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Yanks American RWYB May 29 - 31
Wild Bunch ResultsJune Shootout29th - 31st May
Wild Bunch Series Round 2.
Real Steel Series Round 4.
The “June Shootout” was the fourth event of the WB season. It was the 2nd round of the Wild Bunch Series, in our 15th year, and Real Steel Series Round 4, and there was a field of 15 Wild Bunch cars participating: 6 Altereds, 6 Slingshots and 3 Rear-engined dragsters.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Dave Williams | Green With Envy | 8 |
| 3 | 2 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 7 |
| 4 | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 6 |
| 5 | 1 | Dogs Bollocks Racing | RamRaider | 5 |
| - | 4 | Dave Rowlands | Destinys Angel | 5 |
| - | 40 | Darren Law | The Wicked Lady | 5 |
| - | 66 | Jamie Faulkner | Red Devil | 5 |
| - | 81 | Steve Taylor | Claustrophobic | 5 |
| - | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 5 |
| - | 99 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 5 |
| 12 | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 4 |
| - | 74 | Simon Williams | Pure Nostalgia | 4 |
| 14 | 72 | Sag Southworth | Daddy Cool | 2 |
| 15 | 76 | Steve Field | The Black Pig Too | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 0.001 off |
| Best Reaction | 95 | Mark Richardson | Pony Express | 0.003 |
| Best Altered | 99 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | |
| Best Slingshot | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | |
| Drivers Choice | Wicked Lady, Go Hard or Go Home AND B-Sting | |||
| Best Burnout | 109 | Andy Murphy | B-Sting | |
| The weather forecast was mixed for the weekend, though Sunday and Monday looked promising. There was quite a bit of rain Friday night, so Saturday dawned pretty damp. The track crew set to work, and worked for several hours, though there were a couple of light showers. They got the track dry, and nearly had it prepped by around 3pm, but then another shower fell, and that was it for the day, so no racing took place. Sunday dawned drier and brighter, and the track was open for business early. There were more cars there on the day, and by some reports, a total of 8 separate oildowns and two incidents! But again the track crew worked hard to get everyone some racing in on the day. So most of the Bunch got 2 runs in, with a few getting 3 passes. Monday was cloudy but dry, and there was less of a queue in general, and the Wild Bunch managed to complete all 4 rounds. Four drivers ran Personal Best E.T.'s and four ran Personal Best Speeds over the weekend, and every single team was well turned out and the Bunch put on a great show altogether! | |
| WB 1 | saw Ray Ford having his first turn of the season in the Team Dog's B's “RamRaider” slingshot (in the third event of the year for the team). Ray began the weekend with a solid 9.483 at 142.41mph on Sunday. And later that afternoon ran a 9.627 at 138.14mph. The team decided to Dial in at 9.40 for the rounds on Monday, and Ray's first run was an off pace 10.134 at 138.73mph. He improved on the next pass to a 9.466 at 142.15mph, and a ran a similar 9.470 at 142.83mph on his third run. He save his best run for last when he recorded a 9.273 at 144.65mph in the fourth round. Ray finished in 8th place overall. The team are now in equal 3rd place in the Wild Bunch Series. |
| WB 2 | ‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell was in his fourth event of the season with the “Backdraft” slingshot. He had two big wheelying launches on the Saturday, and had to ease off to a 9.350 at 144.61mph on the first run, and a 9.452 at 143.96mph on the second. Chris made some adjustments, and the team thought the car would run quicker on the Monday, so dialled in at 9.20. Chris’ first round pass was an better 9.100 at 145.41mph. He improved again to a 9.070 at 145.13mph in the second round, and then 9.066 at 144.34mph in the third. On his fourth run, he had a bit of a wild burnout followed by an out of shape wheelie, and recorded a 9.254 at 142.97mph, which was his closest to Dial-in that day! Chris was chuffed to finish in 3rd place overall for the weekend. He is now equal 5th in Wild Bunch. |
