SpringSpeed Nationals

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SpringSpeed Nationals May 4 - 6

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Wild Bunch ResultsSpringspeed NationalsMay 4th - 6th Real Steel Series Round 2. APIRA Series Round 1. MSA Points Challenge 2.

The Springspeed Nationals was the second event of the WB season. It was Real Steel Series Round 2 and APIRA Series Round 1 as well as the 2nd round of the Springbridge MSA Challenge. There was a good field of 9 Wild Bunch cars competing. There were: 3 Altereds, 5 Slingshots and a Rear-engined dragster.

Wild Bunch Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	91	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller	10
2	1	Adz Price	Go Hard or Go Home	8
3	78	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	6
4	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	4
5	35	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	3
6	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	2
-	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	2
-	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	2
9	40	Sean Law	The Wicked Lady	1

MSA Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	91	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller	670
2	1	Adz Price	Go Hard or Go Home	440
3	78	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	360
4	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	330
5	35	Dick Sharp	Dorset Horn	250
6	6	Chris Hartnell	Backdraft	180
7	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	120
8	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	110
9	40	Sean Law	The Wicked Lady	30

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Closest To Dial-In	78	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	0.017 off
Best Reaction	91	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller	0.113
Best Appearing Team	6	C&C Nostalgia Drag Racing Team	Backdraft
#1 Qualifier	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	0.001 off
Fastest m.p.h.	91	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller	165.66mph
Wildest Ride	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection

