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."