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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-08-02, Page 14Page 14 Times -Advocate, July 19, 1995 This Week in Sports... • Skydivers swoop into Grand Bend - page 15 • Crediton mites win mighty 'A' championship - page 16 Exeter racers - kings of the track Three Exeter drag racers are leading in the point standings at Grand Bend Motorplex Chris Skalkos T -A staff EXETER - Peter Vander Burgt, Paul McInnis and Dave Bryson of Exeter have something in common. They love to race. Every weekend the three men take their race cars to Grand Bend Motorplex and pit their drivin skills against the clock burnin down a quarter mile track at high speeds. Since Grand Bend Motorplex opened their track last spring and began a National Hotrod Racin Association (NHRA) thunder series points event, the three Exeter racers have been racing for points and do- ing very well. All three are current- ly in the top three in their point standings for their race class. Vander Burgt is currently leading in the Super Pro class, Bryson is leading in the Street class and McInnis is holding third place in the Pro class. The difference between the three race classes is speed. Cars in the Street class run down the quarter mile track in 14 seconds or slower, Pro cars run it in between 11 to 13.99 seconds and the Super Pro cars in between 7.50 to 11.99 sec- onds. Vander Burgt races a 1977 Vega with a 355 Cubic inch chevy en- gine. Vander Burgt's fastest time down the track is 10.10 seconds and the car is capable of speed over 130 mph. He and his wife Cindy started rac- ing three years ago when Peter pur- chased his drag car after seeing it advertised in National Dragster Magazine. The car is equipped with a NHRA certified chassis with roll bars, 14 inch slick tires and a delay box, a timing device only allowed in Su- per Pro cars. McInnis races in the Pro Class with his 1964 Buick Skylark. The car is powered by a 455 cubic inch engine. His top speed is 109.75 mph and his fastest dial time is 12.6 seconds. Bryson drives a 1983 Z 28 Ca- maro in the Street class. He's run- ning a 355 cubic inch engine with a shift kit in the transmission and a stock rear end. He has been leading the Street class division in points since Motorplex started their Thun- der Series Race last spring; an im- pressive feat considering this is Bryson's first year racing. The three racers from Exeter are dominating the point standings ,nd they are contenders to win the put, money for their race classes. A first place finish in the Super Pro . lass Exeter racers from left, Dave Bryson and his '83 Z 28 Camaro, Pau! McInnis with crew members Shelly McInnis, Tom Barry, Rob McCallum with their '64 Buick Skylark and Cindy and Peter Vander Burgt with their '77 Vega. The three race cars are leading the Grand Bend Motorplex Thunder Series Race point standings and will have the opportunity to race in Indianapolis in September. earns $2,500, the first place driver in the Pro class receives $1,200 and the Street class driver to come in first in points takes home $750. However, the money is only the icing on the cake. The drivers who finish in the top 10 within their class will be invited to represent Grand Bend Motor!Slex at the pre- stigious NHRA Division 3 Finals at Indianapolis in September. With only two more point race days left, it looks like all three racers will be invited to race in Indianapolis. "It's an honor just to go to Indy and we're pretty sure we will make it," said McInnis. He said this is his first year involved in a points race and his main objective initially was to finish in the top 10. With only nine points behind the Pro class race leader he may claim first place bragging rights before the series is over. McInnis's Buick is the only street legal car in the Pro class at Motorplex. "Everything else comes to the track on a trailer but I drive my car here every week," he said. McInnis started racing six years ago when he fell in love with his first Buick, a 1969 Skylark con- vertible. He took his car to a car show in London Motorsports one year and was talked into racing it in the street tire class. McInnis ac- cepted the challenge for fun and was surprised when he won the event. "After that I was bitten," he,said and has been racing every year since. Occasionally, McInnis shares the driver's seat with his wife Shelly "and occasionally she does better," he admits. As much as McInnis loves his Buick for pleasure, he loves it even more when it wins. "Id rather race than win by de- fault because I like to compete," he said. Vander Buret shares his com- petitive spirit. "Losing really ticks me off," said Vander Burgt. "Winning a race is the highlight for me. I go to the track to win but everybody else there has the same intention." After enjoying a two week stay in first place, Vander Burgt was knocked down to the third positiot, after the July 23 race but it didn't last long. Last Sunday he pulled off a couple of hard earned wins to launch himself back in to first place in the Super Pro class with a nine point lead on the second place driver. "I never expected to be the first place driver or be anywhere near the top position but that's the way it happened," said Vander Burgt. Vander Burgt feels more people would get involved in racing if they knew more about it. He said most people think they have to have a fast car to race. A common misconception is drag racing con- sists of two cars racing side by side and the one that gets across the fin- ishing line first wins. He