GLENHOLME - There's just something about trucks in the dirt that brings people out of the woodwork.
In spite of rain threatening all weekend, more than 1,000 spectators and 80 entries from across the Maritimes flocked to Glenholme on the weekend as the Nova Scotia Off Road Racing Series made its annual stop at the Colchester County Off Road Racers' (CCORR) gravel pit.
"The guys are crazy behind the wheel. It's just good entertainment," Jarrett Barclay, CCORR president, said. "Where can you see stuff with 1,000 horsepower driving around a track? Rain or shine, it doesn't make any difference, people come to watch."
People like Onslow resident Matt Ryan, who has been attending the event since it started in 2010.
"It's the mudslinging and the noise," Ryan said above the sound of a racer tearing past a bank filled with spectators. "And the kids just love it."
After several years of subjected himself to such fast-paced, ear-pleasing action, Ryan has been bitten by the racing bug and is hoping to soon be behind the wheel of his own machine.
"I want to get my own truck," he said. "I've been wanting to for a while, my whole life. Watching these guys rip around just makes me want to get out there more."
The two-day event featured 4x4 drag racing on Saturday with a car race to end the day on a figure-eight track, while Sunday saw the trucks compete in timed runs around a course.
Trucks are placed in classes depending on the amount and types of modifications made by the drivers ranging from stock to full race machines.
Drivers compete for points at each of the season's 10 events which go toward a championship for each class at the end of the season. The weekend's race was the second on the calendar.
The sport has a loyal following and Barclay, a racer himself for the past 10 years, knows exactly why.
"I've done a lot of other racing and there is nothing that turns your crank more than this, the 33-year-old Debert resident said. "You're shaking when you get out of the truck and everybody is the same. The adrenaline is a huge part of it."
Barclay said seeking that fix is what keeps both fans and racers coming back and is why the club plans to keep hosting the event.
"I want to keep it going. I like that it's local and we don't have to travel far," said Barclay, who travels to the other stops across the Maritimes throughout the rest of the season.
sports@trurodaily.com
