does the rest. Iwas able to play with one of these a littlebit recently and it made perfect welds withevery material I tried when welding inposition. When welding out of posi-tion (vertical, overhead, etc.) I found thatI prefer to adjust my settings manually.This most likely has more to do with per-sonal style and skill, but regardless, thatis how it was with me.

MIG welders are great for welding steel inmany varieties and with some time and

experience, you will find that you can bevery precise with it. I prefer to use a 25%CO2 / 75% Argon gas mixture when weld-ing thinner steel material with a MIGrather than 100% CO2. I also use thesmallest wire diameter I can for the mate-rial; with most automotive bodywork, Iuse .024 wire.

If you are thinking of welding aluminumas well, I would consider a TIG welder in-stead. The TIG process is different and re-quires more skill and experience to bedone well, but in my opinion it is the bestchoice for someone who wants to be ableto weld both steel and aluminum pre-cisely. You can make good, strong weldson aluminum with a MIG welder, dontget me wrong, but it is difficult to makethem clean and precise like you can witha TIG. The key to becoming proficientwith a TIG is practice, practice, practice!The TIG process requires coordination of both hands as well as one foot to run yourheat controls (in most systems). The

technique itself is much like welding orbrazing with a good old-fashioned torch,so if you have any experience with oxy-acetylene welding, it is generally helpfulwhen learning to TIG weld.

So, here is what I recommend to anyonelooking to purchase a welding machine:

1. Give yourself an honest assessment oyour skill as a welder and choose you

machine accordingly.2. Go to a welding supply retailer and l

them help you choose something thawill be a good fit for you. They are texperts!

3. If you are planning on doing worwith both steel and aluminum, look aTIG equipment rather than MIG

4. Be prepared to spend some time praticing and learning whichever machinyou purchase before you dive headloninto any projects!

5. Get yourself a good set of welding gethat is comfortable for you to wear. prefer the auto-darkening style helmets and they are available in manvarieties and price ranges

6. Have fun with it!

I hope this answer helps you inmaking your choice! If you have aquestion you would like answered,

please send them in as I am al-ways happy to do the best I can to give you an answer. Please email your questions to [email protected], or mail them in tothe following address: Wheels Of

Thunder Magazine, 13915 Ra-dium NW, Suite D, Ramsey, MN

55303.



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Its getting very close to that time of theyear when you realize the riding season isover. We are blessed with a few nice dayshere and there. I know there are the die-hard bikers out there that put the leatherson and go until it snows. The fall colorsthis year were somewhat disappointing. InWestern Wisconsin we had a very smallwindow of opportunity to ride and seesome good color. I did discover a place inOsceola Wisconsin that assisted in theviewing of the colorful leaves. I decided totake a trip to the Osceola & St. Croix Val-ley Railway which is located at 114 DepotStreet in Osceola. Ive driven past thismany times and always wondered how thetrain ride would be.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon we de-cided to stop. We thought it would be fun

to ride on the historic train and look at thefall colors. Lucky for us the fall leaves were just starting to turn, this made the sight-seeing very enjoyable. As you pull into therailway area you observe old train equip-ment and trains. We then walked insidethe old brick built train station and pickedup our tickets for a 90 minute ride fromOsceola to Marine on the St. Croix andback to Osceola. Inside you can check outthe history of the days gone by, the oldtrain signs and legends of that day and age.Theres several old time train equipmentfor you to look at and read about.

As we waited outside the train station wecould view the vintage baggage transportcontainers and vintage train cars, with theside doors open. Looking down the tracksI could see the train returning from another

passenger trip. As it rolled by, people werstanding and looking out the sliding doorsof the cargo cars, and others were lookinout the open windows of the passengecars. I kept waiting for someone to run an jump on as it was in motion or to jump oand roll down the hill like in the movies.

