Hot Rod Drags - Wild Bunch

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Hot Rod Drags September 18 - 19

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2004 Hot Rod Drags18 September - 19 SeptemberPoints awarded for Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 4

This weekend was a RWYB event, the “Hot Rod Drags”. It was Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Rd 4 (Final) and there were Spot Prizes. We had a field of 20 Wild Bunch cars, including: 10 Slingshots, 8 Altereds and 2 Radicals

Event Participants
Position	WB	Driver	Car	Pts
1	3	Joe Stevens	Back in Black	10
2	76	Steven Field	The Black Pig	8
3	38	Helen Smythe	Hell's Belle	7
4	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	6
5	29	Tony Wynne-Jones	Welsh Raider 2	5
-	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	5
-	109	Andy Murphy	B-Sting	5
-	142	Mike Cresswell	Living the Dream	5
9	28	Pete & Gav Loveridge	Herr X	4
-	42	Colin Stevens	Golddigger	4
-	71	Andy Solley	Repeat Offender	4
12	5	Lee Hartnell	Dazed & Confused	3
-	43	Martin Holgate	Paranoia	3
-	57	Neil Ward	Andromeda	3
-	80	Mike Davis	Traspasser	3
16	39	Roland Willats	Dragin Time	2
17	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	1
-	60	Andrew Gibb	Witchcraft/Little Old Opel	1
-	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	1
-	147	Sid Slattery	Destiny	1

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Best Reaction	80	Mike Jones	Trespasser	.015
Closest To Dial-In	142	Mike Cresswell	Living The Dream	.017 Off
Fastest M.P.H.	3	Joe Stevens	Back In Black	137.23 Mph
Best Altered	43	Martin Holgate	Paranoia
Best Slingshot	42	Colin Stevens	Golddigger
Best Radical	29	Tony Wynne-Jones	Welsh Raider II
Best Burnout	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan
Best Appearing Team	109	Team B-Sting	B-Sting
Nsra Quickest E.T.	57	Neil Ward	Andromeda	9.607

