2011 SPRC Summernationals
Sunday


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Latest update: 21:45

Pro Modified winner and Eurodragster.com sponsor Graham Ellis was successful at managing the considerable power at his disposal, the 'Cuda sounding as aggressive as the tune-up that the team was putting into it. "We were on the edge in the first round and smoked the tyres but managed to recover to a 6.44. We are trying to run quick times for the class." The car was awesome to the eighth and if Graham had not been forced to lift, we would have seen a 6.0. A 6.56 was sufficient to bring him the victory.

Pro Modified runner-up Nick Davies was ready for a head-to-head race with the Ellis Racing Jackhammer 'Cuda. I.C.E. Automotive partner Rob Loaring said "We are categorically racing in this final. We have turned the boost up, if we turn it up too much we will shake the tyres at the hit. Our pace has been dire but we are improving on each run and there is a lot more power there that we need to get to the track." Shake was the result for the Superbird with Nick off the throttle early into the run.

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator runner-up Brian Payne said "It was an exciting race and while Ian was ahead I could see he was suffering tyre shake going down the track. There was only 0.05 in it at the end. We are happy with the performance here but in better air the car can run a high seven. The class's next outing is Bug Jam, then Open Sports Nationals and National Finals - with three rounds to go I still need to watch my championship lead."

Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator winner Ian Hook was pleased with a win but had wanted to run a seven here. "We would definitely swap a seven for a tin and will go for it at the next meeting. The car is running lovely but we just need more power at the top end. The tyres were spinning down the track but didn't break away completely, but we were down on top end speed. For a serious increase in performance like the 7.8 we ran a year ago we will need to spend quite a lot as it is a big step up. We don't think we are going to catch Brian in the points and we're still getting used to the last set of chassis modifications."

Super Pro ET winners Giles & Hartley were delighted with their first win this year. Phil Hartley said "We were all over the place at the start but the car seems to like the heat. It's a methanol setup and we didn't let it cool down too much. We have an oil heater in the sump which helps keep it at the right temperature. We really enjoy racing and we try not to push our budget too much and can afford to repair broken parts. It's one of the reasons why we have been in the sport for so long and we also enjoy the atmosphere at the events so much."

Super Modified winner Fred Hone said "There is so little in it between Nigel and I. We were definitely helped by our Nitrous setup today - it helped compensate us for the poor air quality which Nigel can't use in his naturally aspirated setup. But we weren't confident as it was so close. The timing crew gave me a gold star on the ticket, which is better than the silver star we got in qualifying."

Pro Stock bike winner Mark Smith for Eurodragster.com sponsors Draper Tools was delighted. "It wasn't our quickest weekend but I did run a PB 60ft time. Thanks to Len Paget who has helped me with the tuneup and clutch. I have had problems with the automatic gearbox but with support from Draper and MPM Oil and help from Len and Ray Debben I hope to be able to compete in more rounds of the UEM championship."

Competition Bike winner Stu Crane only had his engine back on Friday after a new crank had been fitted. "We have had engine issues and thanks to Roger Upperton who has helped me overcome them. We are just making soft passes in the mid sevens to be consistent and go for the win that way. We hope to step up to a six as other bikes in the class can go that quick. We have a high spec engine but are aiming at the Championship."

Pro ET and Super Comp racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Paul Marston had a big cloud of smoke behind the Whoopass Monza during his round one win over Nigel Green. "I had to brake early to avoid breaking out and on braking the oil smoke exited the breathers. It happens quite often on the Monza. I love to drive it. We have slowed it down to run it in Pro ET and its a nice stable ride." Paul exited Pro ET in round 2 breaking out against Nic Williams. He is also racing the PMR dragster and is through to the semi finals in Super Comp winning against Jon Morton and Dave Raper.

Super Pro ET racer Dave Gibbons qualified no.1 said "I never really lost contact with the sport. After I stopped racing in the UK I worked for Jim Head in the US for a year and after I got married worked for Street Machine as a reporter. I then met Paul Marston at the Brighton Speed Trials nine years ago and drove Grumpy's Dodge there. I then got into engine building for Paul and drove the Alien for a few passes in 2004. I heard from Andrea Kloss that Rough Diamond had been found in Austria and had to go over and buy it back after it had been displayed in the foyer of a disco. Thanks to Paul who has loaned engine parts and Tony Morris for advice - he is tuned in today. It's great to be back. I won't be doing every race as my wife Ali and I race a Dallara F3 car at sprints. Many thanks to my crew chief Dick Hogben who was with me when I started in 1974, and to Maurice Takoor and my son Scott for their support."

Pro ET racers gathered for a group photo. You will be able to catch a large version of this in the next issue of he excellent Drag Racing Confidential - thanks to co-editor Nigel Holland for arranging the shoot.

Pro ET racer Carla Pittau had a scary moment yesterday when the wind got under the Heaven & Hell Camaro on a wheelstand and all four wheels were off the track. She said "I feared what might happen if the headwind got up. The bottom of the car becomes like a sail. I missed a session at the Main Event because of the wind and it didn't feel as strong yesterday. But when the revs went up on the wheelie I knew the rear wheels were off the ground. I had to decide in a split second what to do and pedaled it on the way down. Even so the fibreglass cracked inside the front wing and the door wouldn't open and the ball joint and bellhousing were cracked. So I staged for points after telling the startline crew. We will be fitting a discreet single wheel wheelie bar after this event." You will be able to see a video on the H&H Facebook page.

