Andy Guest
Contributor
This long weekend, Saratoga Speedway transforms into Vancouver Island's biggest crash fest as the annual two-day Canadian-American Demolition Derby invades the Black Creek oval.
With cars expected from all over the Island and Lower Mainland, this will be the biggest two-day race event of the season. Along with the Can-Ams, a big field of Crash to Pass cars is expected as well as a full field of Hornet cars, Figure 8 cars and Roadrunners.
The Can-Ams are expected to have nine cars per team while the Crashers will likely have the numbers bolstered by cars from Victoria and Lower Mainland. The Figure 8s will have bigger numbers with a few new local cars as well as some out of Victoria.
The Can-Ams will run three novelty races Saturday night (cat and mouse, backwards and cone) then will finish with a most-laps-won race where a couple of cars from each team tries to complete as many laps as possible while the remaining cars stop at nothing to block each other in an outrageous, hard-hitting demo race where anything goes.
On Sunday night, after a full day to make their cars run-able, the two teams will face off in one of the most popular racing events around – a last-team-moving demolition derby to determine the 2012 Can-Am champion.
The two-day show will go a long way to determine the season point champion in the Crashers, Hornets A and B and the Roadrunners as there is only one race remaining after this weekend.
In Crash to Pass, defending point champion General Jeff May of Campbell River sits in top stop 121 ahead of Black Creek’s Sheldon Hopp and 250 up on Cam Edwards.
The battle for top spot in the Hornet A’s has the top three of Daryn Cahill, Daryl Cahill and Kevin Lawrenuk separated by a mere nine points while the B’s have MacLaren Inglis on top, 55 points ahead of Sayward's Brianne Fenn.
The Roadrunner class, which has been hampered by a low car count all season, has a tight battle as rookie Nick Leavitt leads Ted Dimitrov by six points with defending champion Andrea Cannon only 132 back.
PIT TALK With a sunny forecast in the works the two-day event is a rain or shine show with gates open both nights at 5:30 p.m. and racing under the lights at 7 p.m. ... organizers say this will be the biggest and not-to-be-missed race weekend of the season on Vancouver Island ... tickets for the Oct. 20 awards banquet are on sale now at the speedway ...
– Saratoga Speedway