Saturday was a practice day and the weather was mixed! It started off rainy, but dried out about midday, and treaded-tyred cars were able to run. The track crew had again worked very hard to get the track ready. Only 1 or 2 slick-tyred cars ran, and by about 2:30/3:00 it started to rain again and this became torrential, so that was it for the day. On Saturday night, Angi Wilding had organised a surprise party for Roy's 50th birthday at the end of the month, so he was really chuffed with that. Congratulations, Roy! Hope the next 50 are just as happy and you achieve even more of your drag racing dreams!! Also that night, some of the Wild Bunch racers had a “Grease”-themed party, with the guys dressing up as T-Birds and the girls as Pink Ladies. It was a great laugh!! Sunday's weather was a lot better and racing started at 11:00 am, with only one short 10 minute break for drizzle, with racing continuing right up until the 5:00 curfew. Everyone had to Dial in blind for the day Sunday, as they had had no practice Saturday. Most of the Wild Bunch racers managed to get in 4 rounds on Sunday and 7 racers ran Personal Best E.T.'s, with 9 drivers running Personal Best MPH's, so a really great weekend for a lot of racers!!
WB 3	Joe Stevens was running his “Back in Black” altered. He Dialled in at 10.30 on Sunday and ran a strong 10.167 @ a Personal Best Speed of 137.23 mph in the first round. (This turned out to be the “Fastest MPH” of the Bunch for the day!). He then ran a 10.422, a 10.191 and a 10.416 in the next three rounds, to come within 4 thousandths of a Perfect total and win the event!! This now meant that Joe had won 3 out of the 4 events in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, and he wins the Series for the third year in a row!! Congratulations, Joe!!
WB 4	Tony Smith dialled in at 11.65 in “The Cunning Plan” altered and again started well, running an 11.549 in the first round, just 9 thousandths off his PB. He followed this by taking more than a tenth off, running a Personal Best E.T. of 11.412 @ a Personal Best Speed of 115.67 mph in the second round. He then recorded an 11.438 in the third, and completely blew his Dial-in out the window, with another massive Personal Best E.T. of 11.360 in the fourth round (only 3 hundredths slower than his PB with the minivan body taken off!). Even though Tony had run under his Dial-in for all 4 rounds, he still finished in 4th place overall, as there were quite a few drivers who had been running way better than their expected Dial-ins. Tony was also ‘smoking the hides’ pretty good this weekend and won the “Best Burnout” Spot Prize for these efforts.
WB 5	Lee Hartnell was back for his second event of the season in his “Dazed & Confused” altered. He was tinkering with the carb set-up and dialled in at 11.90, hoping to improve on his previous best E.T. of 12.2. He ran a 17.685 @ 96.18 mph in the first round, bogging off the line, with the bugcatcher emitting a spectacular flame on launch! He worked on the carb some more, and managed to take off over 2 ½ seconds, recording a 15.161 @ 99.82 mph in the third round that day. Lee was hoping to get some smaller jets and tune the carb up a bit more, but ran out of time at the end of the day.
WB 6	“Crazy” Chris Hartnell had returned with a new oil pump in the “Backdraft” slingshot, after his oil pressure problems with the new engine at the Allstar Nationals. He Dialled in at 8.80, hoping for some good performance, but unfortunately had problems firing the car in the pits on the Sunday morning, and the flexiplate broke in the process, putting him out for the weekend. Hope Chris can get that fixed real soon, and come back out and give the new engine some really good runs to celebrate the car's 10th Anniversary!!
WB 28	Pete & Gavyn Loveridge were sharing the driving again in the spectacularly-fluorescent-flamed “Herr X” slingshot. They dialled in at 10.70, and Pete took the first run of the day, with a 10.985 @ 121.11 mph. Gavyn then made a strong pass in the second round, but the timing ticket went missing before they could collect it. Pete then ran an 11.000 even @ 120 mph in the third round, and the team called it a day.
WB 29	Tony Wynne-Jones was running in his “Welsh Raider 2” Radical and Dialled in at 11.60 on Sunday. He ran just outside his PB in the first round, with an 11.461, followed by another good 11.483 in the second round. He then went on to put in a massive Personal Best E.T. of 11.268 @ a Personal Best Speed of 121.23 mph, and topped this with another PB of 11.251 in the fourth round! He was another driver who was running so well that he didn’t mind breaking out so far! He won the “Best Radical” Spot Prize for his beautiful car and his strong performance.
WB 34	saw Tom Coe having his second turn of the year in the “Shy Torque” slingshot, after his instant success at York in August. He dialled in at 9.95 on Sunday, and started with a strong pass of 10.152 in the first round. He then ran a 10.421 and a 10.758 in the second and third rounds, setting a Personal Best Speed of 135.09 mph in the third, the first time the car has ever gone over 135 mph! He then put in another strong run of 10.006 @ 134.50 mph in the fourth round, his Personal Best E.T. with the car, to finish the day on a really high note!
WB 38	Helen Smythe was running the Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered, and dialled in at 13.00 even on Sunday. The car instantly ran better than expected, with Helen recording a 12.765 @ 100.45 mph, not far outside her PB. She followed this with runs of 13.512, 12.869, and 12.792, finishing in 3rd place for the day, and also boosting her up to 3rd place overall in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series. A really great achievement for her first year of racing! Well done, Helen!!
WB 39	Roland Willats was the only Wild Bunch racer to make a pass on the Saturday, and recorded a run in the 13.8's, a Personal Best! On Sunday, he Dialled in at 13.50 and recorded another Personal Best E.T. of 13.763 @ a Personal Best Speed of 96.78 mph. Congratulations, Roland!
WB 42	Colin Stevens was back in the gorgeous “Golddigger” slingshot. He dialled in at 11.10 on Sunday morning, and ran an 11.358 in the first round at a Personal Best Speed of 119.02 mph. He then recorded a slower E.T. of 11.930 in the second round, but with his first time over the 120 mph mark, a 120.30 mph. He then bettered this with an 11.689 @ another Personal Best Speed of 120.44 mph, and retired for the day on a high. Colin won the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize for the third time this year, for his beautiful well-turned out ‘digger’! Well done, Colin!
