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Season Opener April 20 - 21
2002 Season Opener20 April - 21 AprilPoints awarded for The Wild Bunch & Real Steel Championships
This weekend was Wild Bunch Series Round 1 as well as Real Steel Series Round 1. We had a field of 21 Wild Bunch cars taking part, including 10 Slingshots, 6 Altereds and 5 Rear-engine dragsters
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 96 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 9 |
| 2 | 67 | Darryl Howells | Wheels of Fortune | 7 |
| 3 | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Paul Croston | B-Sting | 5 |
| 5 | 1 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 4 |
| - | 4 | Joe Stevens | Red Topolino Altered | 4 |
| - | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Nutcracker | 4 |
| - | 11 | Clive Bush | Good Fun Dragster | 4 |
| - | 28 | Pete Loveridge | Herr X | 4 |
| - | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | 4 |
| - | 94 | John Byng & John Attridge | Oddball | 4 |
| - | 108 | Andrew Wiilcox | Firefighter | 4 |
| - | 122 | John Munday | Meteor | 4 |
| - | 146 | Ian Roddy/Lee Brearley | ex-Chariot of Fire | 4 |
| 15 | 42 | Colin Stevens | GoldDigger | 3 |
| - | 86 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 3 |
| - | 131 | Paul Harvey | ex-Locomotion | 3 |
| 18 | 24 | Mark Turton | Growler | 2 |
| - | 40 | Dennis Hawkins | Wicked Lady | 2 |
| 20 | 116 | Gerry Rogers | Forward Thinking | 1 |
| - | 243 | Derek Annable | Thunder & Lightening 3 | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 122 | John Munday | Meteor | .537 |
| Closest to Dial-in | 3 | Paul Croston | B-Sting | .006 off |
| Fastest M.P.H. | 131 | Paul Harvey | Goin' LocoI | 149.50 mph |
| Quickest E.T. | 131 | Paul Harvey | Goin' Loco | 8.918 |
| Best Altered | 86 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | - |
| Best Dragster/Radical | 131 | Paul Harvey | Goin' Loco | - |
| Best Slingshot | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | - |
| Best Appearing Team | 3 | Team B-Sting | & nbsp | - |
| Chris & Clayton Round, "Rebellious" (WB 50), Simon Williams, "Spirit" (WB 74) and Steve Goode, "Wobble" (WB 102) were also at the track, but did not race with the Wild Bunch, as they were just Testing and Tuning! Gerry Rogers, "Forward Thinking" (WB 116) had intended to run with WB, but experienced some gremlins and did not declare a Dial-in or take part in rounds, so did some T n' T instead. New committee member Mark Coulsell was also at the track, but did not run his car. Instead he got stuck in crewing and pushing for whoever needed help. He will be back with the "Limited Funz" slingshot at Super Series 1 in two weeks' time. | |
| Saturday
was a practice day and the weather was cloudy but reasonable. We welcomed back many racers, including WB 1,2,3 and 4 (the first time in a few years that all Top 4 have been in active racing!). We also welcomed a new team into the Wild Bunch, WB 42, Colin Stevens (of C & P Hot Rod T's Matchbox car and T-shirt stall fame), with the ex-Mike Nicholls "Golddigger" slingshot. Most drivers managed to put in a couple of testing and tuning runs on the day. | |
| Sunday
was Series Points Day, and the weather turned out really good in the end, warmish and sunny and a "real good air" day for drag racing! We were able to run 3 rounds of Wild Bunch format, despite it being one of the busiest Season Openers at SCR for years, with long queues. Already some teams are showing some early consistency. The track was very well-prepped and many drivers had some quick runs, in fact, 11 racers ran their personal best E.T.'s over the weekend! | |
| WB 1 | Sarah Howells was having the team's first turn for 2002 in the "Ram Raider" slingshot. The team had fitted new headers and freshened up the engine. Sarah put in a couple of steady 12.4 and 11.6 check-out passes on Saturday and Dialled-in at 10.37 on Sunday. She promptly ran a 10.226 @ 133.93 mph (team mph record!) in the first round, followed by her Personal Best E.T. in the car of 10.135 in the second round (only 6 thousandths off the team best!). The third round saw her running another strong 10.199 and finishing in 6th place for the day. |
