It was a scorcher of a weekend and drivers from across western Canada were really in the hot seat as they faced off other drivers and their own abilities in a Central Alberta Raceways drag race double header, July 11 and 12.
Drag race director Rod Schaff says there were 110 participating teams on Saturday and 100 on Sunday.
“We have had people come from northern BC, central Saskatchewan and Montana,” said Schaff.
“By 12 o’ clock we were doing the qualifying runs and by 1 o’ clock we were doing the eliminations,” Schaff explained.
Amid the smoke and the roar of the engines each driver made two qualifying run to see how fast their vehicle would run the track.
Using this knowledge, racers would guess what their time would be in the eliminator race and whoever was closed to their set time won the race. This went on until only one vehicle and driver was left standing as the champion.
“There’s one winner after it’s all said and done,” said Schaff. “What we’ve been doing is we have been doing trophies so far.”
The winner also receives $100 and bragging rights while the second-place finisher is awarded $50.
However, Schaff says in the future he is hoping to have the resources to get an actual pot together.
The Rimbey racetrack is not a part of a larger circuit so the winner of a weekend event is the ultimate champion for that time. “Right now every weekend is its own individual weekend,” said Schaff.
There were a number of classes racers could compete in: sportsman, pro, super pro, juniors and bikes and quads.
Over the weekend on July 10 and 11 an oval race double header also took place.
The next drag race event is Aug. 8 and 9 and the next oval race, another double-header weekend is set for Aug. 21 and 22.