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Hot Rod Drags September 17 - 18

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Hot Rod Drags17th September - 18th SeptemberPoints awarded for the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 4
This weekend was a RWYB event. It was Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 4 (Final) and there were Spot Prizes. We had a field of 17 Wild Bunch cars: 9 Slingshots, 7 Altereds and 1 Radical
Event Participants
Position WB Driver Car Points
1 2 Joe Stevens Back in Black 9
2 44 Sarah Howells Destinys Angel 7
3 100 Roy Wilding Chariot of Fire 6
4 67 Darryl Howells Chemical Reaction 5
5 1 Tony Smith The Cunning Plan 4
- 16 Mark Hartnell Awesome 4-Some 4
- 28 Pete/Gav Loveridge Herr X 4
- 34 Alec Coe & Kev Mortimer Shy Talker 4
- 38 Helen Smythe Hell's Belle 4
- 54 Phil Sweeney Antisocial 4
- 76 Steven Field The Black Pig 4
12 29 Tony Wynne-Jones Welsh Raider 2 3
- 147 Sid Slattery Destiny 3
14 71 Andy Solley Repeat Offender 2
- 59 Lee Birch Colliebosher 2
16 6 Chris Hartnell Backdraft 1
- 42 Colin Stevens Golddigger 1
Spot Prizes
WBTeam/DriverCarDetail
Best Burnout 2 ‘Smokin’ Joe Stevens Back In Black
Best Altered 100 Roy Wilding Chariot Of Fire
Best Slingshot 34 Tom Coe Shy Talker
Best Radical 29 Tony Wynne-Jones Welsh Raider II
Most Improved E.T. 34 Tom Coe Shy Talker .649 Improvement
Best Appearing Team 147 SNS Racing Destiny
Driver's Choice 67 Darryl Howells Chemical Reaction
Saturday was a practice day and the weather was cool and dry all day! Sunday was a bit warmer and also dry and 3 rounds were completed. 4 racers ran Personal Best E.T.'s, and 3 racers ran Personal Best MPH's! We welcomed a new member, Lee Birch, in “The Colliebosher” Buick-powered slingshot, recently bought from Lee Gallimore. We also had three sets of fathers and sons driving at this event! One of the highlights of the weekend was the Wild Bunch group photo session, arranged by Sid Slattery, at the top end of the track after racing on Saturday. (A special mention goes to Mikey Cresswell, who had brought his car to the track to take part in the photo session, despite its current lack of halfshafts! Mike was also chuffed to learn that he has finished in 3rd for the season in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series!). Fifteen cars, drivers and teams assembled for the shoot, which was organised as part of the Wild Bunch 10th Anniversary celebrations. Amongst these were no less than 5 cars which participated in the very first full season of the Wild Bunch, back in 1996!
WB 1 Dave Williams was taking a turn driving “The Cunning Plan” altered on Saturday. He put in four good runs of 11.830, 11.765, 11.654 and 11.759, all at 110 mph. Dave then handed the wheel back to Tony Smith for Sunday's rounds, and Tony dialled in at 11.65. In the first round, Tony put in a great 11.652 @ 111.72 mph, just 2 thousandths off his Dial! In the second round, he posted a strong 11.505 @ 108.96 mph, somewhat under his Dial-in and running better than he had expected. But in the third round, unfortunately a deep red light showed on the tree, and Tony did not record a time for the run.
WB 2 Joe Stevens was back in his “Back in Black” altered. He made several good low 10-second passes on Saturday, including a 10.02, and dialled in at 10.04 for Sunday's rounds. In the first round run, he posted a great 9.976 @ 131.38 mph, followed by two more good runs of 10.023 and 10.026, both at 130 mph, to finish with an average difference from Dial-in of just .032 and win the event! ‘Smokin’ Joe was also awarded the “Best Burnout” Spot Prize by the commentators for his great smoky burnouts. Fair play, Joe! This means that Joe has won the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series for the 4th year in a row!! Many congratulations to him on this achievement!
WB 6 “Crazy” Chris Hartnell was hoping for some more strong 8-second runs in the “Backdraft” slingshot. Chris’ first run on Saturday produced a 10.087 @ 144.36 mph, losing some traction off the line. His second run was only a slight improvement of 9.960 @ 146.08 mph. On this run, Chris thought something hadn’t sounded quite right, and on firing the car up, checking the timing, and doing a compression test, he discovered that one cylinder was down. This was due to a blown head gasket and Chris had to park the car for the rest of the weekend, as further investigation was also necessary back in the garage. There was some consolation, however, as Chris has finished in 2nd place overall in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series, so many congratulations to him!
