Halloween Showdown - Wild Bunch

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Halloween Showdown October 30 - 31

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2004 Halloween Showdown30 October - 31 OctoberNo Points were awarded for this event

This weekend was a Test & Tune weekend to finish the season off! There were Spot Prizes on offer and we had a field of 9 Wild Bunch cars, including 4 Slingshots and 5 Altereds:-

Event Participants
Pos	WB	Driver	Car	Points
-	3	Joe Stevens	Back in Black	-
-	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	-
-	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	-
-	28	Pete & Gavyn Loveridge	Herr X	-
-	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	-
-	38	Dean Smythe	Hell's Belle	-
-	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	-
-	76	Steve Field	The Black Pig	-
-	109	Alan Broughton	B-Sting	-

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Quickfire Reaction	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	.156
Smokiest Burnout	3	Joe Stevens	Back In Black
Best Performance	109	Alan Broughton	B-Sting
Best Altered	109	Alan Broughton	B-Sting
Best Slingshot	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction
Best Dragster/Radical	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft
Spookiest Appearing Crew	38	Team Twisted	Hells Belle
Best Appearing Team	67	Dash Racing	Chemical Reaction

Saturday was a practice day and the weather was cool, cloudy and damp, although it didn’t rain! The track was eventually dry enough for treaded tyres early afternoon, but the conditions never improved enough for slick-tyred vehicles to run, so no Wild Bunch cars ran on Saturday. Sunday was similar, but a bit drier in the air, so the track was open for slick-tyred vehicles and most of the Wild Bunch joined the big queue early. Most racers clocked in two runs, with a couple making three passes. This weekend 2 new racers ran their debut Personal Best E.T.'s with one racer running their Personal Best Speed!
WB 3	Joe Stevens was running his “Back in Black” altered, having just finished Runner-up in Wild Bunch and Real Steel Series, and he was keen to finish off the year with some good numbers! He put in a pass of 10.181 @ 130.36 mph for starters on Sunday, and followed this up with a 10.07, improving, but not yet the 9-second passes he is looking for. ‘Smokin’ Joe’ was once again performed some storming burnouts, and won the “Smokiest Burnout” Spot Prize for these efforts.
WB 4	Tony Smith was in “The Cunning Plan” altered, having just been crowned Wild Bunch Champion after the “Fall Nationals” at Santa Pod Raceway. He put in a pass of 11.637 for starters on Sunday, and followed this with a strong 11.590 and an 11.719, all at over 111 mph, and was one of only 2 drivers to make three runs on the Saturday. Congratulations to Tony on winning the Wild Bunch Series, the Real Steel Series and the Ultimate Power Series, and we’ll look forward to seeing him out with the WB 1 on the car next season! Fair play Tony!!
WB 6	“Crazy” Chris Hartnell was still looking for that elusive 8-second pass, and trying to crack the 150 mph barrier in the “Backdraft” slingshot at the end of his 10th season of racing! He performed a strong burnout, but then span the tyres off the launch, backing out then getting back on it for a 10.053 pass. This proved to be Chris’ fastest run ever, with a 146.37 mph speed, just quarter of a mile faster than his previous best speed! In the absence of any Rear-engine dragsters or Radicals, Chris was awarded the “Best Dragster/Radical” Spot Prize by the commentary team! Guess those numbers will just have to wait til next year, but Chris was pleased with the speed, despite the cold conditions!
WB 28	Pete and Gavyn Loveridge were sharing the driving in the “Herr X” fluorescent-flamed slingshot. The whole team, kids included, had dressed up for Halloween the night before, and won a prize of a season ticket for the racetrack next year – what a great prize! So we’re sure to see a lot of them next season! On Sunday Gavyn ran the first pass of the year, recording an 11.171 @ 124.29 mph.
WB 34	Alec Coe was another driver hoping for some good numbers in the shape of his second 9-second pass in the Team Mad R's’ “Shy Torque” slingshot! He posted a 10.505 @ 127.09 mph on the cold track, with a “Quickfire Reaction” of .156. He later improved on this with a 10.181 @ 131.92 mph on his second run.
WB 38	saw the “Hell's Belle” altered in the hands of Dean Smythe, for his first ever runs at Shakespeare County Raceway. [Dean had run the first checkout passes at Santa Pod, way back at the very beginning of the season, but had not set foot inside the car since, with Helen doing all the driving this year]. He was keen to improve on his 20, 18 and 16-second passes all those months ago, and promptly went out and ran a good 13.194 @ 97.80 mph on his first trip down the track. He then followed this by ever-improving passes of 13.187 and 13.053 @ 97.86 mph, a Personal Best E.T.! Well done, Dean! The team also joined in with the Halloween festivities, with Dean wearing a mask and cape (incognito except for the “Team Twisted” logo! And Helen and Christine were dressed as a purple-haired witch and red-caped devil! The girls continued with the ‘spirit’ of the event, wearing the costumes all day Sunday in the fire-up road, and won the “Spookiest Appearing Crew” Spot Prize for their efforts! Fair play!! And glad the team had such a great time in their first year of racing!
WB 67	Darryl Howells was running the DASH Racing “Chemical Reaction” slingshot, fresh from its appearance at the “Classic Car Show” at the NEC in Birmingham, where he and Sarah had the car on display on the NSRA stand, promoting the Wild Bunch and Drag Racing in general! They had a great time and drew a lot of attention with their smartly turned out slingshot. Darryl ran some strong burnouts on Sunday, lifting the wheels, and recording an 11.895 @ 124.69 mph, and another 11-second pass on his second run. The car won the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize and DASH Racing won the “Best Appearing Team” award, sporting their team wear, even in the cold weather!!
WB 76	was Steve Field, in the Plymouth-bodied coupe altered “The Black Pig”. Steve and Lesley were just back from their inspiring trip to the California Hot Rod Reunion, and Steve wanted to try out the new gearbox, before putting the car away for the long off-season! Unfortunately, Steve did not make a run on Sunday, so he will just have to wait til next season to check out the box!
WB 109	Alan Broughton was having his first ever drive in the “B-Sting” altered, making him the 5th driver of the car this year! He was raring to go and posted a 14.812 @ 82.26 mph on his first pass. He improved on his second run, recording a 14.078 @ 89.55 mph, earning himself the “Best Performance” Spot Prize in the process. The car also won the “Best Altered” Spot Prize, so congratulations on the great debut, Al, glad you thoroughly enjoyed the experience!! The team also joined in with the Halloween fun, with their very own version of ‘Guess Who’, where one of them dressed up as an old ghost in a white boiler suit and hairy mask, and wandered round the pits mysteriously, swapping over after a while, and with various crew members appearing with the ghost at the same time, leaving everyone wondering who was in the outfit! Other teams also joined in, but the best was young Zak Durrant, who even fooled his own Dad, Scott, when he donned the costume! Fair shout guys, great laugh!!
So that's it for another season! Thanks as always to the track crew and officials at the weekend. And indeed many thanks to all the track crews and officials of all 3 great tracks that we have raced at this season: Shakespeare County Raceway, Santa Pod Raceway and York Dragway!! We couldn’t have so much fun without all their hard work and are pleased to be able to take part in such a truly national calendar of events! We are now all looking forward to the Annual Wild Bunch Prize Presentation Dinner at Drayton Manor on 27th November! And then after that we’ll all be getting busy preparing for next season which will be the 10th year of Wild Bunch racing!! It's sure to be a great one!!