That old line about things “looking up,” is a universal commentary on the normal course of affairs when the Hawaii Drag Racing League fires the engines at the track outside of Hilo, as it did again over Memorial Day Weekend.
In this case, the gazes are often skyward, checking out those clouds, especially the dark ones that can wipe out a day or a whole weekend of racing.
It’s more than a little frustrating when it happens, because on the Big Island, these competitors are self-funded, often self-trained and almost always their own mechanics. At any time when one of the monthly events is scheduled, a percentage of drivers aren’t able to get ready to race for the inability to repair the car from its last breakdown, and that makes it tough when you do get ready to race only to be rained out.
Keith Aguiar, he owner and operator of the HDRL, kept looking up last Saturday, wondering, hoping the weather would hold.
“It doesn’t look great,” he said, “but it’s not raining yet, we plan to go.”
Aguiar, a fixture at the track for more than 30 years — he’s in a large group with that sort of history — said rain can wash away “maybe 30 or 40 percent,” of the scheduled events at the track, but last weekend they had two full days of racing, despite the second day being delayed at the start for several hours.
“It gets in our blood, I guess,” said Buddy Loeffler, who has been racing for 30 years at the track. “Good friend of mine, Gary Mizuno, brought me out here once about 30-some years ago and I’ve been coming back ever since.”
These days, Loeffler runs the car he bought from Mizuno, who passed a couple of years ago.
“You have to be a little bit crazy to do this,” Loeffler said. “The maintenance never ends, and oh yeah, the faster you go? The more it costs, the more maintenance you’ll be doing.”
There was a time Loeffler wanted to run faster than anyone and he raced in the 7.30-second range at times, until Nov. 12, 2014 when he was in a lighter car that got air under it, lifted and crashed. He had a cracked rib, fractured a bone and was rushed to the hospital. Following that incident, his wife. Carolyn, said that was enough.
“She was right,” he said. “I race slower now, but it’s just as much fun.”
Birthday Blast
It may not be everyone’s idea of a birthday celebration, but for Lee Collins Otani, it makes perfect sense that she would celebrate her 65th birthday Saturday by competing in the grueling Honu Triathlon, now know as the Hawaii 70.3.
She will enter one last time after starting 15 of them, with 11 official finishes, which is a bit misleading. Competitors like her almost always finish what they start but rules in many of these events have a cutoff time after which results are not counted.
That doesn’t make much sense, because women compete at a different level and by what logic would a 65-year-old be held to the same standard as a 25-year-old? Still, she’s back for one more.
“I’ve always been a swimmer, I love to swim,” she said. “I got my first tri-bike in 2004 and that’s when I started in on the triathlons. Yeah, I started at 50.”
Why not? She has always been active and will maintain her weekly workouts, which define an impressive dedication to physical exercise.
Each week she bikes three days at 60-90 minutes each with a longer one to Honokaa and back on Sunday. She swims 3,000 meters three times a week and she runs 60-90 minutes three times a week.
Just for good measure, she hits the gym once a week and works the weights.
She said she will still run occasional triathlons and marathons, but this will be the last Hawaii 70.3.
All the rest of it, the daily workouts? No change there.
“It keeps me busy,” she said.
Saturday Night Fights
The first of what is hoped to be a continuing series of amateur boxing cards in Hilo takes place Saturday night at Panaewa Park when the Hawaii International Boxing Club joins with Hi-PAL (Hawaii Police Activities League) to stage its initial event, scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
It’s a 12-bout card, sanctioned by USA Boxing that includes 9 year-olds at the 67-pound and 87-pound weight class, up to 15 year-olds boxing at 145 pounds.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” said Kia Abraham, matchmaker for the event. “It took some time to get the right matchups, but I’m confident we did it and that this will be a great show for the public.”
HI-PAL had been involved in amateur boxing on the Big Island in the past, and this is their reintroduction to the sport, in conjunction with HIBC, which, under various leaders, has been invested in the sport here for decades.
Abraham said HIBC includes “more than 25 boxers,” while pointing out that some are adults and some train only occasionally, but she is hopeful the associations with HI-PAL will energize the community toward a greater involvement.
“We are focusing all of this on 17-and-under age groups,” she said. “If we can generate the right age groups, experience levels and weight classes, we’d like to do this once a month, if we can, or at least every other month.”
Admission is free. Six different clubs will be included in the card.
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