Outlaw Legend Dirt Series is looking to pioneer a new racing sport in Alberta.
The sport, which is big in the southern U.S., pits drivers against each other in dirt cars running four-cylinder Yamaha street bike engines.
Red Deerians Mitchell Mcarady and his father Lawrence finished second and third respectively in the province for the 2017 season and just started dirt racing this season, after previously being involved with drag racing.
“We bought our cars at the start of the season,” Mitchell said. “We bought the first car, our blue and silver one, at 4 p.m. and then we took it out at 6 p.m. and raced it. The more seat time you get in, the better you are. Rimbey (Central Alberta Raceways) puts on a good show and you get a lot of seat time.”
Mitchell said the sport is an inexpensive way for people to get involved with racing with the cars being virtually identical in speed and design.
“To get into a car used, they are about $7,500 and there is very little maintenance,” Mitchell said. “You can go out and run every weekend for around $20. In the straightaways on the dirt, we get up to between 100-105 kilometres per hour.”
The Mcaradys got involved with Outlaw Legend Dirt Series through Ken Webster, who operates Webster Motor Sports and Young Guns Legends, which allows 14-18 year olds to learn about motor sports
“We watched his run and decided it looked like a good time,” he said.
Mitchell and his father generally raced against six or seven cars, however, he is hoping to expand, as dirt racing is more fun and competitive with more cars on the track.
“We had six or seven cars this year, with a couple more people interested,” he said. “We should have about 12 next year.”
Mitchell said it is very simple to get involved in the sport.
“You can look online for the cars or get in touch with Ken at Webster Motor Sports,” he said. “He will get you into a car. He has a personal track you can run on. We are also looking at finding more tracks in Central Alberta to race on. Currently we run at Rimbey and Drumheller.”
While some auto body knowledge is required to race, Mitchell described it as minimal.
“Just general knowledge,” he said. “It is very minor costs as well - about $500 to replace the body.”
Mitchell said that sponsors and help are easy to come by out on the series.
“A1 Auto Body puts on the show and sponsors the car,” he said. “When you get out there, it is a big family and everyone helps each other out.”
Mitchell hopes the experience will expand.
“We want to be able to run on more tracks,” he said. “We want to see some of the old tracks come back like Tail Creek. We also want more drivers interested. It would be awesome to have 15-20 cars at once.”
He added, “Support your local tracks, everyone come out and watch and maybe get interested in running a car.”
todd.vaughan@reddeerexpress.com