With four racing days already done, the season is well underway at the Agassiz Speedway.
Robert Adams is one of several local drivers gunning for the checkered flag, and he will be providing regular and exclusive racing coverage in the Chilliwack Progress sports section.
Today, he has a look at a man who travels a long way to fill his need for speed.
As Roberto Luongo is to hockey, Peter Chick is to the hornet class at the Agassiz Speedway.
Every so often, you find someone you really enjoy competing against, someone who makes racing challenging, exciting, competitive and fun.
Driving his No. 4 car, Chick is one of those drivers.
A Chilliwack native who currently works in Calgary, Chick somehow finds the time to get to Agassiz for race days.
It’s a long, long, long way to come for 30 minutes on the track, but he does it for the joy of racing and competition.
There is no million dollar payday at the end of these races.
Chick pays his own way, even pulling out the wallet to get his pit pass.
Chick has raced autocross for more than two decades, but he didn’t get into circle track racing until a mere five years ago.
He saw the races at Agassiz, and thought that he would love to build a race car with his kids. It turned out to be so much more fun than he thought.
To further his skills, he took a road racing course at Rivers Edge Race Track in Mission.
In his rookie season he placed 23rd out of 25 cars.
Last year, he placed sixth in a field of 35.
What’s interesting about Peter is his extremely tenacious driving and his ability to almost predict the movements of other cars.
He’s among the best at spotting opportunities to move up during a race.
Off the track, he’s always willing to lend a hand to a driver in need.
“The hornet drivers are the best group of guys and always help each other out,” he said. “Some great friendships have been made at the track and some of my best memories are from the road trips to Merritt, Penticton, and Munroe (Washington). The campouts before raceday and the camaraderie experienced are remarkable”
Peter and I have some shared common ground.
Both of us are pilots by trade.
Peter is an aircraft maintenance quality specialist with Air Canada Jazz and owns his own aircraft specialist company.
Of course, our friendship gets competitive on the track, and he’s not shy about stating his intentions.
“I will just go out there and win,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
Well, I know that I am going to do everything I can to prevent that from happening. Maybe if we pull a spark plug wire off his car we might have a better shot at beating him.
Hmmmm.
Check www.agassizspeedway.com for details about the next race day.
l The Agassiz Speedway holds its second annual Racing for the Cure cancer fundraiser June 25.
There will be a car available to be smashing during the intermission.
For a minimum donation you can beat the car with a sledgehammer. All money collected will be donated to a cancer charity.
l This is the first race for the Hit to Pass cars this year. Their first event was called on account of weather.
These cars are exciting to watch, and so tremendously popular with the crowds.
Everyone loves the hits and accidents and the Hit to Pass people do this every lap they race.
Sometimes these hits are nudges and sometimes they are significantly more.
Smoking tires and metal to metal is what this class it’s all about. All V8 engines with straight pipes makes for a noisy field.