The first ever”Pinks With a Twist” race event was held at Raceway Park over the past weekend. It was organized as a fund raiser for the Canadian Cancer Society and was an outstanding success raising nearly $10,000 for the charity.

On Saturday the racers made two qualifying passes to get into either Division I or Division II on Sunday as well as participating in two Gamblers’ races.

In the Electronic Gambler’s Race, Ray Bourque from Memramcook, NB defeated Charlottetown’s John MacKinnon in the final. Tony Lyons from Riverview, NB won the Non-Electronic section with Ernest Newcombe from Tyne Valley finishing runner-up.

Near the end of Sunday’s time trial session, a scary accident occurred as Mary Roach’s dragster locked its rear wheels just past the finish line causing it to leave the track at over 150 miles per hour and roll several times. However, due to the excellent safety equipment required on these cars, Mary escaped with some minor cuts and bruising. As a precaution she is being kept at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a couple of days.

Of the 32 cars, motorcycles, and snowmobiles that started the afternoon in Division I of the “Pinks” race, only Shane MacEachern’s dragster from Tea Hill and the 1983 Camaro of Ray Bourque remained after four rounds of eliminations. The final was an excellent, very close race with Ray Bourque becoming a weekend double winner as he narrowly edged MacEachern.

In Division II of the “Pinks” race, 13 of the 32 qualifiers were from PEI.. When the semi-final pairings were established, all four were Islanders. In that round, Kevin Gallant from Miscouche defeated Summerside’s Joey Veno and Charlottetown’s Colin Newman edged Gus Longaphie from New Argyle. In the final, both drivers had very good reaction times, but Gallant managed to run 11.06 on his 11 second dial-in to narrowly defeat Newman.

In the Bracket Race for non-qualifiers of the Pinks’ divisions, William Newcombe from Tyne Valley and Michael Poirier from Wellington worked their way through three rounds of racing to meet in the final. In the final, Poirier defeated the younger member of the Newcombe racing team to earn top points in the division.

The Duck Race for all first round losers saw Charlottetown’s Glenn Frizzell defeat Vaughan Boone from Vaughan, NS in the final.

The Junior Dragsters also participated on the weekend with a points race on both days as well as a Duck Race on Sunday.
On Saturday, J.C. Creamer from Charlottetown edged Benjamin Gallant from Miscouche for the win. On Sunday Logan Power from Sackville, NS defeated Daniel Collister from Toronto Road, PEI. Samuel Gallant from Miscouche made his Junior Dragster debut a successful one by defeating Briann Toombs from Rustico in the Duck Race final.


Next action at the park is a points race to be held August 11 and 12. Meanwhile Weekly Street Drags are held Tuesday evenings at 6:30 with Wednesday and Thursday being rain dates.