After a short wait, we were boarded anwent to an air conditioned passenger car

The train consisted of nine cars, with thlocomotive. Once the train started to mova man came through and asked for outickets and then punched them like historyshows. As the train moves you are encouraged to walk about the train. In eaccar there is a part of history. I was adviseby an employee on board, to walk to thback of the train, where they have the dining car. Here I was advised by an employthat this dining car was built for dignitarie

and later redesigned for business peopl

and now is used as a dining or party car, fothe special trips they offer throughout theyear.

As your walking along from train car ttrain car, you will come across the PostaCar. This has been kept in its orginal condition and is a functioning Post Office. Yocan buy post cards on the train or write letters and have them send to family anfriends. The Post Master is there to collethe letters, stamp them, and give you a history lesson on how the mail was caught o

Written by Brad Coplan



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Off the Beaten PathOsceola Train Ride

Osceola, WI

the fly. This still occurs on the Saturdayrides. The mail bag is attached to the dropoff post and as the train passes by it will ei-ther pick up or drop off the mail bag. Alsoon this train, you will find a concession carand several passenger cars, which are eitherair conditioned or not depending on theyear of the train car. The non air condi-tioned cars, gives you the opportunity toopen up the windows and look outside at

the view and take pictures.

As the train travels on its ten mile ride youwill see deer, turkey and bald eagles if yourpaying attention. Once you get closer tothe St. Croix River the fall colors start toappear. Then the train crosses the CedarBend Draw Bridge and you have a greatview of the river. The train then continuestraveling south along the river, now on theMinnesota side and into Williams O'BrienState Park.

I stood on the back deck of the dining carand took the pictures I needed of the fallcolors and enjoyed the fantastic ride as Italked to one of the train's engineers. Hewould call by radio to the conductor everytime we passed a mile marker or an areathat the conductor needed to be aware of,like when we were coming to the river andcrossing the bridge, or coming up to roadsand driveways. We traveled for a few moremiles and the train stopped, now we weregoing to head back to the train station.

This time the locomotive would pull thetrain cars up the steep grade we just camedown. You might be thinking, that now onthe way back your looking at the samethings you just saw, well thats not exactlytrue, its amazing what you now see fromthat different angle or from a different car.We then make our way up to the train sta-

tion, after a twenty mile, ninety minute funfiilled and historic train ride. This is a listof the train cars used this day: the 265 bag-gage car which was built in 1946, (2)streamlined coach cars built in 1946 and

1947, (3) commuter coach cars built in1929 and 1930. Also in line was a heavyweight triple passenger car built in 1914,the A-11 streamlined business car whichwas built in 1911 and the power unit wasthe 325-spd40 locomotive built in 1966.

The Osceola & St.Croix Valley Railway isopen from May to October, and offers sev-

eral different rides. And if your looking forsomething closer to the Twin Cities thenhead to the Jackson Street Roundhouse onPennsylvania Ave. in St. Paul. Here theyoffer a year round facility with several olderlocomotives and train cars. You will alsosee a operating roundhouse turntable, vin-tage steam engines and equipment. Therestoration of all equipment, cars and lo-comotives are done at this facility. Hereyou have a chance to watch the hands onwork done by the railroad employees, andto ride the trains and watch them moved

about in the railroad yard.

So if your looking for some place fun fyou and the kids or a group of friends othe bikes, then try this, it will be worth thride there. So once we left Osceola, wcontinued on our journey. We jumped onthe bikes and headed north of Osceola onHwy 35. The further north we traveled th

more we observed that the coloring of thleaves were allready past peak. We headeeast toward Rice Lake and then finalsouth toward Menominee, and no materwhat, the day was great and the ride wafantastic. We took some back countrroads and found that alot of the leaves haallready fallen. But like kids in the yathrowing the leaves around, it was fudriving through them on the road andwatching them blow back on the biketraveling behind.


