Ultimate Power Series Power Nationals

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Ultimate Power Series Power Nationals June 12 - 13

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2004 Ultimate Power Series Power Nationals12 June - 13 JunePoints awarded for Untimate Power Series Round 2 and Real Steel Series Round 5

The second Ultimate Power Series event of 2004, the “Power Nationals”, was also our Real Steel Series Round 5. There was a field of 10 Wild Bunch cars competing this weekend: 6 Altereds and 4 Slingshots.

Positions for Ultimate Power Points
Position	WB	Driver	Car	Points
1	20	Mark Coulsell	Limited Funz	610
2	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	490
3	85	John Munday	Hot Dog	440
4	3	Joe Stevens	Back in Black	230
5	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	220
6	44	Chev Charman-Osbourne	Odditee	180
7	109	Andy Murphy	B-Sting	170
8	76	Steven Field	The Black Pig	160
9	142	Mike Cresswell	Living the Dream	150
10	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	40

Positions for Real Steel Points
Position	WB	Driver	Car	Points
1	20	Mark Coulsell	Limited Funz	10
2	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	8
3	85	John Munday	Hot Dog	6
4	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	4
5	3	Joe Stevens	Back in Black	3
6	44	Chev Charman-Osbourne	Odditee	2
-	76	Steven Field	The Black Pig	2
-	109	Andy Murphy	B-Sting	2
-	142	Mike Cresswell	Living the Dream	2
10	34	Alec Coe	Shy Torque	1

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
#1 Qualifier	85	John Munday	Hot Dog	.007 Off
Best Reaction	20	Mark Coulsell	Limited Funz	.007
Closest To Dial-In	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	.000 Off
Closest Runner-Up	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan	.026 Behind
Closest Break-Out	44	Chev Charman-Osborne	Destiny's Angel	-.032
Best Altered	4	Tony Smith	The Cunning Plan
Best Slingshot	20	Mark Coulsell	Limited Funz
Best Radical/Dragster	None Entered
Best Engineered	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft
Best Appearing Team	6	C&C Drag Racing Team	Backdraft