WB 16 saw young Mark Hartnell with a newly rebuilt engine in his “Awesome 4-Some” slingshot. He had also installed a shiny new race-tuned exhaust system and some trick-looking induction trumpets, and was further training up crew member Nige to oversee his runs along with Dad Chris and Mum Claire. He was hoping for low 13-second runs in the car with the new parts, but started off with a pair of 16's on Saturday, 16.301 @ 90.92 mph and 16.883. He adjusted the fuel and ignition and later ran an improving 14.545 @ 96.96 mph. He dialled in at 13.50 for Sunday, hoping to tune the car back up, but ran 15.818, 20.937 and 17.247, and finished in 7th place overall for the weekend. Unfortunately, he sustained gearbox damage on the last run, so hope he can fix that before his next event in October. At the trophy presentation, Mark was really pleased to find out he had won a tool box, donated by the Mad R's team as a prize for 7th place!
WB 28 Pete & Gavyn Loveridge were again sharing the driving of the “Herr X” slingshot and made a few passes on Saturday. They dialled in at 10.70 for Sunday, and Pete put in a strong 10.687 @ 124.79 mph in the first round. Gavyn then made the second pass, a 11.360, but at a new Personal Best Speed of 126.06 mph, and a Reaction time of .025, the best of the Bunch for the weekend! Pete drove the car in the third round, and put in another good 10.672 @ 125.00 mph, and the pair finished in 6th place overall for the weekend.
WB 29 Tony Wynne-Jones was back with his “Welsh Raider II” Radical, and arrived at the track Sunday morning, after having worked on the car at home, adjusting the cam timing and curing some gremlins. He dialled in blind at 12.30 for Sunday's rounds, and posted a 12.874 @ 97.99 mph, running the car back in. He then went out for the second round and posted a great new Personal Best E.T. of 11.214 @ 119.39 mph, to celebrate his birthday in style. Tony did not make the queue for the third round but was very happy to have found this performance in the car. He was also awarded the “Best Radical” Spot Prize by the commentators, so was very pleased with the day!
WB 34 saw Alec Coe running his and Kev Mortimer's methanol-burning “Shy Talker” blown injected slingshot on Saturday, and putting in three runs. He had to back out of the first, to a 13-second pass, but later put in great runs of 8.679 @ 162.03 mph and 8.826 @ 161.15 mph. On Sunday, he handed the reins over to son Tom, who had only driven the car once before (a 9.0 at over 157 mph). The team dialled Tom in at 8.90, but he then exceeded all expectations by recording a great 8.560 @ 165.92 mph, the fastest speed the car had run so far! He then proceeded to run another Personal Best E.T. and speed of 8.441 @ 166.62 mph, the quickest the car has ever run! This won him a special spark plug trophy from the NSRA for the “Quickest Wild Bunch car” of the weekend! This also won him the “Most Improved E.T.” with a .649 improvement. (It had however been a red light, but Tom and the team were not at all worried about that!). In the third round he had to back off the pass to an 11-second run, due to the track conditions. Tom was awarded the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize by the commentators, for his first ever 8's and for the team's lovely rail!
WB 38 Helen Smythe was running the Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered. She put in some consistent runs on Saturday of 10.349, 10.359 and 10.516, all at 128 mph, and dialled in at 10.34 for the rounds on Sunday. She then improved to a 10.218 in the first round, a 10.189 @ 129.73 mph in the second, and an even better 10.120 in the third round, and finished in 5th place overall. Helen was doing some sterling burnouts in the altered, and gave ‘Smokin’ Joe a good run for his money!!
WB 42 Colin Stevens was back in his well-turned out “Golddigger” slingshot, which is now up for sale. He put in a couple of passes on Saturday, including a 12.149 @ 112.12 mph and then decided it best to display the lovely slingshot in his T-shirt stall for the rest of the weekend. What a great advert for the stall! Colin was also able to take part in the group photo, so it was great to have him and the car with us for that!
WB 44 Sarah Howells was running Bernie Nicholas’ “Destiny's Angel” altered, fresh from her championship win in the Ultimate Power Series. Sarah started with an 11-second pass Saturday, having to back out of the run on a cold track. She then put in passes of 9.652 and 9.544 @ 142.87 mph, and dialled in at 9.57 for Sunday's rounds. Sarah posted a 9.622 @ 143.82 mph in the first round, her best speed of the event. She then went on to record a 9.664 and a 9.637 in the second and third rounds, and finished in 2nd place overall for the weekend! Another great result!
