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From Your Friends at The Prince Rupert Auto Club

*Tickets are Limited!!!!!!!!!!

Photo Copyright Ed Evans

It was a sad day in Drag racing as a former “Hot August Nites”, Feature car driver Gary Hough from Kelowna was killed testing out his new Nitro injected front engined dragster Thundermountain raceways in Kelowna yesterday.

You might remember Gary and his wife Clara were the 2008 Feature Car at Hot August Nites in Terrace. His car then was a brown Alcohol Altered. Gary also built and delivered the JL Excavating rail in 1998.

News reports reported “ An air ambulance was called to Thunder Mountain raceway this afternoon after it was reported a vehicle flew off the end of the track crashing into a ravine.

A witness tells Castanet the vehicle had a throttle issue, leaving the driver powerless to slow his vehicle. The witness estimated the vehicle was traveling about 200 km/h when it left the track.

The Joe Rich Fire Department responded to the accident just after 3:30 p.m.

The fire department reports a high speed dragster careened off the end of the track, apparently with no sign of brakes used. Emergency personnel on scene managed to find the wreckage, move it out to the tarmac and proceed to free the man.

Joe Rich Fire personnel along with two British Columbia ambulance crews assisted in the rescue. The middle aged man was transported via air ambulance in critical condition.

http://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/64491/Dragster-crash-at-Thunder-Mountain

                                                                                Rest in peace Gary 

Kris Barnett yanks his tires on his run against Paul Soares in the “Quick 8” final for Cars Saturday. Barnett outran Soares to take the win.

Ed Evans Photo

By Ed Evans

The Northern View

TheNorthern Connector

The Terrace Standard

August 31, 2011

The final race of the 2011 Drag racing season was run on the weekend. This race was Billed as “Bike Wars and the Bikes and Sleds were the feature race as well as a “Quick 8” class for cars that was not run at the “Hot August Nites” race, due to a track oil down.

Also this weekend was the final round of all classes for the yearlong points series at the Terrace regional Airport.

With rain again threatening the race, the plan was to run off all of the class races Saturday in case it rained on Sunday. This would mean at least the points series was finished and there would be no need to use the “Rainout Weekend”. As Saturday was supposed to be the nicer of the two days, we were all disappointed to wake up to overcast skies. Overcast actually was the wrong name for it as we were in a cloud until 11:00. However patience was the saving grace as race organizers held off and the racing got underway at 1pm.

Sunny skies broke put and the racing was fast and furious as all of the classes were run off including the two “Quick 8” Bike/sled and Car classes.

In “Bike and Sled” Al McFarlane in his bike outran Shawn Enmark and his sled in the final. Enmark did take home enough points to retain his lead in the point’s series, for the second year, in “Bike/Sled”

In “Junior Dragster” Maddy Amado outran Chris Cook to take home First Place. Lou Ribeiro brought home Third Place and took home the Points series for 2011.

Dana Amado Took home First Place in “Sportsman” by outrunning Doug Ribero. Dana was the 2011 Points Series winner.

In “Pro” class Shane Calkins took home first winning the final race against Laurence Wilkins who came all the way from Queen Charlotte city. Mike Wienhardt from Vanderhoof took home the 2011 points series.

In “Super Pro” Bruce Daum took first place in a close race with Paul Amado. Harley Bell claimed first place in the Points series.

The two “Quick 8” races were exciting with Top qualifiers in each class making it to the finals. In “Quick 8 Bikes” Shawn Enmark, went down to John Symes and his bike.

In “Quick 8 Cars” Paul Soares could not run down Kris Barnett in his Altered. Points Series winner was Harley Bell.

That wraps up the 2011 season, as rain cancelled the Sunday “King of the YXT”. There will be no rainout day as all of the classes were run on Sunday. A big thank you goes out to all of the race organizers and volunteers who made all of this happen.

Wade Sjostrom in his 1957 Chevy Bel-air burn up the track at Houston Drags on the weekend.

Ed Evans Photo

By Ed Evans

The Northern View

August 24, 2011

The weekend was predicted to be overcast on Saturday and Sunday for the 15^th Annual Houston Drags. On the trip up from Rupert Friday, it rained all the way to Smithers, after that we didn’t see any rain in the daytime for the rest of the weekend.

