A Togo resident is a member of the pit crew of a race car driver with several connections to Kamsack.
On August 8 Darrel Vallie of Sherwood Park, Alta. was among the drivers of cars entered in the Sky Financial Late Model Series race, which was a 150-lap race at Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon.
On Vallie’s pit crew were his cousin Barry Petruk of Togo, and his parents Linda and Brent Vallie of Sherwood Park.
A total of 20 cars had entered the race and Darrel qualified in 19th position out of the 20 cars, his mother said last week. After running in the heat race, he started the 150-lap race in 15th position.
He finished the race in eighth position, she said, adding that Barry’s heavy duty mechanical skills were a great contribution to Darrel’s success in being able to compete in the main race because during the practice Darrel had a issue with a broken bolt in the shift lever.
“But Barry and Darrel managed to put something together to make it work,” she said.
Darrel is a fire fighter for the City of Edmonton and racing is his hobby, his mother explained, adding that attending races has become a family affair. His two sons, Rider and Chase, are now developing an interest in racing.
Darrel has been racing for about 20 years, she said, adding that he started at a quarter-mile oval track near Edmonton and after having raced every Saturday, he became the track champion for two years, and has consequently acquired a large trophy collection.
The race on August 8 was the first time this year that Vallie had raced at the Saskatoon track, which is a third of a mile oval track.
Vallie plans to return to Saskatoon on August 29 for the track’s final race of the season.
