Runway Drag Races
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- Published on Friday, July 15, 2016
Photo by Diane Ruzycki. This dragster is one of many different vehicles at the event last year.
By Kira Paterson
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The 16th annual Yellowhead Roadrunners Runway Drag Races have a big matchup planned for the intermission. Bert de Koning, president of the Yellowhead Roadrunners, will be racing against the host of the drag racing TV game show Pass Time, Brett 鈥淏ig Schwag鈥� Wagner.
De Koning will be racing his own car, a full alcohol twin-turbo, while Wagner will be using a top dragster alcohol car owned by Glen Novakowski, of Winnipeg.
This is the first time the Runway Drags have hosted a guest like this. De Koning said that usually, they have a feature car at the races, but now the locals鈥� cars are getting as fast as any, so they wanted to try something new.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know [how the matchup will go], it鈥檚 going to be fairly close, I鈥檓 hoping,鈥� said de Koning. He said the race will just be a friendly grudge match with bragging rights on the line. 鈥淭here鈥檒l be a bit of chirping going on for sure,鈥� he added, noting that it will be entertaining for the spectators as well as him and Wagner.
鈥淭here鈥檚 really no pressure on me [to win], because I鈥檓 just a TV guy,鈥� said Wagner. He only recently got his racing license and he鈥檚 only driven Novakowski鈥檚 car once before, so he won鈥檛 be as prepared as de Koning, who鈥檚 using his own car. 鈥淭he pressure鈥檚 on Bert... if I win against him, that鈥檚 it... it will be glorious and believe me, I鈥檒l milk that all the way on social media.鈥� He added that they鈥檒l maybe have a little bet, like the loser takes the winner out for dinner.
Wagner is a former pro wrestler, so he said he鈥檒l be building up the event beforehand, calling de Koning out on social media. He hosted the show Pass Time for about five years and grew up going to drag races with his dad. 鈥淧eople always gave me a lot of crap because I always talk about racing, but I鈥檇 never raced,鈥� he explained. Novakowski offered to let Wagner use his car for some races if he got a racing license. So, Wagner learned how to drag race at a school in California and got his license, so now he can walk the walk as well as talk the talk.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty excited about the matchup,鈥� Wagner said. He鈥檚 also excited to see the track, the other cars and the people that will be there. 鈥淲hen I go for appearances, I like to go around and see the town,鈥� he added. He said he hopes to be able to stay for an extra day and take in Neepawa. He also mentioned that he鈥檚 鈥渓ooking forward to having some grub鈥� at the local restaurants.
The Yellowhead Roadrunners Runway Drag Races are happening on Saturday, July 23 this year, at the Neepawa Airport. The races are held on the runway, as the event鈥檚 name suggests, and run for an eighth mile down the stretch. The event is aimed at amateur racers, giving them a chance to try out competitive drag racing without pressure or worrying about making mistakes.
Registration for the races is from 8:00 to 11:00 am, with the gates opening at 10:00 am and the races starting at noon. Pre-registration is available online and recommended by the Roadrunners, to make things easier at the gate. The pre-registration form can be found at roadrunnersautoclub.com under the 鈥淩unway Drags鈥� tab. There will be a concession on site and Brett Wagner will have a booth set up for spectators and racers to meet him.
