Brody Anderson of Stettler won the Trail Tire Alberta Extreme Sprints title in 2023 as racing finally got back to something approaching normal with the pandemic’s influence fading into history.
Brody started racing on asphalt in his early teens. He lasted a year. “I’m not a big pavement guy, I guess,” he shrugged. The next year he and his dad Jason raced 660 Sprints on the dirt at Sangudo and that felt right. By 2018, they even had a 360 engine and were eyeing some US events but the cost of travel ultimately meant that sportsman sprint cars were the way to go.
The 2023 season kicked off with a two-day show at Rad Torque Raceway in Edmonton and, for Brody, it started out the right way with a win in both his heat and the main on Friday night. Saturday wasn’t too bad either, third in the heat and runner-up in the feature. As the season progressed, Anderson ran well and was leading the points by the mid-point of the year. At that point, “I didn’t feel like I deserved the championship with just one win,” he says.
The Trail Tire Alberta Extreme Sprints teams don’t just race each other. The series is also part of the Can-Am Sprint Car Series with the Montana-based Rocky Mountain Sprint Car Series. In the doubleheader held at Rad Torque Raceway on June 23/24, Anderson was an uncharacteristic 12th the first night and 4th on night two. At Swift Current, SK a week later, he was 4th each night and in Great Falls, MT on July 3rd and 4th, he was 4th on the third and dnf the second night.
The AESCS has its biggest race on August 4/5 with the Extreme Cup. The Montana-based Setters team lost an engine the first night and Brody offered up his spare engine for the big race on the 5th. James Setters used the powerplant to win the Cup race on the 5th. Although Anderson had a respectable 4th in the Extreme Cup, it was the new set of Slade shock absorbers and very useful setup advice that he received from the Setters team that had the most effect on his season. In the last four races at Rad Torque Raceway, he won two heats and three mains.
Brody is confident that his Echo Tubulars/NADP/C4 Welding car will be even stronger in 2024 as he plans a significant suspension upgrade over the winter. One goal is to make a stronger showing in the Can-Am Challenge events this summer.
BONN TAKES WESCAR TITLE
Jarret Bonn’s 2023 WESCAR championship isn’t his first, but in a way it feels like it. In 2021 the BC sportsman late model series was decided in two doubleheader weekends with Bonn emerging on top. “This year the goal was to prove that we could win in a regular season,” he explains.
Although the anticipated Penticton event didn’t happen, the 2023 schedule still contained six races at four different BC speedways. Bonn started the season off the right way by timing in quickest at the Prince George track and taking the main. “That’s my home track,” he says, adding that his Wolverine Work Wear/White Spruce Enterprises #51 wasn’t too pretty at the finish. “It had no nose and no front fenders,” he states. “It didn’t handle too well by the end.”
At the Billy Barker Days twin 75s at Quesnel’s Goldpan Speedway, Jarret was quickest in time trials again and looked like he had the first 75 in the bag until a deflating right rear tire caused him to drift back to second with 15 to go. The second 75 was rained out.
The Len ‘Porky’ Jansen Memorial 125 at Agassiz attracted the largest field of any 2023 WESCAR race. Bonn likes the event – “good people, good track but tricky” – but it was likely his most difficult weekend of the season. “We don’t usually have mechanical problems,” he insists, but at Agassiz he holed the oil pan and had brake issues.
After timing in 5th, a major thrash got fixes made but nobody knew if they’d work. Early on, Bonn dropped back. “It took 40 laps to feel confident,” he admits. By race’s end, he was third behind Korbin Thomas and Gord Hemrich.
The season ended with a doubleheader at Williams Lake. After qualifying third, Bonn was second in his heat, but it all came together in the feature races with Bonn moving forward and taking the win both times.
Jarret intends to be even harder to beat next year. “I tend to go easy at the start,” he muses. “In 2024 I’ll be going harder, earlier to get out of my comfort zone.” He has a few other goals, like a stronger showing at the Canada 200 now held at Saratoga Speedway. “Our goal is to beat Korbin Thomas and Rory Smith and those guys.”
- By Robert K. Rooney
