You can bash his car, spin him out, push him away, but you can’t seem to keep Justin Price off the podium at Crash To Pass (C2P).
In the sport where destruction is the main element, as drivers thump each other to send them off the track or bust their ride, Price keeps surviving right to the end. He once crossed the finish line driving on only one tire and three rims, and he still came second.
At the 2023 Billy Barker Days C2P, he won for the fourth time in 11 total races dating back to when he was 17 years old. Even then as a rookie, he came seventh.
“That was the biggest one I’ve ever done,” he said. “I want to say there was 48 cars on the track at the same time. I was on the front line, and we were pushing the rear cars before they even knew the flag had dropped. That whole track was pretty much covered in cars.”
In 2023, it wasn’t much different. Well more than 30 cars were entered in what many consider the grand opening of each year’s Billy Barker Days festivities. The audience slope was loaded in people and the 50-50 raffle surpassed $15,000.
“Prince George and Williams Lake don’t get as many cars as we do, just because of how we do it here: you don’t get to fix your car, last man standing, it’s not just 100 laps,” Price said. “You’re putting on a show for people, keeping them entertained, not just driving around.”
Because of his mud bog focus, this year, he only decided on the Monday that he was going to race C2P on the Friday, causing a flurry of shop activity to ready his trusty 1977 Lincoln Town Car, that car’s fourth race, three of them for wins. He only had one other car prior to that.
“I just keep straightening them out, welding them back together, and keep going,” he said. He has some buddies who help get the car ready, and a lot of help from his dad.
“My parents did stock car racing when I was a kid,” Price explained. “My dad, mom, two uncles and cousin all raced here, Williams Lake, Prince George.”
He and his wife Bo both raced in the weekend’s mud bog races after the C2P event, she taking fourth place, extending that family tradition in auto racing. Price said several of the C2P drivers also took part in mud bogging.
“We try to support both clubs, the mud bog track and the stock car track, because if you don’t support them they could be a dying breed,” he said.
His C2P pit crew included Jeremy Johnson, Cal Mighton, Kurt Perison, and Rob Campbell. His sponsors included Richards Ranch, Royalite, Happy Tire, and Wild Acres Ranch.
Now, at age 32, he is considering taking the next step in the family tradition and racing stock cars.
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