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Recently the Centers for Disease Control(CDC) -- specifically their National Centerfor Injury Prevention and Control, Divisionof Unintentional Injury Prevention -- pre-sented a study on motorcycle safety. Thestudy is a collection of conclusions basedon past studies and old statistics, some of

which seem to be drawn from thin air.Likewise, certain legislators and publicsafety groups in Minnesota pushed in 2012for passage of a modified helmet use billthat would require Minnesota motorcy-clists to wear a helmet unless they pur-chased additional (and expensive)insurance. (These same forces have indi-cated that they will be seeking passage of this bill again in the 2013 legislative ses-sion.) A.B.A.T.E. of MN is always con-cerned about motorcycle safety, and our

sympathies go out to the families of thosewho have died in motorcycle-relatedcrashes. But to understand the truth be-hind the CDCs study and this attempt topass a modified helmet law here in Min-nesota, consider these points and youllquickly realize how flawed their argumentsreally are:

The CDC uses the same tired, worn-out examples again and again. Theycite a Florida study that said fatalitiesincreased 63.4% from 2000-2009,which while true, like every other in-stance of using this statistic they fail to

mention that motorcycle registrationsincreased over 100% during the sametime frame. -- Jeff Hennie, Vice Presi-dent of Government Relations andPublic Affairs for the Motorcycle Rid-ers Foundation (MRF)

The CDC makes no mention of ridereducation, the best way to preventcrashes. Take New Hampshire for ex-ample, according to Robert Le-Tourneau, New Hampshire StateOfficial Motorcycle Education Special-ist, they have had 15 fatal motorcycleaccidents of riders who took the classsince 1990. Thats out of over 44,000students trained in the same time pe-riod and .034% of fatal motorcycle ac-cidents. All with no mandatory helmetlaw. -- Jeff Hennie, MRF

Motorcycle fatalities in Minnesota aredown 7% compared to 2010. Last year,42 people died in motorcycles crashescompared to 96 deaths in 1981. In that

year there were 166,151 registered motorcycle operators. Last year there wer398,092 registered operators. So despite the fact that the number of registered motorcycle operators has morthan doubled, the number of deathshas dropped by more than half. -- 201Minnesota Crash Facts

In 1981 when the State of Minnesotbegan gathering data on crashes, thnumber of deaths per 10,000 registered motorcycles were 5.8. In 2011the rate had plumetted to 1.8 deathper 10,000 registered motorcycles. I

what the CDC and other pro-helmelaw groups claim was true, we woulsee the direct opposite, with the deathper 10,000 going in the other direction. -- 2011 Minnesota Crash Facts

The Virginia Coalition of Motorcycliststudied the effectiveness of Virginiarider education program. They pulledfive years worth of motorcycle crasstatistics and with the help of the Dvision of Motor Vehicles broke dowthe crashes between graduates of Virginias rider ed program they founthat graduates were tremendouslyunder-represented in those statisticsFurther, there were two out of the fivyears in which none of the fatalitiewere rider ed graduates. -- MaDanielson, McGrath & Danielson, Atorneys at Law, VA)

Why does every state have an extensive drivers education program if education is not a proven safety measure

ABATE OF MINNESOTA


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(American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education)

-- Matt Danielson, McGrath & Daniel-son, Attorneys at Law, VA

The CDC reported that People whodo not wear helmets are more likely tobe killed in a crash. Forty-one percentof m/c operators and 51% of m/c pas-sengers who died in 2008 were notwearing a helmet. Doesnt that meanthat 59% of m/c operators and 49% of m/c passengers who died in 2008 werewearing helmets?

The CDC uses the National HighwayTransportations Safety Administra-tions (NHTSA's) 1997 base year formotorcycle fatalities, which was alsothe lowest point of motorcycle fatali-ties over the past 30 years. In 1997,there were 2,116 fatalit ies for3,826,000 motorcycles registered, or0.055% of the motorcyclists werekilled. In 2010, there were 4,502 fatal-ities for 8,368,000 motorcycles regis-tered, or 0.053% of the motorcyclistswere killed.The fatality rate was lowerin 2010, but the CDC forgot to men-tion that. -- Jeff Hennie, MRF

In May of 2011 the CDC issued astudy on traumatic brain injury relateddeaths from 1997-2007. According tothat study, the fatality rate due to trau-matic brain injuries for m/cs was14,972 per every 100,000 members of the total population. The number foroccupants enclosed in motor vehicleswas 87,510 per every 100,000 mem-bers of the total population. Yes, thereare more auto drivers than m/c riders,

but a head injury is a head injury andthe cost of one is no greater than theother.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mm wrhtml/ss6005a1.htm?s_cid=ss6005a1_ w

The CDC claims that the U.S. wouldhave saved 1.3 billion dollars if all mo-torcyclists wore helmets in 2008. Sincethe number of brain injury deaths is al-most 6 times higher in automobiles,that would mean a helmet law for au-tomobiles would have saved 7.8 billionin 2008.

