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MacDonald Wins the 9th Annual StayInKenora100, Gagnon Takes Twins

Snowmobiles took to the track at Lake of the Woods Speedway to start off the 2026 season. It was wonderfully warm (+2C) as compared to last year’s -18.2C. A good field of SBA Engineering Twin Shootout sleds started out the program with two heats.

In heat one, Danny Leonard and Landon Hall duked it out for much of the five laps with Leonard taking the win. Justin Ersser rounded out third. In the second heat, Ethan Gagnon started on the outside position in sixth. It didn’t take long until he fought Lorne Dubois for the lead. Gagnon would take the checkered with Dubois second, Ashton Bell third.

In the feature, Gagnon dominated from the hole shot. The rest of the field jostled for position throughout much of the race with Hall and Dubois being one of the main centers of positioning. Don Rogers started on the back row after having missed his heat race but had now moved into the top five with a little more than a handful of laps left. Unfortunately for Hall, carburetor issues forced him to retire with just a couple laps to go. Gagnon would take his second win in a row, with Dubois eking out Rogers for second place.

A total of fourteen sleds participated in the 9th Annual StayInKenora100. Mike Wojtyniak started on the pole and would lead lap one. Within the first twenty laps, there were multiple lead changes with Dylan Smith, Lorne Dubois, Christopher Leek, and Travis MacDonald all having their chance at the top spot.

The pace changed quickly as Leek and MacDonald started to pull away from the rest of the field. The two battled side by side for another five-six laps on their own until MacDonald significantly pulled ahead. By lap 43, Dubois was forced to retire on the high side with a blown motor.

The race was continually shifting as the track started to take a beating due to the extremely warm temperatures, turning parts of the track into icy clay. Some drivers tumbled off their sleds but were able to continue, including Leek, Ashton Bell, Braden Rogers, Tyson Bennett, and late in the race, MacDonald.

Leek started to gain some momentum on the high side and gathered back space from the leader of MacDonald, but disaster stuck on lap 78 with a blown motor. The situation was becoming intense as onlookers wondered whose sleds might expire next.

In the end, a total of ten sleds completed the race with MacDonald winning back-to-back StayInKenora100s. Smith would finish second and Curtis Nicolychuk getting third.

A huge congratulations to all our competitors! Thank you to our always courageous and appreciated volunteers. Thank you to all the fans who attended and to the sponsors who made it happen.

Racing happens again on Saturday, February 28th with the Vintage SnoX and 120cc (Ages 4-8) starting at Noon!

StayInKenora100 Results

1. #8 Travis MacDonald (Gonor, MB) – 100 Laps
2. #71 Dylan Smith (Kenora, ON) – 100 Laps
3. #03 Curtis Nicolychuk (Kenora, ON) – 99 Laps
4. #22S Shane Stefanishyn (East Selkirk, MB) – 98 Laps
5. #68 Mike Wojtyniak (Kenora, ON) – 93 Laps
6. #23 Elizabeth Romaniuk (Kenora, ON) – 92 Laps
7. #177 Ashton Bell (Keewatin, ON) – 91 Laps
8. #37 Tyson Bennett (Laclu, ON) – 90 Laps
9. #13C Braden Rogers (Lac Du Bonnet, MB) – 87 Laps
10. #247 Miguel Dufresne (Kenora, ON) – 86 Laps
11. #17 Christopher Leek (Ste. Genevieve, MB) – 79 Laps DNF
12. #44 Jack Strutynski (Keewatin, ON) – 62 Laps DNF
13. #55 Lorne Dubois (Kenora, ON) – 43 Laps DNF
14. #2T Don Rogers (Lac Du Bonnet, MB) – 19 Laps DNF

SBA Engineering Twin Shootout
Feature

1. #20 Ethan Gagnon (Ste. Genevieve, MB)
2. #55 Lorne Dubois (Kenora, ON)
3. #13C Don Rogers (Lac du Bonnet, MB)
4. #30 Danny Leonard (Beausejour, MB)
5. #177 Ashton Bell (Keewatin, ON)
6. #88 Greg Strutynski (Keewatin, ON)
7. #56 Dache Dimit (Keewatin, ON)
8. #4B Landon Hall (Kenora, ON) DNF
9. #4J Justin Ersser (Kenora, ON) DNF
10. #3H Keelan Hall (Kenora, ON) DNS
11. #6X Braden Rogers (Lac Du Bonnet, MB) DNS
12. #54 Jack Strutynski (Keewatin, ON) DNS

Heat #1

1. #30 Danny Leonard
2. #4B Landon Hall
3. #4J Justin Ersser
4. #88 Greg Strutynski
5. #13C Don Rogers (DNS)
6. #6X Braden Rogers (DNS)

Heat #2

1. #20 Ethan Gagnon
2. #55 Lorne Dubois
3. #177 Ashton Bell
4. #56 Dache Dimit
5. #3H Keelan Hall (DNS)
6. #54 Jack Strutynski (DNS)

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