Hi everybody!!!

Here is the brief (well, not so brief!) news from the fantastic 33^rd ‘Hot Rod Drags’ on 17^th – 19^th September, at Santa Pod. An excellent event where we ended up lucky with the weather on Friday and Saturday and half of Sunday!!

This event was Wild Bunch Series Round 4, Spirit of Nostalgia Series Round 7 and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 3 (Final). The Wild Bunch had an excellent total of 30 teams present at the event: 11 altereds, 15 slingshots, 2 rear-engined dragsters and 2 funny cars, with 2 British Drag Racing Hall of Fame members amongst them tuning their cars which their sons drove! It’s an honour to race with you gentlemen! On Saturday 27 of the teams ran and 20 participated in the rounds on Sunday:

• Phil James in ‘Rampage’ (had some initial issues with the gearbox but overcame these to run well, and in fact quicker than expected; wife Anna was once again great support on the crew who all worked hard as always; Phil finished just outside the trophies in 5^th place!)
• Pete & Rob Brown in ‘Rebel’ (a great performance by the lads in the mid 8’s at over 150mph throughout the weekend, and very consistent to take another brilliant win, their 3^rd of the year!!)
• Mark Coulsell in ‘Ballbreaker’ (fantastic runs of 8.11, 8.10, 8.11, 8.15 & 8.17, with all of them being over 160mph, including being fastest of the Bunch!! Just spectacular performance!! A great 3^rd place finish too!! Well done to the whole team!)
• Lee Hartnell in ‘Dazed and Confused’ (absolutely brilliant to see Lee making all 5 runs this weekend, with 3 strong PB’s and finishing 7^th after all of his and Mark’s hard work this season! A very well deserved great performance!! Well done team!!!)
• ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell in ‘Backdraft’ (brilliant to see Chris back out really enjoying his wild wheelies, and a fab 8.86/149 in Round 1 to boot! Great to match up against son Lee in most rounds, and to have the grandkids share the weekend too! Loving the father and son silver suit appearance too!! A fantastic show as always!!)(Many thanks to Jamie Faulkner for his help crewing for Chris and Lee! Great to have you on board!)
• Wayne Colliver in ‘Misfit’ (brilliant to see more PB’s in the low 9’s over 140mph from this really beautiful car and hardworking team!! A real credit to them all!)
• Rob & Pete Brown in ‘Wrathchild’ (solid weekend for the boys with great burnouts, great match racing and great crewing from Hayley, Natalie, George & Julie on both cars; and a 6^th place finish to boot!)
• Bradley Cooper in ‘Back from the Past’ (fantastic to see Bradley run another PB, tuned by Hall of Famer Dad Ken; real shame about the brake problems which kept them from running Sunday, but a great event for them nonetheless! There was a special moment Saturday when Bradley and newcomer Rich matched up in the cars Ken had built around 9 years ago and 45 years ago! Some amazing feat there!! What a moment and a great thrill for both teams!!)
• Gary Atkinson in ‘Time Lock’ (really strong runs for Gary in the mid 9’s, and the team were enjoying the event; but a great shame about the breakage which put them out of Sunday’s running! The team have a great plan for next season! So watch this space!)
• Bobby Wright in the ‘Alturd’ (Bobby made some great runs throughout the weekend with several in the RWYB sections, but after the rain delay Sunday had to leave for the long trip home; hope to see Bobby out more often next season!)
• Kev Whiting in ‘Tip Top’ (more strong runs from Kev Friday and Saturday, and he and Judy enjoyed their racing, but again, the rain delay meant they had to make an early departure from the event; hope to see you running strong again next season!)
• Alan Lloyd in ‘Gonzo the Great’ (fantastic to see Alan running back in the 7’s again, ably tuned by Hall of Famer Dad Ian! Great launches and a really strong performance to finish in 2^nd place! Plus the beautiful NSRA quickest award, well deserved!)
• Callum Swinchatt in ‘Kings N/W’ altered (some fab high 8-second runs for Callum throughout the weekend in his period perfect immaculately turned out altered and its great burnouts and launches!)
• Russ Heaven in ‘Tight Fit’ (Russ made the 1000mile+ trip by motorbike from Spain to race at the event; unfortunately the car suffered diff damage on the Friday and despite exhaustive efforts to find spares the team were unable to fix this at the event! What a huge shame for Russ and the team after all their successes this year! Better luck next year guys!!)
• Alan ‘Skippy’ Skipp in ‘Chasin’ Time’ (Skippy was out for only his 2^nd event of the season with his beautiful slingshot and improved throughout with some fab 9-second passes! Well done Skippy!)
• Matt Hollins in ‘Cheap Thrills’ (Matt was in only his 2^nd event of the year with the car and is improving all the time! He finished in 9^th. Well done Matt, great show!)
