Locals load up on Wally trophies

By Sean Rooney on August 2, 2017.

srooney@medicinehatnews.com @MHNRooney

Some weekends they race for money, others for pride.

But this past weekend at the Medicine Hat Drag Strip it was all about the Wally. And an impressive number of home-track drivers wound up with one.

The National Open brought in hundreds of entrants, all bidding to be the last standing in their respective divisions and earn a special trophy named after National Hot Rod Association founder Wally Parks.

Entering the final of Sunday’s pro class — a division which began with 40-or-so cars — Medicine Hat’s Jason Meyers was eyeing up his first Wally in a showdown with fellow Hatter Chance Edelmann.

Edelmann wasn’t about to go easy on Meyers though, claiming his third Wally by a hair.

“I owe him ice cream,” Edelmann — who works with Meyers’ wife and son at City Auto Parts —said Tuesday. “It was still a pretty big deal. It was a hard six rounds to go.”

Edelmann had won Wally’s two of the past three years, but this was his first on his home track. His 1984 Mercury Capri got down the quarter-mile in 11.747 seconds, technically slower than the 11.149 Meyers ran but closer to his combined dial-in plus reaction time.

In most drag events it’s the dial-in that matters most, which means in six rounds Edelmann was remarkably consistent (and also pretty fast).

“You know your car pretty good, but you’ve got to really watch and observe how everyone else is doing as well,” he said. “The weather between the first and second round can be completely out to lunch, so if I’m racing behind someone and they run way quicker, then I might dial in faster.”

Despite going about a second faster this year —something the 20-year-old attributes to a new cam shaft and cylinder heads — Edelmann’s won a few times and sits fourth in the local division standings.

But he admits the National Open win is easily the highlight of the summer so far.

“As I do better my confidence goes up higher,” he said. “I end up doing better, feel better about what’s going on with it too.”

There are a lot of local drivers whose confidence is on a high after this past weekend. On Sunday Todd Fleck won the super quick division in his 2015 Chevy American, Kyle Wagenaar won junior lightning in his 1998 Cosby. Saturday saw Mark Simmons edge fellow Hatter Kevin Van der Kooy in the super pro final, then take his second of the day in a super quick win against Todd Fleck. Perry Bell took the pro class in his 1974 Plymouth Scamp, Zach Toth beat Dave Toth in the motorcycle division, Victoria Philbert won junior street, Kiandra Gaetz won junior thunder and Tanner Gaetz junior lightning.

Up next is the Big Buck Race, this weekend at the strip.

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