My face is already peeling from the sun and windburn after spending a long weekend at the FAT Ice Race in Big Sky, Montana, but you won’t hear me complain. The vibes were good, the sweet sounds of everything from the Ur-quattro’s turbo-five to an Enzo’s V12 still ring in my ears. But the event reminded me of something: cars are meant to be driven.
I’m sure anyone that knows me and my neuroticism about keeping a car clean and pristine will roll their eyes and laugh at me. Fair. I deserve it.
The Fat Ice Race invaded Big Sky, Montana over the weekend where thousands of people gathered to see and hear incredible machines race against the clock on an ice course. It was a treat for the senses.
Everything you might imagine, and even things you wouldn’t, took to the track. Barry Lundgren took his Ferrari Enzo on the ice course both Friday and Saturday. The car rolled onto the track for the first time already sporting a cracked windshield and marred front bumper. I never learned what happened to the windshield, but Lundgren said he’ll replace it someday, but it costs $30,000. As for the front bumper, it was an accident loading it on a trailer a couple years ago, but “I don’t fix the dents or scratches, you know? That’s kind of patina,” Lundgren said with a smile. The Enzo has 33,000 miles on it and Lundgren bought it about 10 years ago with only 3,300 miles.
Lundgren drives all his cars. “Well, I mean, first and foremost, when you don’t drive them, they break down. But my philosophy is if you have an amazing car like this, drive it. Enjoy it. You know, as opposed to putting it away and just letting it sit there, you might as well invest in artwork or something. So no, I drive my cars,” Lundgren said. He had a Ferrari FF that he put 80,000 miles on, and next week he’s taking delivery of a Singer Turbo Study. “I can’t wait to put miles on that!” he said with a smile.
The Enzo was just the tip of the rare car iceburg. A yellow Ferrari 250 SWB hit the snow-covered track, and rumor had it the car was an alloy, though that’s unconfirmed. Either way the value of that car might be $7-$11 million. A RUF CTR Yellowbird anniversary with Florida plates hit the track, and the yellow Porsche really hit the track with gusto to the point I could hear the turbos making their whoosh whoosh noises trackside.
Crowd favorites without question included the Audi Ur-quattro with its sweet, sweet turbo-fix noises, the Toyota Celica driven by Ryan Tuerck, and Ken Block’s Safari 911 driven by the legend’s wife, Lucy Block. Block had never driven on ice and snow before the event and took first place in her respective class, Classics, on Saturday.
Of course, the true hammer the entire weekend was the 2025 Ford Bronco RTR El Bandito, which was essentially a baja truck that ripped around, and up, the course both days. Loren Healy was the hot shoe that took home the win on day one and two for the Rally 4WD class and overall competition win both days. Notably, the Rivian R1S Quad with RAD livery was a mere 2 seconds off Healy’s pace in a completely stock SUV you can buy today aside from a race seat, five-point harness, and studded Pirelli tires.
Bentley fielded two cars during the competition including the Supersports, which still had Pastrana’s name on the side despite being driven by Lia Block, and a Speed Six Continuation Series ‘Factory Works’ in Bedford Grey with an Oxblood leather interior. I would have loved to have seen the Bentayga X Concept, which was sitting at the event all weekend with at FAT Ice Kart on its roof rack, hit the track. Next time, Bentley.
My buddy Allan Thom took first place on day one and second place on day two in the Rally 2WD class in his 1989 Porsche 911 Keen Safari. I’ve driven this car once upon a time sans studded Pirelli ice tires (it was on BFGoodrich K02s) and it’s an absolute blast of a machine to fling sideways on gravel. I can only imagine how fun it is to race around on an ice course.
Thom’s son actually drove the Keen 911 from Chicago to the event and planned to drive it back after. “I often use the hashtag drive them, because in this, I don’t call myself a car collector. I call myself a car guy, and I drive cars. I’ve got some pretty special cars, but every one of them has miles on it because that’s what they’re for. I had a 50th anniversary Porsche 911. I put 50,000 miles on it, and then traded for a Porsche 911 Dakar. And I’ve got 16,000 miles on that thing. And I’m here at the FAT Race Race in Montana with my Safari 911 that has 85,000 safari miles on it,” Thom said. Thom left to drive in the next heat but said, “that’s what you gotta do, drive them.”
Other notable events from the weekend included watching Jeff Zwart rip around the track in a 2013 Porsche 911 GT3 Hill Climb car, Kevin Marshall go flat out on the ice in a 1976 Lancia Kimera evo37 to the point of clipping his front bumper, and Chris Fosberg go sideways in a 2WD 1990 Nissan Patrol. Patrick Long was even there ripping up the ice in a Porsche 992 GT3 Turbo, and when I say ripping, I mean it. The man literally took his rear bumper off, but bless him, he kept going.
Multiple Singer 911s took to the track with Chris Harris behind the wheel, and Matt Farah brought his Meyers Manx packing a radial engine. Farah took to the track the second day without shoes on, which induced a crowd-wide laugh.
There was also a LA County Sheriff’s Crown Victoria that took the the track on day two with full lights and sirens ablaze. The laughing was contagious, but the vibe hit.
From the blow-up t-rex walking around the event to the music blasting, drinks flowing, and smiles throughout the crowd it was clear the FAT Ice Race isn’t just a racing weekend. It’s a full-on party and no one should take themselves, or the competition, too seriously. Though, you better believe competitors, at least those that were serious about going for a time, were watching the live results flow in from their phones despite having next to zero reception.
And while it won’t change my stance on preserving Unc’s Z, the weekend really was a reality check about living, experiencing, and making moments with these machines rather than staring at them or keeping them in a bubble.
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