• Andy Jackson in ‘Hammerman 2’ (great to see Andy and Karen back out, but sadly the car suffered some damage over the weekend and he could not run! Such a huge shame! We are sure the team’s perseverance will pay off next season though!! Best of luck folks!)
• Warren Rowlands in ‘Destiny’s Angel’ (awesome to see Warren back out with the altered for the first time in several years, and running in tribute to his much missed Dad Dave; great to see Angie back out crewing; huge well done to Warren and all the people who helped get the car and engine rebuilt and back out in time for the event to make some very special passes in honour of Dave, who we are all sure would be beyond proud! Especially of that first 8-second pass!! This rightly earned him the Outstanding performance spot prize! Some slight issues prevented Warren from making both passes Sunday, but the team are planning to be back in force next season! Hooray!)
• Andy Clifford in ‘Snake Eyes’ (Andy made a couple of great passes during the weekend and sounded really strong! He put on a great show in the Cracklefest with massive continuous flames! Unfortunately some plug and port issues stopped him from running Sunday and will sadly keep him from the Finals next weekend! Such a huge shame! But sure the team will be even stronger next year!!)
• Jim Tanner in ‘Shindigger’ (Jim made some fab passes throughout the weekend including the great new PB! He was also having fun with his cyclecart and let some guest drivers have a go! (many thanks Jim!!!). He started so strongly in the first round, running closest and leading the Bunch, but hugely unfortunately some battery issues caused a problem just before the second round and he could not make the pass! So really gutted for Jim and the whole team on this, a massive shame!! Better luck next season folks!!)
• Angelo Lanni in ‘Henry’s Revenge’ (It was great to see Angelo make his WB debut, and run so strongly in the mid 9’s with his fabulous altered, which he has spent 6 years rebuilding! It was based on John Powis’ old altered, with a new body and loads more and is a real credit to this fab new team! Angelo finished in 10^th place overall. A big welcome to the Wild Bunch Angelo & family!!)
• Tim Roy in ‘Boston Straggler 2’ (Tee had another great weekend with really strong runs in the low 9’s! Spectacular performance, going from strength to strength and enjoying his racing! Well done to the whole team on a stunning improvement this season!!)        
• Robert White in ‘Happy Daze’ (fab to see Rob and team make it back to the track after their chassis problems at the start of Dragstalgia! Big thanks to Steve Field for the expert fabrication to help get the team racing again! Plus lots of hard work from the team! Great to see crewman James back at the track after his op, looking well! And Sarah back at the track on Sunday with her great support and lovely smile, so was fab to see the whole team there earning the ‘Best Appearing Team’ prize! Go Smiley Team! Some good solid runs for Rob gave him a well deserved 4^th place on Sunday! Yeehah!)
• Paul Tarry in ‘Trigger’s Broom’ (Paul had installed a new (red!) engine in the car after damage at Dragstalgia; he was trialling some nitrous again, but his best PB of the weekend was non-nitrous assisted! Well done on getting back to the track so quickly and all the improvements!!)
• Dan Boone in ‘American Pie’ (great to see the team back at the track, but sadly they suffered some issues which prevented them from running Sunday; fingers crossed they solve all these and have a fantastic season next year!! Best of luck folks!)
• Ian Wild in ‘WildCat’ (Ian made more and more progress with his great looked Jag-powered altered down in to the low 12’s and really enjoyed his weekend’s racing with the Bunch! Great to have him on board in his debut season with the Wild Bunch!)
• Danny & Elliott Jones in ‘Ragin’ Cajun’ (great to see the guys back with the whole family at the track! They made some good low 10-second runs and had a great weekend all togetherQ!!)
• James Auld in ‘Little Fauss’ (James was running well again, taking advantage of Friday testing too; he tried hard as always and finished in 8^th place overall)
• Rich Butcher in ‘4orth Dimension’ (Rich is a retired firefighter who has just realised his dream of owning and driving a slingshot! This car was the last one that Ken Cooper built in the mid 70’s and Rich was thrilled to own it and meet Ken and learn all about it! He and the family thoroughly enjoyed their first ever outing with the car and Rich made steady progress on the ETs throughout the weekend! The icing on the cake was matching up for a race with Bradley, so 2 of Ken’s cars of around 45 years apart were paired on this historic race! A big welcome to the Wild Bunch Rich and family!!)
• Steve Garlant in ‘Sonic Attack’ (Steve and team had some great advice from a number of people and sorted the carb thoroughly and tuned the car well, with Steve running his first 12’s and taking around 6 tenths off his PB!! A great improvement! The team really enjoyed their weekend’s racing again!)