In the United States in 2000, the lead-ing causes of death were:

Tobacco: 435,000, or 18% of totaldeaths

Poor diet: 400,000, or 16.6% of totaldeaths

Alcohol consumption: 85,000, or3.5%

Microbial agents: 75,000

Toxic agents: 55,000

Motor Vehicle crashes: 43,000

Incidents involving firearms: 29,000

If they make riding without a helmet ille-gal, what will they make illegal next?

http://www.doctorslounge.com/pri-mary/article/obesity_death/

The CDC makes the argument thaforcing all motorcyclists to wear hemets would save money. If this is truethen states that allow freedom ochoice would have higher motor vehicle insurance rates. According to Insure.com, the top five most expensiv jurisdictions for motor vehicle insurance in 2012 were Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, West Virginia, an Washington D.C. Out of that list, onlOklahoma was helmet choice at thtime. The five cheapest states weMaine, Iowa, Wisconsin, Idaho, anNorth Carolina, and of those state

only North Carolina requires all riderto wear helmets.


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W o W

Jennifer Eriksen has been racing with, andbeating, the boys since she was just a littlegirl. She first started racing when her dad put

her in a quarter midget car at the age of eight. Jennithen raced thunder cars at Elko Speedway on pave-ment when she was 17. At 21, she took a few yearsoff but then started racing dirt Go-Karts in 2004, just for fun.

Jenni was ready to move up to 360 winged sprint car rac-ing and asked her dad if she could get a sprint car, if shewon the King of Dirt race of Flying Pines Raceway. Hedidnt think she would win the race, since it was theirfirst time at this track... she ended up getting fast time inboth classes and winning one of them the following yearin 2005. In the middle of Redwood Speedways racingseason, she began to race sprint cars and won her firstrace there the 7th time in the car, making her the firstfemale driver to ever win a sprint car race there.


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Sprint car racing has definitely been a tough sport for her though,including a couple of serious crashes. While at Elko Dirt Nation-als in the spring of 2010, Jenni came upon the #21 car of DwainWilmes who had slowed for a stalled car. With no way to avoidhim, she went for her first barrel roll ride of her career. Then, atthe Mighty Axe Nationals in the fall of 2012, Jenni was again in-volved in a serious crash on the track.

The Mighty Axe crash happened during the Upper Midwest SprintCar Series (UMSS) Sprint heat races at North Central Speedway inBrainerd on Labor Day weekend. Jenni lined up in second positionfor the start and was in the lead on the second lap. Just as Jennifound the dirt on the high side and was thinking to herself, Herewe go!, the #45 car driven by Tony Norem suddenly slid up intoher. That contact left 3 sprint cars damaged in the melee andJennis car was sent flying up and over the wall and into the pits,narrowly missing Dan Eberts modified race car waiting in the line-up area for the next race. Jenni recalled that it was 5 minutes afterthe crash before she even knew what had happened as she won-dered why she was in the pit area and how she got there. Luckily,Jenni was not injured; safety has always been a top priority withthe Eriksen team, and thankfully the investment in safety equip-ment paid off. The entire crash was captured on video by MarkMeeks (meeksvideo.com) and can be seen on YouTube athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woUnEyYocls&sns=em.

Jenni has also been very busy the last few years going to nursingschool full time to earn her Registered Nurse (RN) degree. Shewas able to complete her finals last spring, just as the racing sea-son was getting underway. Currently, Jenni is studying for her

Boards which she plans to take in November. When shes notgoing to school or racing, she also loves to get out into world andtravel.

