2009 Index
Select another 2009 event
June Shootout (Yanks American RWYB) May 30 - 31
Wild Bunch ResultsJune Shootout30th - 31st May
Wild Bunch Series Round 2.
Real Steel Series Round 4.
The “June Shootout” was the fourth event of the Wild Bunch season. It was the second round of the Wild Bunch Series and Real Steel Series Round 4, and there was a field of 14 Wild Bunch cars participating: 7 Altereds and 7 Slingshots
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 9 | Ray Ford | RamRaider | 10 |
| 2 | 44 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 8 |
| 3 | 16 | Mark Hartnell | Awesome 4-Some | 7 |
| 4 | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 6 |
| 5 | 4 | Scot Durrant | Tiki Munki | 5 |
| - | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 5 |
| - | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | 5 |
| - | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | 5 |
| - | 38 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | 5 |
| 10 | 142 | Ashleigh Williams | Living the Dream | 4 |
| 11 | 74 | Simon Williams | Pure Nostalgia | 3 |
| 12 | 99 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 2 |
| 13 | 2 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 1 |
| - | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 0.001 off |
| Best Reaction | 4 | Scot Durrant & Gina Rumble | Tiki Munki | 0.062 |
| Best Altered | 35 | Dick Sharp | Dorset Horn | |
| Best Slingshot | 3 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | |
| Drivers Choice | 38 | Helen Smythe | Hell's Belle | |
| Best Burnout | 52 | Ant Harris | Frantic | |
| The weather forecast had been great for the whole weekend and Saturday started off dry and sunny, and stayed that way all day! It was a practice day and many teams got 4 or more runs in. Sunday also started off dry and sunny and was warmer than Saturday, with few clouds in the sky! The Wild Bunch started the rounds early on and completed all 4 rounds of racing. Six drivers ran Personal Best E.T.'s and five of these ran Personal Best Speeds. | |
| WB 2 | saw the return of Terry Clifford after repairing and improving an oil line fixture in the “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot. Terry had also checked the bearings on the motor and found no damaged, and oil pressure was good, so he hoped to run well at the event. But on the first run on Saturday, the car was misfiring, and Terry slowed to a 12-second pass. Unfortunately, the rear oil seal blew on the run, which meant that Terry was again sidelined for the event. Such a shame! The team are already on the case, leaving early to make a start on repairs. Best of luck to them! |
| WB 3 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was currently in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series and 4th in Wild Bunch Series with the “Backdraft” slingshot. He and son Mark went out for their first run early on Saturday, to get some testing in. Chris first pass of the day was a 9.215 at 144.55 mph, followed by a better 9.074 at 143.98 mph. He had to back off on his third run of the day after heading slightly towards the guard rail, so only recorded a 9.653 at 141 mph, but bounced back later with his quickest run of the day, a 9.071 at 142.84 mph. Having run a couple of 9.07's and higher, the team dialled in at 9.10 for Sunday. Unluckily, Chris also had to back off in the first round, posting a 9.591 at 142.75 mph. He was right back on form in the second round, recording a “Closest to Dial-in” of 9.099 at 143.34 mph, just one thousandth off! In the third and fourth rounds, Chris ran 9.180 at 141 mph and 9.150 at 141 mph, to finish 4th place overall, for the third event in a row! Chris also won the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize awarded by the commentators for all the wheelies! He is now in 3rd place in Real Steel Series. |
| WB 4 | Scot Durrant was having his first drive of the year with the “Tiki Munki” altered, after Gina's win at the last event. The pair attended a friend's wedding on the Saturday, and arrived Sunday morning, so again the team had to decide on a blind Dial-in. They chose 14.10 as a middle of the road number. Scot's first run was a 14.276 at 87.71 mph, so not too far off the mark. His second and third runs were pretty consistent, a 14.272 at 87 mph and a 14.232 at 88.12 mph. The second pass proved the “Best Reaction” of the Bunch with an .062, followed by .091 and .066 in the next two rounds. But he wandered from the 14.2's in the last round, posting a 14.498 at 86.54 mph, and finished 5th overall for the weekend. The team remain first in the Wild Bunch Series, and are really chuffed to be in this position so early in the season. |
