Team USA Men's Snowboard Cross Team has Ties to ARCA Short Tracks
Team USA Men's Snowboard Cross Team has Ties to ARCA Short Tracks
Team USA’s Olympic men’s snowboard cross team has ties to ARCA-sanctioned short tracks and the ARCA Menards Series.
Jake Vedder, from Pinkney, Michigan is the grandson of Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame driver – and multiple-time winner at both Flat Rock Speedway and Toledo Speedway – Jerry “The Bear” Makara.
Vedder, who now lives and trains in Colorado, has been a member of U.S. Ski & Snowboard team since 2018. He started skiing and snowboarding at just two years of age at Mt. Brighton, just a few miles from his home in Pinkney and just 45-minutes away from his grandfather’s stomping grounds at Flat Rock.
Makara started his racing career in the Figure-8 division at Flat Rock, alternating every other week in a car he built and shared with his close friend John Anderson. Eventually, both moved up to late model competition and both became two of the most respected and well-liked drivers in the region.
Makara won three late model features at Flat Rock Speedway and five at Toledo Speedway. Additionally, he won five times on the American Speed Association tour. While he never visited victory lane in an ARCA Menards Series race, Makara was also an occasional competitor in the “New Car” division, and registered a best career finish of fourth at, not surprisingly, Flat Rock in 1983.
Men’s snowboard cross qualifying rounds are set for Wednesday night (Peacock, 10:50 pm ET), while the finals are set for early Thursday morning (Peacock, 1 am ET).