The future for Jenni Eriksen holds plenty of promise. For now,she plans to stay with dirt track racing, but shes been approachedto try out the asphalt again and is definitely keeping her optionsopen. And, after a tough season with a new crew chief and a newchassis, finding the checkered flag in 2012 has been a challengeBut, with those bumps behind her, she is ready for Elko next year

Photography by Vince Peterson, Track Rat Photos

Photography by Vince PetersonTrack Rat Photos

Photography by Vince Peterson, Track Rat Photos


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From tech to trail, to the racetrack and spend-ing time with folks who embrace the snowmo-bile lifestyle, thats what ahead on a newseason of Sledhead 24-7

The Emmy nominated show is available of 93million cable networks, including FOX SportsNorth and Fox Sports Wisconsin, Sunday nightsat 10pm starting November 4th. Its North Amer-ica's best TV show and website dedicated to thesnowmobiles.

Each week Meischa Johnson, former racer PaulMack, tech expert Jeff Fisher and locals whoknow the scene, steer you to the worlds great-est places to ride with world class riders.

Well test, rate, ride and review new gear andgadgets and the latest models from all themajor manufactures.

Speedwerx is known as the home of horse-power, and well test the limit of what a sledcan do, through a series of ambitious projectsand builds at the legendary Minnesota speedshop.

For race fans Sledhead 24-7 has exclusivecoverage of the greatest snocross racers on theplanet, with a backstage pass to the AMSOILChampionship Snocross Series.

Simply put, if it happens on a snowmobile, then youll see it first on Sledhead 24-7.

In show one we'll discover the first sign of win-ter; as the sledding season starts at Hay days.Its an end of summer snowmobile celebration with world-class grass drags, legendary swap

meet, the latest news from the manufacturesand a walk down vintage sled row Paul Mack,and his running mate Jeff Fischer stroll downmemory lane.

Amid the vintage sleds, they discover just howold they really are.

Were counting down, ti ll the green f lag flieson the AMSOIL championship snocross season.

Well flash back to last seasons highlights andfast-forward to the great racing straight aheadon the greatest snocross race series

Looking for a new ride or curious about the lat-est in sled technology?

Check out our report from snow shoot. Asour expert test riders put this years modelsthough a no holds barred, test session. Theyput time in the saddle to discover the best sledfor your riding style. And the setting? The bigcountry of west Yellowstone.

But Sledhead 24-7 is also about people, folkslike you, who love to ride,well profile charac-ters who love to grab a handful of throttle.

Tune in each week www.Sledhead24-7.com.

SledHead 24/7 TV Showairing on FSN-MN & FSN-WI

Sledhead 24-7 can be seen Sunday nights at 10pm on

Sledhead 24-7 ready to roar

http://www.sledhead24-7.com/Airtimes/



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NOVEMBER 23-25, 2012AMSOIL DULUTH NATIONAL

Presented by Bully Dog Spirit Mountain

Duluth, MN

DECEMBER 7-8, 2012BLACKJACK SNOCROSS

Blackjack Ski HillBessemer, MI

JANUARY 4-5, 2013CANTERBURY PARKS TRAXXAS

NATIONAL SNOCROSSpresented by Jimmy Johns

Canterbury ParkShakopee, MN

FEBRUARY 1-2, 2013DEADWOOD SHOOT OUTDays of 76 Rodeo Grounds

Deadwood, SD

FEBRUARY 8-9, 2013TURTLE CREEKS U.S. 27

MOTORSPORTS SNOCROSSTurtle Creek Casino

Traverse City, MI

FEBRUARY 22-24, 2013SENECA ALLEGANY SNOCROSS

Seneca Allegany Casino & HotelSalamanca, NY

MARCH 8-9, 2013BUFFALO RIVER RACE PARK SNOCRO

Buffalo River Race ParkGlyndon, MN

MARCH 15-17, 2013NIELSEN ENTERPRISES GRAND FINA

Presented by Grand Geneva Resort & Spa Grand Geneva Resort & Spa

Lake Geneva, WI

AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series / ISOC

DULUTH JUST AROUND THE CORBy Ceaja Philp

The leaves have fallen and daylight isshorter than we like, but on the flipside...that means the 21st annual ACS Se-ries is just around the corner! SpiritMountain in Duluth, Minnesota is gearingup to show you all the changes that havetaken place in the off-season, and asusual....give you one of the best snocrossseason openers ever!

