An early August edition spotlighting just a few major happenings within the Canadian drag racing scene….

Northern Sighting — One of Canada’s more veteran drag racers – Ed Verenka – from Alberta was on hand during the recent Mopar Rocky Mountain Nationals with some very impressive new pipe and build for Top Alcohol Dragster racing. Verenka, who is from Calgary — was on the verge for testing the new machine at the event. He did have an injected nitro motor within the frame rails at Edmonton but also reported the possibility of running a supercharged on methanol option.

Points Lead Enhancement — Quebec City’s Denis Lachance increased his already formidable season points lead with a big win at Naperville Dragway’s UDRA event (August 11). Denis powered his EDM Motorsports Camaro to a circuit record 3.791 secs in qualifying and then edged out Cedric Beaulieu’s turbocharged Dodge LeBaron in a super exciting final round decision by a .002 winning margin. The race event was the 3rd of 5 UDRA race presentations set for this season (all 1/8th mile — all at Napierville).

Nasty Nice Nova – Race fans attending the recent Mopar Canadian Nationals got to witness the first ever pulls for a new Pro Mod ’69 Nova owned by Mike and Ken Everitt (Stratford ON). This father and son team have been working on this highly anticipated car since about 2016. It is all Canadian built and Pro-Charger powered and DragRaceCanada will post a more in-depth feature on this car and team — coming a bit later!

Industry Shift — Canadian star driver and drag racing tech wizard Todd Paton is now behind the formation of his own new company. “TP” who had been both a Technical and Sales Manger at RacePak for 12 years has (effective August 1st) left that company. Todd will now help to guide new project PDS (Performance Data Systems) into the future. DragRaceCanada will post additional details on this development in the near future. (www.RacePDS.com)

Super Stock Solid – Richmond BC’s Rick McKinney was the top placing Canadian racer within Super Stock racing for the recent NHRA Northwest Nationals. McKinney just missed going to this 3rd final round of the season at the NHRA National event level — when he lost a “final four” decision to eventual event winner Kyle Rizzoli at Seattle’s Pacific Raceways. Rick was racing his ultra reliable GT/NA classed 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass.
Photos by Bruce Biegler & Gerry Frechette