“I just love racing,” said Glen Day with a shrug after winning the Dust Bowl, which ran from Saturday, Aug. 27. to Sunday, Aug. 28 at the Tri-Port Speedway Association’s race track.
Nathan Bonn, who came up from Campbell River to compete and ended up taking second place, agreed with Day, adding that he “loves the adrenaline rush” involved, and that the fans who come out to watch both days make the event worthwhile. “Me and my family always come up for the Dust Bowl when I have a car,” said Bonn. “I’ve raced at the last three out of four of them.”
For Brock Shore, stock car racing keeps him out of trouble, and he enjoys competing in the Dust Bowl because “people always show up to watch and we get to race two days in a row.”
Shore does all the maintenance on his car and Day and Teresa Lee’s cars as well, which all told equates to about a “40 hour work week.”
Lee, who won the main event earlier this season at their July 23 race, stated she loves stock car racing because “The adrenaline is heavy duty. It really does affect you mentally and physically. Your attitude going into a race is very crucial. You have to be in the game, I learned that the hard way. If you’re not into it, you just putter around.”
Her memories of winning the July 23 race are still vivid in her mind. “It was very scary, every time I went through turn four I thought ‘where’s the white flag, where’s the white flag, hang in there, you can do it’. And when I finally saw the white flag, I came through the finish line and I was a very happy camper.”
When asked how the stock car racing season went overall, Lee was quick to reply that while the season was “very short this year, it was still awesome. The dedicated regulars were here for every single race.”
Lee also pointed out that the Tri-Port Speedway Association “Would like more young people out here to help keep this place running. We need young drivers.”