In celebration of the Prince George Auto Racing Association's 60th anniversary season, a couple of vintage hot rods are coming to town.
Ralph Monhay, a 77-year-old Spokane resident who was part of the local stock car scene in the 1960s and 1970s, will have his automotive pride-and-joy at the oval for the Aug. 11-12 PGARA Invitational. The car is a Super Modified coupe he built 50 years ago, a sweet ride that recently came back into his possession.
As well, Monhay's friend, Al Levien, will be here with his Chevy big block Rodney Rat that dates back 30 years. The Rat, coincidentally, was once owned by Monhay.
Monhay and Levien will drag the cars north on open trailers and will give a demonstration of their power during the Invitational.
"They're probably faster than a 77-year-old guy can go," Monhay said with a laugh. "If we put a young guy in them, they'd be well over 100 miles an hour. We've still got the big block (428cc) engine in the Rat and it's got a massive amount of horsepower. It has so much you can hardly control it."
Monhay and Levien will also have the four-wheeled gems on display in advance of the race weekend. On Aug. 9, the cars will be at the 15th Avenue Mr. G store from noon to about 2 p.m. and the next day they'll be parked at Mr. Quick Lube & Oil at First and George. On the Saturday afternoon, before the cars make their appearance at PGARA Speedway Park, they'll be available for viewing between noon and 2 p.m. at Canadian Tire.
Monhay drove the Super Modified coupe in 1963 and 1964 in Prince George and then sold it to local resident Frank Timms, who brought in "Wild Bill" Dagg as the driver. Timms kept the car through the 1967 season and it eventually ended up in Vancouver. Years later, another friend of Monhay's, Dave Dowler, miraculously spotted it for sale on eBay. Monhay bought it and had it completely restored by 2008.
"It is almost identical to what it was back in the beginning," he said. "The wheels are period-correct but because of the tires nowadays being wider I had to get some wider ones. I changed the seat in it and for safety reasons I put a fuel cell in it. Other than that, it's as original as it was when it was built."
As for the Rodney Rat, Monhay ran it from 1974 to 1977 in Prince George when PGARA was a main stop for the Canadian American Modified Racing Association series. The Rat then passed into the hands of P.G. resident Jeff Biggs, then to Murray Miller and then to Milton Conn. After years of having drivers power it around the PGARA oval, and then storing it, Conn moved it along to Keith Robinson. Conn later got the Rat back and sold it to Dowler, who did some restoration work on it, and ultimately sold it to Levien.
These days, the coupe and the Rat spin their wheels about five times a year at vintage car races, mostly in Washington State.
Monhay is looking forward to bringing them home to north central B.C. and touching base with some old racing pals while he's here.
"I've got a lot of friends up there and I don't get to see them that often," he said.
"[Seeing these cars] will bring back a lot of memories for the people."
Aaron Conn, son of Milton, is a current member of the PGARA executive and is well familiar with the Rat from the years it resided at his childhood home. Aaron Conn is thrilled that Monhay is pointing himself in the direction of Prince George.
"He's a great guy and I'm glad that he's willing to do it for us," Conn said. "The track is helping him with his fuel costs to get him up here. It's cool that he's bringing them, and especially to see one of the old ones that my dad used to own."
Time trials on the Saturday of the Invitational will be at 6 p.m. The action will resume the next day at 1 p.m.