The Friday races and burnout contest clicked off with no problems, with Harley Bell winning the Burnout Contest with his shop truck. I think that the flashing lights won it for him though.

Saturday’s action started off a little slower with a slick track. The cars ran time trials as it was too slick yet for the fast feature cars.

After the time trials, the West Coast Door Slammers made their first appearance. The cars put on quite a show, doing long, loud, smoky burnout’s, some of them a full 1/8 mile in length. But it was hard for them to get traction past the 60 foot mark. Wade Sjostrom in his 1957 Chevy Bel-air seemed to have it figured out first and after tuning out 300 horsepower, he ran a blistering pass, but was running on the 1/8 mile timer not the ¼ mile timer. It was still a quick pass of 4.88 seconds in the 1/8^th mile. The other cars like Reg Deforest and his 1923 blown altered also seemed to find traction later in the day, but he did spin through most of the ¼ mile track.

However it did rain hard Sunday morning and there were concerns that the Sunday race might be cancelled. But it was decided to wait until 10 am to make the call. At 9:30 the skies cleared up and even though it was overcast, the full slate of racing was run. The West Coast Door Slammers had to call it a weekend though as the rain took off whatever rubber that there was for a sticky track.

Next up: Is this weekend as the final race of the 2011 season in Terrace. The Bike/sled drag race is called Bike Wars. So if you have a bike or a track ready sled this is your opportunity to make some runs down the track for bragging rights. There will be all of the other exciting class racing, as racers compete for the year long points series.

      Ed Evans Photo

By Ed Evans

The Northern View

Aug 17, 2011

The Houston Drags are always one of the Northwest drag racing highlights of the year and this year will be no exception with The West Coast Door Slammers making an appearance at the 15th annual Houston Drags, August 19th-21st.

The Door Slammers are a group of six second ¼ mile Feature cars. According to their website :

All Cars must have:

a) Two operating doors

b) Front and rear suspension

c) Left hand steering

d) Roof

Coming to heat up the Houston track this weekend are:

Outlaw Racing from Carbondale, Alberta

Wade Sjostrom in his 1957 Chevy Bel-air. It has a 525 cu. In. Chevy with a 14.71 ssi supercharger and a 3 speed Lenco, The Chassis is a Carl Spearing “LOW DOWN CHASSIS” best E.T is 6:63 @ 209 mph

KD MOTOR RACING from EDMONTON ALBERTA

Reg Deforest and his 1923 blown altered with a 509 cu.in. Chevy, 14:71 super charger, 2 speed Powerglide. His best ¼ mile E.T. is 6.79 @199 mph. Deforest is noted for his CRAZY BURNOUTS

DALE BRISTOW from  EDMONTON ,ALBERTA

Bristow has a 2005 Bickel Chevy Cobalt with a 813 cu.in. Sonny’s Hemi which is a Rickie Smith ex-NHRA Prostock car. It’s best E.T is 6.70 @ 206 mph

PERRY THYR RACING from DRAYTON VALLEY, ALBERTA

Thyr has a 1996 Chevy Camero on a Tim Mcannis chassis with a 786 cu.in. Buck Racing engine, 4 stages NOS and a 4 speed shifted Lenco. Thyr’s best ET is 6:42 @ 211

This is all in addition to all of the great class racing that will be running on the weekend. Racing will start Friday night at 5pm. with the Toni Madison Memorial night race and the Burnout contest. Saturday and Sunday racing will run from 9am to 6pm. Pro Outlaw cars and Jr. Dragsters will run the 1/8 mile and Sportsman, Bike, Sled, Pro and King of the Hill classes will run the ¼ mile.

It will be a great weekend for racing. Don’t miss this race at the Houston Airport on the far side of Hungry Hill. See you at the Houston Drags!

Here is the Jet Corvette that made the only good run of the weekend with a 4.448 second run down the track at the Northwest regional airport

Ed Evans Photo

By Ed Evans

The Northern Connector

August 5th, 2011

It was a tough weekend for race organizers, as the 2011 Hot August Nites race was run this weekend. First off, there was the torrential rains that fell Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning opened to a cool overcast day, with rain threatening to come down at any time. It didn’t at first, look as if we would be able to race, as the track was wet. As race organizers struggled to see what could be salvaged, the skies cleared and a full schedule of class racing was run after the cars made some runs down the track to dry it up.

