Rubber hits the road over Street Machine Weekend

By Justin Seward - Lethbridge Herald on July 12, 2022.

Herald photo by Justin Seward Heinz Klassen burns through a cloud of smoke with his 1979 AMX during the Street Wheelers 100 Foot Dash Saturday at the Exhibition Grandstand.

Whether it was engines revving or tires smoking, several cars put on a show at the 100 Foot Dash during the Street Machine Weekend at the Exhibition Grandstand.
Street Wheelers focuses on hosting safe events for car enthusiasts throughout the year and this weekend kicked off with a drive-in movie on Thursday, a cruise on Friday, the dash on Saturday and wrapped up with the car show at Galt Gardens on Sunday.
“The atmosphere is just amazing,” said Dean Parker, Street Wheelers treasurer.
“You get the loud cars, the burnout smoke. It’s just amazing – the stands completely fill up and it’s just an amazing atmosphere every year. It just amazes me every time and definitely appreciate the support of everybody and we always put on a good show and that’s partly due to the racers that come out and race. They bring some amazing cars and it’s always a great time.”
Cars that hit the strip included anything from stock to fully modified.
“A little bit of everything for everybody – import, domestic,” he said.
“And then the car show and the cars that you see cruising around, you see everything. You see lifted trucks, you see lowered cars, hot rods.”
The annual weekend gathers car and truck enthusiasts together to have fun with their vehicles.
“It means a lot,” said Parker.
“It’s time for us to get together with our car friends and show the community what we’re all about and just have a good time and put on a good show for the community. People coming together and coming out to the events and just supporting everybody around town.”
What the weekend meant as well was for the not-for-profit car club to raise funds for the causes they support in the community.
“These events help us to put on events in the future and to donate to causes in the community as well,” said Parker.
The weekend attracted cars from B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the United States.
“Just seeing all the cars out on Friday night, we consider that a success already,” said Parker.