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Nostalgia Nationals May 11 - 13
Wild Bunch ResultsNostalgia Nationals11th - 13th May
Wild Bunch Series Round 1.
Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series Round 2.
Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 1.
The 'Nostalgia Nationals' was the 2nd event of the WB season. It was Round 1 of the Wild Bunch Series, Round 2 of the Spirit of Nostalgia Challenge Series and Roy Wilding Nostalgia Race Cars Series Round 1. There was a fantastic field of 27 Wild Bunch cars participating: 7 Altereds, 15 Slingshots (1 Coupe) and 1 Funny Car.
| Wild Bunch Points | ||||
| Pos | WB | Driver/Team | Car | Points |
| 1 | 45 | Phil James | Rampage | 10 |
| 2 | 78 | Keith Crampton | Soultown Shaker | 8 |
| 3 | 3 | Pete & Rob Brown | Wrathchild | 7 |
| 4 | 93 | Peter Huckle | The Jagster | 6 |
| 5 | 1 | Team B-Sting | B-Sting | 5 |
| - | 2 | Jim Tanner | Shindigger | 5 |
| - | 8 | Mark Coulsell&Steve Cassisi | Ballbreaker | 5 |
| - | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 5 |
| - | 50 | Steve Bingham | Sneaky Blinder | 5 |
| - | 55 | Alan Lloyd | Gonzo The Great | 5 |
| - | 66 | Team Ratchet Strap | Cheap Thrills | 5 |
| - | 77 | Andy Stones | Stoned | 5 |
| - | 316 | James Auld | Little Fauss | 5 |
| 14 | 61 | Chris Manning | The Villain | 4 |
| - | 64 | Russ Heaven | Tight Fit | 4 |
| 16 | 22 | Bradley Cooper | Back From The Past | 3 |
| - | 54 | Phil Sweeney | California Dreamin' | 3 |
| - | 60 | Didier Canicave | Folie Douce | 3 |
| - | 76 | Steve Field | Black Pig Too | 3 |
| 20 | 30 | Mick Hillier | Texas Ranger | 2 |
| - | 112 | Matt Fuller | Oblivion | 2 |
| 22 | 12 | Mark & Philippa Turton | Legion / Bitchcraft | 1 |
| - | 67 | Darryl Howells | Chemical Reaction | 1 |
| - | 68 | Mick Gleadow | Jurassic Parts 2 | 1 |
| - | 75 | Andy Jackson | Hammerman II | 1 |
| - | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 1 |
| - | 115 | Paul Bambrick | American Pie | 1 |
| Spot Prizes | ||||
| WB | Team/Driver | Car | Detail | |
| Closest To Dial-In | 25 | Terry Clifford | Ratcatcher Resurrection | 0.005 off |
| Best Reaction | 30 | Mick Hillier | Texas Ranger | 0.051 |
| Best Altered | 50 | Steve Bingham | Sneaky Blinder | |
| Best Slingshot | 64 | Russ Heaven | Tight Fit | |
| Best Appearing Team | 61 | Chris Manning & Dragster Inc | The Villain | |
| Best Appearing Car | 3 | Pete & Rob Brown | Wrathchild | |
| Best Burnout | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | |
| Most Improved ET | 50 | Steve Bingham | Sneaky Blinder | 1.29 quicker |
| NSRA "Quickest WB Car" | 91 | Bob Hawkins | Time Traveller II | 7.861 |
| The weather was pretty good and dry on the Friday, which was an extra bonus day for this event. At least 10 drivers took the opportunity for some testing and tuning, notably Skippy in 'Ratchet Strap' who ran 3 PB's amongst 4 very consistent runs. Many other teams arrived for the weekend that day. On Saturday the weather was fairly cool, and the Wild Bunch had an organised round late morning. We were queued up for a second run about 2pm, but during this queue, some rain came. It did not let up after a while so everyone returned to the pits. Sadly the rest of the day was rained off, with some big puddles in the pits to show for it. Sunday dawned dry and despite a mixed forecast got better and better, with the sun also making an appearance warming things up nicely! The Wild Bunch started the first round fairly early, and things went so well during the day that we got all 4 rounds of racing in! Many thanks to all at Santa Pod and the NSRA for the great organisation and helping us achieve this! Throughout the weekend 10 drivers ran Personal Best E.T.'s and 7 ran Personal Best Speeds. A new Wild Bunch Speed record was set by Bob Hawkins, who ran an amazing 211mph pass, his first on Nitro! Congratulations Bob! Well done to all those who ran PB's and to all the Bunch for a great show! Thanks and Congratulations to the NSRA on the 25th Anniversary of this great event! | |
