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Club Day Test&Tune June 10 - 11
June Shootout10th June - 11th JunePoints awarded for the Wild Bunch Series Round 2 and Real Steel Series Round 4
This event was the June Shootout, which was Wild Bunch Series Round 2 and Real Steel Series Round 4. There was a big field of 20 Wild Bunch cars participating: 7 Altereds, 12 Slingshots & 1 Rear-engine dragster and a grand total of 8 of these teams recorded Personal Best E.T.'s and Speeds!
| Event Participants | ||||
| Position | WB | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Tony Smith | The Cunning Plan | 10 |
| 2 | 57 | Neil Ward | Andromeda | 8 |
| 3 | 63 | Joe Stevens | Back In Black | 7 |
| 4 | 100 | Roy Wilding | Chariot of Fire | 6 |
| 5 | 3 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | 5 |
| - | 16 | Mark Hartnell | Awesome 4-Some | 5 |
| - | 30 | Luke Bennett | Devils Advocate | 5 |
| - | 43 | Martin Holgate | Paranoia | 5 |
| - | 109 | Alan Broughton | B-Sting | 5 |
| - | 147 | Sid Slattery | Destiny | 5 |
| 11 | 9 | Ray Ford | RamRaider | 4 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 4 |
| - | 34 | Alec Coe & Kev Mortimer | Shy Talker | 4 |
| - | 40 | Darren Law | Wicked Lady | 4 |
| - | 129 | Tony Wynne-Jones | TFI Friday | 4 |
| 16 | 115 | Paul Bambrick | American Pie | 3 |
| 17 | 20 | Mark Coulsell | Limited Funz | 2 |
| - | 51 | Mark Fullard | 66 Race Car Specialties | 2 |
| 19 | 1 | Mike Cresswell | Living the Dream | 1 |
| - | 4 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 57 | Neil Ward | Andromeda | .000 Off !! |
| Best Altered | 109 | Allan Broughton | B-Sting | |
| Best Slingshot | 51 | Mark Fullard | 66 Race Car Specialties | |
| Best Radical/Dragster | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | |
| Best Engineered | 109 | Team B-Sting | B-Sting | |
| Driver's Choice | 16 | Mark Hartnell | Awesome 4-Some | |
| Saturday This was a practice day and many drivers got in 4 or more runs. The day started off sunny and warm and became quite hot! This weekend we welcomed three new members, and two familiar faces with brand new cars. On the evening there was again the treat of a film show of the day's racing from Darryl and Sarah, which was enjoyed by all on the lovely summer's evening! Sunday (Series Points Day) Again this was another lovely summer's day which was even hotter than Saturday! And the first event of the year where we haven’t worried about the possibility of rain! We managed to complete four rounds, with a bit of a gap in the middle for the heat of the day! | |
| WB 1 | was the second Wild Bunch event of the year for Mike Cresswell in the FreQ racing Living the Dream slingshot. Mike had suffered some gearbox problems at the last event and unfortunately these gremlins were still with the team on the couple of runs they made on the Saturday. They made a few adjustments and fired the car up Sunday in the hopes of an improvement but it was not to be this time and Mike had to park the car for the day. We all wish Mikey the best of luck with fixing the problems and hope he can be back out soon mixing it with the Bunch! |
| WB 2 | was Tony Smith's second Wild Bunch event for 2006 in The Cunning Plan minivan altered. Tony is now a trainee scrutineer and he had some duties to perform Saturday morning before he could get in his racecar, but he still managed to make 5 good passes throughout the day! These included an 11.626 an 11.750, and an 11.710 @ 111.41 mph. Tony dialled in at 11.65 for Sunday's rounds and started with a promising 11.732 in the first round, a closer 11.618 in the second, an even closer 11.624 in the third, and his best run of the weekend, an 11.573 in the fourth round. This consistency earned Tony the victory, so fair play and welcome back to the winner's circle Tony! |
