WB Fall Nationals - Wild Bunch

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WB Fall Nationals at National Finals September 19 - 20

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Wild Bunch ResultsNational Finals19th - 20th September Wild Bunch Series Round 5. Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 9. MSA Points Challenge 5.

The 'Fall Nationals' at the UK National Finals was the 9th event of the WB season. It was Wild Bunch Series Round 5 (Final), Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 9 (Final) and the 5th round of the Springbridge MSA Challenge (Final). There was a field of 9 Wild Bunch cars: 2 Altereds, 6 Slingshots and a Funny Car.

Wild Bunch Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	4	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	10
2	45	Phil James	Rampage	8
3	3	Team 'B-Sting'	B-Sting	6
4	2	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller II	4
5	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	3
6	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	2
-	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	2
-	76	Team Black Pig	The Black Pig Too	2
-	101	Steve East	Ellies in Trouble Now	2

MSA Points
Pos	WB	Driver/Team	Car	Points
1	4	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	650
2	45	Phil James	Rampage	460
3	3	Team 'B-Sting'	B-Sting	340
4	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	330
5	2	Bob Hawkins	Timetraveller II	270
6	76	Team Black Pig	The Black Pig Too	180
7	101	Steve East	Ellies in Trouble Now	130
8	69	Alan Loten	Paranoia	120
9	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction	110

Spot Prizes
	WB	Team/Driver	Car	Detail
Closest To Dial-In	4	Keith Crampton	Soultown Shaker	0.000 off
Best Reaction	3	Team 'B-Sting'	B-Sting	0.066
Best Appearing Team	4	Team Soultown Shaker	Soultown Shaker
#1 Qualifier	25	Terry Clifford	Ratcatcher Resurrection	0.008 off
Best Appearing Car	67	Darryl Howells	Chemical Reaction

