A local business owner and his family recently competed in the Miles Of Mayhem competition, which saw racers competing in several Prairie communities.
Chris Jervis owner of Crucial Diesel, his wife, Malissa, and their two sons, Gage, 8, and Jace, 6, took part in the Aug. 14 to 19 tour which included Medicine Hat, Saskatoon, Forestburg, Rimbey and back to Medicine Hat, all while driving their race vehicles to each destination.
“It’s an amazing event,” said Jervis, who also competed last year. At each track, racers complete their drag race and then they’re given a route map to the next track. The map includes places the racers must stop along the way and snap a photo, to prove they went.
“The organizers have done an amazing job and they’ve done a lot of research for how to run this efficiently and effectively.”
Although he does have a street-racing vehicle he uses, Jervis raced his 2007 F350 for Miles Of Mayhem.
“When I did this last year, I sent my wife photos and she felt like she was missing out,” said Jervis, adding that his wifeMalissa wanted to join him for the competition this year.
“And then my kids started doing junior dragsters this year, so they wanted to come too. We needed four doors, so that’s where the truck comes in,” he explained.
“It was pretty funny. They were definitely the youngest kids to compete in Miles Of Mayhem,” Jervis recalled. “They helped change tires and grab tools for people.”
Jervis ran his truck in the SUV class and came in ninth place out of 12 racers.
“That was our goal – to go and not come in last,” he said. “We knew we weren’t bringing a truck that was competitive. We were not last and the kids had a blast, so that’s what it was really about.”
Jervis said he and his family will definitely be competing again next year.
Miles Of Mayhem sold out in the first hour-and-a-half that the registration was open – 160 competitors. For the event, 140 of the 160 registrants came out and only 104 finished the competition.
“It’s definitely an awesome event,” said Jervis. “You do see lots of regular street vehicles – modern Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers. I met a guy there with a brand-new Corvette, never raced before, and he had the best time. And it can be a family event, as we’ve shown. It would be great to see more people come out.”
Jervis said it’s been his dream to compete in this type of race, such as Drag Week or Rocky Mountain Race Week in the US. Unfortunately, being on this side of the border and travelling to and staying in the US makes the trip expensive.
“As soon as there was a Canadian version, we were bound and determined to go,” he said.