| WB 3 | Helen Smythe was in the Team Twisted Hell's Belle altered. She made 4 passes on the Saturday, varying from a great 9.88 @ 134 mph, an 11.94 and a 13.00, both not in a straight line, to an 11.04, still not quite straight, and looking for the traction. She Dialled in at 9.88 for Sunday and ran a 10.189 @ 135.75 mph in the first round. She then recorded an 11.108 in the second and a 13.227 in the third, having to come off the loud pedal after hearing some unusual noises. Luckily everything was fine, and she came back out for the fourth round and posted a 10.722 @ 133.81 mph. Helen finished in 9th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 4 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was running the C&C Drag Racing team Backdraft slingshot, fresh from some 8's at the last event. He made a couple of good passes on Saturday, of 9.080 @ 144.12 mph and 9.036 @ 145.71 mph. But on the second pass, he had noticed a dip in oil pressure and went back to the pits to check things over. He fired the car up again and although the oil pressure was fairly good, it was erratic, so he decided it best to park the car for the weekend and diagnose the problem back home in the garage. Hopefully it will be something minor and he can be back out racing quickly! |
| WB 9 | saw Ray Ford in his second Wild Bunch event of the season in the RamRaider slingshot of Team Dog's B's. The team had experienced problems with a couple of valves and reduced oil pressure at the ACW Nationals and had to replace valves and do some other engine maintenance since that event, where Ray had run an excellent 9.50. Ray made four passes on Saturday, including a 10.494, a 10.223, a 10.367 with his best speed of the day at 132.37 mph, and a 10.510 near close of play, and the team set to work on figuring out the slight drop in performance. Suspecting an ignition problem they borrowed the dizzy from Backdraft and Ray put in a strong test pass Sunday morning of 9.636 @ 124.86 mph. The team had dialled in at 10.00, and joined in with the second round where Ray ran a 10.311. Ray improved again to a 9.866 @ 127 mph in the third round and an even better 9.645 @ 139.93 mph in the fourth, once again showing great promise for this well-turned out car, which is a great credit to the whole team! |
| WB 16 | was Mark Hartnell's second Wild Bunch event of the season. At the American Car World Nationals he had blown a head gasket (repaired Saturday night) and then broken the gearbox on the Sunday. Since then, he cured the problem which had blown the head gasket, acquired a T5 gearbox and installed that, only to have a chain of problems with non-fitting parts which meant the purchase of a Cosworth starter motor and flywheel (which had to be adapted) and new clutch, with the eventual fire-up taking place 3pm on the Friday of the event! He made 6 passes on Saturday, beginning with two 20+second runs, then did some tuning adjustments and ran a vastly improved 13.479. He then improved to a 13.021 at a Personal Best Speed of 104.03 mph on his fourth run, and made some other adjustments, before coming out for his fifth run of the day and totally blitzing his PB by three tenths, running a 12.635 @ 104.73 mph!! (This was already beyond his 2006 goal of running a 12.7!). He then came out for his last run of the day and went even better with a 12.562 @ 105.28 mph. He dialled in at 12.60 for Sunday's rounds and yet again stunned himself and the team by running another PB of 12.407 @ 105.56 mph! Playing conservative on the second round to get closer to his Dial, he ran a 12.909 @ 105 mph. He reverted back to ‘going for it’ in the third round and ran yet another Personal Best E.T. of 12.376, way beyond expectations! He ended the day with a 12.461 in the fourth round and finished in 6th place overall. To top it all he also won the Driver's Choice Spot Prize, voted for by all drivers attending the event. Many congratulations, Mark and well done on all your hard work! |
| WB 20 | Mark Coulsell was running in his second Wild Bunch event of the year in his 40-year anniversary Limited Funz slingshot. Mark made 4 runs on Saturday, including an 11.328, a 10.779 @ 123.49 mph, a 10.679 and an 11.004, all with his usual strong burnouts and was really enjoying being back out racing again. He dialled in at 10.65 for the rounds on Sunday, but recorded a 17.919 in the first round, suffering a suspected gearbox breakage on the run. We really hope Mark can get that fixed really soon and be back out racing with the Bunch, celebrating his 10th year of racing! |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford made his Wild Bunch debut with his well-turned out