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Classic American Nationals May 15 - 16
2004 Classic American Nationals15 May - 16 MayPoints awarded for The Wild Bunch and Real Steel Championships
This weekend was a RWYB event, the Classic American Nationals. It was Wild Bunch Series Round 2 as well as Real Steel Series Round 3 and there were Spot Prizes. We had a field of 16 Wild Bunch cars, including:7 Slingshots, 7 Altereds, 1 Rear-engine dragster and 1 Radical
| Event Results | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 131 | Paul Harvey | Mailkey Dragster | 9 |
| 2 | 4 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 7 |
| 3 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 6 |
| 4 | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | 5 |
| 5 | 2 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | 4 |
| - | 3 | Joe Stevens | Back in Black | 4 |
| - | 34 | Alec Coe | Shy Torque | 4 |
| - | 38 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | 4 |
| - | 101 | Matt Lee | Worth the Wait | 4 |
| - | 142 | Mike Cresswell | Living the Dream | 4 |
| 11 | 5 | Lee Hartnell | Dazed & Confused | 3 |
| - | 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones | Welsh Raider 2 | 3 |
| - | 57 | Neil Ward | Ex-She Devil 2 | 3 |
| 14 | 42 | Colin Stevens | Golddigger | 2 |
| - | 76 | Steven Field | The Black Pig | 2 |
| 16 | 147 | Sid Slattery | Destiny | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Best Reaction | 2 | Gareth Kent | Hot Dog | .073 |
| Closest To Dial-In | 38 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | .013 Off |
| Best Altered | 5 | Lee Hartnell | Dazed & Confused | |
| Best Slingshot | 42 | Colin Stevens | Golddigger | |
| Best Dragster/Radical | 131 | Paul Harvey | Mailkey Dragster | |
| Quickest E.T. | 131 | Paul Harvey | Mailkey Dragster | |
| Best Burnout | 3 | Joe Stevens | Back In Black | |
| Best Appearing Team | 109 | Team B-Sting | B-Sting | |
| Saturday was a practice day and the weather was warm and dry!!!!!!! Sunday was also very warm and dry!!!!!! No less than 9 racers ran Personal Best E.T.'s, with 5 racers running Personal Best MPH's!! We also welcomed WB 5, Lee Hartnell back after a year off. A latecomer to the event was Alan Smith, WB 70, with the “Avanti” Allard slingshot. He arrived Saturday morning but was not able to take part due to a blown head gasket. | |
| WB 2 | Gareth Kent was having his first outing of 2004 in his Hot Dog altered. He put in passes of 12.394, 12.448 and 12.597 on the Saturday at a best speed of 106.21 mph. On Sunday he dialled in at 12.48 and put in a 13.563 in the first round and a 13.000 even in the second, recording a 12.913 on his third pass with a Best Reaction time of .073. He finished in 9th place overall. Welcome back Gareth! |
| WB 3 | Joe Stevens was hoping for some quick runs in his Back in Black altered. He wasn’t disappointed as he ran ever quicker Personal Best runs of 10.273, 10.232 and 10.128 on the Sunday, at increasing speeds each run. He dialled in a conservative 10.25 on Sunday and ran even more Personal Bests with 10.144 in the first round and a 10.092 in the second round (topping the 130 mph mark for the first time). He followed this with another strong 10.096 in the third with his best speed ever of 131.16 mph. He finished in 6th place and also took the Best Burnout Spot Prize to top off a great weekend! |
| WB 4 | Tony Smith started off with a 12.117 on the Saturday, followed by an 11.841. He then took the body off The Cunning Plan altered and ran a good 11.413, putting the Mini body back on for his fourth pass of the day, an 11.667, just four hundredths off a PB. He dialled in at 11.80 for Sunday, and started off with a close 11.823. He followed this with another strong 11.672 in the second round, and ended the day with an 11.888, to finish in 2nd place overall! |
| WB 5 | Lee Hartnell was back in the Dazed & Confused altered after a year off. He raced Dad Chris in all 3 runs on Saturday, which started with him taking 5 seconds off his previous best, to card a 14.225 @ 94.34 mph. He went on to run 17-second and 15 second passes after adjustments to the carb, and dialled in an optimistic 13.50 for Sunday. He blew that out the window, to record a massive Personal Best E.T. of 12.214 @ 109.96 mph in the first round! On the second run, he had trouble keeping the car fired up while backing up and there was some type of staging problem on the tree, so he did not record a time on what looked like another strong run. On the third round, he posted another good 13.203 @ 105.08 mph, and took the Best Altered Spot Prize for his efforts. Fair play, Lee, and welcome back to the Wild Bunch! |
| WB 6 | Crazy Chris Hartnell started off Saturday in his Backdraft slingshot running against son Lee, and put in a new Personal Best E.T. of 9.172 @ 143.18 mph! He then followed this with a 9.706 after a wheelie on launch in the second pass of the day, and finished with a solid 9.259 @ 140.13 mph. He dialled in at 9.30 for Sunday, and started the day with another Personal Best E.T. of 9.126 @ 142.21 mph in his fourth match race of the weekend with Lee. In the second round he recorded a 9.401, and in the third a 9.604, in the heat of the day, to finish in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 29 | Tony Wynne-Jones was running in his Welsh Raider 2 Radical and made a couple of passes on the Saturday. He dialled in at 11.60 for Sunday's rounds and recorded a 12.607 in the first round. He then ran a stronger 11.900 in the second round. But he missed the third, as he was accompanying good friend Wayne Saunders to the hospital after his unfortunate crash in the Custom Car Street Eliminator Chevy. [We would all like to wish Wayne a speedy recovery and quick return to the track. All the best to him and the crew, and grateful thanks to Jon Webster for another sturdy chassis!]. |