There have been changes within the ISOCstructure, the addition of new event an-nouncers Chris Hawkey and Carly Aplin,teams changing drivers and crew members,new event locations to host the show, yournew Miss ISOC, Timi Leighton, and a newlook overall!

Don't miss the action this November 23rd25th, whether you can be there in personor via Ustream! I guarantee with all the intense off-season training, new teams created, movements of riders to differenclasses, athletes chomping at the bit to geon the track, and the return of the $10,000Dominator, it will be intense!

2012-13 ISOC SEASON SCHEDULE



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www.isocracing.com www.WheelsofThunder.net Page 4November 2012


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G reetings Wheels fans! As Fall decends upon us,GameON! TV is excited to see you again! Thisissue of Wheels of Thunder continues to excite

race fans with it's interesting stories and magnificent pic-tures. GameON! TV is growing and reaching so manyof you with our sports programming and now we are ex-panding to the Dakota's and western Minnesota viaMidCo Sports Network. As you know, GameON! lovessports, from the variety of professional, college & highschool sports to all the outdoor events that dot our re-gional landscape. GameON's partnership with Wheels of Thunder is strong and just like you, we also enjoy themost comprehensive race magazine and website to befound! Wheels of Thunder magazine gets it and gets youthe latest information, amazing pictures andall those ter-rific stories to the most passionate motorsports fans inthe country!

Looking ahead, there's special moments ahead forGameON! With our 100th broadcast in the books, we'reputting emphasis on our social media reach. Every weekGameON! comes to you in crystal clear full High Defi-nition and we have just launched our first APP (it's freeto for Apple & Android phones). The new GameON! TVapp puts our show at your fingertips and we're now of-fering a weekly PODCAST available @ our show websitewww.GameOnTvMN.com. It's full of bits and pieces of sports from the region and what's ahead on our weeklyTV show. GameON! still serves as the lead-in to theaward winning FOX NFL pre game show on FOX'sMY29 here in the Twin Cities during the NFL Season.

GameON! does what no other TV sports interview show(in the region) does. We offer a diverse and entertaininghalf hour of TV as we bring you the most visible andpopular Minnesota sports figures. From the exciting sea-son that the new look Vikings are enjoying, the new Wolves season ahead, the NHL Wild, the Twins and wevisit with the Lacrosse Swarm. There's NASCAR andwe're all over your favorite drivers now that snow racingapproaches. GameON! just featured championship racerLevi LaVallee and we'll be all over the SnoCross racingseason and Xtreme sports that touch all seasons!

This show is interactive so we'd love to hear from you!Please visit our Facebook site (friend us @ GameON onfacebook), our website @ www.gameontvmn.com and24/7on twitter #gameontvmn. And we're always planningbigger and better shows at the best location in the world,SEVEN Steakhouse/Sushi/UltraLounge/Skybar, in down-

town Minneapolis. You are always welcometo visit our live tapings and each week welist guests and updates on the GameON!website as well as our Facebook site. Getupclose and personal with us!!

We also partner with the one of the largestVikings fan sites in the world, www.Pur-

plePride.org. I've said it before and I'm saying it again!Get off the couch and get your GameON! Be a part of theexciting effort we're putting on! Here's to fall and thecoming winter sports season ahead. Hope to see you atan upcoming GameON! taping!!



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BEST OF THE

MIDWEST! Opportunities for

business who qualify for The

Best of the Midwest are

now available!