golden Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot. Terry had been out to an early test n’ tune in March and he had been looking forward to joining in with the Bunch. He made a couple of runs on Saturday, including a 14.484 checkout pass and a 12.862 @ 105 mph, and later put in his observed runs and cockpit test and succeeded in gaining his MSA race licence. Congratulations on that achievement, Terry! He dialled in for the first time with a 12.50 and did some tuning in the pits Sunday morning. He joined in with the second round and recorded a 12.998 @ 105.44 mph. He then ran a new Personal Best E.T. and speed of 12.290 @ 106.32 mph in the third round and a 12.409 in the fourth round, and enjoyed his weekend's racing. Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Terry! |
| WB 30 | was also the debut in Wild Bunch for Luke Bennett in his beautiful chameleon-painted T-bodied Devil's Advocate altered. Luke has been around Drag Racing for many years, helping with his Dad Frank's Topolino and he had bought the ex-Hot Dog altered from Gareth Kent a couple of years ago, and really made it his own with the striking paint job. He had done some testing and tuning at one previous event with this car, but this was his first time out with the Bunch. He put in a couple of passes on the Saturday, including one or two of his MSA-licensing runs and a 13.021 @ 92.886 mph, and then dialled in at 13.20 for Sunday's rounds. In the first round he posted a 14.889, still getting a handle on the car. He then improved to a 14.051 in the second round and a new Personal Best E.T. of 12.353 in the third. He finished the day with a 12.364 at a new Personal Best Speed of 103.28 mph and earned 8th place overall on his first racing weekend! Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Luke! |
| WB 34 | was again a real family affair with both Alec and son Dan Coe taking turns in the hotseat of the Mad R's Shy Talker blown alky slingshot! Alec had the first run Saturday with a 9.859 @ 156 mph and then it was Dan's turn. This was Dan's first ever experience Drag Racing in any car, and he was the fifth member of the family to take to the strip, after Dad Alec, younger brother Tom, Mum Rita and sister-in-law Jenny! He made a couple of passes in the car, and did well, having to cope with a small spray of oil on his first ever run, idling to a 13.8 after the hairy moment!! Then he recorded a pass of 12.334 @ 81 mph on his second run. And by the gleam in his eye that day he already seems hooked! Well done, Dan and welcome! On Sunday, Alec took over the reins again, dialling in at 8.50 and running a great 8.634 @ 163.82 mph in the first round, the quickest of the Bunch for the weekend. He then recorded the fastest time of the Bunch, with a strong 8.698 @ 165.78 mph in the second round. On the third round he had to get out of the run after the launch, but still posted a 9.290 @ 163 mph, and the team then called it a day. It had been good to see yet another member of the clan joining in with the racing, and the car running strong mid 8's again. |
| WB 40 | Darren Law and the team were back out with their gorgeously sparkly The Wicked Lady rear-engine dragster. They had changed some electrics and ignition on the car hoping to improve on the car's recent drop in performance. Darren made a couple of passes on the Saturday of 11.633 and 11.060 @ 125.01 mph. They dialled in at 11.10 for Sunday, and Darren ran an 11.461 @ 119 mph in the first round. He then posted a 12.681 in the second and a 12.479 in the third and with the fall-off in performance the team decided to call it a day and investigate further. One consolation was that the team won the ‘Mr Bolt’ Spot Prize for the Best Dragster/Radical, as chosen by the commentators. We really hope they can locate the problems soon and be back out on form enjoying their racing. |
