Kurtis Blake was on his way to a sweep of the hornet class trophies on the first day of racing in the 2013 PGARA Speedway season when he encountered an age-old problem.
The 16-year-old member of the Last Minute Racing team was forced to pull out of the main event Saturday when his No. 57 car ran out of gas. Blake had a comfortable lead on his teammate Matt Simon and brother Dylan Schug when fate forced him off the track.
Blake had won the hornet A-dash and heat earlier in the evening out-dueling his older sibling both times. The B-dash was won by Jasmine Sakawsky.
The hornet class was designed for brand new drivers to get a taste of racing before moving up into the mini stock and street stock classes. A driver is eligible to stay in the hornet class for three race seasons or until they win the season championship, whichever arrives first. Blake and Sakawsky are both in their third seasons in the hornet class.
After Blake bowed out of the main event, Schug and Simon battled for supremacy until the former became a little too aggressive in trying to pass Simon on the final lap, forcing both cars off the road. Schug was penalized for causing the collision and Simon easily earned the first checkered flag of his career after the restart.
In the mini stocks, Gabe Jackson of Dawson Creek drove to the B-dash win, while Nathan Linfitt won the A-dash and the Heat.
Adam Huitema, of Dawson Creek, earned the first trophy of the season in the street stock for his B-dash win. Terry Butler won the A-dash.
Fresh off his dash win Butler and 2012 street stock points champion Jarret Bonn had a tight battle in the heat with Bonn edging out his opponent on the final lap.
"It was nice clean, good driving," said Bonn.
The native of Fort St. John said his immediate goal for the new season is to set the new time-trial track record in the streets. Chris Arronge holds the time-trial record in the street stock class at 18.091 seconds, set in Aug. 2010. Bonn clocked in at 18.094 seconds during Saturday's time trial.
The street stock heat finished with the duel between Butler and Bonn but it began with a three-car collision between Beki Jackson, Jerry Gascon and Danny Arronge. Gascon's No. 6 car took the worst of the damage and he was forced out of the heat with his rear end dragging in the dirt.
Saturday is the PGARA family fishing derby at Bednestie Lake Resort. The next race day is June 15 when the ASA OK Tire Challenge Series stops in Prince George.
* Pat and Judy Franklin of 2000 Auto Collision added a little incentive for drivers in the three main events when they awarded $50 to each of the three winners in addition to the trophy.
