By John Denny

Observer Reporter

(Ramsbury, Nevis) – The last-minute touches are being put on the drag strip at New River in preparations for the Nevis Drag Racing Association’s Grand Opening on Independence Day, Sept. 19.

Those wanting to race must register by Saturday, Sept. 13 and present their car for inspection no later than Sept. 16. Registration fee is $25.

The asphalt track is finished, accommodations for vendors are being prepared and NDRA President Vaughn Anslyn expects the day at the races to be a very special event for Nevis.

“The St. Kitts racing team alone has six cars signed up to race,” he said “I think we have 17 registered cars so far and are expecting more. There are some guys on Antigua and Statia that I expect to show up with cars. They are in the process of finding a way to get them here.”

Wednesday Online Code for Issue # 724 is QUA

All the cars that plan to race have to pass a safety inspection that checks lug nuts, brakes, the battery has to secure, adequate seat belts, oil leaks, structural integrity of the vehicle, etc. All racers will have to sign a liability waiver and during races, drivers will have to wear a helmet.

“I’ve been doing illegal racing… forever,” said Mr. Anslyn. “I started years ago with a Dodge Conquest and it was the fastest thing on the island. Then the high performance Japanese cars started coming in and that is when racing really started becoming more popular in Nevis.”

The drag strip would have never come to fruition if Mr. Anslyn had not lobbied for it.

“Racing was becoming popular and the politicians said, ‘Let’s build a drag strip for the young people.’ They made a promise and I picked up on it,” he said. “I went on the radio station with it and said the government is going to build us a race track and it kind of put them on the spot. They told me to put together a presentation. I did my research, put together schematics of the track, gave them some proposed sites, profit and loss generation all in a power point presentation. They took the information to the paving company that had the experience in projects like this and a year and half later, we have a race track.”

The races are scheduled from noon until 5 p.m. on the Sept. 19. The gates will open at 8 a.m. and at 11 a.m. there will be an opening ceremony and prayer.

“We wanted to have the races over in time for the people to get over to the concert on Long Point,” he said.

Drag racing is done in a straight line, one-quarter of a mile from a dead stop. It is done between two cars at a time and each race lasts between 10 and 15 seconds. The strip at New River is a half-mile: one quarter for racing and one quarter for stopping.

There are different classes of cars such as Street Car which are unmodified, Slightly Modified, Highly Modified and All Wheel Drive.

Mr. Anslyn believes building the track on Nevis will generate plenty of revenue to make it worth the while. Motorsports are big business throughout the Caribbean and the NIA made a visionary step by being the first to build a facility.

“This is the only drag strip in the Caribbean built as a drag strip,” he said. “In Tortola they block off a road, in Antigua they use an abandoned airstrip that is in really bad shape, other islands use their roads, but none of them have anything like this. I think by presenting this on an international level and showing the rest of the islands what we have will only help bring people here to race, to participate and to watch. This has a huge growth potential.”

Safety at the track is the association’s first concern. The strip is 40 feet wide; a 20 foot lane for each car plus a return road. In case of a brake failure there is a sand pit at the end of the track and if that doesn’t stop an out of control racecar, the earthen berm behind it will. There is also to be a fire hydrant installed at the strip by race day. Nevis Disaster Management will be on site and a triage tent will be set up in case of any medical emergencies that might arise.

Those wanting to register to race should call 663 1202.