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WB Spring Nationals at Yanks Weekend May 24 - 26
Wild Bunch ResultsSpring Nationals24th - 26th May 2014
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 19th year, and Real Steel Series Round 3, and we had a field of 17 Wild Bunch cars participating! 6 Altereds, 8 Slingshots (1 coupe), 2 rear-engined dragsters and a funny car
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 8 |
| 2 | 40 | Sean Law | The Wicked Lady | 6 |
| 3 | 109 | Team 'B-Sting' | B-Sting | 5 |
| 4 | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Timetraveller II | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 3 |
| - | 4 | Team GAS Racing | Tiki Munki | 3 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 3 |
| 69 | Alan Loten | Paranoia | 3 | |
| - | 70 | Alan Smith | Avanti | 3 |
| - | 173 | Adam Charnley | Howitzer | 3 |
| 11 | 45 | Phil James | Rampage | 2 |
| - | 111 | Dan Sharp | Little Big Horn | 2 |
| 13 | 62 | Kev Preston | Valkyrie | 1 |
| - | 72 | Dave Southworth | Daddy Cool | 1 |
| - | 73 | Mike Couch | Flat Frenzy 2 | 1 |
| - | 74 | Simon Williams | Pure Nostalgia | 1 |
| - | 76 | Team Black Pig | The Black Pig Too | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.003 off |
| Best Reaction | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | 0.034 |
| Best Altered | 111 | Dan Sharp | Little Big Horn | |
| Best Slingshot | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | |
| Best Appearing Team | 109 | Team B-Sting | B-Sting | |
| Best Burnout | 1 | Adz Price | Go Hard or Go Home | |
| The weather forecast was not good for Saturday, and mixed for Sunday and Monday, so all the teams hoped it would turn out better than expected! Unfortunately Saturday was rained off, though the sun came out late-afternoon. Sunday was dry all day and Monday was very cloudy with intermittent light rain. Many of the teams managed to get in 2 runs on Sunday with 1 making 4 runs. We completed just 2 rounds of racing on Monday, though had queued for a third when rain stopped play. Throughout the weekend a total of 9 teams ran Personal Best E.T.s and/or PB Speeds! A great 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 has acquired new rear wheels and slicks, repaired the bodywork, and had the chassis checked and repairs made to the steering, and other modifications since Adzs incident at the Springspeed event. They had just made it in time and were keen to see how the car would run! Adam started Saturday with a checkout pass of 9.700 at 130.04mph. He followed this with a full pass of 9.148 at 147.12mph, straight as you like. He had a third run Sunday and improved to a 9.113 at 148.71mph, a new Personal Best Speed. The team dialled in at 9.12 for Mondays rounds, and Adam began very well, with a 9.115 at 147.09mph. He followed this with an even closer 9.117 at 146.81mph in the second round, which proved to be both Closest to Dial-in, and Best Reaction for the Bunch with an .034 RT. With this great consistency, Adam won the event! He was also awarded the Best Burnout prize by the commentators. Adam is now leading the Real Steel Series, as well as the Wild Bunch Series. |
| WB 3 | Keith Crampton was in his third event of the season with his Soul Town Shaker slingshot. He made a couple of runs on the Sunday, beginning with a strong 10.994 at 117.62mph. He later ran an 11.048 at 117.65mph, so a pretty consistent pair of passes. He dialled in at 11.01 for the rounds on Monday, and began with an 11.102 at 116.40mph. His second round run netted an 11.082 at 115.98mph. Keith finished just outside the points in 5th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 4 | saw Scot Durrant in his first event of the season with his and Ginas Tiki Munki slingshot coupe. Scot made 2 runs on Monday, beginning with a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 12.966 at 99.54mph. He later took another tenth of this and ran another PB of 12.842 at 100.28mph, his first time over the 100mph mark in any of the Tikis! Congrats, Scot! He dialled in at 12.90 for Monday, and posted a 13.009 at 96.90mph in the first round. He then ran an off pace 13.633 at 96.45mph in the second round, and finished in 7th place overall. |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was in his second event of the season in the Ratcatcher Resurrection slingshot, fresh from a rebuild to the top end of the engine after damage suffered at the Festival of Power. He had to use some spares from the garage, as he was still awaiting parts clearing through customs, so the team hoped the car would run well. Terrys first run of the weekend was a checkout 9.425 at 148.76mph, so a really good start. He made another run Sunday, of 9.737 at 146.76mph. Terry and team dialled in at 9.40 for Monday. His first round pass was a 9.609 at 146.55mph. He later ran a 9.619 at 138.38mph in the second round. Terry finished in 6th place overall. The team were really chuffed to be awarded the Best Slingshot prize by the commentary team. |