| WB 1 | Bob Morgan was again in the hotseat of the 'B-Sting' altered for the Wild Bunch Series title-holding team's first event of the season. His first run was the round on Saturday, where he posted a test run of 13.633 at 60.53mph. For the rounds on Sunday, the team dialled in at 10.30. The first two rounds netted passes of 12.212 at 97.93mph and 12.284 at 93.85mph. Bob was then more back on form for the third round where he recorded a much better 10.534 at 122.41mph. His fourth round run ws 10.968 at 115.80mph. He finished in 10th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 2 | Jim Tanner was back for his first race with the Wild Bunch in his 'Shindigger' slingshot since his fantastic 2nd place finish in last year's Wild Bunch Series. Jim's car is now sporting a blower! He had been to a couple of test events recently here at his local track, as he only lives a few miles away! He made a few test runs on the Friday. His only run Saturday was a 10.998 at 134.41mph. He dialled in at a 10.20 for Sunday's rounds, feeling optimistic. The first run didn't get the ET results he wanted, with a 10.521 pass, but this was at a new Personal Best Speed of 141.15mph. For his second round run, he really got a handle on things and took nearly a second off this time, recording a fantastic 9.565 at 143.43mph, a Personal Best ET and Speed! Congrats Jim! His third round run was way off this pace, with a 14.050 at 64.43mph, but he was back in the 9's for the 4th, with a solid 9.901 at another Personal Best Speed of 143.84mph. He finished the weekend in 11th place overall. |
| WB 3 | Rob & Pete Brown were fresh from their great 3rd place Wild Bunch Series finish last year and had already been out testing in their 'Wrathchild' slingshot. The boys made several good runs on the Friday. Their only run Saturday resulted in a good 10.836 at 124.12mph. After some deliberation, they dialled in at 10.89 for the rounds. They proceeded to go quicker than this on every round! Rob took the first turn posting a strong 10.796 at 124.77mph. Pete then recorded a new Personal Best ET and car best ET of 10.728 at 118.23mph in the second round. Rob then jumped back in and ran his Personal Best ET of 10.761 at 114.92mph. Pete rounded the day off well with a closer to Dial-in pass of 10.879 at 124.09mph in the fourth round. This brought the averages back down and the boys finished in a great 3rd place overall for the weekend, picking up right where they left off last season! |
| WB 8 | Mark Coulsell was back in the Limited Funz 'Ballbreaker' slingshot for his first event of the year! Not only had the team suffered a breakage of their old trusty RV at the previous event, but a wheel bearing collapsed on their trailer on the way to the event on Thursday! Luckily they had been able to buy a caravan the week before, and also managed to get home safely late Thursday night with the trailer and race car. They were able to borrow a trailer and arrived Friday afternoon, and got all set up. The car has a new fuel pump this season so they were hoping this worked well. Mark joined in with the round on Saturday and ran an off the trailer 9.702 at 140.26mph. After some discussion, they dialled in at 8.60 for Sunday's rounds. Well, Mark was pretty eager on the first round, and actually left before the tree ran!! So didn't record a time on what looked like a strong run. He bounced back for the second round, posting a 9.511 at 136.03mph. Well, on the third round, he improved by over a second and recorded a stunning new Personal Best ET of 8.393 at 149.64mph!! Well done Mark! Congrats to the whole team on this one! He then posted a slowing 10.598 at 120.90mph for the fourth round. |
| WB 12 | Philippa and Mark Turton has brought their gorgeously re-painted 'Bitchcraft' slingshot coupe to their first event of the season after finishing an excellent 4th place in last year's Wild Bunch Series, their first together. The car looks fantastic and has recently achieved an sfi tag, so very well done to Mark and Philippa on this! They took the car to the Wheels Day show and it received a lot of well-deserved good comments. Unfortunately though for the team, they diagnosed gearbox problems, and were not able to run on Saturday or Sunday. They are already on the case for getting this sorted, so hopefully will be back out running at the next event. Best of luck folks!! |
