|
June 14, 2007 Calgary, Alberta
WHAT A START to the 2007 season!
The several thousand fans in attendance at Race City Speedway last night for the Oil Patch Nationals certainly didn't leave disappointed. Hard, fast and furious action over qualifying, 2 heats and the final brought them to their feet.
Team rivalries were carved out early and you didn't have to be a P.I. to see them. P.I.dherney racing bested P.I.nkfoot in the first two heats before Peter Van Dyck in #63 sent a message that he wasn't giving up his 2006 points title easily. The Van Dyck team changed tires after the heats and the new rubber seemed to help. In the final race of the night, Pinkfoot took the lead in Lap 5 and never looked back, leading the rest of the way to yet another checkered flag and the Oil Patch National Trophy.
 
Troy Pidherney, driving his father's #3 Kenworth, put on a great show all night. He captured the first two heats and had every reason to be very happy with the new engine they debuted. He was never far off the lead the final but in the end couldn't overtake last year's champion at the flag finishing in 2nd by a couple truck lengths. At the awards ceremony, commenting on some pink paint on the front and side of his race truck he smiled and said "Its going to be a great season.. I"m looking forward to putting a little white on the front bumper of Pinkfoot"
The Pidherney/Pinkfoot battle should rage all season long and will be fun for fans to watch.
Welcome back Darwin Berdahl! Good things come in 3's and Darwin was all about the number 3 yesterday. It had been three years since Darwin had raced his #26 around NABRR circles, he had 3 solid races while driving his way to 3rd in the final.
Darwin, normally known for his relaxed posture behind the wheel ( other drivers swear they've seen him smoking a cigarette and sipping a cup of coffee while racing) came out firing last night, dominating the early part of each heat and the final. If only he could have stayed on the concrete in the heats he might have placed higher in them. Driving with a mission, #26 caught the infield grass in the middle of both opening heats and ended up back in the pack before engineering his way to 3rd in the final.
Race fans, if yesterday was any indication, you won't want to miss any of the upcoming races! Stay tuned to NABRR.com for all your updates.
Check the various pages on this site for great photos, team profiles & your chance to make your views known with the all new NABRR Blog page! Also check back for Race Day Previews and updated standings on the League Standings Page.
See you this summer! The heat is on .. in more ways than one.
2006 saw it all come down to the wire. In the last race of the year @ Race City Speedway in Calgary, Peter Van Dyck fought his way through the crowd to claim the Overal NABRR Points Championship.
2007 kicks off back at Race City with the Oil Patch Nationals, Wednesday June 13 @ 7 pm. All the teams are being tight lipped about modifications to their engines in an effort to gain that slight competitive edge. "A few wrench turns" is what you'll get out of most of them but you know that the passion these teams have for their trucks means they've spent a ton of hours priming their trucks for next Wednesday night's season opener.
Calgary race fans are in for a treat. Race City Speedway over the years has guaranteed the most thrills and spills of all the tracks on the circuit. Maybe its because alot of the teams are from Southern Alberta and they love racing in front of the home crowd. Maybe its because Race City starts and ends the season with both races having a lot on the line. Whatever the reason, you want to be there to catch all the exciting action live!
Catch a preview of the race live on Chum TV's Breakfast Television Show next Monday, June 11 with live on location interviews and demonstrations from Race City Speedway. Host Andrew Schultz will be talking to
1) Peter Van Dyck, 2006 NABRR Points Champion
2) Bobby Fowler: JJ Racing Team Driver
3) Gord Cooper: Canadian Record Holder for the 1/4 mile strip in his Kenworth named "Smokin Gun"
4) Rome Auld & David Benjatschek: Rome is the Race Director at Race City Speedway & David is one of Canada's premier Truck photographers of www.wowtrucks.com fame.
Summer is here and on June 13th the place to be is Race CitySpeedway in Calgary, Alberta for hard & furious NABRR racing. Don't forget to head down to the track after the races for your chance to check out the race trucks live, talk to team drivers & get their autographs. For track & ticket details go to: www.racecity.ca
| 