| WB 40 | saw the debut of the newly built The Wicked Lady dragster. The team were raring to go after over a year out whilst the new car was being built! Darren Law was the first one to take a turn in the hotseat, to check everything out. He made a half pass of 13.038 at 49.88mph, and the team were pleased with how straight the car ran. Darren later made a great run of 9.287 at 144.80mph, so a new PB for the new car. On Monday, he handing the driving duties over to son Sean, who had been the last one to run the car in 2013. The team dialled him in at 9.25. And amazingly, Sean took to it like a duck to water and ran an excellent 9.246 at 143.92mph!! And moved straight into the Top Spot at the end of Round One! Fair play, Sean! His second round run was a new car PB of 9.220 at 144.48mph! Sean finished in 2nd place overall for the weekend! Well done to all on a fantastic debut, and a big welcome back to the whole Wicked Lady team! Great to have them back running with the Bunch! |
| WB 45 | Phil James was in his first Wild Bunch RWYB event in his Rampage funny car, after having run both of the MSA rounds so far this year. He began with a pass of 9.683 at 140.19mph for starters. His second run Sunday was a slightly quicker 9.644 at 141.02mph. The team dialled in at 9.35 for Mondays rounds, hoping that their tuning would bring them back to their regular numbers. Unfortunately, on a fireup on Monday morning, the water pump started leaking, so they were forced to miss the first round. This was soon repaired, and the engine was fired up not long before the second round. Phil then came out for the second round but, after staging, could not hold the car on the line and red lit. The team are hopeful of a plan to cure this, so were sure they will be back to their usual consistency at the next event! |
| WB 62 | saw the first event of the season for Harriet Haz Preston in the teams Valkyrie altered. Hazs very first pass Sunday was a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 9.867 at 132.70mph, though on her second pass, she had wheelspin off the line and recorded a 12.175 at 110.61mph. The team had to leave before the rounds on Monday, so did not take any further part in the event. But we hope to see them back out again soon and running regular 9s! |
| WB 69 | Alan Loten was in his second event of the season in his Paranoia altered. The team had had to investigate problems suffered at the last event, and had rectified all of these. Alans first run Sunday was a very promising 9.435 at 138.39mph. And although he queued up for a second run, was unfortunately turned away from the pairings lanes due to the curfew. The team dialled in at 9.40 for Monday, and there was some confusion on the line when Alans opponent was shut down and he was not aware he was on a solo pass. He recorded a 9.606 at 136.94mph in this first round. Whilst staging for the second round, crewman Steve was trying to cajole the nitrous pump back into action as it was not functioning to start with. Alan had to make the run without it, though it kicked in half way down the track, and he posted an 11.233 at 90.05mph. A bit of a frustrating day, but hopefully the good news is that the old gremlin is well and truly evicted! Alan finished in 10th place overall. |
| WB 70 | Alan Smith was on his first Wild Bunch outing of the year with the 1964-vintage Avanti Allard slingshot, and supported by his main crew, partner Margaret. He now had a better gearbox in the car, and hoped for some better runs. Well, Sunday started brilliantly when Alan recorded a new Personal Best ET of 11.408 at 119.46mph! His first PB for maybe 15 years, we believe! Congrats Alan! This was his only run Sunday, and he dialled in at 11.50 for Monday. Again, he started very well, with another PB of 11.240 at 118.58mph! Fair play! As he was now a way off his Dial-in, he decided to experiment with something, and ended up posting a slower 12.297 at 103.49mph. But overall was very happy with his performance at the weekend! And having a gearbox that worked so well! |
| WB 72 | we welcomed Dave Sag Southworth and team with the Daddy Cool rear-engined dragster for their first trip down South this season. The whole team, complete with all 4 kids and crew chief Al arrived Saturday and got set up at the far end of the pits. Sag went out for his first run Sunday mid- afternoon. The run was good, at 9.143 at 135.06mph, but there was an awful lot of smoke at the top end! Initially the team just thought they had melted a couple of pistons and did have spares with them. But on further investigation found that it was the pistons, bores and a damaged block! What a shame! But the good news is that they do have a spare block and parts back at home, so will be able to make repairs. So we hope to see the whole team back out soon! Best of luck to them! |
| WB 73 | Mike Couch was in his first event of the year with his Flat Frenzy slingshot, and eager to run more good passes. He had repainted the car from matt black to a nice sky blue and dark blue angled chequer design, and had some metal flake in the paint. He also had his helmet painted in metal flake blue. In addition he had also treated the wheels, blower and rocker boxes with a smart-looking bronze finish, so the car looked great. He just made the one run on Sunday, which was an 11.505, but at an unknown speed as the scoreboard just showed 3.91mph, though it was well over 100mph. There had been a bit of problem with blocked injectors after the run, but the team soon fixed this. Mike dialled in at 10.00 even for Mondays rounds. On the first run, he performed the burnout and was coming up to stage, but had to shut the car down. It turned out the injectors were blocked again, so Mike did not make the second round. The team have plans to cure this, so sure theyll be back out soon, and Mike will be back in the 9s. |
