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Friday night brought widespread rainfall and even snow to parts of town, delighting many ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ans. The wintry weather also set Saturday’s anticipated 9 a.m. start time back several hours.

Still, ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥â€™s junior racers were hard at work in the chilly early morning hours of the day. They bundled up in hats and coats as they readied their cars for the day’s races.

The opening day excitement was amplified by to the raised stakes for the more than two dozen racers ages 6 through 17. For the first time in the track’s history, fees for all the junior racers were covered by sponsors; prizes of $1,000 have been earmarked for the winner of each age group.

The trend began when local business owner Tony Luceri offered to sponsor 13-year-old Sarah Kidd’s racing fees for the season. Luceri put the challenge out to the rest of the dragway community, and dozens of friends, family members and businesses stepped up to do the same. The result: more sponsors than racers.

In addition to providing the $2,000 in prizes to the junior dragster champions, Tony Luceri and his brother Brian Luceri, of Hop’s Sports Grille, have also signed on to award $250 prizes to the winner of the junior street and high school racing divisions.

Several sponsors were in attendance Saturday morning to meet their racers and cheer them on during the day’s events.

Alan Sylvester of SMS Construction decided to sponsor a racer after one of his employees, Mark Pelkey, told him about what was happening at the track.

“Anything we can do to try to help out the kids,� Sylvester said, his 3ƒ-year-old son in tow.

Pelkey has raced at the dragway for the past three years, and was one of the first people to sign on to sponsor a junior dragster after he heard about Luceri’s challenge.

“This is a great track, great facility, great people. Everyone’s willing to help each other out,� Pelkey said.

“I race here every chance I get.�

The day after Pelkey signed on as a sponsor, he told his boss, Sylvester, about the efforts. Sylvester told Pelkey to sign him up. Saturday, he visited the track to meet his racer, Colton Sterling.

Pelkey is proud of his racer, Alyssa Moody, too.

“She was runner-up in Vegas last year,� Pelkey said. “She does pretty good — better than I do.�

Pelkey also convinced his crew chief to sponsor a racer, and after Sylvester signed on, his brother and partner in SMS Construction wanted in on the action.

Sponsor Craig Molling also races, getting into the sport two years ago. He’s sponsoring Moody’s brother, Westin, for the season.

“My dad used to drag race many, many years ago and I never got the chance to do anything with him. I realized that not every kid has an opportunity,� Molling said.

“I thought this would be a great chance for a kid to get into it, and if he’s doing it and continues doing it, he can eventually grow up to be one of our new racers.�

The dragway’s junior racers have years of collective experience between them, with many of them starting out at the track on big wheels. Drivers can be licensed at the track as young as 5, but can’t begin competing in the junior drag circuit until they turn 6.

Team manager Bill Kidd’s daughter, Sarah, got her start racing big wheels when she was 3.

“My sister was doing junior racing and my dad asked me when I was younger if I wanted to do it. I’ve been doing it ever since,� Sarah Kidd said. “The people are super nice, and everyone’s kind of a community.�

The 2018 and 2020 junior dragster champion for the ages 6-12 division, Sarah Kidd said she was excited to get back out to the track and see her friends again.

Fifteen-year-old Arami Slade was also happy to get back behind the wheel. Slade has been racing since she was 4 and also got her start on big wheels.

“I’m like the third generation. My grandparents, my parents and now it’s me and my sisters racing,� Slade said. “I love the feeling that you’re safe. You have people to lean back on and everybody’s going to be there for you no matter what happens, and no matter the weather.�

The dragway’s crew spent hours drying out the track Saturday, running a tractor and industrial blowers up and down the length of the strip over and over again as racers tinkered on their cars and huddled up inside their trailers and motorhomes.

Jace Renoll, 9, said he has been racing for “about a year or two,� taking up the sport after his dad and older brother.

“My brother started to race and I loved it, so I really wanted to race,� Renoll said.

While his favorite part about the sport is “going fast,� Renoll, who is sponsored by the dragway itself, is looking forward to this season for a whole different reason.

“I’m most excited about going out there and having fun,� Renoll said.

Saturday’s races ended around 9:30 p.m., more than 12 hours after most of the junior racers arrived at the track.

Sarah Kidd came out strong and won in the day’s junior street division, her first in the ages 13-17 group. She said before racing got underway that win or lose, she was just happy to be back at the track, with the extended family she’s come to love.

“Hopefully we get back to normal soon,� Slade said. “But as long as we’re out here spending quality time with each other — socially distanced — then we’re just having fun. It’s all about fun.