The Wild Bunch welcomed back 8 of the teams who had competed at the Festival of Power, and they were now joined by Alan Loten in the Paranoia altered, in his first round of the year. Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. There were a few rain showers early in the morning, but the track was dry and ready to go at about 10:30am. The Wild Bunch were first class out and began running, but right in the middle of the class, after only 5 cars had run, there was a big rain shower! The remaining cars towed back to the pits. The track crew worked hard and the Bunch were called back around 2:15pm, for a 2:30pm re-start. We got that round completed, but then there were problems with the Christmas tree and scoreboards. The crew worked hard to rectify this, and racing carried on. So we got another round at around 5:00pm. By then, all 9 cars had safely qualified. It then turned into a lovely sunny evening! Qualifying Sunday The officials had only gotten half way through the second qualifying cycle of qualifying on Saturday, so they were picking up where they left off, so we were then scheduled to have only 2 more qualifiers on Sunday. The day started really sunny, but clouded over, though stayed dry and warm all day. There were some more problems with the timing boards and the tree but still qualifying carried on. Our third qualifier came at about 1pm, with the fourth qualifier happening around 3:15pm. The forecast was good for Monday, so we hoped to complete all the eliminations.
WB 1	Adam Price was back with the Go Hard or Go Home!!! Topolino altered, fresh from a PB on his last run at the Festival of Power. He started the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.15 in the first qualifier and ran a 9.334 at 145.65mph for starters. He then dialled in at 9.20, and got closer in the second round with a 9.307 at 145.98mph. The team refined the Dial for the next run, to 9.27 and Adam broke out with a 9.257 at a new Personal Best Speed of 147.09mph. The team lowered the Dial for the last qualifier, to 9.23 and Adam posted a 9.351 at 146.17mph. He qualified in 6th place overall.
WB 6	‘Crazy’ Chris Hartnell and team were pleased to have run an ‘8’ at the Festival of Power and were looking forward to running more at this event with their Backdraft slingshot. Claire had been away looking after her Mum, and only got to the track about 11:45am, so Chris sat out the first round. The team dialled in at 8.92 for the second round, and Chris had a squirrely run, backing off to a 9.395 at 145.16mph. On Sunday, the team kept this same Dial-in and Chris posted a much better 8.951 at 150.08mph for the third qualifier. They kept the Dial again, and Chris had a great run, breaking out with an 8.783 at 150.39mph. He qualified in 2nd place for the weekend.
WB 25	Terry Clifford was looking to pick up where he left off at the Festival of Power, with a strong run in the Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot. The team dialled in a 10.25 for starters and Terry had a very wayward run, heading towards the guardrail twice, and slowing to a 12.193 at 85.56mph. He earned the Wildest Ride Spot Prize for this one! The team had problems firing up for the second round, and did not make a run. But bounced back Sunday when Terry broke out on the 10.25 Dial and ran his first ever 9-second run! A strong 9.544 at 149.85mph, Personal Bests by a country (quarter) mile! Congratulations Terry and team!! They then lowered the Dial to 9.54, but Terry had another wayward run, recording a 13.676 at 90.83mph. He qualified in 9th place overall.
WB 35	Dick Sharp and team were celebrating 40 years, nearly to the day, of their first runs in the first Dorset Horn altered. The team are selling some really nice commemorative T-shirts and a DVD of the documentary made on them and other teams in the 70's, so do check them out! Dick dialled in at 9.80 for the first round, and posted a 10.139 at 133.67mph. They kept this Dial for the next round, and Dick broke out with a strong 9.555 at 140.79mph. The team lowered the Dial to 9.60 for the third round, and Dick got a lot closer, with a 9.691 at 139.26mph. For the last qualifier, Dick ran a 10.298 at 135.70mph on this same Dial-in. He qualified in 5th place overall.
WB 40	Sean Law and The Wicked Lady team were already showing good form early in the season, after some PB's for Sean who won the last event. They started the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.08, and Sean recorded a good 9.192 at 145.99mph on this run. Back in the pits, the team were checking on a problem with a fluid leak, and then noticed that they had a crack in the chassis! Such a shame, as Sean was doing so well, but lucky they found this before another run! Best of luck to the team on the repairs for this and hope they can be back out soon! Sean had qualified in 4th place for the event.
WB 67	Darryl Howells was looking forward to doing some tuning in the Chemical Reaction slingshot. He started Saturday with a Dial-in of 10.00 even, and ran a good 10.024 at 135.82mph to open his account in Top Spot. He and Sarah lowered the Dial slightly to 9.99 for the next qualifier, and Darryl ran an excellent 9.991 at 133.10mph, to improve on his #1 Qualifier spot. On Sunday they lowered the Dial to 9.95, and Darryl ran a wayward 10.353 at 129.40mph. They tweaked the Dial to 9.97 for the last qualifier, and Darryl posted a 10.254 at 130.72mph. He remained as #1 Qualifier.
WB 69	Alan Loten was running his first event of the season with the Paranoia altered. He and crewman Steve dialled in at 9.60 to start the event. Well, Alan ran a new Personal Best ET of 9.478 at 139.38mph, straight off the trailer! A great start to the season! The team then lowered the Dial accordingly to a 9.47, and Alan recorded a 9.860 at 132.28mph in the second round. They refined the Dial-in to 9.45 for the next two rounds, and Alan ran a 9.944 at 132.08mph in the third round and a 10.034 at 130.90mph in the fourth. He qualified in 8th place overall for the weekend.
WB 78	Keith Crampton was raring to go after his first ever Final at the Festival of Power in his Soultown Shaker slingshot. He dialled in at 11.20 for his first run, and recorded a good 11.321 at 117.95mph for starters. He kept the same Dial-in for the next run where he posted an 11.476 at 114.72mph. On Sunday, he raised the Dial slightly to 11.32 and ran an 11.398 at 115.62mph to improve his qualifying position. He again raised the Dial, for the last round, to 11.35 and broke out with an 11.339 at 115.87mph. He qualified in 4th place overall for the event.
