As a long time (old) racer at Eagle I would like to be able to join you all at the 'Plex this weekend but poor planing on my part has me down in SoCal for a family party. To qualify the long time racer title, I am looking at 3 timing slips from Eagle dated May 10, 1987 which was a pre "Grand Opening" Sunday test and tune day that Gary Hough and I attended after driving up overnight from running our regular Spokane Raceway Park Saturday night race. Although I won't be joining you folks at the track in celebrating the 'Plex's 25th anniversary, I will be telling old Eagle racetrack stories to my friends gathered around at the party in the hills behind Malibu. I hope it will be a great, fun filled and safe weekend for all of us racers and fans.
The Thank You to Wyatt goes far and waaay beyond all the "stuff" he did for all of us that raced at Eagle when he was "da Man". The Thank You is for all the behind the scenes work he did to have the leaded gas ban altered to allow an exemption for leaded race gas to permit it to be used in Canada and to allow our 'merican friends to continue to come to Canada to race. Wyatt understood the power that the track owners could, and eventually did, bring to the table in Ottawa to force the Enviroment Minister to make the necessary changes and exemtions and that saved the Eagle track. It was widely believed by many, myself included, that without this work by Wyatt the "motorsport exemption" on the leaded gas ban would not have happened and drag racing in Canada would have suffered a major or fatal blow. Let me re-phrase that----it would have popped the blower and kicked the rods out in the lights-----there, that's better.
I have to run, have to pack, have planes to catch, but I just wanted to do this history class before I left town. Saturday night 9:00 PDT I will raise a glass to Wyatt and I hope you all will join me in thanking him for all that he has done for drag racing in BC and all of Canada