| WB 74 | Simon Williams was in his first event of the year with his Pure Nostalgia slingshot, and eager to run some good passes. Dad Paul said the car had sounded really strong when they fired it up at home. But on firing up in the pits it did not sound as good. Simon made just one run on Sunday, a troubled 15.635 at 74.73mph. Back in the pits, the team diagnosed that the mag cap had failed, so could take no further part in the event. Though once home they will soon be on the case with sorting out another source of ignition! Best of luck to them! |
| WB 76 | Steve Field was back with his and Lesleys new Black Pig Too slingshot. They had rebuilt the front end after damage suffered in testing, borrowed some front wheels from Tony Smith, and had been out to a RWYB to test the car. Steves first run Sunday was a checkout pass of 11.346 at 122.27mph, so a new Personal Best ET and Speed. Monday morning the team were checking out the car in the pits, and dialled in at 10.99. Steve did not make the first round, and later it turned out that there was lots of bearing material in the oil filter, which was a bad sign. The team will make further investigations once back home, so hope the damage will turn out to be minimal and they will be back soon! Best of luck to them! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was running his Time Traveller II blown slingshot, and hoping to build on the consistency of the last couple of events. Bobs first run Sunday netted a 7.569 at 174.71mph, so a good start. He later ran a 7.627 at 173.22mph. The team dialled in at 7.55 for Monday. In the first round, Bob recorded a 7.651 at 172.53mph. He later posted a strong 7.559 at 174.91mph in the second round, real close to Dial, and earning him 4th place overall for the event. He was again the quickest and fastest of the Bunch. |
| WB 109 | Andrew Murphy was taking his first turn of the year in the hotseat of the B-Sting altered. Of note, Paul Crostons wife Lynne was a welcome addition to the crew, which included Paul and Bob. And the weekend also saw the re-appearance of team mascot, Sulky, who has already been kidnapped! Andrew went straight out on Sunday and ran a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 10.094 at 134.20mph! Well done! And amazingly, he recorded an exactly identical ET on his second pass of the day, at a speed of 133.88mph! The team therefore dialled in at 10.09 for Monday. Andrew posted a 10.131 at 132.78mph in the first round, and later a closer 10.124 at 131.93mph in the second round. He finished in 3rd place overall, so a good start to the teams season! |
| WB 111 | Dan Sharp was in his Wild Bunch debut with his and Scotts Little Big Horn altered. They had brought the car out at last years Hot Rod Drags for testing, but this was Dans first full event. He made a checkout pass on Sunday of 12.663 at 96.37mph. But unfortunately something broke in the steering after the run. The team were on the case and dialled in at 12.50 for Monday, though had to miss the first round, as they were having assistance with the repairs in the pits. Dan came back out for the second round and ran a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 12.356 at 107.74mph. The team were also awarded the Best Altered prize by the commentators for their beautifully turned out car. Its great to see it in action after all the teams hard work and it is a real credit to them. Welcome! |
| WB 173 | saw the long-awaited Wild Bunch debut of Adam Charnley with his Howitzer altered. Adam had first joined the Wild Bunch nearly 10 years ago, but did not get to run with the Bunch at that time. He recently acquired this new car and had been to a couple of events testing. He was the only driver who made 4 runs on the Sunday. He began with a 13.273 at 81.57mph and followed this with a 12.590 at a new Personal Best Speed of 105.69mph. He later put in passes of 12.803 at 104.28mph and 13.145 at 95.18mph. Adam dialled in at 12.70 for Mondays rounds. His first round run was a 13.394 at 100.16mph. He later ran a 14.012 at 96.74mph. He finished in 9th place for the weekend. And is sure to get a handle on the consistency soon, as he also ran a 12-second pass on a test run later that day. Welcome to the Wild Bunch, Adam! |
| Big Congratulations to Adam and Team Gridlock on the win! Which was accompanied by a £50 prize from Springbridge Direct Ltd, so many thanks to them for this sponsorship! And congratulations to Sean, Andrew and Bob for their Top 4 placings. And a big well done to all of the Wild Bunch teams who ran so many PBs and put in a great performance! The stars of the show!
In all it was a good event, even though the weather did stop play. There were some great matchups and runs! Many thanks to all the marshals and officials and fire and track crews at Shakey for their hard work all weekend 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 2014 at our June Shootout at Shakey on June 7th & 8th! Where we hope to see an even bigger field of Wild Bunch and some better weather!! | |