explained that it's not how fast you go, it's how consistent you run your car. "Consistency is what it boils down to," said Vander Burgt. "Drag racing is about being con- sistent both off the line and down the track." Prior to a race, drivers are al- lowed time -trials or practice runs to see how fast their car is running. From that they predict how fast their car will run down the track. This is called a dial -in time, and the driver closest to their time wins. In the Super Pro class the driver's re- action time to the top starting light is vital. A fraction of a second can mean winning or losing a race. "It's a case of going out there and trying to find out how fast your car is run- ning. You have to be consistent and you have to cut a good light all the time," he said. Bryson said the track's timing system allows anybody to race no matter what car they drive. "Basically you're racing against yourself trying to get your own pre- determined time," he said. Bryson's car doubles as his get -around ve- hicle when he isn't racing it on 46- Continued on page 15 Peter Vander Burgt does a smoke -show in the burnout box before a race. Steve Cook pitches in Michigan Chris Skalkos T -A staff Steve Cook has recently returned from the North American Fastpitch tournament held in the United States. Cook pitches for the Exeter Imperials in the junior league and he was invited to play for Atwood during the international Softball Congress North American Championships held in Frankenmuth Michigan on July 21 and 22. Cook's team finished fifth out of 21 teams with a record of three wins and two losses. Teams from as far away as Nova Scotia to North Dakota participated in the American tournament; however, most of the teams there were Canadian teams from Ontario. According to Cook, all teams were eligible to play but only the stronger ones chose to go considering the high calibre of talent needed to be competitive in the tournament. Cook's team won their first three games defeating Nova Scotia 5-1, Fergus 2-0 and Napanee 7-4 before losing to Milverton and Wroxeter. The victory over Napanee was a sur- prise because they are currently ranked the number one fast hall team in Ontario. Cook said the two losses they suffered were dissapointing be- cause Milverton and Wroxeter were not considered to be strong teams. "We were beat by poor teams," said Cook. "We blew it against Wroxeter. They came off of a good win and they were on a high. We gave up a bunch of runs early in the game," he said. The loss to Milver- ton was especially hitter for Cook because of the intense rivalry that ex- ists between Atwood and Milverton. "1 gave up a lot of flukie hits during that game and they seemed to get the hits when it really mattered," Cook admits, adding he found it dif- ficult to concentrate while pitching against Milverton. In total, Cook pitched for three innings in the first game, three in the second, one in the first and threw for the entire length of the last Iwo games. "1 thought t threw well but they got some hard hit balls off me," said Cook assessing his performance. "I didn't give up an earned run until the last two games." Cook said the Canadian teams dominated the tour- nament leaving the American teams with much to be desired. The top eight teams were Ca- nadians with Simcoe On- tario taking first place overall, fol- lowed by Woolrich, Milverton, Wroxeter and Cook's team Atwood. "The American teams can hit but their weakness is in their pitch- ing," said Cook who feels that the US doesn't have a strong fastball pro- gram. "We have much better fastball than the Americans," he added. Cook's pitching career started when he was 12 years -old. His father Fred introduced him to the sport and he took to it right away. He said he has tried other field positions but the pitcher's mound is where he belongs. During his minor ball years in Exeter. Cook played hardball for a year but soon switched back to fastball claiming that hardball was too slow for him. "Hardball is too slow there's too much stalling. Fasthall is very fast. a game can be done in an hour and a half. I don't like being out there for three hours," he said. One of the main differences between the two games is the distance between the pitcher's mound and the home plate. In hardball the distance is 60.6 feet compared to the shorter 46 feet in fastball. Consequently the ball is travelling much faster across home plate making it much more difficult to hit. "The best fastball is a low scoring game," he said. Cook said he prefers the underhand pitch in fastball because it's a more natural motion which is easier on the arm and shoulder muscles. in fastball, the pitcher catcher combination is the most important ele- ment in the sport but Cook admits that comes with a great deal of pres- sure. "Pitching is the kind of position where if you win you're the hero. hut if you lose you have to take some of the blame." Even though Cook is a pitcher he says that doesn't give him an ad- tiantage when he steps up to bat. "When you step up to the plate and the pitcher you're facing is really good, you're not going to hit the ball anyway," said Cook. "Batting is not my strong point. Sometimes I hit well, sometimes i hit poorly. i don't consider myself a great hitter." Now that the tournament in Mich- igan is over, Cook will be concentrating on leading the Imperials into the playoffs. The Imperials open a best of five Western Ontario Ath- letic Association league semi-final series with Mitchell on Thursday night and Cook says he will be ready for it.