It’s been quite a drag racing season for Rae Caswell, a season that the long-time resident of the Nicola Valley won’t soon forget.
Caswell’s ‘year to remember’ culminated on the September 17-18 weekend in Edmonton, as the ‘box’ racer drove his 1927 Ford Roadster to the IHRA (International Hot Rod Association) Division 6 title at the Castrol Raceway, located on the outskirts of the Alberta capital city.
“It was definitely the biggest moment in my racing career, that’s for sure,” stated Caswell upon his return home.
A veteran competitor with over 40 years of experience, Caswell earned a place on victory row in Edmonton thanks to three stellar ¼-mile performances in the Border Bandits Summit Superseries event.
In the final, Caswell defeated Tim Richards of Gimli, Manitoba.
To fully appreciate the magnitude of Caswell’s accomplishment, one needs to know that the IHRA’s Division 6 region encompasses tracks from Washington, Montana and North Dakota up to Alaska and the Yukon, and from British Columbia east to Manitoba.
“The top point-earner at each track, in two different classes (box and no-box) gets to compete at the Division 6 championships,” explained Caswell.
“It’s very competitive. When you’re racing the champions from each of these tracks, they’re not newbies at the game. They’ve all done their deal a long time.”
Caswell was in Edmonton representing the Eagle Motorplex, his home track in Ashcroft. In total, 16 cars were on hand from the Eagleplex facility, and they performed well enough to finish third in the overall team standings.
“We had just an awesome weekend,” said Merritt’s representative on the team.
In addition to Caswell’s victory in the box main competition, the Eagle’s Andy Closkey picked up a win in the no-box modified main event on Saturday, as well as a pair of wins in two gambler races on Friday and Sunday. Closkey’s step-daughter, Chloe Carre, was a runner-up in two junior drag races.
“In addition,” stated Caswell, “Rick Givens from Kelowna, who races for our Eagleplex team, won the Best Engineered Car out of every vehicle on site that weekend, which is a phenomenal achievement.”
As if that wasn’t enough, the enthusiastic and energized Eagleplex contingent was chosen the Best Appearing Team of the competition. According to Caswell, they could have easily have won the Best Spirit award, too.
“We were winning so many prizes there,” he said with a laugh, “that I don’t think they wanted us to win them all.”
Caswell couldn’t say enough about the support that he received from his Eagleplex teammates, both leading up to the competition in Edmonton, and on the weekend itself.
“It’s really a team deal,” he said. “Everyone from Eagle was there. After each round, all I had to do was get out of the car. Somebody was right there – cooling the engine down, recharging the batteries, checking the tire pressure. The guys that you competed against all year are there, backing you up. It was an amazing thing to have that kind of support.”
Caswell’s ’27 roadster is a work of art in and unto itself.
“There’s actually no Ford in it,” he stated with a smile. “It’s a fiberglass replica body over a frame of round, moly tubing that’s all homemade. It’s light and easy to maintain, and a lot of fun to drive. Kind of a spooky little thing.”
As an IHRA division winner, Caswell earned the right to compete at the IHRA championships in Virginia in two weeks time. While he is honored to be one of just seven racers in the box class on the whole continent eligible to go, it’s a trip that he won’t be making.
“It’s over 4,000 miles away,” he explained. “You’re five days on the road each way, pulling a trailer. The time and the cost just make it too prohibitive.
“There’s a lot of people that wanted me to go and said that they’d support me, but it’s just too far,” added Caswell. “Heck, I’m in my sixties!”
Instead, Caswell was happy to wrap up his racing season on home turf, as the Eagle Motorplex held its final weekend of competition this past Friday and Saturday, complete with a wind-up barbeque and awards presentations.
Merritt racers represent a significant proportion of the Eagleplex team. They include Robin Reading, Sally Hamilton, Glenn and Natasha Parkinson, Al, Matt and Amelia Mackay-Smith, and Al Stefiuk.
Also in attendance on the weekend was former Merritt resident Tyler Tingle, a snowmobile racer who suffered a serious accident in his preparations to compete in Edmonton.
“Tyler was testing out a new machine,” explained Caswell. “It flipped over and landed on him. He’s lucky he wasn’t killed. He’s recovering, and actually got a special pass to come over to the track and spend the weekend with us. He’s going to be alright, thank goodness.”
It’s evident in talking to Caswell that the camaraderie and the good times are what mean the most to him when it comes to drag racing, and that they are the real reasons why he’s been participating in the sport for close to half a century.
Caswell is keen to see many more become fans in some way, shape or form.
“I just want to get people involved in the sport, even if all they do is go over to Ashcroft to watch the races,” he said.
You can find the Eagle Motorplex’s schedule of racing at: www.eaglemotorplex.com