Call

Scott Robinson

612-730-3719


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Written by Mylie Lavold

With winter fast approaching here in theupper Midwest, folks will be looking fortoasty warm places to hang out until we seethe first signs of snow melt. Sickies Garageoffers a winter reprieve for the entire family.And with $5 burger baskets now on themenu, you wont have to dip into yourChristmas stash to feed the fam. (Dont forgetthe chocolate malt!)

The burgers at Sickies are the number 1menu item, but customers can choosechicken or steak as an alternative on any of their mouthwatering home-style sandwiches.The key to the deliciousness of a Sickiessandwich is the technology of the cookingequipment that works like a pressalmostlike a giant George Foreman grill. It cooks aburger (or chicken breast) in a minute fifteenfrom fresh, explains managing partner KerryFernholz.

Along with the $5 burger baskets, new thisfall is the ounce club. Beer connoisseursget their name on the wall of fame when theyhave consumed 250 oz and 500 oz. (I do notrecommend trying to do this in one visit).And there are plenty of beers to choose from! With 50 taps and a continuously rotating se-lection, one will not be bored by the same

brews week after week.

With craft beers rapidly gaining popularitySickies is keeping up with the trend. The keroom is a craft beer lovers paradise. But noall that beer is ready for drinking. Craft beeis almost like a fine wine. It gets better witage, says Sickies manager Bryce WeisseWe have kegs on reserve that will be storefor a year. Weisser says customers can lookforward to seeing some fresh hop beers iNovember, as well as some darker malty varieties to go along with the changing of thseasons. Look for porters, stouts and brownales, such as Bells Best Brown Ale to be tap soon.

The car shows have ended and the bikes argaraged but there is still plenty of action aSickies.

Dont have the NFL Ticket at home? Nproblem! You can watch the games in HDevery Monday and Thursday and enjoHappy Hour specials all season long on Sundays. College ball fans can cheer on theteams on Saturdays. Get there early on gamday if you want to claim a booth with the FMareas only tabletop taps.

Sickies also offers a respite for the wor

N o t Y o u r T y p i c a l

G a r a g e !


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weary. Stop in and shake the day off with happy hourspecials 3-6 p.m. daily. Tap beers (all 50 of them) are$1 off and well drinks are only 2 bucks. Grab an

order of fresh cut chips with Rusty Bucket, Cajun orsea salt seasoning for munching.

Sickies loves families but when the clock strikes 9 itstime for adult only activities like Beer Pong andTippy Cup. (That brings back memories of garagekeggers in my younger daysbut I digress). Notyour average bar games for sure, but you can playdarts and pool just about anywhere! Sickies is a greatneighborhood place to hang with friends, have a fewlaughs, and get your late night party started.

Speaking of partiesif you are looking for a uniqueplace to have your office Christmas party, Sickies can

accommodate. Being adjacent to The HUB entertain-ment venue allows them to accommodate even largeparties. While your there, cross a couple of names off your Christmas list with something from Sickies lineof apparel and accessories. Merchandise with fun say-ings and cool designs is available for both genders.

The snow is coming, no denying that, but whos wor-ried about winter when you have a nice heatedgarage to hang out in?!

Sickies Garage is located at 2525 9th Ave. S. in Fargo, ND. Hours are Sundathrough Wednesday 11am 11 pm and Thursday through Saturday 11 am 2 pm.

Checkout the website for updates and menu at www.sickiesnd.com

Hours Mon-Wed 11-11Thurs-Sat 11-2

Sun 12-11

www.sickiesnd.com

(701) 478-SICK (7425)


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North Liberty, Iowa Hosted by Bobbers Grill & Scales PointCampground, this annual event drew cars from both the localand surrounding area including Illinois. The variety and qualityof vehicles on display offered those attending an opportunity tovisit with builders and share their passion.

Participants on this crisp fall day took part in the judging of cars, and some very unique trophies were presented to the top

50 entries. Throughout the day the bar and grill was packed in-side with fans watching the Iowa Hawkeyes on several bigscreens.

The day was capped off with a burn out contest and live musicwas provided while visitors enjoyed their favorite beverage andgreat Bobbers food.

Written by John Lentzkow


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