TUESDAY, September 17, 2013 • 9
www.merrittherald.com
merrittherald.com
bcclassified.com
HERALD SPORTS Have a sports story tip? Tell us about it by calling 250-378-4241 or emailing sports@merrittherald.com
Successful season wraps up at Eagle Motorplex Merritt racer takes high school title in her first year on the quarter-mile track By Ian Webster THE HERALD
sports@merrittherald.com
Sixteen-year-old Danielle ‘Dani’ Eaton’s first season of quartermile drag racing won’t be one she’ll soon forget. The Grade 11 student at Merritt Secondary School won the high school championship on Saturday during the final weekend of racing at the Eagle Motorplex facility outside Ashcroft. Driving her family’s Ford F350 pickup (or grocery-getter as her mom likes to call it), Eaton picked up enough points to defeat Ryleen Ross from Kamloops for the overall title. Eaton needed a little help from a new friend in order to even be able to race on Saturday. Upon arrival at the track, she discovered that she had forgotten her mandatory racing helmet at home. A call for help over the track’s PA system brought the much-needed response. “Garfield Coates, a veteran racer and retired school teacher from Kamloops, came over and gave me a brand new helmet,” said Eaton. “He said I could even keep it.” While Eaton knew that Coates had run the high school drag racing program at Westsyde Secondary for over 20 years before retiring, she only learned this weekend that he had even taught at Merritt Secondary for two years near the end of his
FAST FRIENDS (Above) A proud Dani Eaton stands beside her ride (a Ford F350 pickup) with her new helmet and her good buddy Yogi (an eight-week-old pup she acquired from Angel’s Animal Rescue). (Left) Eaton goes to the line against Rylen Ross from Kamloops. Ian Webster/Herald
career. “He told me the helmet was a welcome to high school racing,” Eaton said. “That was pretty special.” Eaton is very proud of her first season stats, which include a best reaction time at the start of 0.012 seconds, a best quarter-mile time of 15.22 seconds, and a top-end speed of 94 miles per hour. Eaton comes by her interest in drag racing honestly. Her mom, Jen, runs a 1967 Ford Mustang in the no box class, while her dad, Mike, heads up a pit crew that includes Dani’s 15-year-old brother Wyatt. “That’s what I like about the sport,” said Dani. “It’s all about families. Everybody’s really friendly, and tries to make sure that you have a good time.” The Ware foursome from Merritt are of the same mind. The
EAGLE MOTORPLEX YEAR-END RESULTS Merritt/Nicola Valley Racers
No Box
3. Al Stefiuk 7. Carrie Ware 8. Glenn Parkinson 9. Ryan Ware/Jen Eaton 11. Amelia Mackay-Smith
Box
3. Rae Caswell 4. Al Mackay-Smith 5. Robin Reding
High School
1. Dani Eton
Rookie of the Year
Ryan Ware
FAMILY FEUD Ryan Ware (on the bike) and his wife Carrie (on the sled) square off during time trials on Saturday at the Eagle Motorplex in Ashcroft. Ian Webster/Herald
Crew Chief of the Year Mike Eaton husband-and-wife team of Ryan and Carrie take care of the racing at the moment while their two young sons, Charlie and Liam, are their biggest cheerleaders. Ryan, in his first year of racing on his 2007 Suzuki 1300cc motorbike, had a breakthrough on the weekend, recording the first “nine” of his
CLASSY CHASSIS They don’t get much nicer-looking than Rae Caswell’s 1927 Ford Roadster. The Lower Nicola racer finished third overall in the box class. Ian Webster/Herald
brief career. In time trials, he hit a 9.972 for the quarter mile, topping out at 134.99 miles per hour. “I’ve been trying all year to go under 10 [seconds],” Ware said. “This has made my whole weekend.” At Saturday night’s awards banquet, Ware was chosen Rookie of the Year, while Mike Eaton picked up Crew Chief of the Year honours.
WHEELY QUICK Jen Eaton gets the front end of her 1967 Ford Mustang airborne at the start of her race in the no box class at the Eagle Motorplex. Ian Webster/Herald
SPEED FIEND When she isn’t busy nursing, 22-year-old Amelia Mackay-Smith enjoys going fast behind the wheel of her rearengine dragster. The Merritt Secondary School graduate placed 12th overall in the very competitive no box. Ian Webster/Herald