| WB 2 | "Crazy" Chris Hartnell was having a ball back in the "Backdraft" slingshot. He had changed spark plugs and the oil filter, and painted the slicks with tyre compound, and ran a brilliant Personal Best E.T. of 9.283 @ 139.32 mph straight off the trailer!! (Also the car's best mph!). He ran another 9.315 in the afternoon @ 137 mph (the first times he's managed to get the car over 135 mph in 3 years!). On Sunday he Dialled-in at 9.35, and ran three 9.2's!! 9.237 (an even better Personal Best), 9.276, and 9.261, to take 3rd place overall for the weekend and pick up the "Best Slingshot" Spot Prize. Thanks also to Scottie, new committee member and last year's "Sportsperson" trophy winner, for his crewing assistance! |
| WB 3 | Paul Croston was back out in the "B-Sting" altered. He was not able to make a run on Saturday, due to a wheel problem, which was fixed by late afternoon. He made a test run on Sunday morning and Dialled-in at 12.62, running a strong 12.395 in Round 1. In the second round, he ran a Personal Best E.T. of 12.319 @ 105.14 mph, followed by a 12.626 ("Closest to Dial-in") in the third round, taking 4th place overall for the weekend. The Team also won the "Best Appearing Team" Spot Prize for their usual well-turned out appearance. |
| WB 4 | Joe Stevens had put a `temporary' engine in his Red Topolino Altered, awaiting completion of a new body and engine for the car. He ran a couple of 12's and an 11.9 on Saturday, and Dialled-in at 12.30 for Sunday. He ran a 12.125 with a marginal .381 red light in the first round, an 11.792 in the second and a 12.978 in the third round. [Had he not redlit, he would have won the event with this consistency, at 99.986%!!). Better luck next time! |
| WB 9 | was the new number for the Team Dog's Bollockss "Nutcracker" slingshot, and this had Andy Gosling driving on the first team outing of the year. He ran a 13.2 and a 13.1 on the Saturday and Dialled-in at 12.90 for Sunday. He ran improving times of 13.500, 13.154 and 12.970 @ 105.88 mph, finishing in 8th place overall for the day. |
| WB 11 | Clive Bush was alternating with Andy Staton, who was doing his licensing passes in the "Good Fun Dragster" slingshot. The best run on Saturday was an 11.456. They Dialled-in at 10.86 for Sunday, and Andy ran the first round with a very good 10.417, followed by Clive running 11.045 in the second round and a Personal Best 10.354 @ 125.35 mph in the third round. They finished 7th on the day. |
| WB 24 | was the new number for Mark Turton's "Growler" which had had an engine rebuild over the winter. Unfortunately Mark struggled with carb problems with the Predator, including a few flame-outs on the line. He purchased a Holley on the evening and came back out Sunday Dialling-in 12.00, and running 12.944 in the first round, having gear-selection problems. He was also debuting his matching green `tow quad' "Snoopy" at this event, and will be back for Super Series in a couple of weeks' time. |
| WB 28 | Pete Loveridge was having fun in the "Herr X" fluorescent-flamed slingshot. He ran an 11.2, 10.8 and 10.788 on Saturday, and Dialled-in at 10.80 for Sunday. He ran a Personal Best E.T. of 10.547 @ 125.70 mph in the first round, followed by a 10.728 and a 10.782 with a red light of only .310. |
| WB 33 | was the new number of Tom Coe's slingshot, which was repainted bright orange and yellow, and renamed "Psycho" and running a new Rover V8 lump. He ran an 11.663 Personal Best E.T. and an 11.656 on Saturday, and Dialled-in at 11.55. Tom and Dad Alec had been "Best Newcomers" of last season and started off how they mean to go on, running better and better each run, with an 11.398 @ 118.42 mph , 11.381 and 11.382, finishing just outside the Top 4, in 5th place overall. |
| WB 40 | Dennis Hawkins was out in the "Wicked Lady" Rear-engine dragster. He ran an 11.3 checkout pass, followed by a great 9.368 @ 142.41 mph on Saturday, and Dialled-in at 9.45 Sunday. He only made one run of 10.436 in the first round, diagnosing some sort of problem. Hopefully he'll be back at Super Series 1 in a couple of weeks! |
| WB 42 | new member Colin Stevens arrived Sunday, debuting his gold-painted slingshot "Golddigger" (complete with old prospector logo). The car was beautifully turned out and parked under an awning normally reserved for T-shirts and model cars, which Colin nearly managed to go without selling for most of the weekend! He put in a first checkout pass of some 21 seconds, learning the car and the whole drag racing procedure. He Dialled-in at 20 seconds even, hoping for some improvement as he started the learning curve. His first run was at 21 seconds, still checking out the car, followed by a 17.257 in Round 2, gaining his first points for Wild Bunch, and enjoying his first few passes as a drag racer. Think he's got `the bug'!! |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells had repainted and renamed his slingshot "Wheels of fortune" and put in 14.6 and 13.0 checkout passes on Saturday. He Dialled-in 12.60, and ran 13.067, 12.355 and a Personal Best E.T. 12.089 @ 111.94 mph in the third round. Darryl finished 2nd place overall for the weekend and was really chuffed with the car's performance early in the season! |
