Ian Graham started his stock car season in style.
Graham, from Harrison Hot Springs, was quickest in qualifying and later powered to the checkered flag in the 100-lap main event of Saturday's ARCA OK Tire Challenge Series race in Vernon.
At the finish line at Sun Valley Speedway, Graham edged out Mark Berriau of Penticton and 19-year-old Ryley Siebert of Williams Lake. Earlier in the day, in qualifying, Graham blasted around the track in a new record time of 18.605 seconds.
Bob Williams was the only Prince George driver in Vernon for the season-opening festivities but he crashed in the A heat and was done for the weekend.
Quesnel drivers Dave Olson, Trevor Adelman and Darren Swaan finished fourth, 10th and 19 respectively in the main event.
In other results, Matt Stephenson of Kaleden drove to victory in the A heat and Lee Thomas of Fort St. John won the B heat. Both those races were 12 laps.
The ARCA series has six race dates. Other stops are Williams Lake (May 28), Prince George (June 18), Quesnel (July 16), Agassiz (Aug. 6) and Vernon (Sept. 10).
Williams, the series president, is expecting all the races to be thrillers.
"The majority of the field [on the weekend] was within just a couple tenths of each other," he said. "The closeness of that field is unbelievable. There's no wiggle room out there at all. The series is made up of very experienced teams. It's good stuff right now. It's making for awesome racing."
