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WB Spring Nationals at Yanks Weekend May 25 - 27
Wild Bunch ResultsSpring NationalsMay 25th - 27th
Wild Bunch Series Round 1.
Real Steel Series Round 3.
The Spring Nationals was the third event of the WB season. It was the first round of the Wild Bunch Series, in our 18th year, and Real Steel Series Round 3, and we had a field of 12 Wild Bunch cars participating! 5 Altereds, 6 Slingshots (1 coupe) and 1 rear-engined dragster.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Tom Larman | The Ferret | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 8 |
| 3 | 6 | Chris Hartnell | Backdraft | 7 |
| 4 | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 6 |
| 5 | 4 | Team 'B-Sting' | B-Sting | 5 |
| - | 17 | Team GAS Racing | Tiki Munki | 5 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 5 |
| - | 39 | John Dalrymple | Slingshot | 5 |
| - | 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 5 |
| 10 | 72 | Dave Southworth | Daddy Cool | 4 |
| 11 | 33 | Mark Mills | Xenomorph | 2 |
| 12 | 70 | Alan Smith | Avanti | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 0.005 off |
| Best Reaction | 4 | Team 'B-Sting' | B-Sting | 0.024 |
| Best Altered | 33 | Mark Mills | Xenomorph | |
| Best Slingshot | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | |
| Best Appearing Team | 33 | Xenomorph | ||
| Best Burnout | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | |
| Wildest Ride | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | |
| There were 2 other WB teams testing: Simon Williams in his Pure Nostalgia slingshot and Mike Couch in his Flat Frenzy 2 blown flathead slingshot. Mike eventually ran PB's of 10.6, 10.35 and 10.10/135, a new flathead record.Well done Mike! We hope to see more of both of these teams soon!
The weather forecast was pretty good for the weekend! And it turned out dry all 3 days! Hooray! Many of the teams managed to get in 2 or 3 or more runs on both Saturday and Sunday. And we completed all 4 rounds of racing on the Monday. Throughout the weekend a total of 10 out of the 14 drivers present ran Personal Best E.T.'s and/or PB Speeds! A brilliant performance! | |
| WB 1 | Adam Price was in his third event of the season with the Team Gridlock Go Hard or Go Home!!! Topolino altered. The team were keen to start their defence of their Wild Bunch title. Adz started Saturday with a 9.6 pass, followed by 2 consistent passes of 9.35 and 9.369 at 143.90mph. Sunday's 4 runs were also consistent with 9.293/145.78, 9.272/145.97, 9.285/145.78 and 9.310/145.57. The team dialled in at 9.28 for the Monday's rounds, and Adz's began very well, with a 9.272 at 147.03mph, to go into top spot after the round. His second pass off the day netted a 9.346/146.73 and his third, a 9.304/146.54. Adam posted a 9.358 at 146.80mph in the fourth round and finished in 2nd place overall. He was also awarded the Best Burnout Spot Prize by the commentators. Adam is now in 2nd place in the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 2 | saw the first event of the season for Tom Larman and team with The Ferret altered. The car now bore the legend 'Proud to be WB 2' which was a real nice touch. Tom put in several mid 10-second passes on the Saturday, and several more on the Sunday, including a 10.564 at 121.07mph. The team dialled in at 10.58 for Monday and Tom posted a 10.647 at 122.31mph for starters. He followed this with improving runs of 10.619/123.18 and 10.540 at a new Personal Best Speed of 123.46mph, and was sitting second after these runs. He pulled out a great 10.570 at another PB Speed of 123.60mph in the last round, to win for his first ever time in Wild Bunch competition! Congratulations to Tom and all the team! Fair play! |
| WB 4 | Andrew Murphy was taking his first turn of the year in the hotseat of the B-Sting altered. He had three runs on Saturday, beginning with a checkout 11.317/123/12. He followed this with a 10.565/129.89 and a 10.949/121.94. He made 4 passes on the Sunday including a 10.581/129.87, 10.544/130.73 and a 10.479/129.91. Of note were his consistently good reaction times, with a best of .024. The team deliberated and dialled in at 10.50 for the rounds on Monday. Andrew began with a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 10.359 at 132.58mph, which surprised the whole team! He also earned the Best Reaction for the Bunch, with a .129 on this run. He then ran a 10.417 at another PB Speed of 132.70mph. His third run of the day was a 10.405 at 131.39mph and his fourth a 10.362 at yet another PB Speed of 133.21mph. Andrew finished in 7th place overall. |
