The Chatelech drag racing team was forced to drop out of a race last weekend after an attempt was made to hotwire the team’s 1992 Ford Ranger.
Coach Brenda Masich said she discovered the truck was vandalized July 12 while in the locked compound by the auto shop at Chatelech Secondary School.
“I unlocked the lock, walked in and found the passenger-side door wide open,” said Masich, who was there to prepare the truck to be towed to the Sechelt Airport for the race the next day. “I noticed the hood was up, so my first thought was, why did the other shop teacher have to move the truck?”
She noticed the driver’s door was ajar and that the power switch was on near the rear bumper. She turned it off, walked back to the cab and sat down in the driver’s seat.
That’s when she put it all together. “I realized they had used the tools from the toolbox that was in the truck to go to the race track to break the ignition tumbler.”
“So then I went, ‘Ah, I guess we’re not going to be racing tomorrow.’”
She reported the incident to the RCMP, who arrived on scene to dust for finger prints. No arrests have been made.
“I think it’s pretty interesting that somebody would try to steal that truck because it’s a five-step process to even get it started,” said Masich, adding that the back tires are 10-inch slick tires, the truck is covered in decals and isn’t street legal.
“It would have been interesting to know what they were thinking about how they were even going to get it out of there.”
“We were all very sad – the truck has taken us to Boise, Idaho last year,” she said, referencing the team’s participation in last year’s national competition.
“There’s a lot of volunteer time by myself and other members that goes into that truck so it was very disappointing.”
The next big race is Aug. 11 – the 20th anniversary race for the Sunshine Coast Racing Association – and Masich is confident the truck will be fixed in time. More assessment of the damage is required, but they expect to be able to borrow parts from a donor truck.