| WB 9 | saw Ray Ford taking his second turn of the year in the hotseat of the “RamRaider” slingshot. Ray made three runs on the Saturday, remaining pretty consistent, with a 9.4 a 9.6 and a day's best of 9.410 at 143.49 mph. The team decided to dial in at 9.40 for Sunday's rounds, and Ray posted a 9.511 at 144.07 mph in the first round. He slightly drifted from Dial in the second, with a 9.533 at 142.15 mph, but was right back on it in the third and fourth rounds, recording a strong 9.367 at 142.99 mph, followed by a 9.467 at 141.82 mph, to take the event win! Well done, Ray! This means the team are in second place in both the Wild Bunch and the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 11 | saw Dave Williams in his second event of the year in the D & L Racing “Green with Envy” altered. Dave was having some niggly new car problems on the Saturday, and only made the one run, a Personal Best E.T. and speed with the car of 12.8 at 104 mph. Linda dialled him in at 12.81 for the rounds on Sunday, and Dave opened his account with a 13.591 at another best speed of 105.54 mph in the first round. In the second round, Dave had trouble holding the car in stage, and rolled through the beams before the green, so did not record a time for the run. In the third round, he posted a troubled 14.383, but at a better speed of 109.49 mph, and a better run in the fourth round of 13.497 at another best speed of 110.56 mph. Hopefully Dave will soon get a handle on the tune-up and be running consistent lower E.T.'s. |
| WB 16 | saw Mark Hartnell in his second event of the year in his “Awesome 4-Some” slingshot, after a 3rd place at the first Wild Bunch round. Mark had four runs on the Saturday, doing some testing and tuning and making changes between each run. He recorded 12.668 at 101.47 mph, 12.716 at 92 mph, missing a shift, 12.641 at 100.56 mph and 12.651 at 100.94 mph. So pretty consistent, even with all the changes! Mark decided to dial in at 12.65 for Sunday. He started off with a 12.728 at 99.10 mph in the first round, so not too far off. He then posted a 12.801 at 99 mph in the second round, and at that point was running in first place. He then made a tuning change, which did not do the trick, as he recorded an off-pace 12.943 at 98 mph. He reverted to the previous setting for the fourth round and posted a better 12.733 at 99.37 mph. Mark again finished in 3rd place overall, and is still currently 3rd in the Wild Bunch Series, though on the same points as 2nd place Team DB's. |
| WB 35 | Dick Sharp was back out for his second event with the new Mark 007 “Dorset Horn” altered, after some tuning gremlins at the Easter Thunderball. He and the team had cured one of the problems, and started Saturday with a new Personal Best E.T. and speed for the car of 10.679 at 128.61 mph. He made some changes to the setup and later recorded an 11.629 at 112.82 mph. He decided to dial in at 10.00 seconds even for the rounds on Sunday, and would not have minded dipping into the 9's! On the first pass Sunday, Dick could not hold the car on the line, and rolled the beams, and so did not record a time for what looked like a good run. He then made three consistent passes of another PB of 10.651 at 124.97 mph, 10.742 at 124 mph and 10.765 at 123 mph. The team were awarded the “Best Altered” Spot Prize by the commentators. Welcome back to Shakey! |
| WB 38 | Helen Smythe was in her re-debut with the newly revamped Team Twisted “Hell's Belle” altered, after a layoff of two years and eight months. Dean had rebuilt the engine, and added a shiny new Hilborn injection system, and friend Skippy had painted the car in a gorgeous purple metal-flake with silver flames. The team were understandably excited and apprehensive about the event, but they quickly carried on where they had left off, with Helen recording an initial checkout pass of 11.085 at 117.96 mph on her first run Saturday. She was then quickly right back on form with the well-tuned car, running a 9.587 at 138.78 mph on her second run, not far off the car's best performance. She also posted a 10.083 at 120 mph that day, and the team decided to dial in at 9.46 for Sunday's rounds, being Helen's previous PB. Well, that Dial-in was well and truly blown in the first round when Helen recorded a great new Personal Best E.T. and speed of 9.183 at 141.92 mph!! She then topped this in the second round with a stunning 9.087 at 145.46 mph, the quickest and fastest pass of the Bunch for the weekend!! Nearly four tenths under Dial; but did they mind? – no way!! By now, Helen had gotten well and truly to grips with the power of the car, doing some stonking smoky burnouts. Helen then ran a consistent 9.122 at 144.87 in the fourth, but had to back off in the fourth round, posting a 9.978 at 114 mph, the only run over Dial! It was smiles all the way as the team celebrated an excellent first event with the new setup. They did not mind at all finishing in 6th place, and were just glad to make all those great runs! To top it all, Helen won the “Driver's Choice” Spot Prize, voted for by the Wild Bunch drivers attending the meet. Welcome back Helen and Dean!! |
| WB 44 | Dave Rowlands was in his fourth event of the year with his “Destiny's Angel” altered, and came into the event leading the Real Steel Series. He made two runs on the Saturday, posting a 9.5 at 141 mph and a 9.6 at 142 mph. Dave dialled in at 9.66 for the rounds on Sunday, and made a great start, running a 9.699 at 141.42 mph in the first round. He then strayed a little from Dial in the second round, posting a 9.876 at 142.27 mph, but was improved in the third round with a 9.805 at 141 mph. He recorded a 9.856 at 139.80 mph in the fourth round, and finished in 2nd place overall for the weekend. Dave still leads the Real Steel Series, and is 4th in the Wild Bunch Series. |
