Article by Wes Kibble
Photos courtesy Grant Baylis and Brendan Chamberlin
More photos may be seen at my Webshots page.

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Off road racing has finally returned to Kamloops, BC! After a four year leave of absence, short course racing returned with a vengance! The first round of the Sportsman Four Wheel Drive Centre sponsered series showed that short course racing is very popular in BC, with almost 40 race vehicles from BC, Alberta and Washington.


(Pictured above is Novice Buggy class driver Rod Marsolais from Langley, BC. Rod is sponsored by Megatherm Combustion Services Ltd.)

The buggy turnout was great with a strong showing in both the Novice and Veteran classes. It is good to see so many Novice class buggies show up. Even though these buggies are mostly stock, the action never died down! In the end, it was Ken Ewart (#13) from Chilliwack, BC followed by home town boy, Murray Allison (#2)



As always, the Veteran buggies put on an awesome show. Nothing like unlimited horsepower and suspension! In the second heat race, Max Mabberly from Nanaimo, BC came down the back straight stretch and hooked a rut leading into the hairpin, causing his beautiful buggy to rollover. The red flag came out and the buggy was rolled back onto its feet. After it was determined that Max and the buggy were ok, the race was restarted. Max went on to finish third in that heat race. Overall for the weekend, Grant Baylis (#17) of Langley, BC in his Rotary powered buggy stole the show. He was followed by Chris Boutcher (#27), also from Langley, and Max Mabberly (#186) from Naniamo, BC.



The trucks consisted of two classes. Chris Pace (#18) from Bellingham, WA. cleaned up 2WD class in his bright Ford Ranger. The 4x4 class had carnage all day long, especially in the main event! Wes Yeomans of Maple Ridge, BC, took the first corner of the main event a little to fast and flopped his blue Bronco over. Although Wes was ok, the Bronco was not and he did not return to the race. Roger Mercier (#55) of Calgary, AB was running with the leaders in his exotic CJ5 when he broke a tie rod coming into turn #1 and run into the side of the #316 Bronco driven hometown hero, Dale Nyeste. Roger managed to somehow bring his Jeep to a halt without rolling it, but he had to watch the rest of the race from the sidelines. Dale did not let the contact slow him down as he managed to fight his way back up to second place. Being that he had won both the heat races and finished second in the main, he had the most points over the weekend and was,therefore, the class winner. Second place finisher Ian Krull (#32) of Nanaimo, BC was right behind him, however, in his white Scout.



If the first race of the season is any indication of how the rest of the season will be, make sure to get to the races early! The action was non stop! From my understanding, the concession ran out of food and the beer garden ran out of beer there was so many spectators. For more info on upcoming races, check out the UPCOMING EVENTS page. For another review of the race, the folks at Canadian Hardcore Racing have excellant coverage of the event from the eyes of the racers. They also have lots more pictures!