Pumping his hands up and down in the bitter cold air, Bill Doughty of Orr’s Island lets out a series of whoops and shouts as his daughter, Beth, zooms her Volkswagen Rabbit past the finish line on ice-covered Moosehead Lake.

“Geez, that kid can drive,” Doughty shouts, after his daughter is declared the winner of the West Cove Ice Racing Association’s powder-puff race in Greenville Junction on a recent Saturday.

Arriving back in the snow-covered pit, fresh from her victory, Beth Doughty stops the red, junkyard special she is driving and inches her body out through the driver’s side window.

Greeting her well-wishers, who include some women she’s competed against, Doughty, 29, says, “I thought when all the cars were in front, that they’d all passed me!” Her face breaks into a wide smile that is soon followed by tears that stream down her cold, red cheeks. “It’s been a dream of mine to do this,” the young woman says of her first ice race.

Considered by some as a chance to raise a little hell with one another, ice-racing participants can stomp on the gas pedal without the fear of getting a speeding ticket, and bump a few fenders in the process without being sued.

Racers and spectators alike think ice racing is the ultimate in winter entertainment – especially in a community known more for its snow and ice than the number of people. Residents make the most of the long winter by using these resources to their advantage. Economically, the region has been known for the winter recreational sports of ice fishing, skiing, snowmobiling and skating, and now, in its second year, ice car racing has been added to that list.

“It gives us something to do on a Saturday afternoon if you don’t snowmobile or ski,” said Douglas Whitney, the association’s president, as he watched the races.

Ice racing is similar to car races held on a paved track, the only difference being the surface cover. In Greenville Junction, about 3 feet of blue ice separates the cars and their drivers from the cold depths of the lake.

Whitney said association members, who number about 75, spend considerable time and money planning the annual race in the cove, from organizing a work crew to laying out and maintaining the track after the ice has been determined safe. The work includes clearing an area on both sides of the track – one for spectators and the other for the racers. It also includes a little surveillance work during the weekdays; fishermen unfamiliar with the ice races have been known to pull up and start drilling holes in the track area.

On race days, which are normally a Saturday, volunteers collect a small donation from the spectators, $7 for a carful of people or less for fewer occupants. This money, along with donations from local businesses and association dues, help pay for the event. That includes the cost of a $1 million liability package the group must have on spectators at the races. While spectators are covered, those who enter the pit region must sign a waiver that protects the club if someone is injured there.

Still other volunteers clear the track of snow between races and heats, man the directional flags and keep the scores.

Making sure that each racer’s finish is recorded accurately is Doris Peterson’s job. Standing in the cold near the finish line, Peterson and flagman Wayne Worcester, who is seated on a high platform overlooking the racetrack, have had some adrenaline-laced moments.

“We get a couple of close calls once in awhile,” Peterson said. In addition, they must cope with weather that can change very quickly on Maine’s largest lake. And this race day was no different from the rest, as the sun was replaced by a raw, windy snow squall that greatly reduced the visibility.

The change in weather, however, didn’t deter the racers, whose beat-up relics sounded like a swarm of angry bees as the drivers revved up their motors and zoomed around the track sliding and skidding, all the while spewing snow from behind their tires. Occasionally, a chain fell off a tire and was propelled into the air, and, more than once a few vehicles had to be pulled from a snowbank by operators of pickup trucks on standby in the pit. Although no vehicle rolled over during this race, it has happened, but no one has been seriously hurt.

Whitney said safety is stressed among the members, and the drivers adhere to the race rules that were patterned after similar races in Massachusetts. Each participant must wear a helmet and the cars must be equipped with a safety harness, a window net, a fire extinguisher, and have door padding to prevent injury. The association also strongly encourages its racers to install roll bars on the vehicles, but some have chosen not to do so.

For the Ward family of Greenville, safety is utmost because it’s a family sport that often pits mother against daughter. Doris Ward, her husband, Walter, and their daughter, Sara, all participate in the weekly races using two vehicles salvaged by Walter. He figures he’s invested about $1,200 in his two scrap heaps, both Subarus.

There’s usually the same cast of characters, like the Wards, who participate in the races each week for the camaraderie, according to Whitney. Their vehicles, either salvaged from junkyards or found abandoned in someone’s backyard, are a sight. Dents and rust spots are a given. A few are minus their grills and front lights, some are held together with duct tape, and others are painted in bright colors bearing special names such as “Bite Me” or “Very Good.”

Taking a moment to chat up the sport, Doris Ward said the races give her family some quality time together. But she didn’t have long to talk before the next race was announced and her husband Walter began giving last-minute racing instructions to both wife and daughter.

“Back off in this race,” Ward advised, noting that the winner of the first race would start last in the final contest. He also pleaded for them to take it easy on the vehicles since he’s responsible for the repairs. “Don’t beat on each other,” he said. Ward quickly nodded to Sara and said, “Don’t knock your mother out.”

Once on the ice, however, it was each to her own. After the flag was lifted to start the race, Doris gunned her station wagon around the track, bumping over the ruts in an attempt to beat the others – including her daughter. As Sara approached a corner on one pass, her vehicle started to slide and appeared to be headed for a snowbank. Doris and the other racers didn’t let up.

“Oh, oh, oh, the corner goes that way,” Walter Ward yelled from the pit. His voice was drowned out by the wind as Sara’s yellow and blue special plowed into a snowbank. The race was stopped temporarily until her vehicle was freed and she was back on the track. Walter shook his head, thinking about the damage and the work that might have to be done in time for the last races of the season.

But Ward’s vehicle won’t be the only car needing attention by the end of the race.

“We get them all in the garage, crying (about) how they got hit,” Peterson said. She said Whitney allows some of the racers to use his garage at DW’s Cash Fuel to work on their junks. “They get real cranky when their cars break down and they can’t get out there,” she said.

But the racers know that if the damage is too serious, they need only scour the junkyards of Piscataquis County to find a replacement for next year’s races.