WEDNESDAY, August 19, 1992

- EO é o . > 3 , . Stacey MacKinnon of Castlegar rips around the track in his $12,000 modified car. He built three of the cars racing in

the street stock class at the Northport International Raceway

IN STORE BAKERY FRESH

FRUIT BARS

HAMBURGER BUNS

or Hot Dog. Selected Varieties Skylark.

Pkg. of 12.

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Some items may not be exactly as shown

Pe <7 sw! BONELESS ROUND OAST Outside. Cut from Conpda P39 kg

98

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NECTARINES

U.S. Grown. No. 1 Grade.

Story by Jason Keenan Photos by Brendan Halper

DELI DEPT. B.B.qQ. CHICKEN

Announcer Christy Hamilton introduces the drivers and Calls out race results throughout the day.

Limit 1. Over limit price 1.18 lb/ 5.90 ea $4.40 each. Works out to...

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BARON OF BEEF

Boneless. From the Inside | round. Cut from Canada t : Ros Grade A Beef 6.57/ kg

completing the time trial.

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Spills and thrills, dust and disord plenty of entertainment.

Now I know why they call it dirt racing.

Every time the cars tore around the comers at the Northport Inter- national Raceway, clouds of dust billowed into the sky.

Northport is one of the oldest dirt tracks in Washington state, built,in the early 1950s.

“T get to get really dirty two or three times a month,” said Christy Hamilton, announcer at the track located about 45 min- utes south of Trail.

“Most of the people who race here race because they love rac- ing,” she added. Her husband, Tom, is currently leading the Volkswagen class in his suped-up Fastback.

“It’s a chance to be a race car

ive!

Three classes of vehicles race

at Northport - modified, street stock, and Volkswagen. And there are four sets of races - time trials, trophy dashes, heats and main race, and the pitman’s race where a member of the crew gets behind the wheel.

Last Sunday's race was the first Tom Patrick Memorial Race, which is run to commemorate Patrick, who was killed ina pile- up at the course last year.

Patrick's car landed upside

down on the straight-away in front of the flag booth. The dust was so thick that day the other cars behind him didn’t see what had happened. And he never saw what hit him. The impact separated his spine, and his helmet was shat- tered.

That was the past though. I expected a bit of gloom to hang over the track, but it wasn’t there. No talk about the death, just talk about today’s race.

In the field of about 40 drivers, about 10 come from north of the border in

Flagman Mike Kyllo waves the checkered flag to a VW racer the Trail, Warfield and

Castlegar area. One of

those cross-border racers is Castlegar's Bill Whitehead, who competes against his son Martin, as well as the rest of the Street Stock field.

“I came and watched and said ‘I can do better’,” explained ‘Whitehead. That was two years ago. He picked up a 1977 Pontiac Ventura body, put in’a 455-Buick engine from an old station wagon, and hit the old dirt track.

He’s never looked back, and said that racing every two weeks is the best release you could ask for.

“You can get rid of all your frustrations out on the track.” And you don’t have to watch your rear view mirror.

“The only cop to follow you is Dave - number seven” Car seven

is painted up to look like a.cop .

car - the otd-black and white - the kind of car the cops drove before they adopted their new, more politically correct paint jobs “You just like to go fast in comparative safety,” said White- head. The modifications aren't fancy. In street stock the goal is to get whatever you can out of what you have. Take your car body, take out the back-seat, put in a roll cage. Insert one big engine, and you're Teady to race. The start off cost for Whitehead was about $1,100, and running costs are fairly low. He does most of the work on his car along with his brother in law. That’s the main thing in dirt racing, keeping the car together. Whitehead blew a tire in the trophy dash. He pulled in to the pit, and about six of the Castlegar crew made sure the tire was changed, and the engine was cooled down. He was back on the track in a minute, and came in just

behind his son Martin.

Costs go up a little when you yet into the modified class. Castlegar’s own Stacey MacKin- non is near the top in his class, and it costs a lot to get there.

“I spent $12,000 last year on a new car and trailer. This year about $6,000 so far.” And time is also a factor. When something needs work, the car can take up every spare minute. When it only needs to be tuned up, it may only take up one night

He said it’s a small price to pay for the joy of the race.

“You can go as fast as you want and you don't get in trouble for it.” The top speeds can range any- where from 130 to 140 km-h. And unlike most of the other drivers,

, he doesn’t have a pit crew.

“I don’t really like anybody touching my car. It’s my enjoy- ment.” He must really enjoy it. MacKinnon has built three of the cars racing in the street stock class at Northport.

But the sleeper class at North- port is Volkswagen. The four- cylinder engines aren't as loud as their Yankee counterparts. It’s more of a high pitched whine than a scream of raw power.

#

They are lighter cars though, and in time trials they come in about one or two seconds quicker than the other classes.

“We used to be the slowest in the race,” said Kelly Parmley, who sponsors number eight, the yellow Beetle.

“Now we can compete with each other, and we're not four slugs going around the track.” The field has grown from four a few years ago to upwards of 10 VW drivers.

The best part of the old VWs is the fact that they're cheap to work with.

“You can build a lot of power out of them. They're so easy to work with - there’s no water.” You have to get into aircraft engines if you want something with an air-COOlEC"ENEME that isn'ta VW.

The secret of VW's mon to all classes though.

“You steal every ounce of horsepower, any way you can,” said Parmley. The carburetor, the cam, and good heads are the secret.

“You have to let the motor breathe - that’s what gives you the power.” 4

is com-

Driver Dustin Schlitt (left) and pit boss and father Philip, of Warfield, check out the engine and top up the radiator.