(Roger Richards photo)

ROCK STAR

It is always fun being the center of attention – just ask Alcohol Funny Car driver Paul Noakes.

As a professional racecar driver racing in front of his home crowd this weekend, Noakes’ name has been on the tip of everyone’s tongue heading into this race. Appearing on television and radio stations and in dozens of newspapers across the area, Noakes’ showdown with Rob Atchison this weekend has garnered plenty of attention and has race fans thrilled about Saturday night’s showdown.

“I am not sure about being a local celebrity, but we do have a good following of race fans here in Canada. That is why the IHRA comes to Canada,” Noakes said. “There are a lot of fans that fill the stands that will sit through rain storms, snow storms and anything the weather throws at them.

“That makes it nice to have a bunch of people who really enjoy what I do.”

Noakes, a London, Ontario, native, will be competing in the King of Canada match race against fellow London driver Atchison Saturday night at the Grand Bend Motorplex as the two drivers, who have combined for 47 final round appearances three victories at Grand Bend over the years, try to earn Ontario bragging rights for the next year.

“This is my 22nd year of racing so I have got to know a lot of people by always saying hi and always signing autographs and that is what gives me a little bit of an advantage up here in this really fun match race,” Noakes said. “There are a lot of people that are going to be cheering us on this weekend.”

STILL RACING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

Fred Farndon is a name drag racing fans have been hearing for over 50 years.

The 70-year-old has been racing for years, everything from boats to Top Fuel dragsters, and is still going strong after decades behind the wheel.

So what keeps a man that should be sitting on a beach somewhere sipping tropical drinks racing in a 300-mph dragster?

“Just the people. You can’t find people like this in any other sport,” Farndon said. “Everybody helps each other out, it is like a big brotherhood and the IHRA has a platform that lets us race without being too uppity. My crew and the people out here are what keep me going.”

And Farndon showed he still has it during Friday’s opening round of qualifying with the second fastest lap of the evening at over 266 miles per hour, good enough to put him in fourth heading into the final day of qualifying.

“We had it set on mush, it was pretty soft. We just wanted to go down the track,” Farndon said.

Now he will try to hold off a hard charging crew behind him that includes the drivers who are currently second and third in points Del Cox and Bobby Lagana Jr. If his times hold, Farndon will qualify for his first IHRA race of the season in four tries.

“We want to go faster and quicker and hopefully we can do that later,” Farndon said.