Peter Seifert has been ice racing in Lac La Biche for the past several years, and has been dirt-track racing for even longer than that, but on July 21 he will take to the track in Edmonton in his first ever Indy cup race.
Peter Seifert has been ice racing in Lac La Biche for the past several years, and has been dirt-track racing for even longer than that, but on July 21 he will take to the track in Edmonton in his first ever Indy cup race.
“I’ m really looking forward to it, I have studied quite a few videos and feel pretty prepared,” Seifert said.
He’ ll be racing in the undercard races at the Molson Indy in the highest class of Eurasia GT Invitational Series, featuring cars with NASCAR styling that top out at 270 kilometres per hour. Seifert will be driving a NASCAR-style sports car with a 650-horsepower engine owned by Lac La Biche racing icon Ken Staples, who injured himself at a race in Spokane earlier this year.
By Staples account, the Honda Civic he was racing around on an oval track during the night night-time portion of a 24-hour endurance race got loose in a corner, hit a wall and launched 100 feet off the track. Staples said the headlights went out as soon as he hit the wall, leaving him flying through the air for what felt like minutes in complete darkness. The car eventually crashed to the ground hood-first. The force of the impact drove the steering wheel column down two inches and stretched out the webbing of his five-point safety harness by the same distance. Staples said the radio equipment that had been inside the car was found by track officials 100 feet from the car.
The crash left Staples with a slight concussion, a broken rib and a broken thumb all but eliminating his chances to race in Edmonton.
“I love racing in Edmonton, but I have full confidence in Peter, he is a great racer and he’ ll do really well,” Staples said.
The two have known each other for more than 20 years, often participating in ice races and dirt track races throughout the calendar year. Seifert was a multi-time champion of the charity ice race at the annual Winter Festival of Speed before officially joining the ice racing league last year. He also participated with Staples at the infamous Spokane race that caused the horrific crash.
“I was with Ken in Spokane, it’ s always tough to see a friend go through something like that, we’ re all just thankful it wasn’ t anything more serious,” Seifert said.
The Eurasia Invitational will take place on July 21 at 6 p.m. at the Edmonton City Centre Airport race track. Seifert will join fellow Lac La Biche racer Brad Musat in the quest for a podium finish.
“It’ s going to be a lot of fun, and I’ m sure I’ ll have some pre-race jitters, but this is a chance of a lifetime,” Seifert said.
