Golden Lake – Jeff Yonin of Honest Herbs loves fast cars and fast sleds and this weekend the Honest Herbs Racing Team will have 11 sleds competing in the Bonnechere Cup Races on the oval track at the SnoDrifters Activity Centre.

“Driving fast is our passion,” he said. “We like it. It is exciting for participants and exciting for spectators.”

A familiar name well known on the pro racing circuit has joined the team this year. Sabrina Blanchet, the 29-year-old from Drummondville, Quebec, known for her signature long blond hair flowing out of her helmet, will be racing alongside locals Marcus Buelow (22x) and Cole Fitzgerald (11x), also with Honest Herbs. Known as Super Girl, she won Vintage World Cup Championships in 2023 and 2025 and has won multiple championships in her career that has already spanned more than two decades.

A third-generation racer, Blanchet is following in the path of her father and grandfather and so it’s in her blood and has been since the age of seven when she raced for the first time. This weekend, she will be running three sleds for Honest Herbs. Although she belongs to the Samson Racing Team out of Quebec, the Samson team will also be running under the Honest Herbs banner following a recently-formed partnership.

Honest Herbs will be running two Formula 500 sleds, which will be driven by Buelow and Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, 29, will also be competing in the Limited Fan class. Buelow, 28, has been racing since age five and Fitzgerald is relatively new to the circuit. He raced once in 2023 and 2024.

“He’s just starting,” Yonin said. “We are all fresh. Depending on how this year goes, Marcus is going to be running in the champ class next year, right up with Sabrina. That’s the plan.”

Yonin’s two sons, Maverick, 14, and Mica, 11, will also be racing for the team. Maverick will be competing in the 340 and Jr. 500 class. Mica will be in the Junior 340 and 200 cc class.

Honest Herbs has also become the major sponsor of the Bonnechere Cup Races, along with Castle Building Centres (Reiches) in Eganville, Killaloe and Pembroke. The Pikwakanagan business is also the major sponsor of the Cochrane Polar Bear Cup oval races that take place March 8 and 9.

Honest Herbs has been testing the sleds on the west end of Golden Lake for more than three weeks. The team built a track on the lake almost identical to the Eganville track and it is being used for driver training and getting the feel for the sleds.

Win or lose, the Honest Herbs team is looking forward to having fun this weekend.

“We are hoping to go there and have a good time with everybody,” Yonin said. “That’s what it’s all about.

“If it’s good weather, it’s going to be a big turnout from what I am hearing.”

The Honest Herbs team runs Polaris sleds.

Ranger Racing Team

A second local team is making its debut this year and will be starting with one sled in the Limited Fan 500 class.

“We are starting out with one and will likely get another one next year,” said Warren Ranger, proprietor of Ranger’s Auto Body in Killaloe.

While he has never raced competitively, it is safe to say it’s in his blood from years of attending the races in Eganville. His son, Colin, 22, will be a first-time competitor on the track after he started getting the itch last summer.

His dad bought a sled and trailer last year and if all goes well in Eganville, he might invest in another sled for next year.

“He (Colin) is committed and he just wants to try it,” he said of his son’s interest in the sport. “I think next year he’d like to go to Formula 500 but for now we are just going to start with this.”

Just down the lake from the Yonin track at Deacon, the Ranger Team has also built a track for training and the younger Ranger has been spending a fair bit of time getting used to the sled which was originally purchased from Gourley Racing Products in Beachburg.

Members of the Ranger Racing Team are Luke Verch, Marty Chapeskie, Justin Ranger, Ashley Brotton, Connor Browne and Levi Verch. Levi is interested in running in the Limited Fan 500 class next year.

Colin Ranger might just be a natural for racing. Both of his grandparents, Ken and Sharon Clark, and Garry and Jeannie Ranger, were involved with the races for many years and his uncle, Scott Clark, enjoyed a long career of racing, chalking up numerous victories until a serious crash led to his retirement from the sport.

“He just wants to try it and, you know what, we are really just in it for the fun,” his dad said. “We don’t know how we are going to do, but we’re trying hard.

“I haven’t done mechanical work on snowmobiles, so I am going back. I’ve been doing a lot of the wrenching with the boys so far.”

Ranger admitted he is a little nervous about his son’s debut on the pro circuit.

“I don’t want him to get hurt out there,” he said. “So far, from what I have seen, this being his first time, he’s doing really good on the lake, but he’s not out there with other sleds at this point.

“You are going to have four or five or six other sleds on the track. But he’s holding his own and he’s on a very competitive sled as far as I am concerned.”

The Ranger Team is also planning to enter the races in Viamede and the Cochrane.