…And Now For Your Evening’s Entertainment!

by editor on Aug.26, 2021, under ACE MFG Northern Exposure

Edmonton’s Castrol Raceway did return to a level of normalcy with a recent pandemic precaution feature race….

Despite thunderstorm threats and some awful thick forest fire smoke lingering in the air, a very devoted base of Alberta drag racing fans came out in strong numbers for an evening of fast machines and exhibition runs — on Saturday August 14th.

For the first time in two years there were some nitro fumes in the air with the Nostalgia Funny Cars owned by Nathan Sitko (Arctic Traveller) and David Brant (Warchief) hitting the drag strip for the first time in a long while. Both racers did manage solid runs right around the 6.0 secs mark.

David Brant’s “Warchief” (above) and Nathan Sitko’s “Arctic Traveller” – both made their first “hits” in two years.

“We only made one full run but it was our best so far at 6.09 secs at 227 mph.” David Brant confirmed. “Regrettably due to some in-climate weather that would be our only full attempt.”

“We did make two attempts at the Hot Summer Night,” added Nathan Sitko. “They were our first passes in almost two full years. On the first one the timing system at the track failed and we did not get a time slip. But our on board data and video tells us it was in the 5.90-5.95 secs range.”

Calgary’s very dedicated “Darkside Racing” Top Fuel dragster team, owned by the Fedorowich family, continued their summer tour of Western Canada by also supporting the event.

The Dark Side Racing Top Fueler and the Volcano Jet Dragster were part of Edmonton’s Hot August Night feature.

Track management also booked in a couple of Jet Cars with the Montana-based Volcano dragster (driven by Chuck Haynes) and the Ontario-based “Boneshaker” Jet Truck owned by Rick Kopp being in attendance.

The event also included some competition — the most notable being the latest season round for the West Coast Pro Modifieds (WCPM).

That planned 8-car field was reduced in numbers early however due to breakage, and it’s schedule also endured an evening rain storm disruption — which forced a conclusion to the following day.

In the end it was Dean Bettenson’s points leading Pro-charger assisted Camaro (from Red Deer) defeating Saskatoon’s Mike Gonziola in the 1/8th mile final round. Dean padded his championship points lead margin after a 4.034 secs 186.03 mph to 4.401 secs 124.59 mph score.