Brilliant to see such a big field of awesome cars at the 33^rd Hot Rod Drags for our final RWYB-based event of this season!

Friday was a Run-What-You-Brung day and around 14 teams took advantage of the track time that day.

On Saturday we had 3 rounds scheduled during the Race class sections of the day. Then on the evening there was the third ever Santa Pod / NSRA ‘Cracklefest’ and 8 Wild Bunch drivers really enjoyed taking part in that! They were: Rob & Pete in Rebel & Wrathchild, Mark Coulsell, Gary Atkinson, Andy Clifford (very much the star of the show with his awesome flames which just went on and on!), newcomer Angelo (who was the last runner to drive round), Tim Roy and James Auld. Some incredible fireworks followed and went on and on – just spectacular!!  

On Sunday, the Bunch were at the front of the pairings lanes as third class of the day, when there were some spots of rain, and then a very long bout of drizzle and light rain, alternating with dry patches! Thankfully, due to the hard work of the track crew, we eventually got our first round in, at about 2pm!!! We managed to get another one in which finished at about quarter past 4, so there was not time for the third! But overall we were very lucky considering the forecast had not been too bright!! It was great to end the event with a couple of completed rounds!

The amazing Top 4 trophies and 8 spot prizes were beautifully made by Elaine Southworth of coolengineeredart of team ‘Daddy Cool’, who excelled herself yet again!! Thanks very much Elaine! All of the Spot Prizes were kindly sponsored by Andy & Cathrine Stones of Sutton Soda Blasting.  The prize money for the Top 2 was sponsored by Matt Fuller of Team Oblivion, and Ian Wild kindly sponsored the 1^st Place trophy! Huge thanks for the all the sponsorship folks!  It is very much appreciated!

Here are the Top 4 winners:

1^st Place: Rob & Pete Brown in ‘Rebel’ .0303 (another brilliant result for the Marras!!)

2^nd Place: Alan Lloyd in ‘Gonzo the Great’ .0461(fantastic to see Al & Dad Ian in the Top 4 again!)

3^rd Place: Mark Coulsell in ‘Ballbreaker’ .0646 (a very consistent weekend and another brill Top 4!!)

4^th Place: Rob White in ‘Happy Daze’ .0803 (great to see Rob in the Top 4 after all the work since Dragstalgia!)

