It’s a very commendable “deep dive” into many aspects of drag racing for this Western Canadian team….
Over time and from some rather humble beginnings — the Calgary-based father-and-son team of Dwaine and Travis Ringguth have solidifed as serious players within Western Canada’s drag racing scene.
Since inception, the T&T Motorsports team has campaigned an impressive list of race cars while at the same time progressively upping their reputation within the sport. Dwaine and Travis both race competitive top notch machines while at the same time are driving and promoting forces behind drag racing overall and within their home province of Alberta in particular.
“This all started while racing locally in Northern Alberta and BC with an old ’81 Camaro that was in our family,” revealed Travis Ringguth. “After 4 years with that we purchased an ’86 Camaro that we rebuilt with the help of RH Race Cars (in Kelowna). We ventured out and started racing NHRA Division 6 and also travelled all across North America racing in the 8.90/9.90/10.90 NHRA and IHRA index classes.”
Both Travis & Dwaine Ringguth are not strangers to victory lane within drag racing.
The team found some solid success during that class involvement including winning a 2011 NHRA Super Street Division 6 Championship and then both the IHRA Quick Rod and Hot Rod divisional Championships in 2014.
Later on, a team decision was made to migrate to dragster chassis cars. Bouyed mostly by the attraction for “Big Money Bracket” racing in and around Edmonton as well as the establishment of the Ebertz Bros Top Eliminator Series, they started racing two dragsters, one purchased from Mike Shannon (Kelowna BC) and another one previously owned by Washington-state’s Craig Family.
“We ran those two dragsters and chased big money races in Canada for about 5 years,” Travis confirmed. “It was during this time however we started taking other people’s cars into our own shop for chassis fabrication, re-wiring, improvements etc. Every car that came through our shop, left a winner — so we decided that we would really like to start more of a focus for these types of services and on/at track support.”
Over time and since there has been continued growth for the performance side of their shop business with numerous area racing machines visiting their facility each year for upgrades and modifications.
“We also started dealing high quality Fragola Performance hoses and fittings for all the plumbing needs as well as becoming the Western Canadian Dealer for Pro1 Safety products,” Travis added.
At the drag strip itself – Dwaine and Travis continue their involvement on a couple of fronts.
Their primary team race car is now a state-of-the-art TNT Supercars built dragster — a 250″ wheelbase – with a super serious 632 all aluminum BBC with 9 degree Brodix Heads, built by industry leading Sunset Performance, motor program.
The T&T Motorsports primary race car is this expertly crafted TNT Supercars built Top Dragster.
That dragster however will soon be supplemented by a new addition – coming for 2021.
“With the less racing happening in 2020 (due to COVID) more time was provided and that allowed us to go down some new roads,” he added. “I bought a square body Chevy S10 that we have been busy doing a lot of work on and which is nearly finished.”
Last year, Travis also dipped his toes for the first time by venturing into race promotions. Within his partnership (T&T Promotions) he oversaw the development and hosting for the inaugural 2020 Western Canadian Summer Classic – hosted at the Medicine Hat Drag Strip. That race (held last July) was a solid success that included posted prize money over $5K on Friday to Sunday and which featured a huge $20,000 to win shootout on Saturday night. Plans are being developed for a similar V2.0 event for 2021.
“Hosting the type of event we did in 2020 in Medicine Hat was a huge accomplishment,” Travis continued. “I think it will become even more of a trend out here in the Western Provinces. The reality is that most racers love the idea of racing hard for 3 days for a ton of money – instead of a season long schedule of travelling for smaller payouts — like in many other points series.”
Travis and Dwaine campaigned these two dragsters and Chevy Camaro with great success during their team’s very progressive history.
T&T Motorsports is thus essentially now three divisions; the race team itself, a shop and performance side and race promotions business.
“The race team is probably the most important because it is what allows us to be able to stay connected with our friends and customers,” Travis summarized. “The performance side has really started to take off in recent years. At our shop we get a lot of help from great friends – like Mike Pople and Brad’s Automotive Machining — both just up the road from us here in Calgary.”
“As for the promotions side — that is a way for us to give back to the community that we love being involved in. We are very close with Medicine Hat Drag Strip — Dave Toth and his staff just work their butts off, and provide top notch service and facility. We are looking to grow our brand even more this year there. With associate help we will be adding prizes and bumping the payouts up for our Sat/Sun events even more ($10,000 to win). Additionally, we are working on possibly adding a second event – held at another track.”
Travis was quick to point out a lot of valued support and motivation he has received so far while chasing his objectives in drag racing.
Travis Ringguth
“I feel blessed to be involved with such a passion filled sport,” he concluded. “First thanks to my wife Shay and my family for making this possible and standing behind me no matter what I do. Dan and Tammy and the whole RAD Torque team, Greg and everyone at GMACK, John and the Artex Barn team, The Old Car Centre, Ritchie Racing, CSN, LJay Autobody, This is Bracket Racing Elite, Digital Delay, APD, ProJet Energy Services, CIK Bracket Races, The Dirty White Boys Race Team, ROIL Projects, Elite Belts, Pro1 Safety Products, Fragola Performance, Unlimited Performance and Exhaust, Simply Signs and BelAir Power — they all play such key roles.”
For more information on the team visit : @tntmotorsportsca or www.tntmotorsports.ca
Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos by Bruce Biegler – Don Meleshko – Bernie Frey