| WB 4 | Dave Rowlands was also in his fourth event of the season with his “Destiny's Angel” altered. His first run Saturday was a 9.804 at 141.44mph, followed by a stronger 9.695 at 140.69mph. He and Warren dialled in at 9.70 for Monday's rounds, and the car just would not run quicker than a 9.9 all day. Dave recorded 9.916 at 140.59mph, 9.927 at 140.41mph, 9.928 at 139.85mph and 9.918 at 139.16mph, a very consistent set of runs, nonetheless, all being within .012 of each other! Dave finished in 6th place overall, and is now in equal 5th place in the Wild Bunch Series. |
| WB 11 | saw Dave Williams in his fourth event of the season with the “Green with Envy” altered, fresh from some good PB's at the last event. He initially had some electrical trouble on the Sunday, but later posted a 11.570 at 117.36mph. Dave and Linda dialled in at 11.40 for the rounds on Monday, as they thought the car would run quicker. This it did on every run that day, beginning with an 11.333 at 118.13mph, followed by an 11.361 at 117.73mph. Dave was another car running very consistently, as his third and fourth round passes were 11.332 at 118.17mph and 11.330 at 118.98mph, all within .031, and incredibly having three of the runs within three thousandths of each other! Dave and Linda were really chuffed to finish in 2nd place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was back out for his second event this year, with the “Ratcatcher Resurrection” slingshot. Terry had run some very consistent passes on the Sunday of the last event, and hoped to improve on these. He made passes of 10.241 at 128.34mph and 10.226 at 127.89mph on the Sunday. Terry and Ruth opted for a 10.23 Dial-in for Monday's rounds and Terry began well with a 10.273 at 127.31mph in the first round. Though, on inspection at the top end, found that something had broken in the steering! Luckily this had not affected the run, and the team put out a call to see if anyone had a welder to try and fix it. They did, and set to work to make a repair to the steering, though this meant that Terry missed the second round. But he was straight back out for the third round and posted a strong 10.119 at 128.58mph, his best run of the season so far! Terry was right back near Dial-in for the fourth round, with a 10.219 at 128.06mph. It was such a shame about the steering problem, as he would have been right in the running for a Top 4 placing had he made all 4 rounds. But the good news was that he was able to complete the last two rounds in fine form, and collect some valuable points, as well as making some more strong passes. |
| WB 40 | Darren Law was eager to go in the “Wicked Lady” rear-engined dragster, after his recent run of good form. His first run Sunday was a 9.039 at 145.49mph, followed by a 9.023 at 145.05mph pass. The team dialled in at 9.00 even again for Monday, and Darren opened his account with a 9.051 at 144.51mph. He then ran an oh-so-close 9.006 at 145.31mph in the second round. He was looking good for a potential Top 4 placing, but then had a red light in the third round, caused by a transbrake problem. But the team were chuffed, as Darren ran a new Personal Best E.T. of 8.950 at 145.74mph! he followed this with another 8, an 8.982 at 145.71mph, so the team were again very happy with the performance of the car over the weekend! “The Wicked Lady” team was one of a 3-way tie for the Driver's Choice Spot Prize! Darren and the team are now in 2nd place in the Wild Bunch Series and still leading the Real Steel Series, by one point in each Series! |
| WB 66 | we welcomed young newcomer Jamie Faulkner, who was in his first event with the Bunch with his “Red Devil” altered. Jamie is no stranger to drag racing, having crewed for his Dad Rob with the 8-second “Crossfire” doorslammer, but he had not raced until he bought the T bodied altered from Lee Hartnell last year, putting in some checkout passes at the Halloween event at Shakey, and running a best of a 12.9 at 107mph. Jamie started off with a checkout pass of 13.631 at 96.86mph on his first run Sunday. He improved to a 13.167 at 98.72 on his second pass, and had a third run of 13.257 at 98.89mph. He chose a 13.15 Dial-in for Monday's rounds, his first time in any competition. He had a slight problem off the line, which delayed his launch for some 8 seconds, but this did not matter in the end, as he ran a representative time, and recorded a new Personal Best E.T. of 12.573 at 98.63mph, carving 4 tenths off his PB and blowing the Dial-in away! He then ran much closer to Dial on his second pass, a 13.194 at 97.55mph. He had a slight hiccup on his third pass, when he posted a 13.417 at 96.15mph, but bounced back strongly for his fourth run, with a 13.164 at 99.08mph, his closest to Dial-in all day. Jamie finished in 7th place, and was chuffed to be out racing. Well done, Jamie, and welcome to the Bunch! |
