Eight years had passed since Len Hall last took a run at winning a title on his home track in a Canadian Motorcycle Drag Racing Association (CMDRA) event.
He remembers it was 2003 because it was his job to buy all the trophies for all the CMDRA racers who won their classes that year in Prince George.
The CMDRA circuit returned to Prince George Motorsports Park, the drag strip formerly known as North Central Motorsport Park, this past weekend, and Hall didn't waste his chance to exploit his home track advantage.
The 54-year-old owner of the Harley-Davidson of Prince George bike dealership jumped on his super gas Harley and picked up where he left off two weeks ago at the first CMDRA event of the season in Edmonton. He was the top qualifier in Edmonton and went on to win the super gas eliminations by the width of fender over Quinn Olson of Saskatoon and on Sunday he won the class again, after earning points Saturday as the top qualifier.
Other class winners at PGMP were -- Super street: Chris Klassen; V-Pro: Rick Adams; Pro street: Ken Morrison; XL 883 series: Kevin Pettitt; Hot Harley: Pettitt; Super bike: Dave Parfett; V-Rod Destroyer: Jamie Moench; Modified: Kim Mack; Pro street: Ethan Barkley; Pro dragster: Al Miles; Pro modified: Burt Forster; Top fuel: Nate Gagnon.
The resurgence of the Prince George drag strip under new owner Shane Lodjn, who bought PGMP in 2010, paved the way for the return of the CMDRA. The track is hosting weekly Friday Night Street Legal bracket racing events throughout the summer as well as its three P.G. All-Out invitational meets. Bike racing gives racing fans another reason to show up at PGMP, located nine kilometres northwest of the city. The CMDRA circuit also stops in Mission, Ashcroft and Medicine Hat, Alta.
"We're really happy that the racers are coming back here," said Hall. "We're down to only four [other] tracks in Western Canada, so if we can keep riding this track, it gives them one more track.
"There are a few guys who haven't raced for years, so it is bringing some guys back into racing. I'm a little disappointed in the crowd [only a few hundred spectators] but what can you do?"
Hall has remained active on the CMDRA circuit since he started racing in 1989. Mark Guillet, Hall's head mechanic at the bike shop, won the CMDRA super gas points championship in 2010. Guillet is now racing in the V-Pro series.
In super gas, racers are not allowed to break out of the 9.7-second bracket.
"I didn't win the championship last year, but this year I'm winning it," Hall predicted.
"It was a good race in Edmonton -- the weather was good and we qualified Number 1 with a 9.91, and on Sunday won the race at the end."
Hall sells street bikes at his shop but racing bikes have to be custom built.
"I've had this bike for three years now and we've had the motor out of it quite a few times," he said. "If you want to win you keep it the best you can. Having the shop really makes that a lot easier."
