J.D. Potié
LUSKVILLE Sept. 7-8, 2019
Loud engines were certainly roaring last weekend, as around 50 drag racers from far and near gathered at the . . .
NHRA racetrack in Luskville for a good old-fashioned weekend of racing.
Part of the NHRA Drag Racing Championship’s 2019 Super Pro and Semi Pro Series, the final results counted directly on the NHRA’s points system while the top competitors went home with cash prizes.
The event featured two classes of vehicles, which included Super Pro (all makes and styles of cars) and Semi Pro (full-bodied cars).
Despite the grey skies above, it was all smiles on the race track, as spectators blocked their ears when riders took off. Some of the more prepared contingents were even wearing earmuffs.
With a canteen open on site, spectators and participants alike indulged on greasy snacks and iced cold beverages, while racers went head to head on the quarter mile track testing who could make it to the other end the fastest.
According to the track’s long tenured owner Arnie Malcolm, NHRA races take place from the beginning of May to the end of September at different venues located across the country.
Drawing contestants from as far as Northern and Southern Ontario to participate, the event also featured a wide variety of vehicles of all sorts of makes, models and dynamic colour schemes. From the sound of high-speed motorbikes, to loud modified cars and long dragsters, the diversity of the activity is part of what makes drag racing such a unique sport, Malcolm said.
“That’s the cool thing about drag racing,” he said. “You don’t have to spend $100,000 to do it. You’ve got guys out here in street cars that are racing, you got guys with the big tractor trailers that have half a million dollars tied up into them.”
At the end of the day, Gatineau’s Mike Chenier came out as the champion in the Super Pro class, coming out with a $2,000 prize. In the Semi Pro class, the $1,000 grand prize was divided into two, as Larry Lepine from Gatineau and North Bay native Jason Laporte both went home as co-champs.
The track’s next race day is scheduled to take place in the middle of October during Thanksgiving Weekend, Malcolm said.
