A date has been set and residents are gearing up for Bonnyville’s first drag race.
There was no lack of community support as local car enthusiasts packed the room at the Neighbourhood Inn for the Gear Grabbers’ drag racing information session on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
There are three drag races planned for this summer. The first will be on Saturday, June 22. It will only be open to Gear Grabber members and volunteers.
“The main reason (for this) is, we as a club, need experience with this,” explained Shon Gamache, club director. “We’ve got some basic training with the equipment, but it’s very complex. There’s a lot of hiccups that can happen, and we want to run a mock-up event between ourselves so we can learn how to run a smooth event, to have fun, and not have it be a gong show.”
The first race open to the public will be on Saturday, Aug. 24. Bleachers will be set up for spectators, along with food trucks and vendors.
If it goes well, the Gear Grabbers hope to host another on Saturday, Sept. 14.
“This is kind of depending on how the first event goes, and if we’re financially able to run a second one. Our goal is to run the event in September if everything goes well, and we’re hoping it will,” Gamache said.
The info session was the club’s first chance to see just how much support the event has.
“I know there’s a lot of enthusiasts in our community, but to see a full room was very encouraging, and I was happy to see it,” said Cayle Sherger, president for the Bonnyville Gear Grabbers.
While Gear Grabbers had received positive reactions after announcing the races, no one was prepared for the number of people wanting to learn more.
“I think a lot more people showed up than what I figured, and it will be pretty big event from what we’ve seen tonight. It’s going to be pretty exciting,” noted Cold Lake resident Zach Anderson.
Since there’s never been airport drag racing in Bonnyville before, attendees were eager to hear what’s in store.
“I’ve been to a couple of events in other communities, and I’m pretty excited about one being in Bonnyville,” expressed Nohlan Ringuette. “It symbolizes growth in the community. I would say this type of thing is popular, but, there’s never been one for people to go to and actually enjoy... I think it’s a long-time coming, so it’s definitely a good thing for Bonnyville.”
A new development announced at the information session was the taxi lane construction at the airport, which will start in spring. It will be used as a return lane during the drag races and will allow the day to run smoothly.
“That’s a huge game changer for this event, because otherwise we were planning on having a return-way right on the track. That’s how a lot of airport strips have it, but fortunately, we’re going to have a return lane,” Gamache exclaimed.
Registration is expected to be opened at some point in February, and racers will have the chance to sign up until the day of the races.
Moving forward, the Gear Grabbers have its sights set on finalizing all the rules and bringing together the finer details.
For the club, the information session confirmed they have the community’s support.
“We were impressed and overwhelmed with the turn out, for sure. It definitely confirms that things are looking up,” Scherger noted.
