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Hot Rod Drags September 6 - 7

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2003 Hot Rod Drags6 September - 7 SeptemberNo Points were awarded for this event

This event was not any Series, but there were Spot Prizes. We had a field of 10 Wild Bunch cars taking part: 4 Slingshots and 6 Altereds, who were invited by the NSRA as the Fastest 10 from the Nostalgia Nationals

Spot Prizes
WBTeam/DriverCarDetail
Best Reaction1Joe StevensBack In Black.514
Quickest E.T.50Clayton RoundRebel Racing Slingshot9.521
Best Altered44Chevone Charman-OsborneDestiny's Angel
Best Slingshot50Clayton RoundRebel Racing Slingshot
Best Burnout3Chris HartnellBackdraft
Best Appearing Team44Team Evolution RacingDestiny's Angel
Saturday was a practice day and the weather was not bad, apart from an hour of down time after some rain. Many of ‘the Bunch’ managed to make 3 or 4 testing and tuning runs Saturday.

Sunday was also a testing and tuning day and the weather turned out fine again! Three racers ran their Personal Best E.T.'s over the weekend.
WB 1 Joe Stevens was in his Back in Black altered. He ran three passes of 10.781, 10.540 and 10.565, getting near his PB on Saturday. He then started off with a Personal Best E.T. on Sunday, with a great 10.416, also with a Best Reaction of .514, surprising himself on that run! He then ran very close at 10.503 and 10.504, backing up his improved personal performance.
WB 2 Tony Smith was raring to go in The Cunning Plan, hoping to reset his personal best times with the body on and off the minivan altered. He ran a 12.008 (body on), followed by an 11.544 (body off) with a best speed for the weekend of 115.68 mph, finishing with an 11.998 (body on) on the Saturday. On Sunday, he started with a 12.131 (body on) then achieved one of his targets with the body off, running a Personal Best E.T. of 11.468. He nearly backed this up with a run of 11.884, just .014 outside his PB with the body on. He also made two more passes that day of 12.231 and 11.919.
WB 3 ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was running his Backdraft slingshot and recorded a 9.804 @ 133.53 mph for his first pass Saturday. On his second pass, a 10.056, there was an unexplained drop in performance. Overnight, Chris changed the plugs and hoped to tune the car back up, but on the run on Sunday morning, he had to shut down after his burnout when he experienced a loss of drive, possibly a broken gearbox. He did win the Best Burnout Spot Prize, awarded by the commentary team, mainly due to doing 4 or 5 burnouts over the 3 runs because of being shut down on the line a couple times. During these he performed some strong smoky wheels-up burnouts which won him the award.
WB 43 Martin Holgate was back in the Paranoia altered, after having repaired the damage caused by a broken timing chain at the Allstar Nationals. He fired up for a burnout on Saturday morning, but unfortunately the engine suffered some more damage after a blow-back and he sadly had to sideline the car for the weekend again.
WB 44 Chevone Charman-Osborne was having another turn in the Destiny's Angel altered, while co-driver Tara was away on TA camp. Her first run Saturday was a pass of 9.614 @ 142.86 mph, great for starters! On her second pass, she recorded a 9.659 @ 141.96 mph. On Sunday, she then put in some more strong passes of 9.590 @ 142.41 mph and 9.647 @ 143.31 mph, showing great consistency! The speeds on ALL 4 of Chevy's runs were the fastest of ‘the Bunch’ for the weekend! For this strong performance, she won the Best Altered Spot Prize and the whole Evolution Racing team won the Best Appearing Team Spot Prize for their always-smart appearance and professional conduct. Well done to Chevy and the team!!
WB 50 Clayton Round, of the Rebel Racing brothers was back in his Buick-powered slingshot. He had recently installed another engine and brand new injection system [running straight into the 9.7's at York Dragway in August!!] He ran a Quickest E.T. of 9.521 @ 141.07 mph, for starters on the Saturday!! He followed this with a 9.718, experimenting with the injection system. On Sunday, he ran a 9.760, followed by a slower 10.273, coming back with a stronger 9.603 to finish his weekend. Clayton won the Best Slingshot Spot Prize for his efforts and solid performances.
WB 56 Ed Yates was back in the Ram Raider slingshot, and he posted a 10.979 @ 130.43 mph for his first run Saturday. He went on to run a better 10.228 on his second run, but sadly broke a half-shaft on the burnout on his third run.
WB 68 Mike Jones was making his second appearance with Wild Bunch in the Burgundy and striped Topolino altered Powered by Ford. In his first run on Saturday, he carded a 12.191, then improved with passes of 11.537 and 11.477 @ 116.28 mph. On Sunday, he ran 11.541, 11.811 and 11.484, getting very near his PB. Unfortunately, a cable got jammed as he was about to make his fourth pass of the day, and he was pushed back. Hopefully it won’t take much to sort out, and Mike will be back out chasing more low 11's!
WB 71 Andy Solley was back out in his Repeat Offender T-bodied altered, for his second appearance of the season with Wild Bunch. He put in a couple of checkout passes Saturday of 11.875 and then a 10.219, adding the nitrous. The next day he again improved on every run, with a 10.060, a 9.833 and a strong 9.796 @ 133.14 mph. If time had permitted another run he might have toppled his PB of 9.6, but he was pleased with his performance for the weekend.
WB 74 Simon Williams had brought his lovely Spirit slingshot to the track after half-shaft damage at a recent event. He had managed to fit some spare shafts, but had developed fuel pump problems which he could not cure over the weekend, and so had to sit the event out in the pits.
Many thanks to all the hardworking marshals and officials, as always! We really appreciate all your efforts! The next event is the Sportsman Nationals Finals at Santa Pod Raceway on September 27th/28th. This will be the finals of the Wild Bunch Series and the Real Steel Series! With things so close in the points, both series will go right down to the wire, so it’ll be really exciting!