The Warhawk is fueled and ready and there are NHRA Wally trophies up for grabs.
Drag racing's biggest Prince George event of the season is happening this weekend at Rolling Mix Raceway at Northland Dodge Motorsports Park and about 100 entries from Western Canada and the northwest United States have gathered for the NHRA Division 6 Summit National Open.
Qualifying gets underway today at 10 a.m. with eliminations set to begin at 12:30 p.m. today and Sunday.
The pot of gold at the end of the meet Sunday afternoon after all class winners have been determined takes the form of the Wallys, a solid metal trophy named after Wally Parks, the founder of the National Hot Rod Association.
Wallys are up for grabs in six classes this weekend, including top comp, comp, stock, super stock, super gas and super street and junior dragster. Each track on the Division 6 National Open circuit also awards its own Wallys for its bracket racing series and that means trophies for the local superpro, pro, sportsman and bike/sled classes as well.
"These are the fastest guys we've had here all year," said Rolling Mix Raceway manager Landon LeDuke.
"This is a follow-up to the Western Canada series, that's why we have guys chasing points from Washington, the Lower Mainland, Vancouver, and a big crew from Medicine Hat. These are the guys who are on top of the points series, the best of the best basically."
Derek Snelson of Anchorage, Alaska, has made the trek to Prince George with his Warhawk jet funny car, a machine capable of breaking the 300-mile-per-hour barrier. Snelson owns the Alaska state record for the fastest pass in a jet dragster when he hit 309 mph.
Snelson was on hand for Friday's street legal and test -and-tune session at Rolling Mix Raceway and gave race fans a taste of what they can expect when he winds up the turbine in his red, white and blue flame thrower. He likely won't hit 300 but is expected to be clocking quarter-mile passes in the low-six-second range at about 260 mph.
Snelson is scheduled to run his jet car at about 12:30 p.m. today and Sunday. Racing will wrap up at about 6 p.m. both days but LeDuke said Snelson might also roll out his funny car for a nighttime pass tonight at 8:30.