| WB 6 | 'Crazy' Chris Hartnell was another driver in his third event of the season, with the Backdraft slingshot. Chris began Saturday with an 8.822 at 148.63mph. He followed this up with a consistent 8.819at 148.98mph. On Sunday, Chris improved again to an 8.801 at 149.89mph. On his following run, he had to feather the throttle as he was drifting toward the guardrail, but he still posted an 8.996 at 147.54mph. The team discussed the Dial-in and opted for an 8.80 for the rounds on Monday. Chris recorded an 8.882 at 150.48mph to start the day. He then ran closer to Dial with an 8.840/150.41 in the second round and an 8.845/151.00 in the third. He got even closer in the last round, with an 8.810 at a new Personal Best Speed of 152.25mph, his first improvement in speed for 8 years! All 8 runs over the weekend had been 8's and all 4 runs Monday had been over the 150mph mark! Chris finished in 3rd place for the event and is now in 3rd place in the Real Steel Series. |
| WB 17 | saw Gina Durrant in her first event of the season with her and Scottie's Tiki Munki slingshot coupe. The car had now been repainted in a gold colour with rainbow flake highlights and sported new stickers. They had also repainted the roof of their Chevy to match and the combination looked really great! Gina made several runs Saturday of ever-improving times, with a 13.222/97.15, a 13.192/96.11 and a 12.978/99.80. She then ran 3 consistent 12.9's on the Sunday, including a 12.966/101.08 and a new Personal Best ET of 12.935 at 100.36mph. Gina and Scottie dialled in at 12.98 for Monday, and Gina began with another PB of 12.847 at a new Personal Best Speed of 103.56mph. She then had an off-pace run, with a 13.211/99.98, but bounced back with a 13.024/101.63 in the third round. Her last run was her closest of the day, with a 12.989 at another PB Speed of 103.85mph. Gina finished in 6th place overall. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was in his third event of the season in the Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot, fresh from his first ever 9-second passes at the Springspeed event. Terry's first run of the weekend was a really hairy one where he got to within a few inches of the guardrail! The steering drop arm then snapped, and Terry was very lucky to go through the top end straight, with an 11.360 at 88.14mph! He again earned the Wild Bunch Wildest Ride for that one! The team thought that was it for their weekend, and made plans to repair the steering between events, and loaded the car up. But during the evening, they managed to get a visiting Dutch bike team to weld up the steering part. So on Sunday morning the car was duly unloaded and steering fixed, ready for a checkout pass. This netted another 9-second run, with a 9.802 at 145.06mph. Terry went out for another run later in the day, and the team were amazed and thrilled when he ran a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 9.178 at 150.29mph, his first time over the magic 150! Congrats, Terry and team! They then dialled in at 9.35 for Monday, and were even more amazed when Terry recorded another PB ET and Speed of 9.077 at 150.60mph! What an improvement! However, this run was also eventful, as just through the finish line, the nosecone got loose and flew up into the air! The team collected this, and cleaned it up, and there was hardly a scratch on it! They re-attached it, with the extra precaution of some large cable ties, and Terry went back out and posted a 9.436 at another PB speed of 152.00mph in the second round! In the third round he ran Closest to Dial-in for the Bunch with a 9.345 at 150.58mph, just .005 off; and in the fourth he posted a 9.329 at 151.30mph, to finish in 5th place overall. All 4 runs on Monday had been over 150mph! He was also awarded the Best Slingshot Spot Prize by the commentators. |
| WB 33 | Mark Mills and team were debuting their stunning new Topolino-bodied altered Xenomorph. The car has a blown small block Chevy and looks spectacular in its fabulous blue paintwork with loads of airbrushed alien designs. The name comes from a combination of the cars previous incarnations from the 70's onwards, which included 'Vendetta', 'Animal', 'Assassin' and 'Alien'. Mark and the team have done a fantastic job with it, and have some great matching team uniforms. Even before the car ran, they had done themselves proud! The team are part of the overall 'Team Ferret', and the 2 cars were parked out in the pits in the sun on Saturday. Mark and team spent Saturday checking things out, and getting used to everything, and on Sunday, Mark made his first checkout pass at around 50mph. There were some usual new car issues, with a bit of a misfire, but they are already on the road with the steep learning curve. Mark dialled in at 10.60 for Monday, and put in another checkout pass in the first round of 14.596 at 52.75mph. They then sat out the rest of the day, as will need to do more engine tuning. But there is a lot to come from the car. The commentators unanimously awarded them the Best Altered and Best Appearing Team Spot Prizes for their awesome car and very well turned out team. Congratulations to the whole team on a great debut!! |