| WB 72 | we welcomed Dave ‘Sag’ Southworth and the “Daddy Cool” rear-engined dragster for the team's first event at Shakespeare County for over 12 years! They had in recent years been regulars with the Bunch up at York, nearer their neck of the woods, but made the trip south for the first time since youngest daughter Chloe was born (she's 11!). The team also consisted of wife Elaine (metal sculptress and ‘Mr Bolt’ manufacturer extraordinaire), crew chief Big Al, son Kyle and daughter Shana and friends. (A big ‘hello’ from the Bunch to daughter Faye, who we hope to see next time, after her exams!) Sag started Sunday with a checkout pass of 11.389 at 119.11mph. He then bettered this with a 10.702 at 122.64mph, getting a handle on a new setup, with the help of Al. The team dialled in at an optimistic 9.50 for Monday's rounds, just slower than their PB. But unfortunately there was a problem on the run, and Sag slowed to a 12.504 at 78mph. A small trail of oil was a worrying sign behind him, but luckily the car coasted safely to the first return road. On initial inspection, it seems to be that the torque converter let go, and caused some damage, but the team will check everything over back home. It was good to see them all at Shakey, so best of luck to them with fixing the problem, and hope they will be back out soon! |
| WB 74 | we welcomed back Simon Williams for his first event this year, with his revamped “Pure Nostalgia” slingshot, and it was looking very smart! Crew chief and Dad, Paul helped check everything out in the pits on Sunday, and Simon put in one pass of 10.649 at 123.38mph. The team dialled in at 9.85 for Monday's runs, below Simon's PB, but they were optimistic that the car would run well after off-season improvements. Simon had a problem on the first run, so recorded an 11.959 at 99.71mph. He then improved hugely to a 10.263 at 133.88mph in the second round. He saved the best for the third round, when he posted a big new Personal Best E.T. of 9.779 at a new Best Speed of 141.38mph! Fair play! Simon and the team had to pack up early due to other commitments, so did not take part in the fourth round. The team had a really good weekend, and were very happy with the progress made during the event! |
| WB 76 | was Steve Field with his first Wild Bunch event this season with his and Lesley's “Black Pig Too” slingshot. Steve had made a few passes with the slingshot before but had experienced some misfiring problems. The team spent most of Saturday trying to cure some problems, and got to the bottom of some of them, so were able to make some improvements. They also tried using a previous timing chain for a fireup on Monday, after friend Graham kindly brought it from their garage back home. They posted a 9.80 Dial, in case they were able to join in the proceedings. Though there were improvements over the weekend, unfortunately the car did not run well enough to make it onto the track. Very best of luck to them to get rid of the gremlins! We look forward to seeing the slingshot run. |
| WB 78 | saw Keith Crampton in his second event this year, with the “Soultown Shaker” slingshot. He began Sunday with a pass of 11.658 at 114.99mph, a new Personal Best Speed. His second pass was a slightly wayward 12.652 at 114.17mph, when he had a problem on a gear change (luckily cured!). He dialled in at 11.65 for Monday, and ran a little slower, with an 11.868 at 113.39mph. He really bounced back with style in the second round, posting a Wild Bunch “Closest to Dial-in” of 11.649, just one thousandth off! His third run was also good, with an 11.706 at a new Personal Best Speed of 115.63mph. He went quite a way under his Dial in the fourth round with a stronger 11.472 at 113.98mph. Keith finished in 4th place overall, his first ever Top 4 placing, and was awarded the “Best Slingshot” Spot Prize by the commentators, to boot. So really enjoyed his weekend! |
