It must be a great relief for organizers of outdoor activities, when they can look at the weather forecast and have no worries.
With two major events in the pipeline, Scott Medlock and his co-organizers at Hope Motorsports have even had to bring in some water hoses and sprinklers to keep the dust under control in the motorsports bowl behind the Hope Arena.
Tonight (Thursday), the group hosts the RCMP Musical Ride, in partnership with the Hope Lions — with over 800 tickets presold, as of Tuesday. On Saturday and Sunday, three types of motorsports take over the park. 4x4, ministocks and demolition derbies will run in rotating heats, starting at 1 p.m. and running till 5 or 6.
Medlock said he took the week off work to help with preparations.
“We started the planning process in the winter but we do the physical work the week before the event,” said Medlock, Tuesday. “There was rock picking, weed eating and grooming the course with backhoes. Co-organizers Jim Lasser, James Talarico and Katie Talarico volunteered their time and earth-moving skills.
“With the Musical Ride on Thursday, we put the paid-area fencing in place tonight. We’ll keep that up through the weekend.
“This is the thirteenth year for Summer Smash,” added Medlock. “We had to miss one year, when there was a fire ban, so we couldn’t get in there to set up. The fire department will be on hand this year, just in case.”
Summer Smash will follow the schedule change that was first tried last year.
“We switched to a mix of 4x4s, mini-stocks and demo derbies, as the derby guys often need some time to work on their cars between heats,” explained Medlock. In previous years, it was 4x4s on one day and mini-stocks and demo derbies on the other.
“This way, people can come up for the whole weekend,” he added. “We’re finding that more participants are coming from out of town now… Abbotsford, Langley — even Washington State. Entry cost is $40, which goes toward prizes.
“We never really know how many entries we’ll get, as we don’t take pre-registrations,” said Medlock. “Typically, it’s 40 4x4s, 10 mini-stocks and 8 to 10 derby cars.”
Mini-stocks run on a figure-8 course in the demo derby area — with an uncontrolled intersection in the middle, where most of the fun takes place.
“Mini-stocks can use any four-cylinder car with a four-bolt wheel pattern,” said Medlock. If you can still find a rear-wheel car from the 70s or 80s (like a Chevy Chevette or Hyundai Pony) it would be welcome to run against the front-wheel drives.
“They’re built very similar to a demo derby car,” added Medlock. “There’s a cage inside, for safety. You can pick up a car for a couple of hundred bucks — and maybe a total of a thousand bucks and a lot of free labour will get you in the running. It’s a popular way to get started in motorsports.”
Summer Smash is open to spectators of all ages — and free for ages 10 and under. It’s only $10 for a weekend wristband for ages 11 and up.
And don’t be worried about flying horse nuggets, left behind by the Musical Ride.
“They take care of cleaning that up, themselves,” said Medlock with a laugh.