Drag strip upping the competition this year

The Medicine Hat Drag Racing Association is set to put the pedal to the floor for another season on the strip, and with its 25th anniversary on the horizon, president Dave Toth says they’ve got plenty of action in store for the summer.

Toth says fans have been craving more heads-up action, and the strip will deliver on the demand with a new class of racing and a handful of special events over the course of the season.

“People really want to see headsup racing so we’re going to bring a ton of it in this year,” said Toth, adding the new Gas City Street Outlaws class will feature plenty of it. “It’s basically opened up to any car that’s street legal, which means it’s got to have headlights, taillights, signal lights, insurance and registration. You’ve got to drive it back, there’s no towing the vehicles back. Then we’re going to take it from one to 10… Basically, you move up the list. If you’re No. 9 you can call out No. 8 and try to beat them to move up the list.”

The Gas City Street Outlaws will make their debut on the strip Saturday evening alongside the electronics, non-electronics, bikes and junior classes, with time trials at noon and racing at 4 p.m.

The Friday Night Street Legal program — which caters to local thrill seekers looking to try their hand on the track with their own vehicle — will officially kick off the season tonight at 5 p.m. The weekend concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. with the first points day across all classes.

But as Toth points out, there’s plenty more in store this summer. Father’s Day weekend will once again feature jet cars on the strip, the Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing Association and National Hot Rod Association circuits will each hit the track in June and July, respectively, and in early August the MHDRA will celebrate its 25th anniversary with Big Buck Weekend.

“That’s going to be our anniversary for the track, 25 years. With this Big Buck Shootout, we have the Saturday night race called the Big Beaver Shootout. It’s a pretty expensive race to get into but there’s a lot of money up for grabs and we’ve got a ton of fast cars for that. It’s from all over the Edmonton area and south.”

Later that month, the strip will welcome the Western Drag Racing League to the Gas City for a new and unique event Toth says is sure to turns some heads.

“It’s a bunch of heads-up eighth mile racing. It’s smalltire cars, so it’s a bunch of fast cars on small tires racing heads up,” he said. “It’s something new the last couple of years in Alberta and it’s really taking off.”

“It’s basically opened up to any car that’s street legal, which means it’s got to have headlights, taillights, signal lights, insurance and registration.”

– Dave Toth, MHDRA president