After conquering the world, Jim Fersch needed a new hobby when he retired.
The 54-year-old turned to drag racing with the Rocky Mountain Nostalgia Blown Alcohol (Funny Cars) circuit after hanging up his rodeo buckle where he was the senior pro steer wrestling world champion in 2006 and 2007 and the Canadian champ three times (2004, 2006 and 2008).
"When you've rodeoed all your life you're addicted to the adrenaline rush and I needed something to replace that when I retired," said Fersch. "I was fortunate enough to get in a little dragster in Drayton Valley one day right after I retired and that kind of filled the void."
The native of Drayton Valley, Alta. was hooked after one ride, but his need for speed had him handing down his dragster to his brother David Fersch after a year to graduated to the 6.60 seconds, 217 mile per hour Funny Cars. Both brothers were out at Northland Dodge Motorsports Park on the weekend.
Unfortunately for Jim Fersch and the other 15 Funny Car drivers, Mother Nature created conditions, which forced them to cancel plans to have the weekend in Prince George be their final points race in order to safeguard themselves and their equipment. Instead they held an exhibition style shootout to entertain the fans.
"We just kind of set that aside and went out there to play," said Fersch. "You guys have got an unbelievable community here. These four little girls [he motions at them] right here were all at the fence cheering and they all got autographs and signed pictures. That's who we do this for."
Fersch said the drag racing circuit is a completely different animal than the rodeo circuit.
"This is 16 Type A personalities that love to go fast and want to keep the competitive edge. It works really good for us," said Fersch.
The Bulldogger, Fersch's car, was knocked out of the exhibition during the elimination round, and Cory Kincaid went on to win the Pro Nostalgia Funny Car competition. It's actually The Bulldogger 2 Fersch is driving these days.
In June 2012, Fersch had to retire the original Bulldogger after a mishap at the track in Ashcroft, B.C.
"We were racing Cal Tebb [president of Rocky Mountain] at a fun day like this in Ashcroft and the group came and asked us if we'd put a little bit more of a show on so we loaded them right up and ran 210 mile/hour that day," said Fersch. "When I hit the chutes they didn't deploy and when I went over the end at a 100 and some miles an hour it went end over end and down into a valley and totally destroyed the first car."
Fersch walked away from the incident with some minor bruises on his shoulders, nothing serious for a former rodeo guy. During his rodeo days, Fersch said he was "quite fortunate" to have only had to deal with tearing up his knees a couple of times, a broken shoulder and the normal assortment of broken ribs and arms.
But it was all those little injuries that caused him to call it quits in 2009.
"The older you get it just got tougher to get out of bed in the morning and you couldn't make enough money at it to make it viable," said Fersch.
In 2006 and 2007 when he won the world championship, Fersch said they went to about 70-75 rodeos during the season, travelling about 60,000 miles. The first year Fersch won, he estimated the prize money totaled $20,000 while their expenses were around $30,000. But it was worth it.
"You can't buy the saddles and the buckles that say you were the champ, you have to earn them," said Fersch. "That was the goal we had and we were fortunate to do that."
It was seven years ago, but his eyes still light up when Fersch talks about winning his first world championship in steer wrestling.
"It was the crowning moment, something I wanted to do all my life," said Fersch. "We had to run two steers on the last day in a runoff in order for me to win it. It was me and a guy from Washington [State] and I happened to have a little quicker run than him. It was amazing actually, when you fulfill a lifetime goal it's a good feeling."
Fersch said he'll likely continue driving with Rocky Mountain racing for another four or five years before settling into a slower paced lifestyle.
"We're enjoying it. My family's involved in it," he said. "Maybe we'll try to slow down and maybe enjoy a bit of retirement, probably in a 180 mile per hour car."