| WB 34 | saw Alec Coe running in his Shy Torque slingshot. He started off well on Saturday with a 10.639 at a Personal Best Speed of 125.56 mph. He then ran quicker and faster each pass that day with a 10.450 @ 127.26 mph and 10.336 @ 127.38 mph. On Sunday, Alec dialled in at 10.35 and ran consistent mid 10's, recording a 10.493, a 10.614 (with a good .089 Reaction, only bested by Gareth) and a 10.503 at another Personal Best Speed of 127.78 mph. Fair play Alec!! He finished in 7th place overall. |
| WB 38 | Helen Smythe was in her first (completed) Wild Bunch RWYB event with the Hell's Belle altered. She recorded runs of 13.124, 13.086, 13.095 and a really strong 12.797, followed by a fifth run of 12.882 on Saturday. She dialled in at 12.82 for Sunday, and ran ever quicker runs of 13.142, 12.984 and 12.833, which was Closest to Dial-in at just .013 off. Helen finished 5th overall, so a good result for her first WB RWYB finish. |
| WB 42 | Colin Stevens was running in his Golddigger slingshot and started Saturday with a new Personal Best E.T. of 11.733. He posted a slower 12.292 on his second run (which was a bit of a hairy, bouncy ride!) but went on to take another half second off his PB again, recording a strong 11.265 @ 109.29 mph on his third run. He dialled in at 11.50 for Sunday, but unfortunately, on the launch for the first round, something broke in the diff or axle, putting him out for the weekend. Hope the team can fix it real soon! Colin was awarded the Best Slingshot Spot Prize for the second time this season, so fair play to the team for that accolade. |
| WB 57 | saw newcomer Neil Ward in the ex-She Devil 2 slingshot, making his first passes in the car. On his first run Saturday, he carded a respectable 12.411 @ 89.94 mph. He went on to take over a second off this time on his second run, with an 11.287 @ 96.47 mph. He had a minor problem on the third run and posted a 13.275. Neil dialled in at 10.80 Sunday for his first ever time in Wild Bunch RWYB rounds. On his first run, he recorded a great 10.734, but unfortunately did not get a time for his second round pass, due to some type of staging problem on the tree. He went on to record another great Personal Best E.T. of 10.713 @ 118.57 mph. Well done, Neil!! |
| WB 76 | Steven Field was running his The Black Pig altered. He made a couple passes on Saturday including a great Personal Best E.T. of 11.5. He had some problems with the heads during the day, and Sunday morning saw the team working on the car for a few hours. He had dialled in at 12.00 and got the car fixed in time for the third round, where he recorded a 13.565 @ 100.62 mph. We’re sure the team will soon get a handle on the car and put in some more good passes. |
| WB 101 | Matt Lee made several promising passes in his Worth the Wait slingshot on Saturday and dialled in at 11.50 on Sunday. He then went on to run Personal Bests on each of his 3 runs, with an 11.307, 11.269 and 11.209 @ 117.75 mph, so fair play to Matt! The car will soon be in the 10's!! Matt finished in 8th place overall. |
| WB 109 | Andy Murphy was in the hotseat of the B-Sting altered and put in four passes on Sunday, with the third being a Personal Best E.T. of 12.257 @ 105.92 mph, followed by a 12.505. He dialled in at 12.30 on Sunday and made runs of 12.448, 12.432 and 12.420 and finished in 4th place overall. The team also won the Best Appearing Team Spot Prize, as voted by one of the magazine editors present at the weekend, for their smart appearance. |
| WB 131 | Paul Harvey was running his Mailkey Dragster Rear-engine dragster and put in a couple of passes on Saturday, a 9.108 and an 8.9. He dialled in at 8.97 on Sunday and recorded a 9.057 in the first round, a brilliant Quickest E.T. of 8.853 @ 147.61 mph in the second and an 8.996 in the third round, to win the event, being just 4 thousandths off his Dial-in over the 3 runs! Fair play to Paul who also won the Best Radical/ Dragster Spot Prize to top off a great weekend. |
| WB 142 | Mike Cresswell was in his first full Wild Bunch RWYB event and on the Saturday recorded a brilliant Personal Best E.T.of 10.98 in the Living the Dream slingshot. He dialled in at that same figure for Sunday, and ran 11.043 @ 120.33 mph, 11.036 and 11.290 during the three rounds. |
| WB 147 | Sid Slattery was running his Jag-powered Destiny slingshot and put in a great 10.8 second pass in his first run on the Saturday. Sadly, on his second pass, the engine expired mid-track, covering Sid with oil, and leaving 3 or 4 holes in the sump! He was, however, philosophical about the damage, and already hoping to rebuild or acquire another motor by the York event!! We really hope he does!! Fair play, Sid and best of luck! |
| All in all a very good weekend, with brilliant weather, which we all really deserved after 3 wet events in a row! Many racers put in 6 or 7 passes during the event, with more than half of them running Personal Best E.T.'s!! A great achievement, showing that a lot of drivers are already improving their performance early in the season. Many thanks as always to all the track crew and officials for all the track prep and organisation of the event.
The next event is the Bank Holiday weekend Spring Shootout at the UK Open Nationals at York Dragway on May 30th/31st! This pre-entry RWYB event will be Wild Bunch Series Round 3, Real Steel Series Round 4 and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 1! This should be fun and we’re really looking forward to it!! | |