| WB 43 | Martin Holgate was back once again in the revamped Paranoia altered. He had been happy with his progress so far this season and hoped to build on this. He made 5 passes on Saturday, starting with a 16.82 and improving steadily with an 11.608, a 10.986, a 10.694 and finished the day with a 10.492 @ 125 mph run. He dialled in at an optimistic 9.50 for Sunday and recorded a 10.790 in the first round, unfortunately pulling a red light, still trying to get a handle on his clutch. He then posted an 11.921 in the second round, and in the third round a best yet with the new combination, of 10.054 @ 133.23 mph, but with another red light. He then finished the day with a 10.152 @ 132.91 mph, and was very happy with the improvements over the weekend. Great to see Martin out regularly with the car and developing its potential, which will surely happen before long. |
| WB 51 | was the Wild Bunch debut of Mark & Viv Fullard's historic ‘66 Race Car Specialties’ slingshot. This car was the ‘sister’ car to the fabled Surfers slingshot, having been originally partially built in the US in 1966, stored unfinished for 30 years, completed and then ‘resurrected’ in 2000 to start its racing life! It went on to finish runner-up in US Nostalgia Eliminator in 2003, and many thanks to eBay, the car eventually ended up in the hands of Mark and Viv! How's that for a story!! Mark then did a few Run-What-You-Brungs in 2005, with a previous best of 11.5 @ 116 mph, and the team were looking forward to their first appearance with the Wild Bunch. Mark made a couple of passes Saturday including his first 10-second run, a 10.668 @ 128 mph, and later a 10.548 @ 131.34 mph, and dialled in at 10.50 on Sunday for his first racing weekend. In the first round, there was some type of staging fault, and he unfortunately recorded no time or speed. He sat out the second round, but joined in the third and ran a new Personal Best E.T. and speed of 10.297 @ 132.91 mph! He also sat out the fourth round but had been happy with his progress over the weekend and he and Viv and the team really enjoyed their racing. And the icing on the cake was that they won the Best Slingshot Spot Prize (another ‘Mr Bolt’) as chosen by the commentators. Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Mark and Viv! |
| WB 57 | Neil Ward was in his third Wild Bunch event of 2006 in the Andromeda slingshot. Neil had run his first ever 8-second pass at the ACW Nationals and all the team were eager for a repeat performance! Neil made a few passes on Saturday in the low 9's, including a 9.05 and a 9.015 @ 148.11 mph, with the crew still getting a handle on the nitrous settings. He dialled in at 9.00 for Sunday's rounds and amazingly went straight out and ran an exact 9.000 @ 148.61 mph!! Incredible! In fact it was that close, that given to 5 decimal places, it was 9.00005, just five one-hundred thousandths of a second off! Needless to say, he earnt himself Closest to Dial-in on that one!! Way to go, Neil! In the second round he also wasn’t that far off with a 9.095 at a new Personal Best Speed of 148.89 mph. In round three he drifted a bit to a 9.115, but then finished the day off brilliantly with another 8-second pass, a new Personal Best E.T. of 8.960, leaving his best run of the weekend til last! With this consistency he finished in second place overall, and the whole team had a great weekend! |
| WB 63 | saw Joe Stevens in his second Wild Bunch event of 2006 with his blown altered Back in Black. Joe had been 4th at the ACW Nats and was keen to improve. He made several passes on Saturday including a 9.968 @ 138.45 mph, and another one where his complete blower belt came off, and later a 9.706. He was a little off the pace on recent form, and dialled in at 9.80 for Sunday. He went straight out and ran a solid 9.841 in the first round, another consistent 9.845 in the second and exactly another 9.841 in the third, all at 134 mph. But he was then slightly off that pace, recording a 10.037 in the fourth round. His early round consistency still paid off and he finished the weekend in 3rd place overall. |
