A National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) racer from Stettler will be again getting the opportunity to represent the community on the international stage.
Stettler resident Dale Dryden has qualified for the NHRA finals to be held in Pomona, Calif., from Nov. 9-12.
“This will be the fourth time,” said Dryden, in a recent interview.
Dryden came to racing later in life — he first got his racer’s card at the age of 40. Since he started, he has raced all over North America as part of the NHRA’s Division 6, which brings together racers from B.C. and Alberta in Canada and the states of Montana, Washington, Oregon and Idaho in the U.S.
In the NHRA, racers compete for points during a 10-12 race season. They earn anywhere from no to 10 points per race; the more races drivers compete in and the better they do the better their chances of being accepted as one of the 65 racers to compete in the finals.
Dryden says he is currently competing in the Super Gas, Super Street class. The goal time for a racer in this class is to hit the quarter-mile finish line with a time of 9.90 seconds.
“The closest to that is going to win,” Dryden says.
Getting to the line in that time isn’t the only challenge; there are a variety of things that can affect the car and driver on race days.
Everything from humidity in the air to running at tracks with higher elevations can impact car performance. If the car is not set up properly for a track, it is possible for a car to “break out,” or do the quarter-mile in less time than the 9.90 seconds.
If a car ends up posting a run faster than they’ve qualified for, the 9.90 seconds, they will actually be disqualified.
Then there’s the reaction time.
In a drag race, two cars are placed on a side-by-side race track. In between the two lands is a “tree” of lights that prepares, and eventually releases, the cars to race. Dryden says there is a laser line that records when the wheels go past it.
If drivers hit the line too soon, before the green, they are disqualified. Dryden recounted one race where he beat another racer because he had a run with a perfect .000 reaction time, which allowed him to get off the line .001 second faster than his competitor.
Fortunately, when it comes to keeping his car tuned, his wife Irene has him covered. She accompanies him on his racing trips and knows the car’s computer systems inside and out.
The car actually has two separate computers, which Dryden says makes it easy to make checks after each run and determine what is working, and what isn’t.
“She does all the things on the car,” said Dryden.
“I don’t know I could do it without her.”
While Dryden’s current car is custom, with an aluminum Chevrolet engine block, he says he got his start racing with a ‘72 Chevrolet Vega and has had a couple of other cars since then.
“I’ve always been a car enthusiast,” said Dryden.
A family affair, his original car, the Vega, is still being raced by his daughter and her family.
Now in his 70s, Dryden isn’t sure how much longer he’s going to race, but he plans to continue until he “can’t do it anymore,” even if he has noticed himself slowing down in recent years.
“I race because I want to be with car guys and enthusiasts,” said Dryden.
“I like cars, it doesn’t matter what kind.”