| WB 39 | John Dalrymple was making his Wild Bunch debut in his slingshot. The car was bought last year from Tom and Steve Maunders, who had run it as Oddball. It runs a small block Chevy, and the car was sporting an interesting red and blue wrap, which had been added when the it was recently used for a commercial in Spain! John had done some testing, and this weekend, it was his nephew who was running the car during Saturday and Sunday, as John was running his brand new 30's Willys as well. John made one pass in the slingshot of 11.7 late Sunday, which was a Personal Best ET in the car. The team dialled in at 11.80 for Monday, and John began with an 11.962 at 106.93mph in the first round. He followed this with a 12.082 at 105.82mph in the second and an 11.971 at 106.90mph in the third. He finished the day with an 11.922 at a new Personal Best Speed of 107.56mph. John finished in 8th place overall and enjoyed his first weekend with the Wild Bunch. Welcome to John and all the team! |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was in his second event of the season in his Paranoia altered. His first run Saturday was very close to his best time, with a 9.480 at 135.55mph. He later posted a 9.999 at 122.07mph. On Sunday he made another couple of runs, including a 9.520 at 133.28mph, and then a new Personal Best ET of 9.363 at 139.23mph. He and Steve dialled in at 9.45 for Monday' rounds. Alan began well with a 9.468 at a new Personal Best Speed of 140.87mph to go into second place at that point. He then ran a 9.555 at another PB Speed of 141.03mph. In the third round he posted a 9.583 at 140.48mph. But in the fourth round, the car unfortunately ran out of nitrous mid-pass, and Alan then recorded a 10.233 at 129.27mph. Alan finished in 9th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 70 | Alan Smith was on his first Wild Bunch outing of the year with the 1964-vintage Avanti Allard slingshot. He started Saturday well, with a 12.228 at 108.41mph, and a nice controlled wheelie. He then followed this with a 13.750 at 92.89mph, with a possible problem with the magneto. He then had another problem on his third pass and did not record a time. Alan and Margaret packed up later that day and took the car home with plans to check out the cam and possibly make a change to the ignition. Best of luck to them with this, and we hope to see them back out soon! |
| WB 72 | we welcomed back Dave 'Sag' Southworth and team with the Daddy Cool rear-engined dragster. The team arrived Saturday and set up at the far end of the pits, and camped in the dog-friendly area. Crewchief Al was missing as his dog was very poorly, so we wish them both well. They did not make a pass on Saturday, but towed down to the fireup road Sunday. The car was all fired up, but there was a problem, so they could not make the pass. The magneto was causing some problems over the weekend, and they had to dial in blind at 9.50 for Monday's rounds. In the first round, Sag paired up with Terry, but could not hold the car on the line and had to run through before the tree, so could not record a time. The team consulted crewchief Al by phone and made some adjustments. In the second round, Sag then recorded a new Personal Best ET of 9.172 at 141.82mph! He followed this with another PB ET in the third round of 9.131 at 142.50mph! Those two runs were worth travelling all the way from Bolton to Shakey for! In the last round, he posted another strong 9.206 at 143.20mph, just short of his best speed ever. We hope to see the whole team back out soon as it was good to have them back out running so well! |
| WB 78 | Keith Crampton was in his third event of the season with his Soultown Shaker slingshot. Due to family and other commitments, he was not able to arrive until Monday morning. He was soon joined by two crew members. He had to Dial in blind, and he chose an 11.32 for the rounds. In the first round, he posted a strong 11.161 at 117.48mph, a bit quicker than anticpated! He then recorded an 11.229 at 108.50mph in the second and an 11.268 at 106.76mph in the third. Keith then ran closer to Dial with an 11.360 at 110.15mph in the last round. He finished in 4th place overall, and is still leading the Real Steel Series. Fair play, Keith! |
| Big Congratulations to Tom and Team Ferret on the win! And congratulations to Adam, Chris and Keith for their Top 4 placings. And big congratulations to all of the Wild Bunch teams who ran so many PB's and put in a great performance!
In all it was a great event, held in fantastic weather! And this saw a lot of close racing, some great matchups and loads of PB's! Many thanks to all the marshals and officials and fire and track crews at Shakey for their hard work as always. Very much appreciated! We are now really looking forward to the second Wild Bunch Series round and fourth Real Steel Series round of 2013 at our June Shootout at the 'Shakey Super Pull' on June 8th & 9th! Where we hope to see an even bigger field of Wild Bunch and more great weather!! | |