Qualifying Saturday This was a qualifying day and there were scheduled to be 3 rounds. The 9 teams competing at the event hoped the weather was going to allow an exciting finale! Saturday's weather began foggy, but this soon cleared and the day turned out sunny and warm in the main. We were 12th on the running order and got our first qualifier at around 11:15am. 8 teams qualified in this round. Our second qualifier took place at around 2:45pm and by then all 9 teams had safely qualified. Our third and final qualifier was at 5:40pm. One driver ran a Personal Best Speed at the event.
WB 2	Bob Hawkins was in his ninth Wild Bunch event of the season with his 'Time Traveller II' slingshot, the only driver to compete at all rounds this year. He had taken part in another 'fire burnout' at the Cacklefest at the previous weekend's Hot Rod Drags at Shakey in this car, whilst crewman Dave Williams had performed his first ever fire burnout in Bob's 'Time Traveller I' slingshot! Both Dave and Tom Hawkins had runs in the car, making several passes in the low 9's, with Tom earning the NSRA Quickest Wild Bunch run of the weekend, with his first ever 8-second pass, an 8.633!! Well done to Tom on his first ever trophy! On Saturday morning, Bob dialled in at 6.99 for the first qualifying round. He had a problem on the burnout and had to shut off. Back in the pits, he found that he had stripped the gear on the dizzy. This was soon replaced, and he bounced straight back and ran a 7.164 at 184.32mph on the second qualifying round. He kept this Dial and ran an improved 7.017 at 188.21mph in the third qualifier. He qualified in 3rd place for the event with this run.
WB 3	Bob Morgan was back in the 'B-Sting' altered for the team's fifth event of the season and his fourth. The team were in contention with Keith Crampton for the Wild Bunch Series win so hoped to do well at the event in the quest for a second title! The team dialled in at 10.20 for the opening round and Bob posted a 10.356 at 127.61mph run for starters. The team then raised the Dial to 10.25, and Bob recorded a better 10.245 at 128.79mph. The team lowered the Dial-in again to 10.20 and Bob ran a good 10.272 at 128.80mph. He qualified in 6th place for the event with this run.
WB 4	Keith Crampton was running his 'Soul Town Shaker' slingshot for his sixth Wild Bunch event of the season. He was leading the Wild Bunch Series going in to the event, and hoped to maintain his form of Top 4 finishes at every contested event this season. He was ably assisted this weekend by the Marras, who wore white overalls, and Marra girls who wore 50's style outfits. He started off with a Dial-in of 11.03, and posted an 11.102 at 115.37mph in the first round. He raised this Dial slightly to 11.06 and ran a breakout 10.984 at 115.97mph. He then lowered the dial to 10.98 and posted an 11.045 at 116.51mph in the last round. He qualified in 5th place for the event with this run.
WB 25	Terry Clifford was in his seventh Wild Bunch event of the season with his 'Ratcatcher Resurrection' slingshot. Terry and team had kindly sponsored the trophies for this event, so many thanks to them! He hoped the car would be performing well again after the solid last run at the Open Sports Nationals. Terry began with a Dial-in of 9.10 and promptly broke out with a 9.037 at 149.12mph run. The team then lowered the Dial to 8.95 and Terry ran a brilliant 8.958 at 149.18mph to take the #1 Qualifier spot. He kept this Dial for the last run and recorded a slower 9.306 at 141.15mph. He qualified in 1st place for the event with his 8-second pass.
WB 45	Phil James was on his eighth Wild Bunch event of the season in his 'Rampage' Funny Car, and leading both the Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge and Springbridge Challenge Series. Prior to this event, he had been #1 Qualifier at all of the 4 other MSA events contested this year. He began the weekend with a Dial-in of 9.33 and recorded a breakout 9.322 at 137.83mph for starters. He lowered the Dial slightly to 9.27 for his next pass, and had a problem on the run, posting a 10.096 at 132.05mph. He kept this Dial-in for the last qualifier and posted a better 9.306 at 141.15mph. He qualified in 4th place overall with this run.
WB 67	Darryl Howells was on his seventh Wild Bunch event of the season with his 'Chemical Reaction' slingshot. Wife Sarah had commissioned him a gorgeous remote control replica of the car from the extremely talented Phil Colliver. The car was so detailed, and even had matching paintwork and looked fantastic next to the slingshot! Fair play! Darryl started with a Dial-in of 8.99, and ran a 9.574 at 137.41mph in the first round. He then raised the Dial to 9.40 and posted a 9.972 at 130.53mph. He lowered the Dial to 9.30 for the last qualifier and ran 9.725 at 139.84mph. He qualified in 9th place for the event.
WB 69	Alan Loten was in his eighth event of the season with his 'Paranoia' altered. This was only the second event with the new slicks and the team were looking forward to seeing what the car would run. Alan dialled in at 9.17 for the first round. He posted a 9.334 at 132.61mph run for starters. He kept the dial for the next round, but had a problem, and had to be towed back to the pits. He kept the dial again, and recorded a similar run of 9.337 at 135.77mph, very consistent. He qualified in 8th place .
WB 76	Sarah Howells was in her third event of the season with Steve and Lesley Field's 'Black Pig Too', and it was the seventh Wild Bunch event for the team this year. Steve had made some runs at the test day on the Friday, launching in first gear, but getting quite wayward! (He has a plan to cure this in the off season!). Sarah began the first round with a Dial-in of 9.20 and broke out on that, recording a 9.133 at 156.30mph. The team then lowered the Dial to 9.11 and Sarah broke out again with a 9.102 at 155.75mph. Again the team lowered the Dial, to 9.00 even, and Sarah ran a close 9.015 at 155.30mph. This earned her 2nd place in qualifying.
WB 101	Steven East was in his fourth Wild Bunch event of the year in his 'Ellie's in Trouble Now' slingshot. Both son Joshua and daughter Ellie were helping as crew this weekend. Joshua was sporting a nice pair of white overalls, so really looked good on the crew. Steven began with a Dial-in of 10.01, and promptly broke out with a 9.942 at 138.55mph. He then lowered the Dial to 9.93 and ran a spectacular breakout of 9.670 at 140.70mph, his Personal Best Speed! He lowered the Dial to 9.71 and ran a 9.851 at 137.74mph in the third qualifier. He qualified 7th with this run.