WB 91	Bob Hawkins had rebuilt the motor in his Time Traveller slingshot after damage sustained at the Festival of Power. He was hoping to improve on the promising form he had shown at the last event. He began with a Dial-in of 8.40, and ran a checkout pass of 8.471 at 161.66mph to start the event. He then lowered the Dial to 8.35, and ran an 8.415 at 160.56mph in the second round. He raised this slightly to 8.37 for the next round on Sunday, and posted a breakout 8.343 at 162.62mph. He changed the Dial back to 8.35 for the last qualifier and promptly ran a new Personal Best ET of 8.131 at 164.26mph! Bob qualified in 3rd place overall.
Race Day Monday (Eliminations) Monday dawned dry and the forecast was good, so we were hopeful of having a completed event. There were due to be 4 races and a Bye in the first round, and we were 12th on the running order. There was a drivers’ meeting before the start of racing, where the officials informed us that due to problems with the Christmas tree and electrics, they would not be able to display any green or red lights on the tree! But they came up with a solution, in that, after the ambers had run, if anyone redlit, then the 3 ambers would come on together (for a Pro tree for us, but a single one for those on a Sportsman tree). This was okay, really, as they say ‘if you wait for the green, you’re late!’ And at least it enabled the event to carry on! So well done to Shakey for making the best of the situation. Round 1 Our First Round was held not long before noon. It saw Darryl with the Bye by virtue of being #1 Qualifier. He dialled in at 9.99 and ran a 10.102 at 132.14mph to advance to the next round. One of the eagerly-anticipated races of the round saw Terry matched up with Dick. Terry went for a 9.54 Dial-in, whilst Dick posted a 9.55, so real close on the lights. Terry had a substantial reaction time advantage, and then brokeout with another Personal Best ET and Speed of 9.482 at 149.98mph! Oh so close to the magic 150! This, however, handed the victory to Dick who recorded a 10.143 at 133.69mph. Another exciting race saw a rematch of the first round of the Festival of Power with Adam facing Chris. Adam and team dialled in at 9.25 and Chris and team chose an 8.85. Adam had a small advantage off the lights, and Chris chased him down, breaking out with an 8.810 at 149.60mph, so Adam took the win with a 9.287 at 145.41mph. Chris and the team were awarded the Best Appearing Team by the commentators, so a nice surprise for them! Bob should have been racing Sean, but sadly The Wicked Lady was out with the breakage. Bob dialled in at 8.15, and ran a stunning Personal Best ET of 8.067 at 164.41mph! The other great race of the round saw Alan paired with Keith. Alan went for a 9.45 Dial-in and Keith an 11.31. Their reactions were similar, but Keith ran closer to Dial, posting an 11.327 at 111.64mph to Alan's 9.850 at 129.98mph. Keith's winning time proved to be Closest to Dial-in for the day for the Bunch. Quarter-Finals This took place about an hour and a half later. This time it was Adam with the Bye and he ran another good run of 9.286 at 147.82mph on his 9.25 Dial-in. This was another Personal Best Speed! One of the two races of the round saw Dick and Bob paired up. Dick opted to keep his 9.55 Dial and Bob changed his to an 8.10. Bob had a big advantage off the lights, and slowed to an 8.406 at 144.58mph to take the win over Dick's 9.991 at 134.93mph. The other race saw Darryl facing Keith. Darryl raised his Dial-in to 10.10 and Keith kept his 11.31. Keith was showing real consistency this weekend and earnt the victory with an 11.371 at 113.36mph over Darryl's 10.326 at 132.40mph. Darryl finished in 4th place overall by virtue of being closest to Dial-in without breaking out, from the runners-up in this round. Semi-Finals The Semis were run about an hour later. This saw Bob taking the Bye, and he ran another strong pass of 8.098 at 163.68mph on an 8.05 Dial-in. This meant the race saw Adam and Keith paired up and both had been running very consistently. Adam kept his 9.25 Dial-in and Keith raised his slightly to 11.32. There were only 8 thousandths in it off the tree, and Adam took the win with a 9.279 at 145.21mph to Keith's breakout of 11.274 at 115.47mph. Another great race! Keith finished the event in 3rd place overall. Final This took place not long after 4pm. And was another cracking race, with Adam pitted against Bob. Adam and the team kept the same 9.25 Dial, and Bob tweaked his slightly to 8.06. It was Bob with the advantage off the line as he chased Adam down the track. In fact Bob's .113 proved to be Best Reaction of the day for the Bunch. There was not much in it at the top end, but Adam broke out by just one thousandth!! And recorded a 9.249 at 145.74mph, whilst Bob ran an 8.182 at a hard-charging 165.66mph, which proved to be Fastest MPH of the event for the Bunch! Great race! Congratulations to Bob on the win, and Adam for the close Runner-up place! Well done to all the Wild Bunch teams, who put on a great show, with some strong qualifying and really close races and some excellent PB's. Overall it was a really good event, where we were lucky with the weather. It was good to have 4 qualifiers and another completed event! Once again huge thanks to the track crew, marshalls and officials who worked really hard to prepare the track, and triumph over the electrical gremlins! And huge thanks also go to Mark Coulsell and Linda Williams who had volunteered to be pit runners for the weekend. They worked really hard and did a sterling job of keeping us all informed and calling us out for qualifying and eliminations. Fair play to them! We are now really looking forward to the first Wild Bunch Series round, of this our 18th season, which will be the ‘Spring Nationals’, also at Shakey on May 25th - 27th, the Yanks American Gary's Picnic weekend. This will also be the 3rd Real Steel Series round of 2013. It should be another great event! We’re expecting to see loads of the Bunch out for that one!