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Hot Rod Drags September 7 - 8
Hot Rod Drags7th - 8th September 2002No Points awarded for the event
This weekend was not any Series round, but there were Spot Prizes, which were based over the whole weekend. There was a field of 19 Wild Bunch cars taking part, 9 Slingshots, 9 Altereds and 1 Radical as follows:-
| Participants | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| - | 1 | Ray Ford | RamRaider | - |
| - | 4 | Joe Stevens | Back in Black | - |
| - | 9 | Clare Stephens | Nutcracker | - |
| - | 11 | Shane Bush | Dire Straits | - |
| - | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | - |
| - | 21 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | - |
| - | 24 | Mark Turton | Growler | - |
| - | 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones | Welsh Raider 2 | - |
| - | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | - |
| - | 34 | Alec Coe | Shy Torque | - |
| - | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | - |
| - | 44 | Chev C-O & Tarzy N | Odditee | - |
| - | 57 | Lee Hartnell | Dazed & Confused | - |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Wheels Of Fortune | - |
| - | 71 | Andy Solley | Repeat Offender | - |
| - | 74 | Simon Williams | Spirit | - |
| - | 96 | Dave Williams | The Cunning Plan | - |
| - | 101 | Matt Lee | Worth the Wait | - |
| - | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | - |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 74 | Simon Williams | Spirit | .411 |
| Best Burnout | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | |
| Fastest M.P.H. | 44 | Chev Charman-Osborne | Odditee | 143.77 Mph |
| Quickest E.T. | 44 | Chev Charman-Osborne | Odditee | 9.391 |
| Best Engineered | 11 | Shane Bush | Dire Straits | |
| Best Altered | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | |
| Best Slingshot | 74 | Simon Williams | Spirit | |
| Best Radical | 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones | Welsh Raider II | |
| Best Newcomer | 21 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | |
| Best Appearing Team | 24 & 110 | Team Dog Squad | Team Dog Squad | |
| Driver's Choice | 57 | Lee Hartnell | Dazed & Confused | |
| Nostalgia Nationals Saturday was a test n' tune day, and many drivers got a couple of runs in before it rained after lunch. The track was nearly dry when another downpour came along and stopped play for the day. Sunday was another test n' tune day, and the weather was dry all day. Shortly after lunchtime, there was an incident in the pits when Supercharged Outlaw racer Mark Needham's "Chain Reaction" altered caught fire. Mark and a few others were burnt and taken to hospital, and his car burned to the ground, a very sad sight to see. Fortunately everyone who went to hospital came back later that day better than when they left, although Mark stayed in for a couple of days with burns to his arms. He is talking about rebuilding, and Smax has set up a fund for him, to add to the money donated at the track. The girls from the "Dog Squad" team also took up a collection for the F.A.S.T. team on the day, raising funds for more equipment. We hope to see Mark and the others on the mend and back at the track soon. Best Wishes to all concerned! | |
| WB 1 | Ray Ford had his turn in the "Ram Raider" slingshot and ran a great 10.1 to start off with on Saturday morning, for his only run of the day. He then ran a good 10.340 followed by a better 10.201 @ 131.58 mph on Sunday. |
| WB 4 | Joe Stevens had brought his "Back in Black" altered, and didn't make any passes on Saturday, doing some tuning, and ran a 12.1 on Sunday. |
| WB 9 | Clare Stephens, Mark Coulsell's partner, was taking her first ever turn in the hotseat of the Dog's B******s' "Nutcracker" slingshot and ran a 17.654 checkout pass on Saturday. She then ran a 17.634 and an improving 15.078 @ 89.64 mph on Sunday, and seemed to be enjoying the experience. Fair play Clare!! |
| WB 11 | Shane Bush experienced some problems on Saturday and made a pass of 14.702 on Saturday in the "Dire Straits" slingshot, but improved this on Sunday. He also won the "Best Engineered" Spot Prize, chosen by Glenn, the scrutineer, for his well-presented slingshot. |
| WB 20 | Mark Coulsell was back in the "Limited Funz" slingshot and put in a great 10.451, his second best ever run, at 126.76 mph, his best ever speed! He ran a 10.679 and a 10.848 on Sunday with improving reactions of .423 and .417. For once Mark did not win the reaction Spot Prize (by .006) but he did win the "Best Burnout" Spot Prize for his smoky efforts. |
| WB 21 | Gareth Kent had brought his altered "Hot Dog" to Shakespeare County for the first time. He had had a test weekend where he had put in 4 runs, but this was his Wild Bunch debut, at the age of 21. He put in a good first pass, with a 13.163, followed by a better 13.033 @ 104.41 mph on Saturday. On Sunday, he again ran quite consistently with a 13.152 and a 13.115, and earned the "Best Newcomer" Spot Prize. Congratulations on winning that and welcome to the Wild Bunch, Gareth! |
| WB 24 | Mark Turton was in his third outing in the "Growler, Once Bitten Twice Smitten" altered and the team spent all of Saturday in the pits getting the car tuned and ready. It was well worth all the effort when Mark went out and ran a Personal Best E.T. of 11.629 @ 118.42 mph, followed by an even quicker P.B. of 11.411 @ 116 mph, his first ever runs in the 11's with any car! To top the weekend, the whole Dog Squad team (including Nick Connor and the "Barking Mad" crew) won the "Best Appearing Team" Spot Prize. [As another achievement in the team, young 6-year-old Zak, Scottie and Karen's son, made his debut in his "Zak Attak" Tot Rod, (Race Number TR 111) and ran a 1 minute and 16.127 seconds pass @ 11.75 mph! And loved it. (Instantly a true racer, Zak was setting up a match race for later in the day! Congratulations Zak and hope to see you out racing again soon!!.] |
