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Nostalgia Nationals June 28 - 29
2003 Nostalgia Nationals28 June - 29 JunePoints awarded for The Wild Bunch, Real Steel and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Racecars Championships in conjunction with the results of the
Classic American Nationals for rear engined cars
This event was Wild Bunch Series Round 2b, Real Steel Series Round 3b and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 1b. We had a field of 26 Wild Bunch cars taking part: 13 Slingshots, 11 Altereds, and 2 Radicals, Results Table includes tthe entrants from the Classic American Nationals
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Tara Nicholas | Destiny's Angel | 8 |
| 2 | 1 | Floyd Codpiece Racing | Back in Black | 6 |
| 3 | 71 | Andy Solley | Repeat Offender | 5 |
| 4 | 33 | Tom Coe | Psycho | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 3 |
| - | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 3 |
| - | 4 | Darryl Howells | Wheels of Fortune | 3 |
| - | 21 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | 3 |
| - | 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones | Welsh Raider II | 3 |
| - | 34 | Alec Coe | Shy Torque | 3 |
| - | 39 | Roland Willats | Dragin Time | 3 |
| - | 42 | Colin Stevens | GoldDigger | 3 |
| - | 56 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 3 |
| - | 61 | Ron Roper | High Fever | 3 |
| - | 74 | Simon Williams | Spirit | 3 |
| - | 86 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 3 |
| - | 101 | Matt Lee | Worth The Wait | 3 |
| - | 110 | Nick Connor | Barking Mad | 3 |
| - | 147 | Sid Slattery | Destiny | 3 |
| - | 464 | Tracy Froome | Sunburst | 3 |
| 21 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | Nutcracker | 2 |
| - | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 2 |
| - | 22 | Scottie Durrant | In The Dog House Again | 2 |
| - | 50 | Clayton Round | ex-Dire Straits | 2 |
| - | 68 | Mike Jones | Powered By Ford | 2 |
| - | 243 | Derek Annable | Brenda's Life Force | 2 |
| 27 | 40 | Dennis Hawkins | Wicked Lady | 1 |
| - | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | l20 | Mark Coulsel | Limited Funz | .434 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 34 | Alec Coe | Shy Torque | .013 Off |
| Best Burnout | 68 | Mike Jones | Burgundy Topolino | |
| Best Altered | 44 | Tara Nicholas | Destiny's Angel | |
| Best Radical | 464 | Tracy Froome | Sunburst | |
| Best Slingshot | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | |
| Best Appearing Team | 3 | C & C Drag Racing Team | Backdraft | |
| Driver's Choice | 147 | Sid Slattery | Destiny | |
| Saturday was a practice day and the weather was much better than predicted. We welcomed back Martin Holgate, Andy Solley and Simon Williams in their first appearances for 2003. We also welcomed 2 new teams into the Wild Bunch, WB 39, Roland Willats, and WB 68, Mike Jones; and in all, 4 drivers were making their first ever runs this weekend. Many of ‘the Bunch’ managed to make four testing and tuning runs on Saturday. Sunday was Series Points Day, and the weather turned out to be a scorcher again! The track crew ended up working overtime Sunday morning as there were 2 oil downs in fairly quick succession, so many thanks to them for all their efforts to get the track back in good condition!! It did mean quite a long wait for all drivers concerned, in quite hot weather, but once going, we were able to run 2 rounds of Wild Bunch format and no less than 10 racers ran their Personal Best E.T.'s over the weekend, including those 4 making their first runs! | |
| WB 1 | Joe Stevens was in his Back in Black altered. He ran two low 11-second passes along with a 10.987 and a 10.961, getting near his PB on Saturday. He Dialled-in at 11.05 for Sunday, and ran an 11.339 in the first round, then posted a Personal Best E.T. of 10.818 @ 126.05 mph in the second round, finishing in 2nd place overall! |