| WB 52 | Ant Harris was in his second event of the season with his “Frantic” altered. He made the most passes of any Wild Bunch driver on the Saturday, recording 6 runs. He started with a checkout 10.125 at 126.15 mph. Then posted a better 9.592 at 136.66 mph, and then a big new Personal Best E.T. of 9.313 at 139.89 mph. He slowed on his next pass to an 11.1 at 73 mph, but improved again on his fifth pass of the day, to a 9.348 at 138.97 mph. His sixth pass was a 9.468 at 138.49 mph. Ant decided to dial in at 9.40 for Sunday's rounds. But he was slightly off the pace all day, starting with a 9.852 at 129 mph in the first round, followed by a 9.756 at 136 mph, an errant 11.047 at 133 mph, and finally a 9.684 at 137 mph in the fourth round. Ant finished in 7th place overall. He was awarded the “Best Burnout” Spot Prize for his strong smoky burnouts. |
| WB 74 | Simon Williams was back with the Wild Bunch, after having run with us several years ago with the “Spirit” slingshot. This time, it was with the team's new “Pure Nostalgia” slingshot, which had debuted at last year's Hot Rod Drags. The car had some problems with the gearbox on the Saturday, and Simon only put in one pass of 12 seconds. The team had the wheels off much of the afternoon, and hoped they had cured some of the problems, so dialled in at 10.00 seconds even for Sunday. Unfortunately, the car would not fire for the first round, so the team went back to the pits to sort the problem. They came back out for the second round, but Simon only posted a 12.843 at 77 mph. There was some improvement for the third round as he recorded an 11.910 at 117.93 mph, but there was still a problem with the gears, so they decided to call it a day and do further investigation at home. Hopefully they can sort the box out soon, and be back on form at the Nostalgia Nationals. |
| WB 78 | Keith Crampton was hoping to be back on track for the first time this season, with his beautifully turned out “Soultown Shaker” slingshot. But on an early pass the slingshot only made it to the eighth mile, and Keith had to be towed back to the pits. The cause turned out to be a broken half shaft, but luckily the team had a spare, so took the afternoon to install that and hoped to be out for the rounds on Sunday, so dialled in at 12.00 seconds even. On fire up in the pits, the team discovered gear change problems, so sadly could not run on the Sunday. Hope they can fix that real soon and be back out for the Summer Nationals at Santa Pod! Good luck, guys! |
| WB 99 | Adz Price was in his second Wild Bunch event with the Team Gridlock “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” altered, though he had not been able to make a pass at the last event. The team were determined to get out early Saturday and get some track time, for their first runs ever at Shakey. This they did, starting at 11:47am, when Adz recorded a 12.424 at 105.09 mph, not far off a PB! Well done, guys! Adz followed this with an 18.850 at 58 mph. But then really improved, recording a new Personal Best E.T. and speed of 12.164 at 107.63 mph. Congrats! The team hoped for 4 runs on the Sunday, and dialled in at 12.10 for the rounds. On the first run of the day, Adz could not hold the car in stage and rolled the beams. The run had looked good, but unfortunately on slowing down and turning off into the return road, a spindle snapped and the car lost a front wheel! Luckily Adz got the car safely stopped, but sadly that was the end of racing for the team that weekend. Such a shame, as they were just getting a handle on it, and hoping to complete the rounds. Very best of luck to them all for repairing the car, and getting back out to join the Bunch again at the Nostalgia Nationals! |
| WB 142 | Ashleigh Williams was in her first outing of the season with the FreQ Racing “Living the Dream” slingshot. Ashleigh had made some runs last season in the car, and was very much looking forward to her first full Wild Bunch event. She made 5 runs on the Saturday, starting with a 12.010 at 113.19 mph checkout pass. She then recorded a new Personal Best E.T. and speed of 11.274 at 116.59 mph! She had problems on the next run, only posting a 14.475 at 50 mph, but came back stronger on the next run with an 11.459 at another best speed of 116.87 mph. She finished the day with a solid 11.289 at 116.63 mph and the team were very pleased with her progress! They dialled in at 11.28 for Sunday's rounds. Ashleigh was yet another driver who did not hold the car in stage, rolling the beams in the first round. She then posted a 12.128 at 102.44 mph in the second round and a better 11.667 at 114.36 mph in the third round. The fourth round took place late in the day, and Ashleigh ended up at the back of the queue, as the car was having problems starting. She calmly tried several times, and some of the team worked to try and get the car to fire, but to no avail, so she was not able to make the fourth round. She had put in some good passes over the weekend, and is currently the second quickest and fastest driver in the team, so very well done to her! The team are currently in 4th place in the Real Steel Series, with 3 different drivers, so doing well so far! |
| Congratulations to Ray on the win! And to all the drivers who ran PB's and won Spot Prizes! Gotta say the job of the commentators in picking the Best Altered and Best Slingshot awards is certainly a tough one this season, with so many excellent cars and great performances to choose from!
It was a great and sunny event! Many thanks to everyone at Shakey for all their hard work and commitment and organisation! We are now looking forward to the fifth Real Steel Series round of 2009, and the first round of the Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series at the “Summer Nationals” at Santa Pod on June 13th & 14th! Can’t wait! | |