2009 Index
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Sportsman National Finals September 26 - 27
Wild Bunch ResultsFall Nationals26th - 27th September
Wild Bunch Series Round 6.
Real Steel Series Round 10.
The “Fall Nationals” was the 6th and Final Round of the Wild Bunch Series, and the 10th and Final Round of the Real Steel Series, as well as the MSA Challenge Round 5 (Final). The original entry list for Wild Bunch this weekend included Dick Sharp, who could not make it to the event, as a replacement piston had not arrived in time to rebuild the engine in the “Dorset Horn” altered; and Keith Crampton, who also unfortunately could not make the event with his “Soultown Shaker” slingshot, due to work commitments. So that meant that there was a field of 5 Wild Bunch cars competing: 2 Altereds, 2 Slingshots and 1 Rear-engined dragster.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 9 |
| 2 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 6 |
| 3 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 5 |
| 4 | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 2 |
| 5 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 3 |
| SCR Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 590 |
| 2 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 320 |
| 3 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 230 |
| 4 | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 140 |
| 5 | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 110 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 0.001 |
| Best Reaction | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 0.068 |
| Best Appearing Team | 3 | C&C Nostalgia Drag Racing team | Backdraft | |
| #1 Qualifier | 9 | Ed Yates | RamRaider | 0.016 |
| Quickest ET | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 8.648 |
| Best Appearing Car | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | |
| Wildest Ride | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | |
| Saturday qualifying The 5 Wild Bunch teams entered at the weekend hoped the weather would be as good as predicted, for the Finals of all the Series. As it turned out, Saturday was a mild and cloudy day with some sunshine, and Sunday was even better, with a sunny morning and warm weather, for a fitting finale to a great season! There were 3 qualifiers for everyone, so a good chance to try and set Dial-ins for Race Day! The last qualifier was around dusk at 7:15pm, so cool air! The track was good all weekend and one of the drivers ran an amazing PB for time and speed! | |
| WB 3 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell went into the event leading the Wild Bunch Series with the “Backdraft” slingshot, by an aggregate of two points, and he was in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series. The team were really looking forward to the event, and hoping that the car might run another 8-second pass over the weekend. They dialled in at 8.98 for the opening qualifier, and Chris ran a 9.102 at 143.39mph for starters. The team then lowered the Dial to 9.05, and Chris ran a real close breakout of 4 thousandths, with a 9.046 at 141.70mph. The team lowered the Dial again to 9.00 even, and Chris not only pulled a wheelie on the burnout, but a spectacular double wheelie on the launch! This earned him the “Wildest Ride” Spot Prize, and he said it was the most exciting run he’d ever had! He kept on it, and ran a 9.183 at 142.93mph, and qualified in 4th place overall, really enjoying the day! |
| WB 9 | saw Ed Yates going into the Final round with the team leading the Real Steel Series and the MSA Challenge, and running in 3rd place in the Wild Bunch Series with the “RamRaider” slingshot, with a possibility of the team winning the Series if he could make up 3 extra points than Chris. Ed had recently run PB's into the low 9.12s with the car, and was really looking forward to the race weekend. He dialled in at 9.22 for the first qualifier, and experienced some problems on the run, recording a 9.906 at 103.37mph. The team kept the Dial for the second round, and Ed once again experienced a problem, posting a 10.170 at 102.64mph. After a lot of head scratching, the team made a change, and this seemed to do the trick, as Ed was back on form, recording a 9.346 at 142.03mph on their 9.33 Dial-in! This earned him the #1Qualifier spot and a Bye in the first round! A real good start! |
| WB 40 | Darren Law was back with “The Wicked Lady” rear-engined dragster, after having run more PB's at his last event, also down into the low 9.12s. The team dialled him in at 9.21 for starters, and Darren posted a solid 9.300 at 135.36mph for his opening bid. They kept the Dial for the second round, where Darren recorded a 9.361 at 136.54mph. They then raised the Dial, to 9.25, whilst Darren lowered the E.T. accordingly, running a 9.284 at 135.63mph! Good team work! He finished in 2nd place overall, and the team were pleased with the day's runs and consistency. |
| WB 44 | Dave Rowlands went into the event in 3rd place in the Real Steel Series and 4th place in the Wild Bunch Series in his “Destiny's Angel” altered. He was hoping to make his fourth Final round appearance of the year, and maybe make up a place or two in either Series. His first qualifier netted a 9.835 at 140.31mph, on a 9.60 Dial-in. He then raised the Dial to 9.70 for the second qualifier, and recorded a strong 9.746 at 141.27mph, which was at that time good for #1 Spot. He went quicker again on the third round, where he dialled in at 9.75, and ran a breakout 9.617 at 142.12mph. Dave qualified in 3rd place overall, and was looking forward to Sunday's races. |
