Posted on May 30, 2014
The Big Bore Directional Drilling Super Truck Racing Series has been thrilling fans all over Western Canada and Montana for over 15+ years and this past weekend was yet another first for this action packed series.
The Big Bore Directional Drilling Super Trucks travelled to beautiful Prince George B.C. over the weekend to compete on the historic 3/8ths mile paved oval. Prince George has been the traditional home of the Lheidli T'enneh and Carrier Sekani First Nations people, and is widely known as the capital of northern British Columbia. The City of Prince George is approximately 800 km NW of Edmonton and located on the edge of the majestic Fraser River. Price George plays host to the PGARA Speedway which is proud to have been an important piece of this city’s cultural fabric.
The Big Bore Directional Drilling arrived on scene late Friday and took their racing machines to local businesses on Saturday morning to promote the 100 lap event that was to unfold later in the evening. The PGARA has been a strong part of the racing scene in Western Canada having hosted numerous CASCAR (now known as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series) events in past years and generating such notable drivers as Darren Guillet, Steve Jefferson, Wade Lee, Ron Larson, Trevor Seibert, Don Sales and others. This inaugural event was definitely dejav vu’ for two competitors in the Super Truck Series as Darren Guillet was filling the driver’s seat of the #48 JB Water and Vacuum Service Chevrolet and Wade Lee returned to the seat of the #74 Castrol Chevrolet out of Calgary after a couple of seasons off. Both these drivers were excited to return to the track where they had so much success and both looked at this as their advantage over the other teams. The teams took to practice sessions on the abrasive speedway under sunny skies late Saturday afternoon followed by 2 lap qualifying for the main event. The cagey veteran of Guillet in the #48 Toyota had only run 10-15 laps of practice and his Hoosier tires were perfect to bite the aged surface and he set fast time which now becomes the track record! Doug Fisher out of Lloydminster Alberta driving the #99 Big Bore Toyota found a spot in second followed very closely by #27 Scott Lucas out of Prince Albert Saskatchewan and Wade Lee’s #74. Dean Braham’s (aka Caveman) proudly put his #44 Chevrolet into the top five.
The 100 lap main event began under perfect weather conditions in front a full house at PGARA Speedway and the Big Bore Directional Drilling Super Trucks did not disappoint! Wad Lee’s #74 got out to an early lead but very early the truck proved to be a handful for Lee. Lee’s Toyota bounced off the front straight wall around lap 25 and later used up some of the facilities ‘grassy area’ for traction! The veteran driver proved why he’s in the seat of Steve Morro’s #74 as he continued to lead the pack even after the brushes with disaster. The Super Truck teams battled each other and excessive tire wear throughout the 100 lap main event. Dusty O’Connell’s #76 suffered a total of three flat Hossiers and at one point during the event, both right side tire went down. Scott Lucas, who narrowly missed winning the series Championship in his rookie season in 2013, struggled throughout the event and finished outside the top five. Wade Lee played the locomotive right to the end and pulled the train of #44 Braham, #76 O’Connell, #99 Fisher and #48 Guillet into the checkers at lap 100. The sellout crowd at PGARA Speedway was treated to some different competition and the drivers of the Super Truck Series were all smiles as the event ended. The Super Truck field was smaller than anticipated but all the drivers were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to return in 2015.
The Big Bore Directional Drilling Super Truck Series now shifts the attention to more familiar surrounds as round #2 of the 2014 season heads to Auto Clearing Speedway in Saskatoon for Jun 7th. The field will be bigger and the action will continue to excite! Scott Lucas will no doubt be looking to rebound from his shaky 2014 start and Wade Lee will be looking to build on his great start.
Looking forward to seeing you at the races……………..Checkered Flags Everyone!