The two Jet cars from Prairieland Motorsport made their first appearance about 1pm and the Jet Corvette ran a 4.448 second run. The Jet Mustang’s run was a whole lot of smoke and no speed. The next time they came out the Corvette would not start and the Mustang put down so much smoke, you couldn’t even see the car. It was another slow run too. The crews worked the rest of the day and early the next morning to fix the problems. Sunday’s first run determined that the Corvette would not start, as the new starting motors they just bought were wound backwards. The mustang made a run that was again slow and covered the whole track with smoke.

The Jet Mustang, who’s Fibreglass body was from the former Prince Rupert Funny Car “The Greek Torch”, tried to get a good run for the crowd, but blew a fuel line and put down a thick layer of super slippery Bio-Diesel the full 1/8 mile track. This spill took a hour out of the day to clean up and it canceled the “Quick 8” race, as the fast cars had no traction in the right lane.

It was a tough time for the hard working race organizers and volunteers, but all in all it was a great weekend of racing! Thanks guys you did great job.

Hot August Nites 2011 winners:

Super Pro

1. Harley Bell

2. Harold Daumont

3. Kris Barnett

Pro

1. John Wreggett

2. Mike Weinhardt

3. Mardy Campachini

Sportsman

1. Dana Amado

2. Ed Hall

3. Chris Roesel

Bike /Sled

1. Dakota Woods

2. Seth Harmer

3. John Symes

Junior Dragster

1. Lou Ribero

2. Delany Ribero

3. Tanner Daum

King of the YXT

Paul Amado

Jr. King of the YXT

Lou Ribero

Next up the Houston Drags August 19-22. To see more photo’s check out the website www.prautoclub.com or www.terracedrags.ca

]]> http://prautoclub.com/wp/2011/08/hot-august-nites-see-some-problems-on-the-track/feed/ 0 http://prautoclub.com/wp/2011/07/jet-cars-coming-for-hot-august-nites/ http://prautoclub.com/wp/2011/07/jet-cars-coming-for-hot-august-nites/#comments Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:35:02 +0000 Redflash http://prautoclub.com/wp/?p=1362

Belching smoke and flames Kevin Therres and his Bio-diesel Pickup at the 2009 “Hot August Nites”

Photo Ed Evans

By Ed Evans

The Northern View

July 27,2011

Get ready for the Drag racing event of the Season at the Terrace Regional Airport this weekend, as Hot August Nites, part of the Terrace Riverboat Day’s weekend, burns up the track Sunday July 31st  and Monday August 1st.

The Terrace Drag Racing Association always brings in fast cars for this event and this year is no exception. Kevin Therres and his team at Prairieland Motorsports in Humboldt Saskatchewan will heat up the track with not one but two Jet funny cars. You might remember Therres first visit to the Terrace track in 2009, He brought his new Pickup Jet truck and made some blistering passes down the track, 4,463 seconds at 182.93 MPH. Super fast, but not quite fast enough to break the track record of  4.08 seconds set by Gary Ormesby Jr. in a top alcohol rail in 2007. Therres’s new Pickup was destroyed two weekends later in a spectacular crash in Calgary.
That track record might fall this weekend however, as an engine from a F5 fighter jet from the Canadian Forces was installed in the new car. Now, after a year of building, the 2006 Mustang Jet Funny car, Prairieland Motorsports has set its sights on going faster and quicker than ever before. They estimate this car will be able to go 270 mph in 5.9 seconds in a quarter-mile, which is 15 to 16 miles per hour faster than their other cars.

Also included this weekend is the MacCarthy Motors “Quick 8”, which will feature the fastest 8 cars as they race down the Terrace 1/8 mile track.

Don’t miss the Jet cars at the airport as they belch smoke and flame. The Bio-diesel powered jet vehicles will make your heart stop with every throttle pop. Time Trials start at 10 am, with eliminations both days starting after the lunch break.

So this is a great weekend for motor heads as the Skeena Valley Cruizers hold their annual Show and Shine from Noon to 4pm Saturday at the Terrace arena. Besides all of the beautiful cars there will be valve cover races for the kids.

For more information check out the websites:  www.terracedrags.ca , www.skeenavalleycruizers.com ,  or www.prautoclub.com.