| WB 2 | Dave Williams was raring to have his turn in The Cunning Plan altered, running a 12.359 for starters on the Saturday. He followed this with a weekend best of 12.099, getting close to that 11 with the Minivan body on. He then ran two identical 12.309 passes, showing his consistency. He Dialled-in at 12.15 and started off with a 12.548 in the first round, but a much closer 12.193 in the second round, to finish in 6th place for the weekend. |
| WB 3 | Crazy Chris Hartnell was running in the Backdraft slingshot. He had again changed a few minor things on the car, including the HT leads and dizzy and ran an improved 9.626 on the Saturday, followed by a 9.578 @ 137.20 mph, getting back to the car's previous strong performance. He Dialled in 9.55 for Sunday and in the first round he pulled only the 2nd redlight of his 9-year career, not recording any time. He ran a 9.727 in the second round, and was pleased that the slingshot was back in the Mid 9's again. To top it all off, Chris and the team won the Best Appearing Team Spot Prize, chosen by the commentary team, so they were very happy with that! (The team have now won this trophy once at each of the 3 tracks!) |
| WB 4 | Darryl Howells was back in the Wheels of fortune slingshot, and had some gearbox problems on his first run Saturday, but ran three 13-second passes, with a day's best of 13.040. He Dialled in at a conservative 12.80, but ran much stronger with a 12.706 and a solid 12.249 @ 105.14 mph, finishing 8th. |
| WB 9 | Sarah Howells was having a turn in the Nutcracker slingshot, and posted a 14-second run and a 13.705 on Saturday, dialling in at 13.87 Sunday. She ran a 14.968 in the first round, but had to sit out the second round with problems in the Pinto-powered machine. |
| WB 20 | Mark Coulsell was performing good burnouts again in the Limited Funz slingshot, running a 10.8, a 10.6 and a weekend best of 10.612 on Saturday. He Dialled in at 10.55 Sunday, and ran a 10.680, with a Best Reaction of .434, but had problems on the startline before the second run. He got going later, running a good 10.7 after rounds had been run. He picked up the Best Slingshot Spot Prize for his wheels-up burnouts, nicely turned-out vehicle and good team appearance. |
| WB 21 | was Gareth Kent in the Hot Dog altered. He put in a 13.228 pass for starters Saturday, then followed this with a Personal Best E.T. of 12.190 @ 107.91 mph. He then ran a 14, and a 12.324 to finish the day and Dialled in at 12.20 for the Sunday. He ran a 12.447 and a 12.871 in the first and second rounds respectively. |
| WB 22 | Scottie Durrant had once again brought his In the Dog House Again Topolino altered, after doing some adjustments to the set-up. He made his first ever full pass in the car at 16.733, doing a checkout run. He then went on to shave 3 seconds off per run, carding a 13.714 and a 10.834 Personal Best E.T. @ 115.38 mph, with more to come from the big block powered Topo. He Dialled in at 9.99, hoping to improve further, but ran an 11.118 in the first round, having to sideline the car for the second. |
| WB 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones was in his Welsh Raider II Corvette radical, and ran two mid-12 second passes before logging a new Personal Best E.T. of 12.061 @115.09 mph during Saturday's practice. He then Dialled in at 12.00 even, hoping to record his first 11-second pass, but running consistently with a 12.488 and a 12.408. |
| WB 33 | was Tom Coe's Psycho slingshot. He was also hoping to break a barrier, and get into the 10's at the weekend. He started off with an 11.462 and ran a weekend's best 11.314 on Saturday, dialling in 11.35 for Sunday. In the first round, he posted an 11.492, with an 11.466 in the second, finishing in 4th place overall for the event. |
| WB 34 | was Dad Alec Coe's Shy Torque slingshot and he was hoping to maintain his standings in the Top 4 of all the Series. He ran exceptionally consistently with 11.472, 11.489, 11.451 and 11.448 on Saturday's testing and tuning runs. He Dialled in a very precise 10.458 (I believe the first time any Wild Buncher has dialled in to the thousandth!!). He ran an off-pace 10.720 in the first round, but then Closest to Dial-in in the second, with a 10.445, just .013 off his Dial. He finished in 5th place overall, incredibly just .053% behind son Tom in 4th place! Real close!! |
