Action packed day at the drags
- Details
- Published on Friday, July 29, 2016
Photo by Diane Ruzycki. Brett “Big Schwag” Wagner, star of the Speed Network TV show Pass Time.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
An enthusiastic crowd was out to cheer on the racers at the annual Runway Drag Races last Saturday. The races are hosted by Neepawa’s Yellowhead Roadrunners Auto Club and are held at the Neepawa Airport every year.
This year, due to a dreary weather forecast, the turnout was down from previous years, Gary Salmon of the Roadrunners club noted. Darcy Mitchler, who is also involved in the Yellowhead Roadrunners and sponsors the Drag Races through Piston Ring, estimated the turnout to be between 400 and 500. The weather turned out to be decent, though, with only about 20 minutes of rain at around 4:00 pm. They stopped the races for the duration of the showers, but Salmon said the crowd was very hardy and stuck around through the delay.
Mitchler said that there were 45 racers registered this year. Salmon said that number was down from most years, usually having between 50 and 60 racers entered. Despite lower numbers, the spectators were enthusiastic and enjoyed the day’s entertainment. All of the racers were really happy with the day too, getting a full day of racing in, Mitchler noted.
Every year, the calibre of racers increases and the drags get bigger and better. Many of the races this year had cars coming in with times close to the five second mark, which Mitchler explained is a really good time. He added that the features keep getting better every year, too.
The feature this year was special guest Brett “Big Schwag” Wagner from the TV drag racing game show, Pass Time. He had a booth set up on site for people to come and meet him and he also raced against Bert de Koning and his brother Leon de Koning for intermission entertainment. Bert raced Wagner twice, while Leon went up against him once. All three races were very close, but Wagner took the win for each of them. The crowd really enjoyed watching those races and getting a chance to meet Wagner, Salmon said.
Mitchler said that as a sponsor, he was very happy with how the day went overall and with the hard work that the organizers put into the event. He added that the Roadrunners club is very grateful to all the spectators who came out despite the weather forecast and stuck around through the period of rain.
The Runway Drags are an annual event put on by the Roadrunners to encourage amateurs to get competing in drag races without too much pressure to be perfect. It’s also for entertainment for the community and visitors to the area.