| WB 100 | ‘Lil Daddy’ Roy Wilding has been enjoying the season's racing with his Chariot of Fire altered. He was doing some testing and tuning on the Saturday and put in several passes including an 11.438 and an 11.413, as well as some slower experimental times. He dialled in at 11.41 for the rounds and began very well with an 11.444 in the first. He then ran better with an 11.341 @ 121.56 mph in the second, followed by a slower 11.671 in the third. He saved his closest run of the day til last, recording an 11.437 in the fourth round and finished in 4th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 109 | was the first time Allan Broughton had driven the team B-Sting altered with its upgraded engine this season. He started Saturday with a tentative 13.037 @ 97 mph, and then steadily improved with an 11.929 @ 105 mph, an 11.392 and his first 10-second pass, a 10.966 @ 117.52 mph. The team dialled in at 11.00 even on Sunday, and Al went really close in the first round with an 11.017 @ 123 mph. He then ran another PB with a solid 10.782 @ 124 mph in the second round, and a closer 10.948 in the third. He also saved his best run for last and posted another Personal Best E.T. and Speed of 10.715 @ 126.65 mph! He finished in a good 5th place overall and was awarded a ‘Mr Bolt’ as the Best Altered Spot Prize by the commentators for his PB's, getting a handle quickly on the new combination in the car, and for the well-turned out altered itself. Another bonus was that the team also won the Best Engineered Spot Prize as chosen by the scrutineer. Another team who really enjoyed their weekend's racing! Well done, Al and Paul! |
| WB 115 | saw the welcome return of Paul Bambrick, who used to campaign the Zitsarelli rear-engined dragster in the early days of Wild Bunch. He had spent several years out building, and this weekend debuted his amazing American Pie injected 302 Chevy-powered slingshot, resplendent in stars n’ stripes paint, pinstriping and signwriting, and long and low with a beautiful ‘swoopy’ tail. This stunning car caused quite a stir in the pits when it arrived Saturday afternoon. Paul planned some shakedown runs and immediately joined in with the Wild Bunch, dialling in at a conservative 14.00 even. He sat out the first round firing up and preparing the car and made it out for the second round where he ran a checkout 14.092 @ 68.81 mph. Not bad for a first Dial-in after so long, and a good guess with a brand new car. He then came back out for the third round with another checkout pass of 16.336 @ 101.63 mph, just topping the ton. There's plenty more to come from the car, which made a big impression on everyone! Welcome back, Paul! |
| WB 129 | Tony Wynne-Jones was also a familiar face in an unfamiliar car as he had built another car, a brand new slingshot, nicely-named T.F.I. Friday, with a Rover lump running SU carbs, and in plain metal partial bodywork. He was doing some shakedown passes on the Saturday, to start to get a handle on the car, and dialled in at a tentative 15.50 on Sunday. Still checking the car out, he ran 18.555 in the first round, followed by 17.707 in the second and 16.494 @ 83.59 mph in the third. Form should that he would probably have taken another second off in the fourth and gotten bang on his Dial-in, but he was happy with the how the weekend had gone and called it a day. Well done on the car's debut, Tony! |
| WB 147 | was Sid Slattery's second event for 2006 in his lovely silver Destiny Jag-powered slingshot. He had cured the problem from the previous event, having had the head machined, and was now firing on all 6! He put in several passes Saturday, including an 11.218 @ 120.31 mph and an 11.265. He dialled in at 11.25 for Sunday's rounds and started off with an 11.532 in the first round. He then posted an 11.784 in the second and a 12.052 in the third, followed by a 13.066 in the fourth round, to finish in 7th place overall. |
| It was a very good weekend, with a lot of track time, and some great weather. We would like to thank all the track prep crew, marshals and officials for working so hard. We hear that some of them were up at 5:30am each day to start work prepping the track, so we really appreciate all their efforts, and also the firecrews who had to be in attendance in full firesuits throughout the hot weekend. Many thanks to them all!
Congratulations to all the Wild Bunch racers and crews for putting on a really good show again, with really great cars! And to all the winners and racers who achieved Personal Bests. Fair play everyone! And a warm welcome to all our new members and returning members! It's great to race with you all! We are now looking forward to the “Summer Nationals” at Santa Pod Raceway, an MSA Sportsman event in one week's time! | |