FRIENDS IN THE FAST LANE
Napierville Dragway is home to fast cars, burning tires and the tight bond between Raynald Théberge and Keith Schnabel. Racing brought them together, nurtures their families and smooths the bumps in life’s road.
Raynald Théberge is 59 years old, and started racing in 1981 — street cars, with a particular bent for Pontiacs. He passed along his passion to the rest of his family on Montreal’s South Shore: son Alex, 24; daughter Mélanie, 29; and another son, Stéphane, who died in a non-racing car accident last year at age 26. One way the family managed to carry on after their loss was to keep racing. It holds them together.
“Our son Stéphane will always be part of the team,” said Raynald, and Stéphane’s picture is on the dashboard of the 1973 Pontiac Firebird the family races almost every weekend during the season, mostly at Napierville south of Montreal.
At the dragway, along with traditional family units, racetrack family bonds have been forged as well. Keith Schnabel, 45, of Colchester, Vt., also races a Pontiac Firebird, a 1968 model. Schnabel started racing when he was 16, and it was Raynald who introduced him to the sport. Since then, Keith has raised two daughters who also race: Jordan, 16, moved this year from dragster juniors to regular street car racing; Katelyn, 15, still too young for a driver’s licence, awaits the day when she, too, can make the transition.
Raynald introduced Keith to racing, and then seven years later it was Keith who helped Raynald build his race car after a break from the sport. It’s been like that for many years, with the two men sharing one passion and helping each other out — on and off the racetrack. They’ve both had rough times in their lives, and racing was always a way of getting past those bumps in the road.
“Racing helped focus on the good things in life, helped me become a better me,” said Keith, one of the most positive people I’ve met.
I spent three weekends this year in the late summer and early fall shooting photos at the dragway in Napierville. Serious racers start gathering for the big events on Friday afternoons and evenings, hauling their cars on trailers and often driving campers to sleep in. Others arrive in cars and on bikes, and anything else with a motor that can be raced.
On Saturday mornings, the racers prepare and showcase their cars before the racing begins.
Street car is the basic level of racing here. That’s where Jordan was a big success in her first outing as an adult driver, winning First Time Racer and Ladies trophies. Raynald races mostly in the semi-pro class, while Keith competes in the semi-pro and super-pro classes.
Raynald’s best time is 9.86 seconds for a quarter mile with a top speed of 133 mph; Keith’s is 9.58 seconds for a quarter mile with a 139 mph top speed; Alex’s is 9.91 seconds and around 130 mph.
One of the weekends I was in Napierville, I took in the Vermont Cup. It’s a special event organized by Keith each year with racing in many categories: Quick 16, Pro Street, Street, First Time Racer, Ladies, Past Champion, and the big prize, King of the Hill. Raynald took the King of the Hill title this year, going a quarter mile in 10.08 seconds and with a top speed of about 130 mph.
He walked away with a trophy and $1,000 U.S. in a three-inch stack of onedollar bills. It was a good end to the season.