SALAMANCA — For the seventh straight year, snowmobiling enthusiasts gathered at the Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino last weekend for an actioned-packed display by some of the most talented racers in the sport.
The AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series is a national snowmobile racing series that makes eight stops throughout the United States with Salamanca being its sixth stop and easternmost site on the schedule.
Once again, racing was held Friday and Saturday on a track located at the casino’s paved parking lot east of the events center after being relocated there last year from the gravel lot west of the hotel.
As a popular winter activity throughout the colder regions of the United States, families who snowmobile themselves often attend the annual event.
Mark Chimera, from Bemus Point, said he’s come for the races a few times and attended Friday night with his 7-year-old son, Matt, who was there for his first event.
“He’s getting into it now, and it’s fun to come down and see the professionals,” he said. “Watching that type of racing is totally different than us riding on the trails.”
Although he attends the event, he said he also records the broadcast of the races to watch at home.
Looking at the jumps and “seeing when they hit and where they hit” is something Matt said he looks forward to for the pro races. “It gets kind of loud sometimes,” he added.
From the speed and the noise to the jumping, Chimera said it’s an exciting sport to see in person.
Olean resident Dawn Bennett also attended the event for the first time Friday, though she and her partner had been planning to come for several years.
“Usually every year it’s around my birthday, but I’ve never been able to make it,” she said. “This is my first time actually being here and watching it.”
As active snowmobilers, Bennett said they’re definitely interested in watching the races.
“We had a cabin in the state park a couple years ago rode our sleds here, but we didn’t even watch it because we just kept riding ourselves,” she said. “Riding makes watching it fun.”
For junior racer Kamden Duffy, this was his fourth time coming to Salamanca for the Snocross. He said what he enjoys most about racing is “hitting the jumps because you can just send it.”
Hailing from Richmond, N.H., Duffy said it’s worth the long drive to compete and he hopes to be back again next year.
When asked if he thinks other kids should race, he had two words: “Oh yeah!”
As a five-time attendee of the event, Andrew Marshall said he follows the Snocross events all year.
With Marshall was his 6-year-old daughter, Kayla, attending for the first time. However, they both enjoy riding the trails themselves.
“I ride a little one by myself,” Kayla said.
Marshall said he recommends coming to the event for anyone interested in snowmobiling because it’s a very affordable family night out.
“If you get the pit pass, you get to see all the other aspects besides just the racing,” he said. “It opens up the stuff that you can’t see on TV.”
Marshall said they’ll keep coming back for as many years as the event is held.
(Contact managing editor editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)