| WB 22 | Bradley Cooper was in his first Wild Bunch event of the season in his and Dad Ken ‘Mr Flathead' Cooper's 'Back from the past' slingshot. The team had been at the VHRA event at Santa Pod the weekend before and had a great time! They were sporting some real nice new dark green college-style jackets with ‘Back from the past' embroidered on the backs, and Ken's with his British Drag Racing Hall of Fame patch on the front! On Saturday, Bradley recorded a good 11.629 at 115.35mph pass. They dialled in at 11.60 for the rounds. His first round run was better than expected with an 11.393 at 116.91mph. He then posted a slower 12.197 at 116.70mph in the second. Unfortunately they had to leave early, but the team have a good upgrade coming soon, which should see even better numbers, so good luck to them on that! |
| WB 25 | Terry Clifford was in his second event of the season in his 'Ratcatcher Resurrection' slingshot. He had a squirrely 10.978 at 94.71mph pass on the Saturday. The team dialled in at one of their old faithful Dial-ins, 9.25. Well, Terry's first run Sunday was promising as he netted a ‘Closest to Dial-in' 9.255 at 147.72mph, just 5 thousandths off. For all his later runs, he ran really straight and quick and blew that Dial-in out of the window, particularly when he recorded a new Personal Best ET of 8.899 at 149.15mph in the second round! His first PB ET for some time. Congratulations Terry and team! His third round run was an 8.946 at 149.16mph and his fourth a consistent 8.948 at 148.14mph! Well done! He finished in 6th place overall for the weekend. |
| WB 30 | Mick Hillier was looking forward to running his 'Texas Ranger' altered. The team had a problem before the first run Saturday and could not make a pass. They dialled in at 9.40 for the rounds on Sunday. Unfortunately, Mick could not make a run in the first round, but he came back really strong in the second, recording a 9.376 at 139.40mph, very near his best ET. This run was also the ‘Best Reaction' of the day for Wild Bunch, with an .051 light. Great run! Again, he had problems for the third round, starting and keeping running, so could not make the run. Back in the pits, the team had battery problems which they were not able to solve at the track. The run Mick had was very promising, so hope the team can be back out soon, running those numbers and even better! |
| WB 45 | saw Phil James out for his first event of the year with the 'Rampage' funny car. The team arrived Friday night and got set up. They were keen to try out the brand new axle they had installed in the car, along with new tyres. They were all pleasantly surprised when Phil ran a strong 9.471 at 139.09mph on his first pass off the trailer with the new combination. They dialled in at 9.45 for the rounds on Sunday. Phil's first run was a 9.415 at 139.56mph. He went even better in the second, recording a 9.371 at 140.73mph. His third wasn't too far off the dial again, with a 9.526 at 139.91mph, with the team making a couple changes in between. The fourth round saw him closer to Dial again, with a 9.405 at 138.48mph. The whole team were surprised and thrilled when they discovered that with this consistency, they had won the event!! Congratulations to them all! |
| WB 50 | Steve Bingham and team looked great with their crew uniforms and their 'Sneaky Blinder' altered displayed with their cool 40's pickup and Portafold caravan in the pits. They not only looked good there and on the track but the car performed brilliantly all weekend! Steve began Saturday well, with a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 11.836 at 109.11mph, around 6 tenths under his previous PB. The team dialled in at 11.60 for the rounds on Sunday. Again, Steve started with PB's, recording 11.562 at 110.69mph! He was slightly off the pace in the second round with a 12.297 at 109.53mph, but came back strongly in the third round, posting yet another Personal Best ET and Speed of 11.461 at 111.52mph! This improvement won him the ‘Most Improved ET' trophy with a 1.29 second betterment! He then ran an 11.780 at 107.94mph in the fourth round. He finished in 7th place overall for the weekend, and to top a great weekend, the car was awarded the 'Best Altered' Spot Prize, chosen by the commentators. Weld done Steve, Heidi and team! |
