Korbin Thomas knows the three-eighths mile oval at PGARA Speedway is the roughest track on the circuit.
Battle-scarred from decades of hit-to-pass demolition derbys and the odd stock car wreck, the gouged pavement in Prince George is 30 years old and in desperate need of a makeover. But Thomas, a five-time champion of the WESCAR ASA late model stock car racing series, likes it just the way it is. Rough or smooth, it doesn't matter to Thomas, he always seems to find the fast lane and a spot on the podium in Prince George.
"I think they might wreck it if they repave it," laughed Thomas. "The track usually has a second groove and that's always a big help. It's a fun place to race and it's got lots of character. It's rough and bumpy so there's lots of places for people to make mistakes to give you passing opportunities."
Like the rest of the WESCAR drivers, Thomas is trying to figure out how to catch series leader Ian Graham of Harrison Hot Springs. Graham won the opening race May 9 in Vernon and topped the field again two weeks ago in Williams Lake, with Thomas ending up second both times. Having won the last two races in 2014, Graham will be vying for his fifth straight WESCAR victory Saturday at PGARA at the White Spruce Enterprises/CC Industries 100.
"Prince George certainly has been good to me and I can't complain with what we've been able to accomplish there," said Thomas. "But every year it's something new and different and right now we're chasing Ian Graham. Hopefully we can someday find his number.
"It should be a good battle. The top-five group right now is good and tight and he just has that little edge that everybody else is searching for."
Thomas won the championship the past two seasons, ever since WESCAR became affiliated with the American Speed Association. His only feature race win in 2014 happened close to home in Agassiz but he was consistently a top-three finisher and his worst finish was fifth.
Originally from Williams Lake, the 42-year-old Thomas works full-time in Surrey as a mechanical engineer. He took a few years off racing from 2003-05 to join WESCAR as an official but the racing bug proved too much to resist.
"The series is always a challenge - the tracks are pretty fun and the people we race against are all good competitors and just good guys to have a laugh with after," said Thomas. "The officiating is typically well done and everybody does a good job to make it a fair place to come race. As far as the level of inspection and professionalism, it's as good as any place you can go."
Dave Olson of Hixon won the Prince George race last year, with Thomas within breathing distance of his exhaust in second place. Graham had a terrible start to the season last year in Prince George when he demolished his front end and had to cut off the front clip and had a couple more disappointing races right after that but by midsummer he was the one to beat.
A field of 16 cars is expected for Saturday's race. Bob Williams of Prince George, the series champ in 2004 and 2006 and a five-time runner-up for the championship, will make his first appearance after missing the races in Vernon and Williams Lake due to work commitments.
Williams says he's picking and choosing his races this year and doesn't care about earning championship points. Winning Saturday's race is all that matters.
"My primary sponsor (White Spruce Enterprises) is the sponsor of the race, so we're under lots of pressure to do well," chuckled Williams. "We don't have to worry about racing for points so we'll kind of be racing on the aggressive side. You get to race more aggressively if you're racing for the win as opposed to points."
Warren Bergman missed the Vernon race but went the distance in Williams Lake and plans to be racing again on his home track Saturday, along with local drivers Logan Jewell, Sheldon Mayert and Trevor Adelman of Quesnel, who will be making his first appearance in 2015.
The 25-year-old Jewell will be putting the revs to a custom-built racing engine that was just installed in his Chevy Impala, owned by series president Gary MacCarthy of Terrace. After two races Jewell ranks fourth in the standings and now that he has a tiger in his tank he'll be looking to move up on the rest of the field. Jewell was fastest in qualifying in Williams Lake but didn't have the horsepower to pass everybody in front of him in the inverted field in the main event.
"We've run into power issues in the last two races but Logan's doing good and we've finally got an engine to compete with the top four or five cars," said MacCarthy. "If we get in the lead, we're gone."
MacCarthy wouldn't be surprised to see some track records broken this year in WESCAR, the top stock car series in B.C. since it was formed in 2000.
"These things have so much power, a lot of them are in the 475 horsepower range," said MacCarthy. "You're throttling all night long and you can maybe hold it down for a second at three-quarters throttle and give it one shot and that's it. You're getting ready for the corner and you're on the brake.
"We could handle more speed if we had a different tire, but we put this Hoosier tire on so it's competitive with everybody. The tires are good for 25 or 30 laps and then they start going away, and then you really have to learn to drive the car instead of counting on the tires."
Another driver to watch is Graham's brother Cameron, who currently leads the rookie standings and ranks seventh overall in the series after two races.
The Prince George Auto Racing Association mini stock and street stock series will share the spotlight Saturday with WESCAR. Time trials start at 6 p.m. with racing to follow at 7.