| WB 39 | was Wild Bunch newcomer Roland Willats in the Dragin Time slingshot. He put in his first checkout pass of 16.761 on Saturday, but had problems with the diff and broke a half shaft. Overnight, he was able to acquire a diff to use, and borrowed Tom Coe's spare half shafts [remember the Power Nationals where Baz dubbed Tom as Tommy Gun Half-shaft snapping Coe!!]. Thanks to this loan, Roland was able to Dial in at 14.00 for Sunday, and make the rounds with improving runs of 14.976 and 14.669, and thoroughly enjoyed his first outing in the slingshot. Congratulations Roland, and welcome to the Bunch!! |
| WB 42 | was UK Nitro T's stallholder Colin Stevens in his Golddigger slingshot. He ran two passes in the 14's and two in the 15's on Saturday, with problems with a slipping clutch. He Dialled in cleverly with a 15.40, allowing for variation in performance, and was almost spot on, running a 15.457 in the first round. Unfortunately, he had more problems in the second round and was only able to post a 16.536 run. |
| WB 43 | saw the return of Martin Holgate in the Paranoia altered, hoping to break into the 8-second range. He ran a 10.224 on Saturday, but unfortunately the engine suffered some valve damage and he had to sideline the car for the weekend. |
| WB 44 | Tara Nicholas was having her first full weekend in the renamed Destiny's Angel altered, which was sporting new front bodywork, and a lovely silver paint job. Her first run Saturday was a checkout pass of 12.395 @ 129.68 mph, not hanging about! On her second pass, Tara had her foot well and truly planted when she recorded a massive Personal Best E.T. of 9.672 @ a quick 141.96 mph!! Wow!! Fair play, Tarzy!! She then put in some more passes of 10.458 and 10.188, getting familiar with the altered, before dialling in at 10.15 for the next day. In the first round, she posted a 10.259, and in the second another strong run of 10.035 @ 138.89 mph, averaging out to within 6 thousandths on the two runs, and taking 1st place for the weekend. Tara also won the Best Altered Spot Prize and performed really well in her first full event. Well done Tara! |
| WB 50 | Clayton Round, of the Rebel Racing brothers was back in his Buick-powered slingshot. He ran a 10.508 first run Saturday, followed by a 10.576, before dialling in at 10.50 for Sunday, in the normally reliable car. Unfortunately, in the first round, the engine threw a rod out the block and expired. Luckily the car stayed relatively straight, and the boys will hopefully have another engine installed and be back out again soon. Good luck with that, guys!! |
| WB 56 | Ed Yates was back in the Ram Raider slingshot, after his recent holiday in Canada. We think jet lag still accounts for his 3-second reaction time on the first run, (It was the car, not me - Ed) where he posted a 10.399. He went on to run a 10.380 and a 10.446, and Dialled in at 10.20 for Sunday. He ran a 10.370 and a 10.583 in the rounds on Sunday, to finish 9th overall for the event. |
| WB 61 | was Ron Roper's altered, High Fever. He did not record a time on his first run Saturday, but ran a 12.069 on his second pass. He Dialled in at 11.90 Sunday, running a 13.221 and a 12.787, experiencing some gremlins. |
| WB 68 | was Wild Bunch newcomer Mike Jones in the Burgundy and striped Topolino altered Powered by Ford. In his first run on Saturday, he had a burst oil filter, and carded a 12.844, but came back with an 11.801 weekend best on the next pass. He Dialled in at 11.40 Sunday, and ran 11.865 in the first round, losing fire on the second. He performed some strong burnouts, and this did not go unnoticed by the commentary team, who awarded him Best Burnout in his first event with Wild Bunch, against some stiff competition. Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Mike! |