WB 43	It was good to see Martin Holgate back out in the “Paranoia” altered, still looking for those elusive 8-second passes. He dialled in at 9.60 on Sunday and ran a 10.316 in the first round, at a speed of 130.50 mph. He made one more pass, trying to get the nitrous ‘firing on all cylinders’ and then called it a day. Hopefully Martin will be back out again soon, as his lovely Jag-powered car showed how popular it is by winning the “Best Altered” Spot Prize!
WB 57	was Neil Ward in the ex-“She Devil 2” slingshot, newly-named “Andromeda”. He dialled in at 9.40 mph, hoping to pick up where he left off at the last event, and run more PB's. He recorded a 9.736 in the first round and a 9.607 in the second round @ 136.73 mph. This run proved to be the “Quickest E.T.” of the Bunch of the day, and Neil was awarded a special spark plug trophy for this achievement, kindly given by the NSRA.
WB 60	Andrew Gibb had brought his “Lil Old Opel” Radical and wife Sandie was due to take a turn in the hotseat. However, the team decided to leave Saturday night, thinking the weather Sunday would be much the same as it had been during Saturday.
WB 67	Darryl Howells was running in his third event of the year in the “Chemical Reaction” slingshot. He posted a Dial-in of 11.35 on Sunday morning and went down in the queue for his first run. He had paired up with Mike Jones in the “Trespasser” slingshot (which had been Darryl's “Wheels of fortune” last year). Unfortunately, “Chemical Reaction” broke a half-shaft on the burnout of Darryl's first run, so he had to sideline the car for the weekend. Hope he can get that fixed soon and be back out again having fun!
WB 71	Andy Solley was back in the “Repeat Offender” altered, hoping to set some good times. He dialled in at 9.70 Sunday and started with a non-nitrous pass of 12.542 in the first round. He then recorded an 11.396 @ 120.44 mph in the second round, again without the gas, and then turned up the heat to record a strong 9.991 @ 136.81 mph with the gas on in the third round. Time ran out for Andy to make another run, but we’re sure he’ll be back soon, aiming to break into those low 9's!
WB 76	Steve Field had installed a temporary loaner gearbox in “The Black Pig” altered to make the final round of the Roy Wilding NRC Series. He dialled in at 11.75 Sunday and promptly went out and ran a Personal Best E.T. of 11.299 @ 111 mph in the first round! He then recorded passes of 12.510, 11.404 and 11.796 in the following three rounds and finished in 2nd place for the event, being just 9 thousandths off a perfect total. This also meant that he finished in 2nd place overall in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, so many congratulations to Steve and the whole team for this achievement in only their first year of racing!
WB 80	Mike Jones was running in only his second ever event in the “Trespasser” slingshot. He dialled in at 12.80 on Sunday morning and was yet another driver who quickly went out and ran his Personal Best E.T. in the first round, with a strong 12.212 at a Personal Best Speed of 112.74 mph. On this run, Mike also recorded the “Best Reaction” of the day, with a .015. Not a bad start to the day at all!! He then posted a 13.797 in the second round, with gear linkage problems which spelled the end of Team Hector's racing for the day. Fair play to Mike who's already getting a handle on the car and really enjoying his racing!
WB 109	This weekend it was team manager Paul Croston's turn back in the hotseat of the “B-Sting” altered. It sure did turn out to be a hot seat, as Paul dialled in at 12.30 and broke out in the first round with a new Personal Best E.T. of 12.152. He then ran a 13.183 in the second round, but redlit, putting himself out of contention for a Top 4 finish at the event. He then went for broke and was rewarded with the car's first ever 11-second pass, a massive Personal Best E.T. of 11.884 @ 112.22 mph, a Team Best Speed. He followed this up with another strong 11.901 at another Personal (and Team) Best Speed of 113.49 mph. Many congratulations to Paul on this achievement which has been promised all season! Fair play! To top it all, the whole team won the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize for their always-smart appearance and conduct on the track. Well done, boys!
WB 142	Mike Cresswell was running the “Living the Dream” slingshot, and dialled in at 11.05. He ran an off-pace 12.126 in the first round, but quickly improved on this with an 11.095 in the second round, an 11.081 in the third round, and a “Closest to Dial-in” 11.033 in the fourth round, just .017 off. (Apart from the first run, he was the most consistent driver of the day, recording the 2nd and 3rd closest to Dial-in times!). Mike has now also secured 4th place overall in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, so fair play to him for doing this in his rookie season!
WB 147	Sid Slattery was back in his “Destiny” slingshot after the car suffered a broken timing chain tensioner at York. Sid fired the car up a few times in the pits on Saturday and Sunday, but unfortunately noticed some problems with the gearbox slipping. Let's hope he can cure this soon and get the beautiful Jag-powered car back out on the track for all to admire!
All in all, it was a really good event, despite the poor weather on Saturday. Some drivers experienced a frustrating weekend through breakages, so hope they can all get their cars fixed and be back out racing soon, joining in with all the fun. Many drivers did have good weekends, running repeated Personal Bests and making the most of the track time available. Once again thanks to all the marshals and officials for their hard work and for trying to turn the track around for racing despite the bad conditions caused by the weather Saturday. Their efforts paid off Sunday with a full day of racing enjoyed by drivers and spectators, so cheers guys and girls!! The next event is the “Fall Nationals” Sportsman Finals at Santa Pod Raceway on October 2nd & 3rd! This MSA event will be Wild Bunch Series Round 7 (Final) and Real Steel Series Round 10 (Final)! The two Series are going right down to the wire for the Top 4 places with only a point separating the Top 2 in each, and 3rd, 4th and 5th places also really close, so should be really exciting close nailbiting racing!! Hope to see you there!