FORKS — Drag racers are preparing to roar again this summer in Forks, beginning this weekend.
The West End Thunder drag races will run the third weekend of each month at Forks Municipal Airport on South Forks Avenue from this month through September.
Cars and motorcycles will take over the one-eighth-mile strip for two days each month. There is also a car show dubbed the Show and Shine.
The public will be admitted beginning at 8:30 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday. The tech entry will be at 7 a.m.
General admission will be $10, with children younger than 12 admitted free.
Entry fee for the race is $35 and $15 for the Show and Shine.
Dedicated to announcer
The first race is dedicated to longtime announcer John Wayne Sadler, who died recently, said Dan Anderson, a member of the West End Thunder Club.
Sadler had been the announcer for the annual races, which began in 2005, for the past 10 years.
He also raced in a 1980s Chevrolet.
Sadler kept a 3-foot-by-2-foot magnetic flag on the side of his car and enjoyed working the crowd as he announced, Anderson said.
“He liked to keep things rolling; he was funny,” Anderson said.
“He was good for the crowd.”
Cary Bourm, club president, said Sadler was a funny guy known by many.
Sadler died two months ago after a short battle with cancer, Bourm said.
“He was fine one month, then gone the next,” he said.
Sadler owned John Wayne’s Automotive Repair in Port Angeles.
He seemed to know everybody involved with the races — and if he found a person he didn’t know, he’d change that, Anderson said.
“He got along with everybody,” he said. “If you knew him and [had] been around him, he wasn’t an acquaintance; he ended up being a friend.”
Anderson also shares Sadler’s passion for the sport and for cars.
Show off ’57 Ford
While Anderson doesn’t plan to race in this year’s West End Thunder, he will show off his 1957 Ford Fairlane.
“The car I have now is exactly the same as the first car I ever got,” he said. “It’s the same color, same chrome package.”
He found it in California 10 years ago and knew he had to purchase it.
He has modified it a bit and completely redone the interior of the car.
“I’ve always enjoyed working on cars and have had quite a few different cars,” he said.
“I’m a Ford guy through and through, so I’ve always had Fords.”
Anderson said he enjoys being able to drive the same model and year car as the first car he ever owned.
He drives it when the club goes on dinner cruises each month during the summer and shows it at various shows.
“That’s a lot of the reason people buy classic cars,” Anderson said. “It’s like the one they had.
“Some people have kept the first car they ever had and might have redone it a couple times.”
He encourages anyone who’s interested in cars to attend the monthly races.
Lately, it has averaged up to 60 cars per race but has had as many as 121.
Up close and personal
“It’s up close and personal,” Anderson said. “You have show cars on one side of the street and race cars on the other side.
“It’s not like you’re sitting in the stands far away.”
The audience has the opportunity to talk to the racers and car owners.
“A lot of people come out and camp the whole weekend,” Anderson said.
“They go to other places, too — beaches, parks. It’s good for the whole town.”
The race will go on as long as it isn’t raining, Bourm said.
“We’re hoping the weather stays good,” he said.
Bourm races his 1973 Chevrolet Camaro at the races and encourages anyone who wants to join.
“Any cars are welcome to come out,” Bourm said. “It’s a blast. It feels like you’re in the big leagues when you’re out there.”
Upcoming drag race weekends will be July 16-17, Aug. 20-21 and Sept. 17-18.
For more information, see www.westendthunder.com.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