| WB 71 | Andy Solley was back out in his Repeat Offender T-bodied altered. He put in a couple of checkout passes Saturday of 12 and 11-seconds, then followed this with a strong 9.890. He Dialled in at 9.90 for Sunday, and ran consistently well with a 9.841 and a 9.824 @ 131.58 mph. With this consistency, Andy took 3rd place, which was a great performance for his first time back in 10 months!! |
| WB 74 | Simon Williams was also in his first appearance for 2003 with his lovely Spirit slingshot. He put in a 13-second checkout pass Saturday, followed by a huge moment on his second run. Simon left the start line and the car hopped and then climbed up to what must have been a 45-degree wheelie!! Luckily the car did not go over, and Simon landed relatively gently, before cruising up the track and getting fairly close to the guard rail. He Dialled in at 11.00 seconds even for Sunday and ran an 11.459 in the first round. But again in the second round, he pulled another wheelie, though not as big as the first, and veered over towards the Armco again, then gently ran down the track. It was fairly obvious that he had to be awarded the Wildest Ride Spot Prize for these hair-raising exploits!! |
| WB 86 | Dick Sharp was running in the Dorset Horn, after an incident with the timing lights in a drag race down in Cornwall, where a coming together had left a hole in the front of the beautiful Dorset body. The team had repaired the damage, complete with stitches and Dick fired off a 9.693 @ 139.75 mph run on his first pass on Saturday. This would have been a great match race with Crazy Chris running a 9.6 also, but the queue did not pan out. In the second run of the day, the two were again paired up, but on Dick's burnout, the car broke a rose-joint in the front suspension and veered across the centre line towards Backdraft. Luckily Dick had slowed it down, and peddled gently down the quarter. Overnight, the team managed to fix the damage, and dialled in at 9.60 for the next day. Dick then ran a 9.837 and a 9.897 and finished in 10th place overall Sunday. |
| WB 101 | Matt Lee was back in his Worth the Wait slingshot, hoping to improve on his previous times. He did so straight away, shaving off a second and recording a Personal Best E.T. of 12.878 on his first pass. Another PB followed on his second run, with an 11.630, followed by yet another of 11.586, his best for the weekend. He Dialled in at 11.50 Sunday, and ran 11.934 and 11.626, finishing a creditable 7th place out of all ‘the Bunch’. |
| WB 110 | Nick Connor was running in the Barking Mad altered, and posted runs of 10.909, 10.999 and 11.058 on the Saturday, being fairly consistent. He Dialled in at 10.90, but unfortunately rolled through stage in the first round, with problems. He later ran an 11.290 in the second round. |
| WB 147 | was Sid Slattery in the Destiny slingshot. He had acquired another magneto since York, and was raring to go in his beautifully turned out machine. Unfortunately he did not record times on his two runs Saturday, but Dialled in blind at 11.00 for Sunday. He made the two rounds with a 14.283 and 13.034, just starting to get a handle on the car. Sid and his car were voted Driver's Choice by all of the Wild Bunch, and he had a great time making his first runs down the quarter-mile. Congratulations Sid, we all love the car!! |
| WB 464 | Tracy Froome was back out in his Sunburst Funny Car. The team had mystery electrical problems on Saturday, and were not able to make a run that day. Tracy Dialled in blind at 10.00 seconds, and finally managed to get his first two full passes down the track, at 10.650 and 10.608, his new Personal Best E.T.. His car was voted Best Radical by the commentary team, and he had a great time getting to grips with the funny car, and is very much looking forward to running it again soon. Tracy has also just been married to the lovely Gill, so many congratulations to both of them!! |
| Overall, another good event, with our biggest field for the last few years! Many thanks as usual to all the hardworking marshals and officials, without whom we wouldn’t be able to have so much fun as we do! Next event is the York Summer Showdown at York Dragway on August 9th/10th! That should be really fun again! | |