Darren Perpelkin was a well-known member of the racing circuit in the area, until he passed away suddenly on November 4th, 2020.
George Musqua of Team Musqua racing, and Darren’s best friend of 36 years, decided it was important to honour his memory. On August 15th, 2021, George held a memorial event with $2000 of prize money going home to the winners.
Darren Perpelkin was more than a friend to George, he was also his pitboss. Talking about the event, Musqua stated, “This is for my best friend of 36 years who was also my pitboss; which means everything I’ve done in automotive sports, racing, demolition derbies, tough trucks, monster trucks and stock cars…he was with me for just about every single race.”
Darren was very devoted to the racing and the comradery that comes with it. George Musqua explained that, “He took care of our entire team including my daughter’s car, my son’s truck, my wife’s car and my car; he was our pitboss and he was my best friend.”
Darren passed away on November 4th and to this day there is still uncertainty about the cause; he had just turned 46 years old prior to his passing. He was well-known on all the racetracks and stock car racing circuits too.
To fundraise for the prize money goal of $2000, George held two big Raffles; one for a TV and one for a liquidation package.
The Darren Perpelkin Memorial Race consisted of 8 laps per class with each class receiving a winner-take-all amount of $540 per class of car from the five classes of cars. The five classes included ministock, pro 4, hobbystock, street and b-mods. George added that there were many cars coming out from Western Canada. Racers from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba were to compete in the event.
Next year, Musqua is aiming to move the race to Swan River, which is the traditional home racetrack for Darren. He mentioned their team travelled to locations in multiple provinces to compete, and he finds that the members who compete in the circuit are always there to help each other. George said, “You not only compete against each other, but we’re always here to help each other also.” George told a story about how one car rolled at the weekend’s event and they had it back racing in no-time. “Basically every team that was here helped to get his car back. He had his car running for the next heat.”
George told another story about how he blew an engine at the Yellowhead International Speedway Invitational years ago. He had enough guys from different teams help him get an engine, and by the next day he was back racing by the afternoon. George, Darren Perpelkin and others changed the engine to be ready for the next day’s races.
Darren’s family attended the memorial event to honour him. Mother, Mary; sister, Cindy; brother Randy attended the event. Musqua added it was important that the family attended the event, and that they were there when the prize money was awarded to the winners
George mentioned to look at the Yellowhead International Raceway Facebook page and the Swan River Racing Facebook page to see photos, videos and more information.
( musquag@gmail.com is George’s email if you would like to contact him for further information)