SMS Rents Puts Racing On Ice
For more than 40 years, Ontario racing enthusiasts have pursued a unique way of taking their sport “off-road.” Ice racing began on frozen lakes and rivers, where drivers face unique challenges of power, traction and control. As the sport gained popularity, more permanent ice tracks were built and maintained inland, but all the challenges remained intact.
Rod Lentino, Manager of the SMS Rents equipment fleet, loved watching the ice races as a boy in Minden, Ontario, where CASC (Canadian Automobile Sports Club) sanctions the Ontario Ice Racing Championships. Last year, Rod caught the bug to drive in the races himself. With the 2009 season well underway, Rod is working his way to the top of the standing in the Class 4 – All Wheel Drive competition.
According to Rod, his 1992 Eagle Talon TSI gets up to 90 km/h on the kidney shaped ice track at Minden. There’s no prize money in the CASC event – owners and drivers are all amateur fans who modify and race their own cars for love of the sport. Rod has devoted about 250 hours of his free time to preparing his car for the weekend events.
The CASC ice race season runs from mid January to early March, with up to 130 cars participating each weekend.
Visit the CASC Ice Racing website to learn more about the sport and to follow Rod’s latest results.
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| Rod Lentino competes in one of four “rubber to ice” classes on the Minden Hills ice track. Several heats are run each day of the weekend, with anywhere from 5 to 25 cars per heat. | Sporting its blue and yellow SMS Rents livery, the Lentino car is basically stock with upgraded turbo and shifter, lowered suspension, a lightened flywheel and a new air-fuel management system. |
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