It’s not often that the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue’s Auto Extrication team is called in to help flip a car over at the speedway, but you're sure to see members of Auto Ex there watching the races.
That’s no surprise when you meet members such as Wayland Bennett, a captain with the team who grew up around cars and has done his fair bit of racing.
“Oh, I love racing,” Bennett said as he recalled the days when he was in his high school drag club, racing as fast as he could.
Corey Price, who joined the Auto Ex team last fall, has raced at Thunder Mountain since 1994 and is Crew Chief for the WESCAR Late Model team. When asked what he likes about racing, Price said “the fun, the thrill...trying to make something mechanical do something that really it shouldn’t.”
The CCSAR chief himself, Rick White, has been involved in racing too, and was president of the Lake Auto Racing Club the year before Thunder Mountain Speedway was built in the 1990s.
Along with watching the races, members of the Auto Ex team will also be manning an information booth where they hope to connect with the community and maybe even pick up a few volunteers along the way.
“It’s a real family atmosphere, it’s great, I recommend anybody to come down and check out what we do,” Bennett said.
Just about every member of the team is sure to bring up the ‘family’ aspect of the Auto Ex team.
“It’s not just a community; it feels like I’ve been embedded into a family," said Sierra Van Diest, a junior member who joined in October 2024. Both she and Steven Campbell, who has been on the team for five years, said they recall seeing themselves in the first responder role from a very young age.
“I want to be that person, I want to be inside that truck, not on the outside,” said Van Diest as she recounted what her thoughts were whenever she’d see ambulances or search and rescue vehicles growing up.
The opportunity to join Auto Ex was presented to Campbell when he toured the CCSAR hall as a cadet.
“I applied, got in and loved it ever since."
Every member has a different story which led them to the Auto Ex team, but not one of them will fail to mention their desire to help people.
“I love it...I really love helping people,” said Krista Harvey, assistant chief of the Auto Ex unit.
Neil Sukert, who was a firefighter before he moved to Williams Lake and joined CCSAR's land and auto teams, said he does it because he wants to give back to the community.
“You’re at your lowest when we’re needed, and to be there and give our all to try and help that person is just...you can’t pay for that,” said Campbell.
And it’s never too late to start helping people either.
“It got me out of my comfort zone,” said Kelly Beaugrand who has been a member of Auto Ex for over two years now.
“I joined in my 40s not realizing what I was still capable of.”
When asked what she’s learned about herself since joining, Beaugrand said “strong mind, strong body (and) that I have a big family I never knew about.”
"I’m just thankful for my CCSAR family...everybody should try something out of their comfort zone because you’ll really surprise yourself.”