Race Day Sunday (Eliminations) Sunday dawned cloudy and fairly mild, and although some clouds threatened mid-afternoon, it remained dry all day. The track opened around 9:30am and we completed all 4 rounds of racing! There were some exciting moments with close Series-deciding races right down to the Semi-Final! Round 1 All 9 Wild Bunch cars had qualified for eliminations, so there were due to be 4 good races and a Bye in the first round, which took place around 12:30pm. On this round, it was Terry who had the #1 Qualifier Bye. He ran near his best ever ET and recorded a great 8.931 at 147.55mph on his 8.95 Dial-in to advance to the quarter-finals. One of the best races of the round saw Bob Hawkins dialling in at 6.98 against Steven East's 9.81. Well, on this run, Bob recorded his first ever sub-one-second 60ft time, with a .997!! Fantastic!! He ran a 7.028 at 185.90mph, so just short of those brilliant 6's he has run during this season. Meanwhile, Steven had what was his best and closest ever MSA race to date, having a better reaction and posting the smallest breakout of .006 whilst running a 9.804 at 131.02mph, in the losing effort! A great race! Another great pairing saw Bob Morgan dialling in at 10.23 against Sarah's 9.00 flat. Bob posted a good reaction of .089 and ran a 10.542 at 125.96mph to take the holeshot win over Sarah's 9.167 at 154.16mph, and take a step closer to the Series win. In another good race, Keith paired up with Darryl. Keith's 11.131 at 112.50 on a 10.98 Dial-in took the win over Darryl's 10.127 at 129.44mph on his 9.50 Dial, Keith also keeping his title momentum going. Darryl had a real bonus when he was awarded the 'Best Appearing Car' Spot Prize by the commentators. Fair shout! (The same could be applied to the amazing remote control version!). Another great and very even matchup saw Phil taking on Alan. Phil dialled in at 9.30 and Alan 9.27, so a very similar pairing. Phil had a better light and took the win with a 9.345 at 131.33mph over Alan's 9.336 at 131.04mph. A great race which saw Alan's third 9.33 run of the event! So consistent! Quarter-Finals The next round took place at about 2:45pm. This time, it was Bob Morgan with the Bye and he recorded a 10.472 at 126.88mph pass on his 10.23 Dial-in to move on to the Semis and keep the team's hopes of the Wild Bunch title going forward. One of the pivotal races of the round saw Bob Hawkins against Keith. This was crucial for the Wild Bunch title too, as with Bob M already through, Keith needed to win to keep his own title challenge going. Bob dialled in at 7.00 even and Keith at 11.05, the latter being slightly lowered at the last minute from an 11.06! The reaction times were nearly even and Bob recorded a great 7.037 at 187.35mph, but Keith proved unbeatable when he cut a better light by just 6 thousandths, and recorded a perfect ET of 11.050 at 115.06mph, crossing the line just .042 ahead of Bob!! With this, Keith won the Wild Bunch 'Closest to Dial-in' to boot! Fantastic race, and well done Keith on this, our only perfect ET of the year! The results from this round saw Bob H earning 4th place for the event by being 'Closest to Dial without breaking out' of the two runners-up. Another great race saw Terry against Phil. This could be the deciding race for the 'Springbridge MSA Challenge' Series, as to keep his hopes alive, Terry would need to win this and go on to win the event to overhaul Phil. Terry dialled in at 8.91 and Phil at 9.31. It was another exciting race, with Terry posting a strong 8.954 at 148.65mph, falling just .033 behind Phil's winning 9.455 at 134.82mph on his 9.31 Dial! Great stuff! Many Congratulations to Phil on winning the Springbridge MSA Challenge, his first ever Series win! We were treated to some fantastic close racing throughout this round!! Semi-Finals The Semis took place not long before 4pm and this time Keith took a Bye. He coasted to a safe 17.219 at 54.55mph on his 11.05 Dial-in to advance to the Final. The Wild Bunch Series was not yet decided though, as it depended on the outcome of the next race, and Keith taking the green in the Final. This crucial race saw Bob Morgan taking on Phil. So if Bob could win this one and win the Final and Keith not run that, the team could take the Wild Bunch win! Bob raised his Dial to 10.40 and Phil raised his to 9.36. This race was also pivotal, as Phil would need to win it to secure the Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series win. Well, this was an unusual one! Bob posted the Wild Bunch 'Best Reaction' of the day with an .066, really going for it! Phil left the line a tenth behind on the light, and stopped about 100 feet down the track, whilst Bob charged down the quarter mile... and then broke out with a 10.359 at 126.98mph! This then handed the win to Phil! The problem proved to be that the butterfly had come off, and Phil wisely came to a quick safe stop! So, luckily for Phil, this was going to be easily fixable for the Final! This meant that Phil earned the Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series win, his second ever Series win, hot on the heels of his first! Congratulations to Phil and the whole team on this achievement! The results of the Semis also mean that Keith is the 2015 Wild Bunch Series winner!! So many Congratulations to him on his first ever Wild Bunch Series win, a great achievement! Very well deserved! Final There was not much time between the Semi and the Final, which took place around 4:45pm. Keith lowered his Dial-in very slightly to an 11.04 whilst Phil opted for a 9.33. With all the race Series decided, this one was now for the bonus of the event win, and both drivers were really going for it! Keith launched well and, at the hit, Phil pulled a red light, handing the victory to Keith, who then, for good measure broke out with a strong 10.963 at 116.25mph! Phil slowed to an 11.766 at 75.29mph. The win was Keith's 3rd of the season and the icing on the cake of a fantastic year for him, as the current Don Garlits 'Spirit of Drag Racing' shield holder! Keith and team were also awarded the 'Best Appearing Team' Spot Prize by the commentators for his well-turned our car, great performance and great team appearance overall. It was a really fantastic event to finish the season with! Great weather and brilliant close exciting racing, with several title-deciding races! Once again huge thanks to the track and safety crews, marshalls and officials and everyone at Santa Pod who worked really hard as always! Congratulations again to Keith on his Wild Bunch Series win! Great achievement! Team B-Sting has finished in 2nd place, another great result for them! Tom Larman has finished in a strong 3rd place and Phil boosted himself all the way from 12th up into 4th place. So very well done to all of the Top 4!! Congrats again to Phil on his Springbridge Challenge and Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge wins. Keith finished in a close 2nd place in Spirit of Nostalgia and in 3rd place was Team B-Sting, yet another great result for them. Terry earned a hard-fought 4th place in this Series. So well done to all the Top 4 in that season-long challenge! We are now looking forward to our Annual Dinner Dance and Prize Presentation on 28th November. It will be another great evening to celebrate all our winners after our fantastic 20th season!!