Drag racing will return to its spiritual home, Vernamfield in Clarendon, on Sunday, July 17, courtesy of Drag Rivals. The event will see the sport grace the location after its last hurrah in 2018.

“I’m excited, a bit overwhelmed at the fact that things just worked out the way they did,” Kenneth Timoll, event organiser, told the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Auto magazine.

Timoll’s Drag Rivals series has been a staple on the western end of the island, utilising the drag strip at JamWest Speedway in Westmoreland. However, for 2022, Timoll decided to move east.

“Moving to Vernamfield is a matter of its more central location which will allow more drag racers to come and participate,” Timoll said.

In 2018, the National Drag Racing Circuit (NDRC) staged the final official drag racing event as the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ) planned to turn the former World War II United States Army Air Forces into a logistics hub.

According to Timoll, that development was scrapped when investments didn’t materialise, opening an opportunity for him.

“I saw them asking for investors on their website. I sent them a proposal. It wasn’t what I thought they’d want, but they came back to me and said I was the only person who applied,” said Timoll with a laugh.

Timoll’s reward netted him a six-month contract and the ability to restart both his series and the sport the venue is famous for. He plans to hold four Drag Rivals events before his contract expires.

“I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel,” he said.

The Drag Rivals organiser has enlisted the help of the NDRC, the previous entity that used Vernamfield for drag racing, in setting things up as the location is not purpose built like JamWest. Timoll added that one of the major benefits of Vernamfield is that it can handle faster cars because it has more run-off areas for the cars to slow and stop than JamWest.

“I purchased the NDRC’s timing equipment and they have been willing to assist in getting the sport back up and running at Vernamfield. Like me they also want to see Vernamfield back to its full glory,” he explained.

Drag Rivals will feature bracket racing from a seven-second class to a 16 second class. Winner and runner ups in each class will receive cash pay-outs.

“There’s going to be a lot of cars, old and new. I know there are persons rebuilding cars to come and compete on Sunday,” he said.