The Stettler Airport was filled with smoke and the sounds of engines revving at the Stettler Car Club’s annual 1/8 mile shoot out on July 19 and 20.
Cars that pass a rigorous safety inspection undergo two qualifying passes. Based on those passes, the driver estimates how long it will take to run the 1/8 mile. Two cars run it again, and the car that comes the closest to the estimation, without going faster, wins in the bracket-style competition.
“We were happy with everybody that came out,” said organizer Dan Hiller. “We had good numbers. Kind of got cut short on Sunday because the rain started halfway through the day. We were happy with the weekend.”
Hiller estimates that roughly a thousand people came out to cheer on the competitors.
Though many of the cars were vintage, that was no a requirement to enter the competition.
“Whatever you’ve got, bring ‘er,” Hiller said.
Competitors came from as far away as Strathmore, Drumheller, Kindersley, and Leduc.
The competition used to take place on Main St., but later the car club extended the race from 100 metres to 1/8 mile.
“Everyone wants to go farther and faster, so we switched it from Main St. to the airport,” Hiller said.
The airport was shut down to air traffic on Friday afternoon, and organizers started getting ready – setting up bleachers, barricades, and the timing system. The timing system was also tested on that day. On Saturday, cars started showing up at about 6:30 a.m. There were about 120 competitors on Saturday, and 80 on Sunday, though there were no winners on Sunday because of the rain that started close to the end of the day.
The winner in the sportsman class was Rich Colby, the pro class winner was Kerry Hamilton, and the super pro class winner was Drew Davis.