Joey Payeur
Ignorance may be bliss, but at the Northwest Bay ice track on Saturday, Bliss was just another word for victorious.
Dave Bliss had no equal when it came to chalking up the wins during the radar run event, hosted at the ice oval north of Devlin for the second-straight weekend by Naitcatchewenin First Nation.
Bliss topped his rivals in four out of the six classes contested to dominate the day, with no other racer earning more than one division title.
In the 441-500 cc class, Bliss’ mark of 152.4 km/h (94.7 m.p.h.) easily outdistanced Jay Calder’s runner-up mark of 135.8 km/h (84.4 m.p.h.) while Bliss almost made it another double-digit victory in the Class 501-600 cc division by topping out at 158.4 km/h (98.4 m.p.h.) to leave Len Cournoyer well back in second at 143.1 km/h (88.9 m.p.h.)
Bliss’ toughest test came in the 601-700 cc class, where his speed of 162.9 km/h (101.2 m.p.h.) just nipped second-place Rick Mallory’s tally of 158.4 km/h (98.4 m.p.h.)
Bliss then made it four-for-four when he dashed to top spot in the 701-800 cc class with a mark of 169.6 km/h (105.4 m.p.h.) to finish ahead of Wayne Smith at 162.5 km/h (101 m.p.h.)
Ken Anderson, who was a winner the previous week, repeated his feat with a victory in the 801-and-up cc class with a maximum speed of 158.2 km/h (98.3 m.p.h.) to hold off Wes Smith in second at 155.9 km/h (96.9 m.p.h.)
Troy Belanger rounded out the list of radar run champions with his win in the 0-400 cc class as he posted a mark of 122.6 km/h (76.2 m.p.h.) to leave Andrew Trimble well back in second at 93.5 km/h (58.1 m.p.h.)
As for the drag racing portion of the day’s events, Darren Smith was double-tough in collecting a pair of victories in the 551-600 cc and 701-800 cc classes.
Other winners included Anderson (800-and-up cc), Belanger (0-400 cc), Shawn Hayes (601-700 cc), and Jay Calder (441-500 cc).