| WB 54 | saw Phil Sweeney and crew Dean and Helen Smythe back out with the lovely looking 'California Dreamin' slingshot. Phil had a couple of test runs on Friday in the 9's. He ran a good 9.878 at 144.39mph in the round on Saturday. The team dialled in at 9.80 for Sunday's rounds. Phil began with a solid 9.770 at 145.23mph in the first round, showing good form. However, he slowed to a 10.224 at 141.26mph in the second, and though he towed down for the third round, could not make the run. He also missed the fourth round with further problems. Hope he and the team can sort this soon and be back out running in this fabulous slingshot! Best of luck guys! |
| WB 55 | Alan and Dad Ian Lloyd were running their iconic altered 'Gonzo the Great', and had just got everything ready to roll with a fireup the week before the event. Alan's first pass Saturday was a tentative 9.078 at 109.52mph. The team dialled in confidently at 8.30 for the rounds on Sunday. Alan's first round run was an 8.815 at 143.45mph. More tuning followed, and he then launched on tyreshaking wheelying run on the second round, posting a great 8.396 at 158.50mph pass. The next round was equally violent on the launch, with a great picture being captured by Keith Lee of a closeup of the back tyres distorted and the front up in the air! This run was very near a PB, with an 8.323 at 158.48mph. Alan's last run of the day was a 9.007 at 113.76mph. The team have plans to modify the harsh launch and should be back in the low 8's again at the next event. Alan finished in 8th place. |
| WB 60 | We welcomed back Didier and Francoise Canicave all the way from France with their super T-bodied altered 'Folie Douce'. Didier made a few test passes on the Friday. His run on Saturday was a 13.333 at 101.48mph. The team dialled in at 13.06 for the rounds on Sunday. He did have some problem with the brake but managed to fix this. Didier ran well in the first round, recording a 13.089 at 102.32mph, which put him in second place after that round. He then had problems on the second pass, posting a 15.109 at 79.26mph. On the third round burnout, he drove off down the track, again having a brake issue. He could not fix this for the fourth round, unfortunately. We look forward to seeing the whole team back out at Dragstalgia! A bientot! |
| WB 61 | Chris Manning was in his first event of the year with the Wild Bunch with his period perfect slingshot 'The Villain'. He launched well on Saturday's run but had to back off when he got a little out of shape, and slowed to an 11.869 at 75.56mph. He dialled in at 7.77 for Sunday's rounds, as a good number to aim for! In the first round, he ran a good solid 8.331 at 142.07mph. He then picked the pace up again in the second, with a nice straight run and only his second ever 7-second pass, a 7.996 at a new Personal Best Speed of 171.10mph. Well done Chris! His third round was a little squirrely again, and he posted a 9.990 at 92.57mph. He had a few things to sort on the car, so did not make the fourth round. Again his amazing team of Dragster Inc put on a great show on the start line and combined with the beautiful car and great performance, the team were awarded the 'Best Appearing Team' Spot Prize by the commentators! Fantastic!! Also, we wish Chris and Tania a very Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary, on the Tuesday after the event. Congrats folks!! |
| WB 64 | Russ Heaven was in his second event of the season with his 'Tight Fit' slingshot. He made a few test passes on the Friday, including a new PB Speed of 151.2mph. On Saturday, he posted a 9.228 at another Personal Best Speed of 151.59mph. The team dialled in at 8.99 for Sunday. Russ's first round pass was a 9.601 at 148.58mph. He followed this with a 9.648 at 139.50mph. His third run was a little off the pace with a 10.032 at 133.34mph. The team soon diagnosed that the problem was a broken dizzy cap. Though they then missed the fourth round, this is thankfully easy to cure for the next event. Russ was thrilled to be awarded the 'Best Slingshot' Spot Prize by the commentators! |
