For Father’s Day, we took Dave to Brighton Speedway to watch the school bus races.

The Brighton Speedway opened in 1967 and is still one of a handful of dirt track speedways in Canada, along with Brockville Speedway. Different classes of vehicles race on different nights. Last night it was four classes of modified Canadians race cars and of course, the big ticket, schoolbus races. It was a sold out crowd.

I’ve never been to a car race before so didn’t know what to expect. What we experienced was a night of mayhem, smash ‘em up excitement and “pay for your seat, only use the edge” thrills.

The first few races were six to eight small classes of modified Canadians. The cars lined up two by two, the starter waved the green flag and they were off. We estimated they were doing speeds of 80 miles an hour on the straights.

It was wild when they approached the corners. Unlike Nascar or Formula One races on pavement, on dirt tracks, drivers drift on the curves, so the car goes sideways, sometimes only on three wheels. It was crazy to watch.

During the qualifying rounds, one driver took the second turn too fast and did a double rollover right off the track.

For the modified Canadians feature race, 25 race cars lined up for a take-no prisoners finale. It was mayhem with the only breaks in the action happening when they the yellow caution flag was waved due to a disabled car on the track. One car caught fire, others spewed blue smoke from overtaxed engines and two cars became stuck after they rammed into each other. When they cut them loose, the crowd cheered.

Boys and girls waved checkered flags that lit up with lights, and Sasquatch the Jack Links jerky mascot, wandered through the crowd taking selfies with the fans.

After each final, they’d interview the driver. I liked that they always thanked the sponsors, since it’s an expensive sport and without the support of local businesses, most of these drivers wouldn’t be able to field a car. One guy in his remarks said, “Special thanks to my Mom for coming good for the new motor.”

The schoolbus races were insane. The buses were barely running old heaps of metal, some stripped bare of their seats, others with parts hanging off. Four or five conked out, narrowing the field to 16 for the ultimate finale.

There were times they took the corners three across with barely a foot between them. Our favourite was Bernie 66 who was fearless trying to pass, but who lost the race to a guy from Winnipeg who booked a week’s vacation just to fly to Brighton for the race.

Racing fans and drivers are diehard. Now I know why.

This week’s #HappyAct is to find a speedway near you and enjoy a night of mayhem. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

If you want to see the school bus races, mark your calendars for Saturday October 5 for their special Eve of Destruction event.