Drag racers roar down the runway in Sisters

Roaring craft of a different nature flew down the runway at Sisters Airport on Saturday: those of the wingless variety.

In its annual summer drag racing invitational, a select group of horsepower-hungry friends gathered for the traditional rite of blasting down the tarmac in a torque-busting contest of speed and power. Hot rods and muscle cars from the heyday of American automobile manufacturing arrived from all compass points to participate in a day of car rodeo games and tests of skill.

"This is a no-name, no-organization, no-dues club that comes out every year to have fun," said organizer Gil Schmidt before jumping into his steel gray Cobra roadster. "We're just a group of guys who love cars and have lunch every Wednesday and try to solve the world's problems. Ed Johnson started this get-together seven or eight years ago. His wife is ill right now, so I took over. We call it the 'Hoedown, Showdown and Chowdown.'"

Ray Powers and wife Katie came out to participate, and cheered on the cars from the sidelines. Ray Powers' red '32 Ford five-window coupe was resting at home.

"It's in the shop right now, and I go out and start it up once a month," he said. "We bought it in 1987, and it was a basket case. Got it all up and running in 1992. We call it Mr. Briggs because it was one of the cars contracted out to Briggs Manufacturing to help Henry Ford keep up with production. They're pretty rare."

Besides the old-fashioned, side-by-side sprints pitting coupes versus convertibles and Ford pickups against pearl-coated Pontiacs, the event featured some crazy games to challenge even the most fearless of racers.

In "Pylon," contestants must circle a course of orange cones while a passenger hangs onto a length of rope, with the winner clocking the best time without being penalized for crushing a cone.

Certainly registering as the strangest way to land a whopper, the object of the "Fish Toss" was to catch a stuffed toy bass hurled from the window of a speeding car in a fishing net without stepping out of bounds - a task much harder than it sounds.

Gene Lind drove out from Redmond in his 1967 Chevy El Camino and sat watching the festivities.

"I've been a car guy since I was 16," he said. "This is a great social thing and done strictly for fun. I bought that car in 1969 and it's been stolen, stripped and all put back together."

Jack Walsh parked his '35 Ford pickup and got ready for a spin down the airport runway.

"My grandfather purchased the vehicle in 1942 and used it on his wheat ranch," he said. "I restored it 20 years ago and have had it ever since. Its days of hauling cow manure are long gone."