THERE WAS an exceptional turnout at Terrace’s first drag racing event of the season as numerous new drivers rolled onto the track.
Despite a first-time race crew and surging car count, the three-day event held July 17-19 went off with hardly a hitch.
“We had to work out a few bugs, but other than that everything ran nice and smooth,” said Kris Barnett of the Terrace Drag Race Association.
“We didn’t have any accidents, which is good. We try to avoid that because we run some pretty quick speeds,” he noted.
He said the winning dragsters in the super pro class were averaging a 1/8th mile in about 5.6 seconds which tops 200 km//hr or 125 mph.
The regular pro class includes cars with a time of 14 – 7.5 seconds.
“Everybody up here is pretty much on the same page as far as skill level goes because we do bracket racing,” Barnett remarked. “It’s not really about who’s got the fastest car, it’s about which person is the most consistent.”
Folks coming from out of town and the street legal competition for young drivers drove up the numbers who attended this time. At its peak, there were close to 60 cars on the dragstrip whereas in past years there were only about 35-40.
Though the increase means the club can afford better equipment for future races, space at the Northwest Regional Airport where they race is getting tighter.
“We’re kind of stuck for space up at the airport so managing that is tough,” explained Barnett about the pit area where the cars park.
But there is still room for more as back when drag racing was big in Terrace, up to 100 cars would crowd onto the track, he said.
The recent edition of a street legal race on the Friday night before the big races allows almost anyone the chance to race.
“We’re trying to get the younger generation who have all the fast cars and they’re always talking smack with their buddies, we try to get them to come up and prove it,” challenged Barnett.
“It keeps them from racing on the street too, which is good,” he continued.
Over the weekend, pro and junior dragsters competed for the top placing each day. The following are the winners and runners-up in each category:
On Saturday, in the junior dragster category, first went to Shelby Peterson and second to Quinn Amado. In the pro category, first was claimed by Craig Baker and second by Aaron Baverstock.
For super pro, Mike McNeice took first and Gordon Hidber came in second. The gamblers race was won by Mike Stogrin.
On Sunday, Quinn Amado took the top spot in the junior dragster category, Shelby Peterson came in second.
For pro, Ed Hildebrandt won first and Dana Amado came second.
First place in super pro was Kahm Shantz and second went to Clint Dalla Vecchia. The gamblers race was again won by Mike Stogrin.
The next race day is scheduled for the August long weekend.