Editor:
Ever since the sport of automotive drag racing evolved in California in 1949, it has been conducted on runways at small local strips or major international airports. This continues to be true across all Canadian provinces, as well as in the U.K., Scandinavia, Germany and the U.S.
Any owner or manager of an airport should be delighted to host occasional races. An airport and its affiliated businesses are by their nature isolated and out of sight, so to bring in 3,000 spectators with money in their jeans, and who come from a technical/industrial demographic, would be a phenomenal piece of marketing.
I saw the happy faces of businesses based at Abbotsford Airport when they hosted the Canadian Superbike races, and Abbotsford hosted drag races and circuit races as long ago as the 1950s.
Any sound business plan for a local airport should include its occasional use by community clubs that incidentally direct money into local charities, bursaries and school programs.
David Kipling, Gibsons
