What do you get when the grandson of Porsche’s founder, an influential U.S. land developer, and most of the world’s prime automotive lovers get collectively to occasion? The FAT Ice Race 2026 Huge Sky.
Extra of a celebration than a critical race, the occasion is certainly centered on motorsports. Racing extraordinarily beneficial, and in lots of instances essential, vehicles on ice is the centerpiece of the occasion. However I believe all in attendance can agree that it’s extra concerning the folks, with about 2,000 folks on web site this yr.
This yr, Mom Nature made it very arduous on organizers and automobiles alike. The observe would freeze in a single day, however every morning the extreme solar and mid-40s temperatures would soften issues up shortly.
What that meant for opponents is a shortly deteriorating observe with large holes and ruts, whereas the berms had been jagged blocks of crusty ice prepared to depart claw marks on something that acquired shut, which quite a lot of automobiles skilled.
Pretentious?
Once I informed some associates I’d be attending the FAT Ice race, many scoffed at how pretentious the occasion is. Whereas from the skin wanting in, I may see their viewpoint, I went to the occasion making an attempt to view it from a special angle.
I occur to know a number of individuals who had been racing this yr, and all of them, with cash or with out giant sums, are true driving lovers. I knew, and now know, that they not solely wished to drive their particular machines in a singular location and race format, but in addition enable others entry to seeing such machines in motion.
Whereas wealth was on full show in all of the methods, I by no means noticed flaunting that wealth as a major driver for any of the folks I interacted with on the occasion. From my discussions, it actually was about having fun with the high-end automotive tradition whereas attending to occasion with associates in an exquisite location.
I see concourse-style occasions as far more pretentious than the FAT Ice Race. A lot of the autos, irrespective of the worth, had been pushed arduous on observe versus simply wanting fairly within the paddock.
Racing Motion
Is there critical racing at FAT Ice? Kinda.
There are, for positive, fairly a number of folks there who’ve labored arduous to deliver a correctly set-up and really quick automotive to the occasion and saved dialing them in all through the occasion to seek out efficiency. However, ultimately, race lessons had been fairly wide-ranging in entrants, and most drivers had been there to have enjoyable reasonably than win a trophy.
The Traditional (pre-1980 and 2WD) class ranged from a VW Baja Bug to a 1960 Ferrari 250 SWB. Race & Rallye 2WD class ranged from Legend Automobiles to a Lancia Kimera EVO37. Within the Race & Rallye 4WD class, you noticed every part from a near-stock Rivian R1S to the totally customized Ford Bronco RTR referred to as “El Bandito.”
The Sports activities Automobile class noticed a Pagani Huayra BC, Bentley Continental GT, and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. In complete, there have been about 53 automobiles racing.
There actually had been so many cool automobiles that its very arduous to name out highlights. However, those that made probably the most sounds and went the quickest had been possible what acquired the group probably the most excited. The 1,000-horsepower El Bandito did all these issues, and received total with the quickest time.
Ryan Tuerck’s Celica rally/drift construct acquired second total and made unbelievable noises.
Anderson Tate was possible probably the most full-send driver on the right track, in his boss’s (Supercar Ron) twin-turbo Lamborghini Huracán Sterrato.
Whereas quite a lot of attention-grabbing autos on observe is superb for spectators and an indicator of the occasion, this yr’s occasion might need taken {that a} bit far. It was very odd to see cheap Legend Automobiles on the market going sooner than multi-million-dollar efficiency machines and WRC rally automobiles.
And, I do know that the majority opponents weren’t stoked on the large tires and high-horsepower trophy vans and Ultra4 autos destroying the observe floor in brief order — however spectators cherished them.
Present Laps
Between race classes, there have been present laps by some very spectacular autos, most of which had been nonetheless pushed in a really spirited trend.
My favourite was possible Christopher Polvoorde’s luxurious pre-runner — principally a trophy truck with doorways. However that’s possible a biased opinion, as I acquired a ride-along on observe on this beast. A giant due to Optima for the chance.
Different cool present runs included a small fleet of distinctive Meyers Manx, from rotary engines to tracked with skis. The Scarbo SVRover and LFG Meyers Manx had been possible probably the most attention-grabbing autos on observe, and each had been very quick.
However, watching the Singer DLS Turbo, with Chris Harris behind the wheel, and the RUF CTR Anniversary (a contemporary Yellowbird) slide across the observe at velocity was additionally a sight to behold.
Fur & Hats
The unofficial outfit for the 2026 FAT Ice Race was some mixture of fur and cowboy hats. I’ve by no means in my life seen a lot fur clothes, and the variability was spectacular as effectively.
The cowboy hats theme wasn’t all that sudden, as Huge Sky, Mont., has a factor for cowboy tradition.
Tastebuds & Bubbly
And sure, after all, they’d shrimp cocktail and limitless champagne, a minimum of within the VIP space. There was additionally plenty of different tasty meals and libations for VIPs, and some bars and meals vans for different attendees.
Whereas there was loads of social ingesting happening, I didn’t see a single individual performing like a drunk. I believe that’s a primary for me, as I’ve seen very drunk habits at motorsports gatherings starting from Flat Monitor to Components 1, and we received’t even speak about NASCAR.
Celebrities
One actually cool factor about FAT Ice is having such up shut and easy accessibility to a variety of attention-grabbing folks.
Automotive icons in attendance included: Lia Block, Lucy Block, Emila Hartford, Chris Forsberg, Ryan Tuerck, Brian Scotto, Richard Tuthill, Estonia Ruf, Patrick Lengthy, James Pumphrey, Chris Harris, Matt Farah, Christopher Palvortie, Brad Lovell, Supercar Ron, and numerous others.
Musician Don Toliver appeared to be the highest-profile celeb in attendance. However the one who had probably the most optimistic vitality and was really stoked to speak to everybody was skydive/basejump athlete Miles Dasher.
And we are able to’t overlook occasion founder Ferdi Porsche, who hosted this gathering and confirmed off some very spectacular driving abilities on observe.
Manufacturers Need in on the Motion
After all, there have been a lot of massive manufacturers doing official activations and collaborations on the occasion. Firms like Nissan, Bentley, Mobil1, Porsche, Singer, and others.
Essentially the most attention-grabbing was possible Nike’s ACG Man vs. Machine, the place operating athlete Liam Meirow raced the Manx LFG, with Nike’s VP of Ideas Serifcan Ozcan behind the wheel, on observe. For positive, only a publicity stunt, it was good enjoyable and made for some good video.
Rivian additionally had an enormous presence on the occasion, launching its RAD division. It even raced a reasonably inventory R1S quad-motor, with only a race seat, five-point harness, and studded Pirelli tires added. It was only some seconds off the customized El Bandito and Tuerck Celica builds, which could be very spectacular!
FAT Ice Race Previous & Future
Whereas this occasion began a long time in the past in Europe, it was revived a number of years in the past in Europe, and a U.S. model occurred in Aspen in 2024; the 2026 Huge Sky FAT Ice Race elevated the occasion on this aspect of the pond. The Huge Sky location was additionally successful with most concerned, because it was stunningly lovely and provided the high-end facilities that attendees count on.
Will FAT Ice occur within the U.S. once more? I believe so. Will it discover its everlasting residence in Huge Sky? I believe that’s possible.
Will you test it out subsequent yr? I wish to return. However, do notice that tickets this yr ran about $500 for a 2-day common admission ticket and a minimum of 3 times that for VIP entry.
