Snowbirds edge out defending champs Greyback Construction in 2019 Peach Bin Races

Snowbird 2 captain Sarah Dallaire called it "amazing." She joked that they'd spent weeks preparing, and felt fortunate that "the town was behind us like they were. They actually painted the kart for us."

Dallaire's Snowbird team had just emerged victorious in the 4th annual Penticton Peach Bin Races, held early this afternoon in the 100 block of Main Street. The event is considered the unofficial kickoff to the Peach Festival.

Tonight at 6 p.m., the Snowbirds will perform in the skies over the south shore of Okanagan Lake. But Dallaire and her team were feeling their afternoon triumph. They'd edged out defending champion Greyback Construction Hammerheads in a closely-contested finale.

Dallaire played the role of driver, sitting in the kart and filming the event with her phone. "Unfortunately," she said, "I wasn't pushing. So it was hard for me to sit there and pretend to steer. But these guys did an amazing job."

Dallaire also confirmed an event-related injury. "We lost one guy initially because he strained both quads in the first race. So he's been putting ice on it ever since. He'll be good tonight."

For Greyback, the runner-up position wasn't nearly as sweet. "Yeah, it's super heartbreaking," laughed Greyback's Byron Burgart. "We've won this two years in a row, so it was bound to happen eventually."

"It was a little rough in the corners today," he said.

The 2019 Peach Festival is underway at Rotary Park, where musicians and performers are doing their thing and food trucks and vendors are open.

The Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawks Parachute Team will descend into the park at 5 p.m., Dallaire and the rest of the Snowbirds will go all aerobatic at 6 p.m., and the Crash Test Dummies hit the Peter Bros Construction stage at 9:30 p.m.