Junior drag racer powers to payday
One day at the races was all it took to leave Ethan Ochitwa flush for his trip to Europe. The 18-year-old from Leduc, Alta., left Prince George $1,200 richer after he won the Big Bux Shootout junior dragster class Saturday at NITRO Motorsports Park. That’s more than he makes in three weeks working his part-time job at the Nike factory outlet store in Edmonton and it comes at a perfect time with he and his grandmother heading to Ireland and Italy on Aug. 7.
In Saturday’s final, Ochitwa had a pressure-free final elimination run when Noah MacDonald of Charlie Lake red-lit and was disqualified.
“He ended up going red and I had a nice celebratory pass going down the track,” said Ochitwa. “I’m probably going to turn all that money into euros. I’m super-happy I did good because last year I lost in the first round both days and because I need money for my trip.”
Ochitwa, the oldest of 22 racers who entered the junior dragster class, won five rounds Sunday, showing off the ET bracket racing consistency that made him a three-time series champion at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton. In the final he crossed the eighth-mile mark in 7.99 seconds, reaching a top speed of 80.24 mph.
Ochitwa made the trip to Prince George with Edmonton-area racer Brent Long.
“This is my first weekend racing without my family – I didn’t have my dad as my crew chief so I was doing everything,” said Ochitwa. “I’ve been working all day. My engine pukes two ounces of oil every run so I have to add two ounces every run. When it comes down to finals and (the races) get closer you have to cool down your car so I use my leaf blower and fan to cool it down between runs.”
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Ochitwa’s 15-year-old sister Mackenna also races junior drags. Next year Ethan will age out of the class and he will likely make the jump to a full-sized dragster, like the one his 22-year-old brother Brayden drives. Brayden started with junior dragsters and now races a 2007 TNT dragster capable of 7.43-second quarter mile passes with a top speed of 173 miles per hour. That’s about twice as fast as junior dragsters.
“He said his first run in it, from juniors, was the craziest feeling ever,” said Ochitwa. “You’re going 173 miles an hour and if you convert that to kilometres that’s just ridiculous.”
Ochitwa is now in his 11th year of racing the junior dragster, starting when he was eight. He remembers how hard at was to convince his school friends at that age he was driving a race car.
“When I was a little kid no one ever believed me, ever,” he said. “I had to show them pictures but it didn’t have pictures to show them because you don’t have a phone when you’re eight years old.
“For my first three years I didn’t win a single trophy. Slower cars are a lot more inconsistent. My first year of getting a 7.90 (second) motor I won my first champion- ship at Castrol and then the next year I got second. Then I got this car three years ago and I won championships the first two years after that and I was second last year.”
Ochitwa has been coming to Prince George for a few years now and loves the facilities at Rolling Mix Concrete Raceway. He celebrated his win Saturday by taking a dip in the nearby trout pond - a needed cool-off to beat the blistering heat.
“The track’s good and the showers here are unreal, they’re way nicer than our track,” he said. “It’s always super-fun to come out here just to have a good time with everyone. The go-karts are sweet, for $20 you can drive forever.”
His 11 years of racing have been good for Ochitwa and his character development. He loves the social aspect that comes with a gathering of like-minded drag racers.
“It shows you want sportsmanship is, you meet a lot of great close friends while racing,” he said. You’re always with your family, you’re racing all weekend with your family.”
The European trip is a gift from Ochitwa’s grandma.
“She told me if I never ride a motorbike she’d take me somewhere,” he said. “I’ve never ridden a motorbike but I can drive a dragster at 173 miles an hour.”