| WB 66 | was the cool Ratchet Strap team with their 'Cheap Thrills' slingshot. The team finished in the Top 10 of the Wild Bunch Series last year and were raring to go. Skippy ran the car on the Friday, testing, and made four great runs – a Personal Best ET 9.748/133.72, another PB ET 9.733/133.77, a third PB ET 9.7000/134.51, and a 9.748, so all with very consistent within 5 hundredths! Then it was JJ's turn Saturday, and he posted his first ever 9-second pass with a Personal Best ET and Team Best Speed of 9.831 at 135.77mph! Well done 9-second granddad! On Sunday the team dialled in at 9.69 for the rounds and Skippy hopped back in. He ran a solid 9.724 at 134.52mph for his opening bid. He then took the lead after the second round when he ran a 9.755 at 135.23mph pass. He remained in the lead after the third, recording another PB ET with a strong 9.664 at 133.76mph! Unfortunately, he red lit in the fourth round!! Such a huge shame as the team were on for a possible win!! Well done to all of them on a great performance this weekend and better luck next time!! |
| WB 67 | Darryl Howells was in his 2nd event of the season with his 'Chemical Reaction' slingshot. He made a pass of 9.010 at 150.56mph on Saturday's round. The team dialled in at 8.90 for Sunday and hoped to get back in to those 8's. Unfortunately, on firing up in the morning, there were problems with the starter motor engagement, and try as they might, the team could not get this sorted on Sunday, so sadly Darryl was not able to make any passes that day. Hope they can solve this and Darryl can be back out in those 8's real soon! |
| WB 68 | Mick Gleadow was in his first Wild Bunch event of the season in the 'Jurassic Parts 2' slingshot. The team were looking forward to running the car in Mick's 51st year in the sport, and picking up from the great performance they had, reaching the Final at the ‘National Finals' last season. They spent much of the time in the pits, as they developed a transmission problem, which sadly could not be fixed at the event. Best of luck to the team on getting this sorted for the next event! |
| WB 75 | Andy Jackson was back out with his 'Hammerman II' historic rear-engined dragster with its unique sidewinder motor. He made a burnout in the round on Saturday, but there were problems on the line and some smoke, and he could not make the pass. Sadly he was not able to run Sunday, but we wish the whole team luck on making this unusual combo work and look forward to seeing this! |
| WB 76 | Steve Field was out in his second event of the year in his and Lesley's 'Black Pig Too' slingshot. He made a couple of test runs on Friday. On Saturday, Steve ran a 9.153 at 143.03mph. Lesley dialled him in at 9.15 for Sunday's rounds. Steve went straight out and bettered this, recording a promising 8.974 at 147.17mph in the first round. He later posted a 10.519 at 83.34mph in the second. This signalled some problems, and sadly Steve was not able to race the rest of the rounds. Hope he and Lesley can fix this soon and be back out in those 8's again! Best of luck! |
| WB 77 | Andy Stones was on his first Wild Bunch event with the team's 'Stoned' slingshot. They had two brand new crew members with them this weekend, who looked like they thoroughly enjoyed their first time racing! Andy made a couple of runs on Friday. He made a pass of 11.856 at 108.74mph in the round on Saturday. He and Cathrine dialled in at 11.90 for the rounds. Well, he went way quicker than that on his first round Sunday, posting an 11.188 at 121.76mph. He followed this with an 11.543 at 116.54mph in the second and his quickest of the weekend in the third, an 11.145 at 120.59mph. He was then closer to dial in the 4th round with an 11.669 at 111.24mph. Andy finished in 9th place. |
| WB 78 | saw Keith Crampton back in his immaculate 'Soul Town Shaker' slingshot for his first event of the season. Keith was out testing on the Friday. He made a pass of 11.158 at 114.94mph on Saturday. He then dialled in at 11.00 even for Sunday's rounds. He posted an 11.189 at 115.66mph on his first round run. We then welcomed back 10-second Keith, as he recorded a 10.949 at 116.85mph pass in the second round. He remained close to dial on his following runs, posting an 11.070 at 115.95mph in the third and a 10.991 at 115.95mph identical speed in the fourth. With this early consistency he finished in a strong 2nd place overall for the weekend. Well done, Keith! |
