The heat was on at Vernamfield
Drag Rivals closed another successful weekend of racing at Vernamfield, Clarendon, on July 30.
“The meet was a success, once we can complete all rounds of eliminations and everything ends safely we take that as a win. There was a 25 per cent decline in turnout, but we are not troubled by this as many factors contributed to this, primarily the holiday weekend approaching and Denbigh Agricultural Show, which is a big annual event in Clarendon. Let’s us not forget the scorching heat of the summer I think persons opt out of that kind of exposure for this time of year,” Kenneth Timoll, director of KenT Racing, told the Jamaica Observer‘s weekly Auto magazine.
As promised, KenT Racing has continued to make huge investments into the sport and the venue to ensure competitor and spectator safety and convenience. Beyond the safety barriers, increased security at last weekend’s event brought with it improved roads into the venue, an increase in parking lot capacity, which itself was moved to a different area to provide more secure parking.
Regular patrons had elevated berms to stand on for better viewing. This joined two large LED screens showing live action of the racing and a better audio system for announcements. The VIP grandstands received an upgrade as well.
While Timoll explained there was a slight reduction in the amount of competitors, 177 was still a significant, and it made for heated competition all weekend as the numbers dwindled for the finals on the Sunday.
Chris Kerr battled Gordon Chuck to victory in the 8-second class. Tevar Anderson emerged the winner in the massive 9-second class. He would also end the day as the second-fastest front-wheel drive car in the island with a 9.27 second pass at 168mph.
American racer Charles Webb is the current record holder making a 9.19 pass at the event to break the long-standing record set by Xavia Murray in 2017. Another stacked class was that of the 10-second class which saw Vijay Bowla continue his success in that group.
The largest class was easily that of the 11-second competitors. Demouy Spence was able to best all the other 11-second racers. Michael Frater was the 12-second class winner, with Kayso Taylor managing to squeeze himself to the top of another packed group, the 13-second class. The 14-second class went to Wade Robotham. Ricardo Rhule took the 15-second class, while Fabion Thompson was the best of the 16-second class.
