Howie Steenberg came out of a two year retirement last year to win the pro open oval world championship at the Grantsburg Watercross.

He did it again this year.

A good crowd enjoyed perfect weather as Steenberg riding a Ski-Doo was in control all the way when he won it again on Sunday with tight corner control and speed on the straights.

It wasn’t as easy in the pits as it appeared on the water. “We had our ups and downs. We made it run for all the heat races. We had to tear the motor down twice today to replace some parts but it never failed us in a race," said Steenberg.

After the race Steenberg had a big thank you for the Maki racing team for the loan of some parts that allowed him put the motor back together again for the championship run.

Steenberg is out of the running for the IWA points championship with this being his first race of the season.“We just put the sled together last week.”

This is the fourth pro open world championship for Steenberg to go along with his four pro stock championships.

Chad Maki won the Pro Stock oval championship aboard a Ski-Doo. The win, his second in this class at Grantsburg, kept the family tradition of winning championships going.

In his fourth year of racing, Maki won his second world championship at Grantsburg.

Maki never lost a race over the weekend as he totally dominated his class.

"The waves get bigger in Pro-mod and it is easier to go inside so I stayed there. Everyone in here is a rocket," said Maki after his championship run.

"I love coming here. The fans are great," he added

Maki, following in his twelve time champion dad’s footsteps, started racing when he was 13 and came to Grantsburg at 14 to take his first ever championship.

Maki , who turned 17 June 20, leads the circuit with the most IWA points in Pro Stock having won them all and is in second place in Pro Open oval racing.

Maki has been able to make it to all of the races this season although he may have to miss the one coming up in New York. “I have school then and my dad is pretty uptight about missing school," explained Maki.

Maki is heading for college after graduation from high school in the fall of 2009.

Brian Laybourn made it three in a rwo for Ski-Doo as, in his second year of racing, he took home the big prize in Semi Pro Open ovals.

"I am nervous all the time out there," said Laybourn after his win. "I am looking forward to tuning pro."

After being a snowmobiler for most of his life Laybourn went to his first watercross two years ago. “He went to a watercross race and I guesss he got hooked”, said his mother after the race.

Laybourn had never raced before decided, at 21, to get into watercross racing. “I bought the sled purposely to set it up for watercross,” said Laybourn.

The first year on the circuit he came in second in points. This year he is leading semi pro stock and semi pro open.

I’ll be back here next year,” said Laybourn.

Nate Winberg out of Boycevile WI was the winner of the Semi-pro stock. Winberg finally broke the mold by winning on a Polaris.

The three classes of drags started off the afternoon with some unbelievable performances. Loren Ward, the winner of the Modified Drags class pushed his Ski-Doo to a top speed of 70 mph as he crossed Memory Lake.

Ward trucked his sled 1200 miles from Old Forge, NY to be part of the Grantsburg event. "There was no race on our circuit that was a conflict so I came out here," said Ward.

Ward has been racing 13 years. "This is our third race this year," he said.

Ward has seven wins under his belt. "This is my first win in Wisconsin in the drags," he explained.

In the 800 Drags Aaron Hein, from Berlin, WI, took home the trophy.

Hein has been racing for three years. "This is my first win at Grantsburg," said Hein.

Normally Hein enters his Ski-Doo in four or five events a year. "Grantsburg is our third race this year," he said.

Mann Nordeen from Maple Plain, MN rode his Ski-Doo to a first place finish in the 600 Drags.

Nordeen has only been water skipping fro two years but he has experience racing a snowmobile in other events.

"I started doing grass drags 12 years back just to learn how to get on water," explained Nordeen.

"Last year I got a lot of good information from reckless racing and asking questions," he added.

This is Nordeen's second event of the year and is his first world championship.

Frederic sent Jeremy Carlson over to win the Water Jumping event. Carlson flew his Polaris further than any other rider as he took home a trophy for his mantle.