Eastern Canadian drag racing fans got a very nice pre-season treat last weekend at Hamilton Ontario….

Hamilton’s iconic Canadian War Plane Heritage Museum was once again centre stage for the 5th annual Drag Strip Memories Show. Co-organized by long time Canadian drag racing proponent and historian Rob Potter along with his show partner Tony Hayes, the event which was held April 17 was arguably the most successful version yet.

A great turnout of attending fans were witness an impressive collection of race cars, ranging from the deepest roots for Canadian drag racing history up to and including some of the latest news breaking  machines for the sport for this coming season.

The show also included a truly spectacular drag racing memorabilia element as well as appearances by a long list of truly legendary Canadian drag racers.

While the 2016 Drag Strip Memories Show will reportedly be the last for a while – there are some alternate plans to continue under consideration.

“I think we had a good 5-year run but we’ve run out of options to continue hosting the event at the Canadian War Plane Heritage Museum,” confirmed Rob Potter. “This will be our last year here — and we are going to take a year off.  We would still like to continue with these shows but we will need to move to another venue for the future. We going to start looking for other options.”

Show organizers – Tony Hayes & Rob Potter

For Rob and Tony the co-ordination for these shows involves a lot of man-hours and it is 100% reliant on volunteer work by both organizers and participants. Nobody can however argue that their efforts are not important or appreciated, as the Drag Strip Memories Show provides a very important portal giving Canada’s deep dwelling drag racing roots the exposure it deserves.

“(The history of Canadian drag racing) is something I really like being involved with,” Potter continued. “It’s a lot of work – but it’s very rewarding and totally worth it.”

Rob and Tony did take a lot of inspiration away from their 2016 show effort – which did receive terrific support again from the local racer and fan base.

“We changed things up a bit for this year’s show,” Rob added. “I think this one was the best as far as overall organization and quality of cars. We had great across the board level exposure.”

Posted by: Bruce Biegler

(Check out “just some” of the event’s highlights in our photo extra presentation from this very fun exhibition —  below!!):