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Fall Nationals September 28 - 29
Santa Pod Fall Nationals28th - 29th September 2002No Points Awarded
This was an MSA event, the "Sportsman Finals", and it was the first time ever that the Wild Bunch had competed at Santa Pod as a class. We had been at the 30th Anniversary Main Event in 1996 as a demo class, and had only put in one run each, due to poor weather. No such problem this time, as the weather was great all weekend, and the late summer materialised just in time! There was a field of 6 Wild Bunch cars competing at this weekend.
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 530 |
| 2 | 3 | Paul Croston | B-Sting | 350 |
| 3 | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | 240 |
| 4 | 1 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 200 |
| 5 | 243 | Derek Annable | Thunder & Lightening 3 | 120 |
| 6 | 24 | Mark Turton | Growler | 110 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | .612 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 1 | Ed Yates | Ram Raider | .012 Off |
| No 1 Qualifier | 1 | Ed Yates | Ram Raider | .010 Off |
| Closest Runner-Up | 1 | Ed Yates | Ram Raider | .103 Behind |
| Best Altered | 3 | Paul Croston | B-Sting | |
| Best Slingshot | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | |
| Best Dragster/Radical | 243 | Derek Annable | Thunder & Lightning | |
| Wildest Ride | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | |
| Best Appearing Team | 2 | C&C Drag Racing Team | Backdraft | |
| Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were FOUR rounds to be had!! In the 1st round of qualifying, only 2 drivers took part. Chris Hartnell ran an off-pace 10.981 pass on a 9.50 Dial-in in the "Backdraft" slingshot at 123.96 mph. This was against Paul Croston in the "B-Sting" altered, who ran a good 12.552 on a 12.50 Dial-in, which earned him the number two qualifying spot for the weekend. In the 2nd round of qualifying, 5 cars took part. Ed Yates posted a good time with a 10.167 on a 10.20 Dial in the "Ram Raider" slingshot. Chris improved by a second over his first pass with a 9.909 on a 9.50 Dial-in, at a much better 136.37 mph. Paul Croston ran well with a 12.359 on the 12.50 Dial-in and Nick Connor ran a 10.496 on a 10.40 Dial-in to open his qualifying account in the "Barking Mad" altered. Derek Annable set a 9.00 Dial-in for his Top Methanol Dragster "Thunder & Lightning" and promptly ran a strong 8.189 E.T. at 156.66 mph, for his first qualifier. For the 3rd qualifying round, all 6 cars ran, and Ed once again put in a great 10.110 on a 10.10 Dial-in, which was eventually to earn him "#1 Qualifier" for the weekend. Chris ran a 10.463 on a 9.50 Dial-in against Ed in the other lane. And Paul made a run of 12.417 on a 12.30 Dial-in. Mark Turton joined the show with an 11.931 on an 11.20 Dial in the "Growler, Once Bitten Twice Smitten" altered. Derek dialled in a bit quicker than before with a 7.80 and ran an 8.294 @ 167.83 mph (Top speed of "the Bunch" for the weekend). In the 4th qualifying round, 4 Wild Bunch cars made runs, and to the great excitement of all, this was held at about 7:20 pm, in very near darkness - the first ever night racing for "the Bunch"!! Paul Dialled in at 12.40 and ran a 12.465 in the "B-Sting" against Chris who put in a 10.401 on a 9.90 Dial. 'Crazy' Chris' slingshot put on a great flame show with the methanol flames out the "Backdraft" zoomies. In the other pairing Ed put in another good 10.158 on a 10.10 producing a few flames from the "Ram Raider" boat headers whilst Nick ran a 10.592 on a 10.40 Dial, also watching his own flames going down the strip! All the drivers really enjoyed the night-time experience! Sunday (Race Day) Quarter-Finals In the quarter-finals, there were 3 races. Ed ran really close to his Dial-in again, with a 10.112 on the 10.10, to take "Closest to Dial-in" Spot Prize. This wasn't enough to beat opponent Chris who took the race by virtue of his quicker reaction time, with a 10.432 on a 10.20 Dial-in. It was close at the top end, and Ed took the "Closest Runner-up" Spot Prize (only losing by .103) and won 4th place in the process. Paul faced Derek in the next race, and took the win with a 12.611 on a 12.40, to Derek's breakout of a great 7.732 @ 152.19 mph on an 8.00 Dial-in! Derek took the "Best Dragster/Radical" Spot Prize for his efforts, and the whole team were pleased with the runs he made! It was an all "Dog Squad" affair in the other race with Nick taking the win with a 10.757 on a 10.40 Dial against Mark's solid 11.534 on an 11.00 Dial-in. Semi-Finals The Semi-Finals saw Chris with a Bye-run, carding a 10.321 @ 129.26 mph on a 9.50 Dial-in, still running off his usual pace, but pulling a .612 light, to take "Best Reaction" Spot Prize for the day. Nick redlit in the other Semi handing the win to Paul who ran a breakout 12.358 on a 12.40 Dial-in. Nick had a hairy moment when the altered pulled a wheelie and veered towards the guardrail on landing! This earnt him the "Wildest Ride" Spot Prize, and he managed to control the car and straighten it up, running a 12.126 on the 10.40 Dial-in. Nick won 3rd place for the event. Finals This was Chris' first final of the year, and he had to Dial in with a 10.50 due to the performance of the car. He ran a 10.861 @ 121.04 mph, and took the victory over Paul who brokeout with a great 12.343 on a 12.40 Dial-in, his best run of the weekend. Paul took "Best Altered" Spot Prize for the event, as well as 2nd place, and Chris took the "Best Slingshot" Spot Prize. The whole "Backdraft" team took the "Best Appearing Team" Spot Prize for their efforts. Winner and runner-up also received trophies from SPRC! Congratulations to Chris for winning the Inaugural Wild Bunch competition at "the Pod"!! All in all, it was a really good event. The track was great, as was the organisation, so thanks to all the hard working marshals and officials, for all their efforts! Thanks also to the Santa Pod Racers Club, the Promoters and Race Director for making it possible for the Wild Bunch to race at this event. We really enjoyed it and hope to be back next year!! |