An uprising of the Tri-City Race Series led by the constant howl of tires, the roar of engines and the smell of burning rubber has been taking place in Northern B.C. for the past two years.
“The sound has echoed across the province of B.C. as far away as Vancouver Island,” said Tri-City Race Series president, Tim Westwick. “What started as a small idea led by three local race clubs has quickly spread to the emergence of one of the sport of auto racing’s largest-growing street stock series in the province.”
The series dates back to the early 1970s where stock car racing enthusiasts in Prince George, Quesnel and Williams Lake raced every weekend in one of the three towns, ending the season with a Tri-City Racing Champion.
“Two seasons ago we reignited the series and the three clubs welcomed 12 drivers to Thunder Mountain Speedway’s Stampede weekend race, and race No. 1 of the series,”Westwick said.
“Drivers representing the Prince George Auto Racing Association, the Quesnel Auto Racing Association and Williams Lake’s Thunder Mountain Speedway did a great job supporting all three tracks and at the end of the season it was Fort St. John’s Jarret Bonn who took home the top spot in the series championship.”
Westwick said it was of no doubt the series sparked interest not only of northern racers, but even drivers from southern and island portions of the province showed interest.
In 2014 that interest showed as 21 drivers stormed Thunder Mountain for the first race of the season.
“The racing was fast, clean and action packed for fans and drivers,” Westwick said. “[In race No. 2] it was another great 20 car field under the lights at PGARA’s Speedway Park.”
The championship battle saw Victoria’s Brian Clutchey and Williams Lake’s Arnie Kunka duking it out, with Clutchey eventually edging Kunka after race three in Quesnel.
“After the amazing support shown throughout the season from so many southern drivers, Tri-City officials got together and decided they needed to say thank you to those drivers in a special kind of way,” Westwick said. “Vice-president of the series, Bill Klugh Jr., mentioned maybe the series should show its support by hosting a fourth race in the southern portion of the province.”
Penticton Speedway Street Stock representative Tim Graham wasted no time volunteering their prestigious Gordie Manne’s Invitation Race during the August long weekend, which was followed by a meeting between all four race tracks to discuss the series possibilities.
“It was decided the series championship format would change from a three race point total to a best three out of four race points tally,” he said. “This allows drivers to choose their three best finishes, or even sit out a race for any reason whether it’s from mechanical failure or financial restrictions.”
Recently, Kane Fraser of Williams Lake’s Fraser Bevz Broughton Charter Accountants (FBB), which has charters in all four cities, came on board as the main series sponsor, donating an additional $6,000 to the series to bring the four-race payout to $10,000.
“When you add up the four tracks’ invitational payouts and travelling reimbursements it brings the total up to the neighbourhood of $25,000 up for grabs across the province,” Westwick said.
“[We, the officials] just want to thank everyone involved with this great series, and, as Kane and FBB say: ‘Live the dream.’”