Black Creek’s Schulte Racing Team (SRT) has resumed its fourth straight season racing in the Mission-based Canada West Doorslammers points series, the popular fast drag race class.
The 2019 season began early-April with an unfortunate first-round loss for the SRT, losing that race by a mere four- thousandths of a second. However, at the end of May, the SRT was able to pull for the win in the second of the eight-race series. The Saturday qualifying had been rained out but the Sunday eliminations saw sunny skies.
“It was a long day,” driver Otto Schulte said. “Fortunately, Mission Raceway gave us an additional qualifying pass since we had been rained out the day before. We had tight races all day and ended up winning the finals at 8 p.m. by a mere .004 of a second, the same margin we lost in the first race of the year.”
“That’s half the story,” crew chief Leslie Schulte added. “We also pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the semi-finals by also winning that race by four thou. It sure feels good watching the win light come on when you have races that close. Think about beating the other car by tiny fractions of a second going over 180 miles per hour (300 kph). It’s amazing. We feel vindicated from the first race, but the season has just begun so there’s no time to sit on our hands with two races coming up in June.”
The Schultes campaign a quick 1,200 horsepower 2005 Cavalier. Otto calls it their “grocery getter.” The SRT runs their hot rod at Mission Raceway Park because there is no quarter-mile drag strip on Vancouver Island. Leslie says they are disappointed that the City of Campbell River recently pulled back its support to allow the Vancouver Island Motorsport Association to construct a major facility at the city’s airport, after over three years of planning.
“Although Mission has a great facility, the time and cost to bring our tow rig on the ferry is punishing,” Leslie said. “We wish there was a drag strip on the island that could handle a race car like ours. It’s ridiculous having to travel elsewhere.”
