LaGoy is fire on ice

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March 28, 2008

Morrisonville teen takes off in ice oval racing

By BOB GOETZ The Press Republican Fri Mar 28, 2008, 12:00 AM EDT

MORRISONVILLE -- Nick Lagoy, for one, isn't omplaining about a seemingly endless winter.

If anything, the Saranac Central sophomore would have been ecstatic had the snowmobile racing season lasted a little longer.

Lagoy took advantage of winter's early Thanksgiving arrival to get in some valuable practice that helped him win two titles and almost a third this winter on the Eastern Pro Tour for Snowmobile Ice Oval Racing. Lagoy, who just turned 16 in January, won the Junior II and Junior III classes and was runner-up in the Men's Open 600 cc Class. Not bad for someone who took up racing only a year ago.

You could say he comes by it naturally as a third-generation racer. His grandfather, Fred Lagoy II, caught the bug more than 40 years ago while Nick's father -- Fred III -- took to drag racing on ice while in high school.

"I won my first race at 15 in Rouses Point on my dad's Arctic Cat," recalled Fred Lagoy III, who went on to capture a New York State championship in snowmobile racing.

"I was a racing fanatic," Fred III continued. His love for competition eventually steered him to car racing. He enjoyed success at Airborne Speedway and other New York, Quebec and New England tracks.

It was during Fred's racing days that young Nick got caught up in the excitement.

"I always went with my father to the car races and helped in the pits; I always wanted to race," Nick related.

"I really hadn't given it a lot of thought until last year when I went a couple of times with the Gehrkes," referring to Schuyler Falls snowmobile racing standout Herman Gehrke.

"I got a sled when Herman's boy, Dusty, got one."

The timing was perfect. Fred Lagoy III had retired from racing two years ago and he took the money he got from selling his car to purchase a new 550 cc Ski-Doo.

"All the years I was racing, what I really wanted to be was a crew chief," Fred admitted. "I enjoyed racing, but I really liked to plan things out. I get more enjoyment out of setting up the sled for my son, even though it got to be kind of nerve-wracking."

The Lagoys also received support from Camoplast Tracks, Signs Now, Adirondack Welding, Wahl Brothers Racing and Ski-Doo.

Nick got a late start to the 2006-07 season, but it didn't take long for him to establish his credentials. He won three races his first season.

"I thought he had the talent," Fred said.

It also helped that Nick played football for Saranac. He was in excellent shape to start the season in December.

"When football ended, I was in the weight room every day," Nick added. "I wanted to build my upper-body strength so I would be able to pull myself up on the sled."

Leaning into the turn requires racers to lower their bodies to just inches off the ground and then pull themselves up in the straightaways.

"It can take a lot out of you, physically," Nick said.

He never seemed to wear down, however. In fact, only the SnoWeek photographer grew tired of Nick's winning ways.

"I'm sick of taking your picture,' she said to me," Nick said, with a chuckle.

This season, he scored 24 victories on the Circuit and backed them up with six seconds and two thirds while racing all over the Northeast and Quebec. The hardest part might have been getting to the races. The Lagoys and Gehrkes logged more than 7,000 miles this winter with the closest event in Boonville three hours away. The season finale in northern Quebec was seven hours from home.

"I hadn't raced in 10 years, but it was like I had never left," Fred recalled, fondly. "Everywhere we went, I ran into people I knew. The snowmobile community is tight-knit and always willing to help out."

The season ended two weeks ago, but father and son already are looking ahead to next season. The Pro Champ Class, with its guaranteed prize of $2,000 to win, looms on the horizon, but, realistically, the Lagoys are pointing to the Semi-Pro Champ Class.

"It's for racers with less experience, sort of like the Busch Series in NASCAR," Fred explained.

Of course, a move up would mean buying a new sled and that can be pricey. They're talking $6,000 to $8,000 for double the horsepower and a sled 100 pounds lighter. The machine can hit speeds of 110 to 120 miles per hour.

Fred hesitated: "Maybe your mother (Patti) shouldn't read this, but she'll find out some time."