WB 54 saw Phil Sweeney back in the “Antisocial” slingshot, after his first ever MSA win at the “Allstar Nationals”. Phil arrived on Sunday morning, quickly got scrutineered and signed on, and joined the queue, dialling in blind at 13.40 for the rounds. He put in a good 13.384 in the first round, but then redlit with a better 13.288 @ 97.21 mph in the second round. He then went really close to Dial, with a 13.398 in the third round, just 2 thousandths under! Phil had a good day and is very much looking forward to racing at the Pod in a fortnight!
WB 59 Lee Birch was a newcomer to the Wild Bunch, in a very familiar car, the ex-Roy Wilding Buick-powered slingshot, which Lee had recently purchased from Lee Gallimore. Lee has renamed the car “The Colliebosher” and hopes to repaint it over the winter and stamp his identity on it. He ran a few passes on Saturday, including an 11.543 @ 111.59 mph, and an 11.797. He dialled in at 11.50 for Sunday's rounds and posted an 11.8 in the first round, and rolled through stage in the second round, just getting to grips with the car and the learning curve. Lee had a good time, and was able to take part as the newest Wild Bunch member in Saturday's photo shoot (interestingly, with one of the original cars from 1996!). Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Lee!
WB 67 was Darryl Howells in the D.A.S.H. Racing “Chemical Reaction” slingshot. He made 4 strong passes on Saturday, 10.300, 10.313, a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.182, and a 10.207 @ 133.74 mph. He dialled in at 10.10 for Sunday's rounds, hoping to run even better. He recorded a 10.209 in the first round, and then a great new Personal Best E.T. of 10.028 @ 134.61 mph in the second, followed by another good 10.250 in the third, and finished in 4th place overall for the weekend! Darryl was also chuffed to be awarded the “Driver's Choice” Spot Prize, voted for by all the WB drivers attending the event! Fair play, Darryl!
WB 71 saw Andy Solley back running the “Repeat Offender” altered, hoping to make a few quick runs with the nitrous on. He made a few passes on Saturday, having a couple of problems with the dizzy, and dialled in at 9.85 on the Sunday. He posted a 10.0 run in the first round and then was not able to take part in the other rounds.
WB 76 Steve Field was running “The Black Pig” altered and made three strong 9-second runs on Saturday, 9.906 @ 139.75 mph, 9.948 and 9.921. He dialled in at 9.95 on Sunday, and put in a stronger 9.737 in the first round, and a good 9.744 @ 140.42 mph in the second. Unfortunately, he recorded a deep red light in the third round and did not post a time. However, Steve and the team were pleased with the car's performance over the weekend, and even more pleased as they finished in 4th place for the year in the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series.
WB 100 saw Roy Wilding once again taking a turn in the hotseat of the “Chariot of Fire” altered. He put in several runs on Saturday, including an 11.822 @ 114.63 mph, and dialled in at precisely 11.685 for Sunday's rounds. He then ran an 11.831 at a new Personal Best Speed of 118.49 mph in the first round, an 11.666 in the second, and an 11.775 in the third, and finished in 3rd place overall for the event! Roy was also rewarded with the “Best Altered” Spot Prize by the commentators because of his consistent runs and beautifully turned out altered.
WB 147 Sid Slattery was running his lovely Jag-powered “Destiny” slingshot and started very well on Saturday, with a new Personal Best E.T. of 10.604 @ 122.17 mph! He then ran an 11.224 and a 10.772, and dialled in at 10.55 for Sunday, hoping for even more improved performances with a new head that had been recently installed on the engine. He had a problem in the first round and recorded a 12.128, but then improved to a 10.881 @ 123.42 mph in the second round, his best speed for some time. Sid did not make the third round, but had a great weekend! And to top it all the team were awarded the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize for their smart and professional appearance.
All in all a good weekend, where the weather was fine! There were long queues at times, but some determined drivers got in 7 runs over the weekend. Well done to all of the drivers on some good performances and a good showing as usual! Thanks as always to all the track crew and officials who worked hard all weekend.

Next event is the “National Finals” at Santa Pod 1st & 2nd October. An MSA event and Wild Bunch Series Round 7 (Final) and Real Steel Series Round 9! Another weekend of great racing that we’re really looking forward to!