| WB 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones brought the "Welsh Raider 2" radical Corvette out again, and ran a 15-second pass on Saturday. He then ran a good 15.1 and a 15.9 @ 103 mph on Sunday, and took home the "Best Radical" Spot Prize for his efforts - congratulations, Tony! Hope for more weekends like this!! |
| WB 33 | Tom Coe was running the "Psycho" slingshot and ran an 11.379 @ 115.38 mph on Saturday. The next day, he ran an 11.584 and an 11.486 to round off his weekend. Tom is still only 20 years old, and currently the second youngest of 'the Bunch'. |
| WB 34 | Alec Coe had made some alterations to the "Shy Torque" slingshot, and hoped for some better performance. He ran a promising 11.990 @ 99.56 mph on Saturday and struggled with a 12.166 (with a reaction time of 5 seconds due to stalling off the line!) and later ran a 13.999 @ 100.67 mph on Sunday. He'll get a handle on it soon! |
| WB 43 | Martin Holgate was running his "Paranoia" altered and made a couple of passes on Saturday of 12.470 and 11.330, experiencing a few problems and then sat out the day on Sunday. He won the "Best Altered" Spot Prize for his lovely Jag-powered machine. |
| WB 44 | was a double act this weekend, with Tarzy Nicholas taking a turn in the "Odditee" altered, and running a Personal Best E.T. of 12.123 @ 122.62 mph on Saturday, still learning the car with a throttle stop on. Tarzy just turned 21 the week before, so congratulations to her! Chev Charman-Osborne took her turn on Sunday, and ran very well with a 9.391 @ 143.77 mph, to take both the "Quickest E.T." and "Fastest MPH" Spot Prizes. Congratulations to Chev, also in her birthday week! |
| WB 57 | was another newcomer, Lee Hartnell, making his debut to the Wild Bunch, still only at the age of 19, with his beautifully painted electric blue altered "Dazed & Confused". Lee had been crewing for Dad 'Crazy' Chris for 7 years, so now the roles were reversed with Chris performing crew chief duties. Lee had spent 3 years rebuilding the car, and former owners Mark Fryer and John Guthrie (Wild Bunch co-founder) came up to see his progress on the Sunday. For his first run, Lee had a long wait in the fire-up road, and after stalling driving round, regained his composure and put in a pass of 27.110 @ 47.77 mph, just checking out the handling, but only getting first gear. Overnight, Lee and the team installed the spare gearbox, and on Sunday morning Lee had his first race, running a much improved 19.126 @ 65.41 mph, this time with 2 gears and a slight misfire. He enjoyed his first taste of racing and will be back out early next season. Lee was also thrilled to win the "Driver's Choice" Spot Prize! Congratulations, Lee on your debut and your first trophy! Welcome to the Wild Bunch! |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells made a 12.199 second pass in his "Wheels Of Fortune" slingshot on Saturday, and a 12.250 and a 12.436 on Sunday. |
| WB 71 | Andy Solley made his second appearance of the season in the "Repeat Offender" altered and put in several passes over the weekend. |
| WB 74 | Simon Williams was running the "Spirit" slingshot and ran an 11.399 and an 11.234 on Saturday, both with great .420 Reaction times. The second run produced his best ever speed, with 122.28 mph. On the Sunday, he ran a 10.968 and a Personal Best E.T. of 10.932, both with identical speeds of 121.62 mph. The second run saw Simon cutting a .411 light to take the "Best Reaction" Spot Prize, and he also took the "Best Slingshot" for all his efforts. Simon is still only 20 years of age until next month. |
| WB 96 | Dave Williams was running "The Cunning Plan" altered this weekend and didn't get in any passes on Saturday, but ran well on Sunday, posting a 12.305 @ 111.66 mph and a 12.352 @ 103.69 mph, overseen by Tony Smith. |
| WB 101 | was also a newcomer, Matt Lee, who had brought his slingshot to the track for his Wild Bunch debut, at the age of 21. The car is very aptly named, "Worth the Wait", as Matt and his Dad Steve have spent 12 years building the car. (The slingshot was started when Matt was a few FEET shorter!). For his first ever pass, Matt ran a respectable 16.827 @ 82.12 mph, and enjoyed the experience. Matt had also had a long wait in the fire-up road, a couple of cars ahead of Lee, but fortunately both the lads got their first runs in before the rain stopped racing for the day! On Sunday, Matt lined up with Lee for their first ever race, and Matt stalled off the line, making a 4.079 reaction, but running a 16.180 @ 94.54 mph. As Lee's reaction had been 3 seconds quicker, they crossed the line about the same time, with Matt taking the win by one tenth of a second, and there was a lot for them to talk about at the top end!!! Matt also put in another pass in the afternoon and ran a Personal Best E.T. of 15.041 @ 102.99 mph, so had a great debut weekend. Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Matt!! And congratulations to you and your Dad for all your hard work paying off! |
| WB 110 | Nick Connor was out in the "Barking Mad" altered and did not make any passes Saturday. On Sunday, he ran a 10.781 and a 10.657 @ 125.70 mph, and was the co-winner of the "Best Appearing Team" with the Dog Squad. |
| The next event under the Wild Bunch banner will be and MSA event, the Sportsman Finals at Santa Pod on 28th/29th September, where the Wild Bunch will be running as a class there for the first time since the demo group appeared at the 30th Anniversary event 6 years ago. Should be a good event! The next RWYB event is not until 2nd/3rd November for the 'End of Season Bash', when the remaining Series will be decided! It will come right down to the wire again this year as things are close for the Top 4 in the Wild Bunch Series!! And with all the new young racers coming aboard, things are looking as promising as ever for the future! | |