| WB 86 | Dick Sharp was back in the "Dorset Horn" altered after more than a year's absence while the car had a new chassis and suspension fitted all round. The side panels under the body were painted gold and the car was beautifully turned out, earning "Best Altered" for the weekend. Dick put in a checkout 14-second pass followed by a good 10.428 @ 125 mph on Saturday, just learning how the altered handles with its new set-up. He Dialled-in 10.20 on Sunday, and ran 10.835 and 10.450 @ 135 mph, giving the car a good test on its first outing. It's good to have the team back again!! |
| WB 94 | John Byng & John Attridge arrived Sunday with their well-turned out slingshot "Oddball", ready to start on the quest for as many runs as they can make in a season, having nearly made 3 figures one year! They Dialled-in at 11.90 and took turns, running 11.473, 11.908 (so close to taking the trophy from "B-Sting") and 11.552, a good start to their season, and another welcome return! |
| WB 96 | Tony Smith arrived mid-afternoon Saturday, and didn't get to make a pass til Sunday morning in "The Cunning Plan" altered. He Dialled-in at 12.50 and ran a good 12.327 in the first round. (His time did not register for the second, due to an acknowledged timing equipment problem, and his time was substituted by the average of all his runs previous to the first round, ie. his practice run of 12.446). In the third round he ran a consistent 12.445 and took the win for the weekend. (His 1st and 3rd runs also showed good consistency to start the season off and Tony was pleased with his performance after the off-season). |
| WB 108 | Andrew Willcox was back on track with the "Firefighter" Rear-engine dragster, running 12.068 on Saturday, and he was seen doing lots of maintenance in the pits on the evening. He Dialled-in at 11.85 Sunday and ran 12.117, 12.520 and 12.619 on Sunday, finishing 10th. |
| WB 122 | John Munday turned up Sunday and Dialled-in at 13.68 and ran 13.440 in the first round and a Personal Best E.T. of 13.245 @ 100 mph even in the second, with a "Best Reaction" of .537! He ran a 13.255 in the third round and finished 9th overall. |
| WB 131 | Paul Harvey had found a name for his ex-"Locomotion" Rear-engine dragster, and has called it "Goin' Loco", which is exactly what he did on Saturday, running a 9.08 and a Personal Best E.T. of 8.834!! He Dialled-in at 8.90 Sunday and ran 10.310 with gearbox problems, then sat out the second round, coming back with a day's "Best E.T." of 8.918 @ 149.50 mph ("Fastest MPH" Spot Prize) in the third round, and taking "Best Rear-engine dragster" Spot Prize for these efforts. A great start to his season! |
| WB 146 | Ian Roddy was back in the Yellow Rear-engine dragster and ran a 10.452 and a 10.304 on Saturday. He Dialled-in at 10.30 and ran a great Personal Best E.T. of 10.234 @ 130.43 mph in the first round. He followed this with a solid 10.441 in Round 2 and was looking good until a minor problem stopped him after he staged for the third. |
| WB 243 | Derek Annable came out in the Top Methanol Rear-engine dragster "Thunder & Lightning" and was hoping to test out the new Whipple blower the team had fitted. There were several problems for them over the weekend, including a nut breaking off in the blower and fuel delivery problems and Derek did not make the first round Sunday, having Dialled-in at a conservative 8.50. We hear Derek will be trying his hand (and foot) as a `novice' at a little sprint racing and hill-climbing this year, but should be back out at a few other WB events. Good luck Derek! |
| All in all a very good first event of the season. It's really great to be back Drag Racing again and the year ahead looks like being exciting competition once more! Next event is Super Series Round 1 "Spring Nationals" and we have 13 cars entered! Have a great season everybody! Looking forward to it!! | |