Baseline Dragway’s first season going well

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This article was published 02/08/2017 (3243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Baseline Dragway is the brainchild of local couple Henry Lepp and Bev Buck, and the Westman drag racing community’s labour of love.

After their first day open for business on October 15, 2016, Lepp began planning for a three-event 2017 season which included an opener on June 3 and 4, closer on September 23 and 24, and a memorial weekend for Bill Osadchuk.

“He was from Brandon, and he was an engine builder and a racer,” Lepp said. “An amazing friend, he passed away in 2015 from cancer.”

The memorial for Osadchuk took place on July 22 and 23, and welcomed hundreds of spectators out to the dragway just outside Rivers, to pay tribute to the late member of the racing community.

Lepp and another friend of Osadchuk raced against each other in his memory, and a moment of silence was observed after the cars were positioned at the starting line. The two friends both drove cars that Osadchuk helped build.

Buck described the atmosphere as “very emotional.”

“We really miss him every time we race here because this was his dream as well,” Lepp said.

According to Lepp, Osadchuk’s memorial had a turnout of 89 cars that entered to race, in addition to the approximate 300 spectators on the first day of the event. The next day welcomed 69 cars and 450 spectators.

Baseline Dragway was able to make a $1,000 donation to the palliative care unit at the Assiniboine Centre at the Brandon Regional Healthy Centre from the funds raised at the memorial.

“Bill was here looking out for us and making sure everything went smoothly,” Lepp said.

Lepp, who has over 40 years experience racing, decided last summer to start building a track.

“When I was 14, I bought a book on stock-body drag racing,” Lepp said. “I bought the car they had in the book, and started racing.”

Buck started out as Lepp’s pit crew, but was quickly compelled to get behind the wheel herself.

“We went from 38th place in the point standings to eighth place with me in the driver’s seat,” Buck said.

She got her practice in at the Interlake Dragway in Gimli in 2015.

Both Lepp and Buck said they were thrilled about the enthusiasm that the community has shown over their inaugural season. One way the people showed their support was by donating time, which led to the work needed to implement the track only taking about two months to complete.

“A lot of our friends came out to volunteer, but even strangers,” Buck said. “Stranger who became friends.”

Since creating a fence out of livestock panel, a guard lining the track out of railway ties and making use of water towers salvaged from a junkyard, Baseline Dragway is made almost entirely out of reused material.

Lepp said they used a cut in the runway left behind after a waterline was implemented, as the spot to put the conduit for the starting line.

Even the stands were made personally by Lepp, Buck and a pair of volunteers.

“We had so many people that we were able to build a mile of fence in one hour,” Buck said. “We have about 30 volunteers … we put people up in our house because we’re just so happy to have them.”

In addition to the folks who helped with making the track itself come to life, a large number of volunteers are required to make race days efficient and successful.

Information technology, water, starting line, track cleaning, car wrangling, admissions and pit crew are all areas that need to be stocked with volunteers for race days to go according to plan.

Lepp and Buck don’t think they’ll have any trouble finding helping hands when Baseline Dragway brings its 2017 season to a close next month.

“It’s incredible to see the community come together,” Buck said. “To help up make people’s dreams come true.”

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