| WB 91 | Bob Hawkins was in his second event of the season with the Wild Bunch in his 'Time Traveller II' slingshot. He was even more raring to go for his first ever Nitro pass, after being another driver who could not make a run at the rained off Easter ‘Festival of Power'. He had a good starting tuneup in the car for Saturday's run. His burnout was really stout and smoky and he was awarded the ‘Best Burnout' Spot Prize by the commentators for this. Well, when he launched, you could hear and feel the power differential! He immediately lit the tyres off the line spinning the wheels and losing forward motion, but then got back on the power and recorded a 7.861 second pass. But the exciting part was that this was at a fantastic new Personal Best Speed of 211.01mph!!! Another new Wild Bunch quickest speed! On a checkout pass!! Big Congratulations Bob! This run also won him the Wild Bunch ‘Quickest ET' trophy, awarded by the NSRA! However, the loss of traction off the line had resulted in a really high rpm, and on investigation, Bob realised he had 6 bent valves! So unfortunately could not make another run at the event! There was further damage on stripdown back home in the garage, but not as bad as it could have been, so hopefully Bob can have this fixed and be back out real soon chasing more amazing numbers! Best of luck, Bob!! |
| WB 93 | was new member Peter Huckle with his slingshot 'The Jagster'. This car was Roy Wilding's original Buick-powered slingshot, but now sporting a Jag engine. Peter and team had raced independently at Shakey last season and decided to join the Wild Bunch this year. They had a great team uniform of long coats and flat caps, as well as a great sense of humour! A very warm welcome to the team!! Pete started with a 10.654 at 115.81mph for his run on Saturday. The team then dialled in at 10.45 for Sunday's rounds. Pete began well with a new Personal Best ET and Speed of 10.379 at 127.32mph. He then followed this with another PB ET and Speed of 10.287 at 128.37mph! Well done Pete! His third round run was a close to dial 10.478 at 127.01mph and his fourth a 10.941 at 120.91mph. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that he had finished 4th overall for the event! A great performance in his first ever outing with the Wild Bunch! Welcome Pete and all the team!! |
| WB 112 | Matt Fuller was running his 'Oblivion' funny car in his first event of the season. Sadly the car is up for sale, so someone will be getting a fantastic and fun car for a bargain price. Meanwhile, Matt and team were making the most of their racing weekend. He ran an 11.849 at 104.73mph pass on Sunday and dialled in at 11.00 even for the rounds. Matt ran way better than this in the first round Sunday, posting a 10.519 at 128.69mph, although it had been a red light. Unfortunately, the team had to leave early so could not take part in the rest of the rounds. Really hope to see them back out again soon! All the best, folks! |
| WB 115 | saw the welcome return of Paul Bambrick in his gorgeous 'American Pie' slingshot. Paul made a good pass of 9.973 at 113.63mph. Paul was hoping to get in another pass that afternoon so it was a shame rain stopped play. The team could not stay for the Sunday, so hope to see them back out again soon, making more progress in this beautiful car. All the best! |
| WB 316 | was the first event (of many!) this season for James Auld with his 1972 Rear-engined dragster 'Little Fauss'. James put in a run of 12.904 at 105.54mph on Saturday. He dialled in at 12.85 for Sunday. His first round run was a good 12.816 at 106.18mph. He then ran a Personal Best ET in the second round of 12.666 at 107.20mph. He ran well again in the 3rdwith a 12.685 at 98.57mph, but was a little off pace in the 4th, posting 13.298/88.39. He finished in 5th place, a really good result. |
| Congratulations to Phil and the whole 'Rampage' team on their first win of the season! Very well done and a great performance on the new combination! This was accompanied by prize money, courtesy of Mark Coulsell of MJC Property Solutions. Mark also put up prize money for the other Top 4 places, so many thanks to him for the sponsorship of this weekend! And congrats to Keith, Pete & Rob and Peter for their Top 4 placings. Well done to all the Wild Bunch on a fantastic show! Huge thanks to all the marshals, officials, fire and track crews at Santa Pod and the NSRA for their hard work and organisation, eurodragster for the great coverage and all the photographers for all the fab pictures.
We are now really looking forward to the second Wild Bunch Round and third Spirit of Nostalgia Series round at the RWYB and 'Retro Show' at Santa Pod on 16th & 17th June. | |