| WB 52 | saw Ant Harris back in the “Frantic” Topolino altered, and he was hoping to finish the season by running another 8-second pass. He began qualifying with a Dial-in of 8.95. Well, he went straight out and ran an amazing new Personal Best E.T. and Speed, recording a huge breakout, with an 8.648 at 150.13mph, his first time over the 150 barrier! Fair play Ant! Excellent run! The team then decided to back off the tune a bit, in order to gain consistency, and they dialled in at 8.80, with Ant posting a 9.410 at 130.92mph. They raised the Dial to 9.45 for the third qualifier, and Ant again broke out with a 9.352 at 132.54mph. He qualified in 5th place overall, but they didn’t mind one bit after such a great run to start the weekend! And a big goal achieved! Congratulations to the team! |
| Sunday (Race Day) All five Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations and there were due to be two good races and a Bye in the first round, the Quarter Finals. Sunday started off sunny and warmed up nicely, with a bit of cloud later on, but still fine and dry. There was quite a long wait until the first round of eliminations for Wild Bunch, and we were eventually called at about 3pm! Quarter-Finals The first pair saw Crazy Chris facing Darren, and this was a great race! Chris dialled in at 9.08, whilst Darren and the team opted for a 9.21. Darren had the reaction time advantage by nearly 7 hundredths, with a “Best Reaction” for the Bunch of .068; but Chris posted a brilliant “Closest to Dial-in” of 9.081 at 136.59mph, just a thousandth off, to take the win over Darren's 9.303 at 138.55mph. At the top end, there was only .024 in it, so a real close one! The next run saw Ed taking the Bye by virtue of being #1 Qualifier. He posted a Dial-in of 9.33 and had a great flat out breakout run of 9.262 at 142.42mph, to give him an idea of Dial for the next round. (At this point, with Chris’ first round win, it meant Chris only had to make it as far as staging in the Final to win the Wild Bunch Series, and he had a Bye in the Semis). The next race was also a close one with Dave dialling in at 9.60 and Ant opting for a 9.30. Dave ran close to dial, with a 9.648 to take the victory over Ant who broke out by just .0066, recording a 9.293(4)! So close! Ant and the team were awarded the “Best Appearing Car” by the commentators, for their well turned out altered, the smoky burnouts and some great runs! Well done guys! Darren and the team earned the 4th place spot for the event by virtue of being closer to Dial without breaking out. So they finished all 3 events they ran at this season in the Top 4! Semi-finals After the quarter-finals, it was only around an hour and a half til the Semis. This time it was Chris who had earned the Bye run, and he went for it, dialling in at 8.98 and hoping to dip into the 8's. He had an out of shape launch and had to back off, as he was a bit close to the centre line, but was back on it again, recording a 9.838 at 140.19mph to move through to the final. But then, on slowing down and turning off, Chris heard a noise and clicked into neutral immediately. There was a small amount of oil behind where he stopped, and on inspection the timing chain had punched a gash in the timing cover! So Chris would be unable to make it to the Final. Such a shame for the whole team! Not to mention the possible engine damage! This meant that Ed could then earn the Wild Bunch title for the Dog's Bollocks team, if he could win the Semi against Dave, and make it to stage in the Final. The pair were waiting down at the start line and Dave dialled in at 9.62, whilst Ed went for a 9.25. Dave had a 7 hundredths advantage off the start line, but was further from Dial, recording a 9.807 at 142.03, whilst Ed took the victory by a mere .017 at the top end, posting a 9.348 at 132.55mph! Such a close race again! And this meant Dave finished 3rd overall for the event. Chris and the team were awarded the “Best Appearing Team” Spot Prize by the commentators for their well turned out uniforms and appearance and the whole team package. [And the better news is that, since the event, Chris has stripped the engine and found only minimal damage to a piston, and springs, as well as the broken timing chain and cover, so the whole team were celebrating that this was not any worse! And they say thanks to everyone for their concern and kind words!]. Final Due to the running order, there was a real quick turnaround from the Semis to the Final (well the finalists were being called whilst many teams were returning from their Semis!). Ed and the team stopped in the pits to check on Chris’ car, and to see if he might be able to make it out for the Final, but quickly realised that he would not, so they made their way down to the start line. The team posted a Dial-in of 8.95 for the round! Hey, you never know! And Ed, with a hot motor, was able to stage and break the beam to earn the event win! And the team earned the Wild Bunch title by just one point! Good close racing, right down to the wire! Congratulations to Ed on the event win, and to the entire Dog's Bollocks team on winning their third Wild Bunch Series title, with a third different car! Fair play guys, a great achievement! Very well deserved! This also means that the team have also won the Real Steel Series and the MSA Challenge! And the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series and the APIRA Series, wrapped up at the Open Sports Nationals. This is the first time any team has won every Series, so again, big congratulations and very well done! And very well done to all the Wild Bunch teams who put on a really good show at the event. The 3 races on Finals days were decided by a combined total of just .048 overall! A real impressive performance! And such close racing! It had been a really good event. Huge thanks to everyone at Santa Pod for all their hard work over the weekend. Well done to them all! We really enjoyed the event, and it was a great finale to a great season! We are now looking forward to the Annual Prize Presentation and Dinner Dance at Drayton Manor on 28th November, where we will be celebrating all our winners! | |