It was with a heavy heart that drivers, volunteers and spectators went about their business on Saturday night at the Merritt Speedway.
Just hours before racing was due to get underway, longtime stock car enthusiast Albert Kosolofski, 62, passed away suddenly as he was arriving at the track to begin his duties as flagman.
Kosolofski, a fierce but honest competitor during his driving days, would have been proud of the fine night of racing that his friends put together in his honour.
The highlight of the night had to be the 30-lap main event in the Hobby class, featuring a stellar field of 10 entries. As he has done so many times before, Prince George’s Grant Powers worked his way up from the fourth row to finally take the lead for good on the 26th lap and earn the checkered flag.
Powers’ victory didn’t come easily as he waged an epic three-way battle with Dale Calder from Kamloops and Merritt’s Larry Ruttan before prevailing in the late stages of the race.
Calder, a veteran of the Merritt Speedway, served notice that she was going to be a force all night long, winning the five-lap B dash in the
Hobby class to start the evening off, and picking up a third in the 10-lap Hobby heat race.
Powers, Calder and Ruttan celebrate on winners’ row. Ian Webster/Herald
The Street class belonged to Barry Bussiere, 40, from Abbotsford, as he won all three races in his division and had the fastest one-lap time.
Bussiere, a former resident of Princeton, was back racing in Merritt for the first time in several years.
“I started my racing career in Penticton,” he said, “then started coming to Merritt. I actually won the hobby class in 2003 or 2004. I think the last time I raced in Merritt was 2010.”
Bussiere was deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Kosolofski earlier in the day.
“Albert actually put a complete exhaust system into my car just prior to my first-ever race in Merritt back in 1999. He was a real good guy.”
The Bomber six and eight-cylinder class was a two-driver battle all night between a pair of Merritt racers — the ‘Silver Fox’ Bill Fader and young Brad Gillis. Fader had the edge this time around, winning two of three races and recording the night’s fastest time. Gillis won once and finished second twice.
In the four-cylinder Bomber class, it was a sweep for Urban Rednex Racing out of Delta as teammates Bill Brown and Lloyd Morris took all three races between them.
The four-cylinder class also saw the continued improvement of another Urban Rednex racer — 14-year-old Sarah Forrest. With her dad, Toby, riding shotgun in his own car, the youngster has been making great strides all season — lowering her lap times steadily at each racing day.
“I like the Merritt track,” said Sarah’s father a few weeks back. “All the other racers here are very respectful of my daughter. At Agassiz, where we used to race, there’s up to 30 cars in the field. It gets a bit too competitive.”
It’s a real family affair for the Rednex team, as Brown is Sarah’s uncle, and 21-year-old driver Alexander Thorley (who wasn’t racing this weekend) is her brother.
The next night of racing action at the Merritt Speedway is a doubleheader on August 2 and 3. Time trials each day begin at 5 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m.
The August 2 race day will include a special rmemorial to Albert Kosolofski. Many of his family members are expected to attend.
