Still, there they were Sunday afternoon -- the Carhartt-clad gang of the hard-core Homer Ice Racing Association gunning their engines one last time in an effort to take home bragging rights -- and a black leather champion's jacket -- for the summer.

"It was a great day," said association president Staci Murphy, who dispatched a crew the night before race day to clear the track of ash. "For all the water, it was a great end to the season."

As the whine of revving motors echoed across the lake and huge plumes of spraying ash-slush flew behind each racer on the track, the pit area turned into a triage for cars that seemed ready to call it a year. From blown head gaskets to broken transmission mounts, from waterlogged carburetors to missing rear ends, the fleet of do-it-yourself mechanical Frankensteins had taken a beating after 11 weekends of winter racing.

"It sure is slushy," said Jeromy Martin while inspecting his steaming car after winning the first heat in the modified division. "It's almost to the point where you need a snorkel and some rain gear."

Heather Schade, who finished in first place in the stock powderpuff, modified powderpuff and stock pitman divisions, was thankful for her fully functional windshield wipers -- something not every racer could claim.

"It's definitely wet," she said. "If you don't stay close to the inside berm, you'll get so wet you can't see."

Murphy's car, which had already lost a head gasket the week before, got so thoroughly soaked that the wiring and alternator stopped working. To finish her races, she had to resort to switching out batteries between each heat.

For her efforts, Murphy finished third for the season in the modified division behind Dean Ravin and Bob Rhinehart.

Ravin, with 518 points, barely beat out Rhinehart by 21 points to claim the jacket.

In the stock car division, longtime ice racer Phil Celtic couldn't quite come up with enough juice to pass Brent Babcock, who finished in first place with 556 points.

The biggest obstacle for the drivers, said Murphy, was the enormous hole in turn three, which went all the way through the ice and grew larger with each passing hour.

"It was getting bad but we just tried to drive around it," she said.

This winter saw a few new cars and several new drivers, said Murphy.

More children entered in the kids' division than ever before and everyone was able to race longer -- 11 weeks -- than usual.

After the last of the race cars had been towed off the lake, a volunteer crew hauled out the association's announcing booth and outhouse to stow them away until next winter. After thanking the association's numerous volunteers and sponsors, Murphy looked forward to the annual awards banquet at Alice's Champagne Palace on April 24.

"It's time to go fishing now," she said.

Aaron Selbig can be reached at aaronselbig.@homernews.com.