Burning rubber for the new North Bay General Hospital

Over 300 racers tore up the tarmac this weekend at the fifth annual King of the Hill Dragway drag races at North Bay’s Jack Garland Airport.

The three days of racing are organized and put on by the Rotary Club of Nipissing and North Bay Motor Sports. Contestants compete for a $30,000 payout, split between six categories.

Bob Chisholm, one of the lead organizers of the event, says the money raised from ticket sales will go towards the new North Bay General Hospital.

“We’re community minded people,” Chisholm said.

“Most people here are volunteers. If we had to pay everyone then we wouldn’t make money,” Chisholm said about the community support the event receives.

According to the King of the Hill Dragway official website, North Bay Motor Sports and the Rotary Club of Nipissing have raised $85,000 to date for the new North Bay General Hospital.

“We’re all out here for a good cause. When the hospital is built we will donate money to another worthy cause,” Stephen Way, Founder of North Bay Motor Sports, said.

Like so many other people, the Way’s decided to make the race a family event.

“I just love it so much because my daughter races as well and we’re always traveling far to other races. It’s nice to race at home,” Way said.

Tiffany Way, Stephen’s daughter, races in the junior dragster category.

“It’s like an adrenalin rush,” Way said with big smile on her face while describing her feelings toward the sport.

I would really like to go pro. I enjoy it a lot,” she added.

One of the main attractions at the King of the Hill Dragway was Chris Gould’s ‘Fire Power Jet Funny Car’. It's powered by a GE J-85-17 F5 fighter jet engine making in excess of 6,000 horsepower. It sucks up 2 gallons of fuel a second.

“I don’t worry about Chris when he’s driving. I don’t have time,” Irene Manson, Fire Power Crew Chief, said while describing the 200 mph speeds it can reach in under 4.2 seconds.

Way explained that the event has grown tremendously since the first race five years ago.

“It’s unbelievable the growth of the event. The first year we had a couple hundred cars but what I’ve noticed more than anything over the past few years are the volunteers and the people in the stands, most of them are all in race cars now,” Way said.

“The people in North Bay and area have the bug now. They’re out building cars and they’re out racing,” he added.

Way says he would like to see some more corporate sponsorship from local business but besides that and a couple minor things, he is happy with the way the event is running now.

“I would like to see maybe some more fans show up, you don’t want too many more race cars because then things get out of control,” Way explained.

The overall attendance number for the event hasn’t been counted as of yet but Chisholm estimated it at around 7000.