PROVOST, ALTA.—Speed demons from near and far congregated to the town of Provost on the weekend of Aug. 10 and 11 for the annual drag races. With 120 different cars, trucks and motorcycles of every make, model and modification, there was surely something for everyone.
Hosted by the Provost Drag Team at the Provost Airport, the races had 63 drivers competing on Saturday and 57 competitors on Sunday. Gord “Pitchfork” Barnett, president of the Provost Drag Team said the number of competitors fluctuates from year to year but always seems to have a good turnout regardless.
The races first started in 2010 with Leon deKoning bringing the idea to the table. At the time, deKoning had recently moved to Provost from Manitoba and wanted to see if the event could be done. The team joined up with the Ag Society for the first two years to get the weekend-long event going, and soon was able to organize the yearly races on their own.
This year, the races were slightly different than previous years, as the quarter-mile run was eliminated, and the eighth-mile run was done both days.
“With faster cars hitting the track, it is much safer and less expensive for the drivers to run the eighth-mile track,” said Barnett.
Barnett also said going forward the Provost races will only run the shorter track at future events.
Over the course of the event, prizes were not only handed out to the top drivers of each day but also to the driver who travelled the furthest, who had the best package each day and for the best reaction time each day. A driver from Athabasca, Alta. narrowly won the furthest travelled as a driver from Calgary, Alta. was a close contender.
One driver, André Penney of Cold Lake, Alta., said this was his first time at the Provost races. He was blown away with the organization of the event and with the number of runs he was able to get in over the two days.
“I really like how they run things here, with the time trials then the elimination races. As long as you keep winning, you keep running. You don’t get that at many other races, and we will for sure be back next year,” said Penney.
