ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022 | SPORTS | A5
Texas stock car driver makes surprise stop in Taylor Dave Lueneberg sports@ahnfsj.ca For any athlete, it really doesn’t matter where you are, even if it’s in a foreign country, you just want to compete. Stock car drivers, it turns out, aren’t any different. Take, for example, A.J. Dancer from Austin, Texas. The 48-year-old and his wife, Brenda, decided to travel from the Lone Star state 85 hours north to Fairbanks, Alaska. “It’s the northern-most dirt track in world,” said Dancer. “We saw it on TV and looked like something to do.” So, the couple packed up the camper and race car trailer and headed north. While A.J. (Aaron James) does all the driving both on and off the track, it’s really Brenda who’s the real race nut. “She did all the planning and honestly if I would have paid attention that it was 85 hours to Fairbanks, I might not have done it,” he joked. It took nine days and up to 12 hours of driving each day to get to their polar destination. Described as part of a “normal” vacation, it’s clear that, for both, racing is embedded in their blood. So much so the pair couldn’t resist stopping by the Taylor Speedway July 16 on their way back to Texas. “So, we’re travelling and we passed by this one and saw it would be about the time that we’d be coming back. We
were talking about going to see other national parks, but we’d rather race,” said Dancer, who’s an Austin sheriff, when he’s not on the track. “Me and wife, that’s all we do. That’s why we went to Alaska. We’re combining it with normal holidays,” he added. The long-time stock car driver has raced almost all over the lower 48, before his trip north. “We’ve ran just about everywhere...Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and, of course, Texas.” Dancer has raced once before in Canada, in Estevan, Sask. He can now add Taylor, B.C. to that list. Track vice-president and IMCA modifieds driver Johnny Beaumont called the surprise visit “fantastic.” “I think it’s incredible that he even heard about us. They saw the (highway) sign. They looked the track up. Followed the Facebook page and watched the races on Friday on their phone and showed up here to run some laps.” “It was great that they even took the time to think about us. Going almost from the furthest north track to the furthest south track,” said Beaumont. And, just like anyone who travels on vacation, the Dancers were able to pick up a souvenir to remind them of their trip to Taylor – a trophy for winning Saturday night’s sports/bomber class main event.
TAYLOR SPEEDWAY/DAVE LUENEBERG PHOTOS
Texas stock car driver A.J. Dancer stopped by the Taylor Speedway July 17 on a trip back from Alaska. He won both his heats and the main event race in the Sports/Bombers class.
Local cowboys compete at Calgary Stampede Dave Lueneberg sports@ahnfsj.ca The annual Calgary Stampede is over for another year, but not before three cowboys with North Peace connections made appearances over the 10 days. Steer wrestler Stephen Culling had the best success among the three taking home $6000. Culling opened on
July 8 with a secondplace ($4500) finish of 4.4 seconds, but broke the barrier a day later to finish with a penalized time of 14-point-4. July 10 saw a way better result of 4.8 seconds, but the sixth-place showing put him just out of the money. A fifth-place result, though, on the Monday of 4.5 seconds gave him the
remaining $1500 in earnings, qualifying him for Wildcard Saturday. The prize: one of two spots in the championship Sunday, however, his time of 6-and-5 wouldn’t be enough placing him in the number 6 position and ending his run. Bull rider Jake Gardner, a last-minute replacement for July 12-15 section of the rodeo, earned $5500 after a
successful first-place 84.5 point ride July 14 on board Bad Chute Crazy. He was bucked off the two days before and the ride that followed. And, Charlie Lake’s Tyrel Roberts wound up in second-place overall in the Novice Saddle Bronc event July 11 and 12. Roberts had rides of 64 and 68 for third and firstplace finishes, respectively.
“It’s a lot of fun here. Had a great time,” he said July 12 after completing his two rides. “These novice kids are pretty good. Everybody here is a good rider. They can spur their broncs really good.” For Roberts, it was his second time to the Stampede, in novice saddle broncs, after his debut in 2019.
ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS
THURSDAY, JULY 21, 2022 | PEOPLE’S CHOICE | A11