| WB 81 | was the first event of the season for Steve ‘Jacko’ Taylor with his “Claustrophobic” rear-engined dragster. He was sporting some nice teamwear as well. He began Sunday with a checkout pass of 14.494 at 94.37mph. He improved by nearly a second on his next run, to a 12.591 at 97.43mph. Jacko dialled in at 13.50 for Monday and began with a solid 13.642 at 97.25mph for starters. He posted a 13.297 at 96.63mph in the second round and then a great 13.507 at 98.82mph, his closest ever to Dial-in! His fourth round pass was a 13.685 at 98.17mph, and he finished in 5th place overall, which is his best result to date in Wild Bunch competition. Fair play, Jacko! |
| WB 95 | was Mark Richardson's first event of the season with the “Pony Express” altered. Mark was raring to go, and his first pass of the weekend was a 9.493 at 138.20mph. He followed this with a much improved 9.298 at 139.66mph. Karen and Mark dialled in at 9.15 for the rounds on Monday, being Mark's PB, and hoping to run quicker than the Sunday. Mark's first round pass netted a 9.473 at 138.38mph, with a Wild Bunch “Best Reaction” of .003! Great time! He improved on his second round, to a 9.377 at 138.56mph, with another great reaction of .011; and although he redlit on the third round, he ran a better 9.321 at 138.25mph. Unfortunately, he deep staged on the fourth round and did not record a time. It's good to see the car back out and we hope to see the team more. |
| WB 99 | Adam Price was in his fourth event of the season with the Team Gridlock “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” Topolino altered, and the team were hoping that they might break into the 10's this weekend. And once again they had tuning assistance from the guys at ‘Paul's Place’. Adz first run on Sunday was an 11.446 at 119.84mph. The team did some more tuning in the pits, and this resulted in Adz recording a new Personal Best E.T. and first 10-second pass of 10.911 at 120.98mph! Congratulations to the whole team on this hard-earned achievement!! Adam went out for a third run and posted an 11.225 at 121.56mph. The team dialled in optimistically at 10.89 for the rounds on Monday. The first round of the day was identical to the last round Sunday, an 11.225, but at 118.99mph. Back to fine tuning again between rounds, and Adz posted another 10, a 10.995 at 121.44mph. The third round was off pace, with an 11.413 at 120.06, but the fourth round run netted another PB of 10.850 at a new Personal Best Speed of 123.21mph. Adz finished in 9th place overall, and “Go Hard or Go Home!!!” was another of the 3 teams sharing the “Driver's Choice” Spot Prize. They were also awarded the “Best Altered” Spot Prize by the commentators. And the team were absolutely over the moon to break into the 10's! Fair play to them! Great weekend! |
| WB 109 | Paul Croston was back in the “B-Sting” Topolino altered, for his first drive of the season. He started the weekend with a 10.752 at 126.98mph. He followed this with good passes of 10.593 at 125.88mph, and 10.455 at 127.55mph, improving each run. The team dialled in at 10.50 for Monday, and Paul went straight to the top, with a 10.529 at 124.48mph. he then ran a slightly slower 10.638 at 125.95mph, but improved again in the following two rounds, posting a 10.463 at 127.03mph, and an great 10.476 at 131.47mph, his first time over the 130mark and a new Personal Best Speed for him, and for the car, by just .01 of an mph over Andrew's Best! With this consistency, Paul won the event! He was also awarded the “Best Burnout” Spot Prize by the commentators for his strong burnouts. He also shared in the “Driver's Choice” Spot Prize! Great event, Paul! The team are really looking strong, and now leading the Wild Bunch Series! |
| Big Congratulations to Paul and the “B-Sting” team on the win! And well done to all the Wild Bunch teams, who really did put on an excellent show all weekend. Congrats to all those who ran PB's!
It was another good event, thanks to the hard work of the marshals and officials and track crew at Shakey, who really helped with the organisation of the rounds too. We are now really looking forward to the fifth Real Steel Series round and the third MSA Challenge round of 2010 at the “Summer Nationals” at Santa Pod on June 19th & 20th ! With the ‘Nostalgias’ at Shakey just one weekend later! | |