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Chris_Good

Past Articles May 2001

May 30, 2001

LAND O'LAKES NewsWeb

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snow-mobile.jpg (47072 bytes)Good-Jump.jpg (149272 bytes)

Chris Good scores big in Snow Cross Events

by David Brison

Chris Good, 16, son of Wayne and Carol Good of Harlow, placed second in Canada in the junior class (14-17) on the Snow Cross circuit. Although he could race again in the junior class, he plans to move up to the open class next year. He will compete there with other teenagers such as 16-year- old Tucker Hibbert, who has taken the US Snow Cross world by storm.

Snow Cross is the glamour event in ski-doo racing. The high-powered machines careen around and over jumps and sharp turns on a mile course. The machines are sometimes elevated 20 feet off the ground, and in doing so, go distances of up to 60 feet in the air at speeds up to 70 miles per hour. They usually do eight laps on the course before completing the race. The contests are held at outdoor tracks with their own grandstands, and have recently moved into indoor domed stadiums. The first indoor race in Canada was held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto in 1999, and they have been scheduled for the Sky Dome. Snow Cross events are frequently shown on TV.

Chriss father Wayne raced on the snowmobile drag racing circuit when he was younger. Wayne took Canadian championships in his class in the early 80s, and Chris grew up with the knowledge that his father was a snowmobile racer, even though Wayne hasnt raced since Chris was born. The Good family was in Bracebridge several years ago and Chris pestered his father into stopping into Northland Recreation, which had sponsored Wayne when he raced. This visit inspired Chris, and he has gone on from there to purchase three machines of his own. Chris started racing in the 1999-20 season.

Chris exudes quiet confidence he doesnt brag, but you quickly get the feeling that he knows he is good at what he does and expects to get better. He missed an event on the circuit this year in Brimley, Michigan (the family can only afford to go on so many trips), but had he been there he might have been the top Canadian junior.

He trains hard and for long hours. Wayne and Chris set up a training course on the ice in front of where they live on Big Gull Lake. They pile up snow for jumps and bank turns with snow to simulate a snow cross course. Chris comes home from school at the North Addington Education Centre and practices for hours. He also works on his body snow cross racing is a physically demanding sport and racers have to be in good shape.

Wayne helps keep the machines in racing shape and acts as Chriss pit crew during races. I asked Wayne if he would have raced snow cross (instead of drag racing), if it had been there when he was younger. His reply, Yes and I might even do it now if I thought my back could take it.

Chris works after school (off-racing season), on weekends and during the summer to pay for his machines. The Good family travels to the event in a pick-up truck with the machine in the back. Many of the competitors in the open events are sponsored and have fancy trailers. Each weekend outing costs the family about $500. Chris is presently sponsored by Woods Fuels in Tweed and Tweed Power Sports. He gets discounts on studs from Stud Boy (US) and oil from Red Line Oil. He has prepared a resume and is in the process of looking for more sponsors.

Chris gets roughed up, dirty, and greasy during races. Another machine landed on his arm once, cutting and scraping his arm, but he was able to finish the race. However, during the off-season he comes across as a quiet, clean-cut young man whom the mothers of teenaged girls would love to see their daughters bring home.
With the participation of the Government of Canada