Saturday was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 qualifying rounds. The day started off sunny and warm. In the first two rounds of qualifying, 10 drivers took part, with 9 taking part in the third.
WB 3	Joe Stevens carded a good 10.194 @ 128.27 mph opener on a hopeful 9.90 Dial-in in his Back in Black altered, and improved on this in the second round with a 10.105 on the same Dial. The third round saw him recording another consistent 10.111, and he finished in 8th spot on the ladder.
WB 4	Tony Smith was running in The Cunning Plan Minivan altered and recorded an 11.752 on an 11.65 Dial-in for his first qualifier. He ran a new Personal Best E.T. of 11.584 in the second round and lowered his Dial-in to 11.60 for the third round, where he carded a good 11.620 pass to qualify in 2nd place.
WB 6	‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell had now installed a bigger injection system on top of the Small Block Chevy and Dialled in at an optimistic 8.50, not wanting to break out. Chris ran a checkout 9.685 in the first round and adjusted the timing to post an improved 9.230 @ 138.22 mph in the second round. He changed the Dial-in to 9.00 even for the third round and ran a 9.292 @ 140.30 mph, still getting a handle on the new injection system and qualifying in 9th place.
WB 20	was Mark Coulsell in the Limited Funz slingshot. He Dialled in at 10.50 for his first round and had a hairy moment when backing up after the burnout, as the steering arm assembly broke, sending him back to the pits for repairs. He was able to get this repaired before the second round, and also had some help with tuning the carb, so again dialled in at 10.50. He was really chuffed when he ran a breakout 10.458, at a Personal Best speed of 126.91 mph! He Dialled in at 10.45 for the third round, and was even more chuffed to run another breakout with a Personal Best E.T. of 10.385, so even though he qualified in 10th spot, he was really happy with the day's overall performance!
WB 34	Alec Coe was running the Shy Torque slingshot and dialled in at 10.30 for the first round, but unfortunately had misfiring problems, running an 11.460. He raised the Dial-in to 10.70, but again ran off the pace at 11.471, still trying to cure the problem. For the third qualifier, her Dialled in at 11.40, and ran an 11.560, qualifying in 7th spot. Unfortunately, on stripping the manifold and rockers off later in the pits, he and Kev discovered some cam damage, so had to park the car for the rest of the event. Even worse was to come when, on the drive home, they had a bad accident on the motorway when the trailer started to snake, sending them into the central reservation. Fortunately, they all escaped serious injury, save some bruising, Kev's hurt shoulder, and the shock of it all, not to mention the financial impact. We all wish the whole team well and hope they recover from the incident really quickly and are back at the track soon! All the best to the Mad R's!!
WB 44	was Chevone Charman-Osborne's first outing this season in the Destiny's Angel altered of team Evolution Racing. She Dialled in at 9.60 and went out and ran a 9.632, straight off the trailer, qualifying in 3rd place without any practice at all! She followed this with another consistent 9.676 @ 141.99 mph and sat out the third round to help crew for Dad Keith in the Alkymist Rear-engine dragster.
WB 76	was Steve Field's first MSA event with his and Lesley's The Black Pig altered. He dialled in at 11.50 and ran an 11.701 for his opening bid. He followed this with an improved 11.660 in the second round and an 11.681 in the third round, to qualify in a very respectable 5th place.
WB 85	John Munday was having his first event of 2004, this time racing Gareth Kent's Hot Dog altered which he had helped to rebuild! He dialled in at 13.00 for his first ever time in the car, and promptly broke out with a 12.627! He lowered the Dial-in according to Gareth's instructions and ran a great 12.427, just 7 thousandths off the Dial, to take the #1 Qualifier Spot in only his second ever run! He followed this with another breakout of 12.223, and was happy with the day's runs, and the tuning of the carb.
WB 109	Andy Murphy was back in the B-Sting altered and Dialled in at 12.40. He recorded a breakout 12.363 for his first run and changed the Dial-in to 12.35 for his second pass, where he posted a good 12.401. He changed the Dial-in again for the third run to a 12.39 and ran another breakout of 12.350, and qualified in 4th place overall.
WB 142	Mike Cresswell was fresh from his first event win at York in the Living the Dream slingshot and Dialled in at 10.98. He ran an 11.092 in the first round, and lowered his Dial to 10.80 for the second. He bogged off the line, and put in a pass of 14.191, and changed the Dial-in again to 11.00 even. He recorded an 11.129 in the third round and finished in 6th spot overall. Many thanks to the marshals and officials and the event organisers and race director for enabling us to all get three full rounds of qualifying in on the Saturday!
Sunday (Race Day) started off with good weather again and fortunately the whole weekend turned out sunny and dry! All 10 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for the race and there were due to be 5 good races in the first round. Round 1 The first pairing saw John Munday facing Mike Cresswell. John recorded a good reaction of .070, and was close to his 12.30 Dial-in, running 12.359 to take the race over Mike's 11.049 on a 10.90 Dial. In the second pairing, Chev Charman-Osborne ran a strong 9.568, but brokeout on her 9.60 Dial-in, handing the win to Joe Stevens who ran a Personal Best E.T. of 10.063 on a 9.98 Dial-in. Chev did win the “Closest Breakout” Spot Prize for her strong pass, being just .032 under her Dial, and also recorded the fastest speed of the Wild Bunch for the weekend, with a 144.19 mph. The next pairing saw Tony Smith with a Bye run, as he had been due to race Alec, and he recorded another Personal Best E.T. of 11.564 on an 11.60 Dial-in. The next race saw ‘Crazy’ Chris dialling in at 9.20 and recording a 9.330 to take the win over a breaking-out Andy Murphy, who ran very close to his personal best, with a good 12.270 on a 12.35 Dial. Rounding off the first round was a battle of the breakouts with Mark Coulsell narrowly taking the win with a 10.745 breakout on a 10.80, just 6 thousandths less than that of Steve Field who ran a strong 11.599 on his 11.66 Dial-in. Quarter-Finals The quarter-finals saw John with a Bye run and he posted a strong 12.224 on a 12.18 Dial-in. In the first of the two races, Joe Stevens handed the win to Mark, when he redlit by just two hundreds, recording a 10.281 on a 10.05 Dial-in to Mark's 10.566 on a 10.80 Dial. In the other race, Chris ran an off-pace 9.818 on a 9.30 Dial-in, whilst Tony posted a perfect E.T. with an 11.560 on an 11.56 Dial-in! He won the eurodragster Perfect E.T. award for the event, earning £50 in the process, and not surprisingly the “Closest to Dial-in” award (in fact being just four hundredthousandths off his Dial!)! Fair play to Tony for that achievement! Chris took away some consolation prizes, finishing 4th overall, by being closest of the runners-up in that round, and he also won the “Best Engineered” Spot Prize and the whole team won the “Best Appearing Team” award for their smart red and flamed shirts and professional conduct. Semi-Finals Tony had now earnt a Bye run into the Final, and ran an easy 11.605 on an 11.50 Dial-in. In the only race of the Semis, it was another breakout contest with Mark taking the win with a 10.468 on a 10.60 being a lesser breakout than John's Personal Best E.T. of 12.067 on a 12.30 Dial-in. (This also beat Gareth's best time in the “Hot Dog” altered, and he is now hoping to break into the 11's next time back in the hotseat!). On this race, Mark recorded the “Best Reaction” of the Bunch for the day, with a brilliant .007! Final The final fittingly turned out to be the closest race of the day with Mark taking victory with a another good reaction and a 10.669 on a 10.45 Dial over Tony's closer 11.572 on an 11.50. Tony finished only .026 behind and earnt the “Closest Runner-up” Spot Prize for this, and the “Best Altered” for all his Personal bests and strong performance. Mark won the “Best Slingshot” award for his Personal bests and his performance improvements over the weekend. All in all, a very good event with more close racing. Thanks once again to all the hard working marshals and officials for all their efforts. We are now looking forward to some close racing at the first Wild Bunch event of 2004 at Santa Pod, the “Summer Nationals”, an MSA event!! And just one short week after that is the “Nostalgia Nationals”! Hope to see loads of you there!!