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A photo finish at the Pintwood Derby in 2015. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)

With equal parts beer and friendly competition, hundreds of people raced to be crowned champion Saturday evening in Long Ireland’s first-ever Pintwood Derby.

Long Ireland co-owner Dan Burke said the festival came about on the suggestion from one of his employees, and he stressed the 21-and-older event was “for adults to have a good time.”

“It’s another opportunity to build camaraderie,” he said.

More than 100 participants registered in advance. With day-of entrants, Burke expected that number to swell to hundreds more.

The competition was broken up into two classes: a five-ounce maximum division and an “outlaw” division in which anything goes (save for rocket boosters). Each car raced four times, once on each of the tracks. The fastest time in each division determined the winner.

Organizers were serious about determining exactly the fastest time. They set up a high-tech finish line equipped with optic-beam technology that measures times to 1/1,000th of a second.

A win in either division yielded a trophy, a $250 cash prize and — perhaps most important — “bragging rights.”

Since the derby was held at a brewery, beer had to play a role in the event. When Burke was asked about it?

“How does beer not factor into it?” he said.

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