Here are the Spot Prizes that were awarded:-

Closest to Dial-in (Race-day): Jim Tanner in ‘Shindigger’ .009 off

Best Reaction (Race-day): Tim Roy in ‘Boston Straggler II’ .021

Best Burnout: Alan ‘Skippy’ Skipp in ‘Chasin’ Time’

Best Altered: Paul Tarry in ‘Trigger’s Broom’

Best Slingshot: Wayne Colliver in ‘Misfit’

Best Appearing Team: Rob White & Team in ‘Happy Daze’

Best Appearing Car: Andy Clifford in ‘Snake Eyes’ (especially in the dark!)

Outstanding Performance: Warren Rowlands in ‘Destiny’s Angel’ (for that amazing 8.90!!)

Also:

NSRA Quickest E.T. in WILD BUNCH:  Alan Lloyd in ‘Gonzo the Great’ 7.979

PBs (and there were a lot of them including some special firsts!!):

• Mark Coulsell in ‘Ballbreaker’ 161.94 mph (this was the fastest of the weekend for the Bunch!)
• Lee Hartnell in ‘Dazed and Confused’ 10.024 / 133.23 (four tenths and 11mph improvement!)
• Wayne Colliver in ‘Misfit’ 9.317 / 141.65 (over a tenth quicker!)
• Bradley Cooper in ‘Back from the Past’  11.174 (great to see PB’s again for Brad and Ken!)
• Alan ‘Skippy’ Skipp in ‘Chasin’ Time’ 9.880 / 131.30 (first 9’s for Skip in this car! Fab!)
• Matt Hollins in ‘Cheap Thrills’  10.118 / 136.04 (really getting a handle on it!)
• Warren Rowlands in ‘Destiny’s Angel’ 8.908 / 143.52 (first ever 8 for Warren, and the car!!! Six tenths improvement!)
• Jim Tanner in ‘Shindigger’ 9.142 (great run!)
• Angelo Lanni in ‘Henry’s Revenge’ 9.481 / 136.96 (a brilliant WB debut!)
• Tim Roy in ‘Boston Straggler 2’  9.121 (improving at every event!)        
• Paul Tarry in ‘Trigger’s Broom’ 11.263 / 118.23 (half a second improvement!)
• Ian Wild in ‘WildCat’ 12.385 / 108.59 (a string of PB’s!)
• Rich Butcher in ‘4orth Dimension’ 13.159 / 116.10 (a fantastic debut!)
• Steve Garlant in ‘Sonic Attack’ 12.578 / 103.37 (first 12’s this weekend! Six tenths improvement!)

Many Congratulations to all those who ran PB’s at the weekend, especially those who set and reset them and ran their first 8’s and 9’s and 12’s and 13’s!! Excellent!!  And what a great way for so many to finish their season!! (Please do let me know if I have missed any!).

Big commiserations to all those who had issues and best of luck with the repairs, and for next season!!

Highlights of the weekend include the large and fantastic field of Wild Bunch, the Cracklefest, being fairly lucky with the weather in the end to complete 2 rounds of great competition despite the long rain delay, and of course the amazing group of cars and people, who all put on an awesome show as always and did themselves proud!!

Huge thanks to all the Santa Pod marshals and officials, track and safety and medical crews and organisers and Alan Martin and all at the NSRA for all their hard work!! Fair play to you all!! A fantastic event overall!! Thanks to all on the eurodragster team this weekend for some brilliant reporting!!!  Extra thanks to the whole Schreier family at work in the tower, around site and on the track! Great to have them around! [It was at this point last year, that we gave a huge thanks also to Dave Rowlands for all his never ending hard work on the track crew! Dave is very much missed and will be fondly remembered for his cheery nature and all his endless work to help others and never tiring efforts on the track crew for the racers! Warren and team sure did him proud this weekend! Race in Peace Dave.   Thanks again to each and everyone who worked so hard to make the event a great success! Thanks to Colin Theobold for great commentary and his wonderful support of the Wild Bunch, including his attendance at our prize presentation and his very kind heartfelt words as always, much appreciated!!

Once again, a huge well done to all of the Wild Bunch for an incredible show as always!! Yeehah!!!!!

All the best

Claire