Pro ET racer Dan Williams said the Chevy Nova is in the 'sweet spot' for tuning. "Our aim for 2012 is to run in Stock/Super Stock at the Tierp Arena. To do that we will need to buy and fit a different engine, put the original seats back in and fit a GM 12 bolt rear axle and a hood without a cowl. Carla Pittau has sourced us a 396cu in engine that is class legal and we will be going to California in September to look at some other parts."

Pro ET racer Nic Williams brought out his Falcon at the start of the season. He said "I saw it for sale at Avon Park and bought it as a rolling shell. I took the gasser front and rear ends off and my dad Keith and Bob Doignie built new suspension setups including a ladder bar. The cage was constructed by Webster Race Engineering for which I do paintwork as OCS Paint. I then went to Florida for a month and finished the car in time for Easter." The panels are all original and the engine is a Brodix 454 Chevy with TH400 and 9" Ford rear end. Best time to date is 9.93. Nic will be racing with 12 or so members of the Gasser Circus at Dragstalgia in July.

Pro ET racer Dave 'Tig' Napier showed his musicianship off last night playing bass guitar at the Pro ET Party. This morning he was back on track winning against Simon Gough in round one. He said "I pulled an ace wheelie and did my best ever 60ft on the back wheels of 1.48. Simon was misfiring so I lifted off at 1000ft. We started the season late but I will be doing all the remaining rounds of the championship." The Purple Power went red in round two against Paul Brown.

Pro ET racer Rick Denny won the Eurodragster.com/Cotsweld Race Cars perfect light award with his final qualifying pass and repeated the feat in round one of eliminations. Unfortunately for Rick it wasn't enough to stay ahead of Amanda Cox who reached the finishing line first. Rick said "I don't have a practice tree - I just come racing and the car reacts extremely quickly, more so since I moved up from Sportsman ET with a new engine, gearbox and rear end. I thought as the wind dropped I would run quicker and took a tenth off my dial-in but I ended up running the same number." Rick's roll cage was fitted by Eurodragster.com sponsor Geof Hauser.

Junior Dragster racer Paige Wheeler will be racing this brand new car. Father and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy said "Paige is 13 years old on 4th August and will move up to JMA at the Open Sports Nationals." The car was constructed by Half Scale Dragsters in New Jersey with an unusual four link setup and the engine is by Blossom Racing. The design is by Peter Walters - we had three done for Alamo to choose from." Paige's current car won't be out of action for more than a month as the plan is to get her sister Belle licensed for the National Finals, he eighth birthday falling the day before the event. Andy added "She's already familiar with the car and raring to go." In the immediate future the team will be attending two meetings at Bristol International Raceway in the US, the Mike Boss Chassis Craft Nationals and the Eastern Conference Finals when 1200 Junior Dagsters will be racing for top honours. It's great to see Alamo getting involved more with the sport and they will be further in evidence at the Euro Finals when they will be sponsoring the left hand lane.

Sportsman ET racer Craig Wright became odds-on to receive the class's Cock of the Meeting award after a fuelling error with the Camaro he has borrowed from Matthew Seamarks for the season. He said "I have a diesel Mondeo and diesel van so when I took the petrol can for refilling I naturally put diesel in it - and then into the Camaro. I knew something was wrong when the engine started missing and there was diesel-smelling smoke out of the exhuast. So we drained the tank, filled it with unleaded to dilute the diesel and did what we could to get rid of the diesel. Luckily it was fine straight away and I was in the top three right through qualifying. My father was crew chief for Ian and Paula Marshall's Highlander car and fancied a go - next year I will run my own Civic in this class."

Super Pro ET racer John Atkinson had another good event, winning against John Bradshaw and Steve Johnson in eliminations after qualifying sixth. He said "We were relatively slow yesterday and I think we were affected by the wind. Today the car is running better, but the air is very poor." John's dashboard plaque reflects his philosophy on life.

Super Pro ET racer Steve Johnson had a win against Ian Powell in round one after qualifying second with a 7.308. He said "The car is running very consistently without problems." In round two he suffered a holeshot defeat against John Atkinson.

Super Pro ET racer Rod Harrison was qualified third with a 7.2727 on a 7.26 dial, but red-lit by 0.08s against Roy Wilding. He said "We had a bit of a bad start as we found a broken lifter while checking the valve clearances just before starting it up. After repairs, we had three good qualifying sessions. I had purchased a predictor machine from the US - it didn't give us the reading I was expecting and then I broke out, so that's a lesson learned from this meeting. It was only my second red light in five years of racing and they say if you don't get any you are not trying hard enough. It's a great sport, everyone is so willing to help out and there is a great atmosphere in this class. We will be at the Euro Finals, but Karl's funny car which he is working on won't be out until 2012 due to shortage of budget."

Super Mod racer Nigel Payne and the Eurodragster.com sponsors Nimbus Motorsports team were not sure they were no.1 qualifier after they ran the same ET as Fred Hone to four decimal places, a 7.5325. Crewman Chris Dossett said "It was decided on the fifth decimal place. We are making little steps to bring the times down but keep consistent. The onlt slight problem has beem an oil pressure issue at the top end. We are taking the filter off every couple of runs to make sure there is no debris in it. We have oil surge accumulators to prevent any coming out of the engine on deceleration. But the pressure is not coming back as quickly as we would like and Nigel is switching the engine off in the shutdown area." Nigel's son Jordan will be making his Junior Dragster debut at the European Finals.

Super Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Peter Walters' father and crew chief Richard said "We put together a spare engine after hurting some parts and detuned it and it came good this morning. It is difficult to be consistent in bracket racing when the engine is not running near its potential and we qualified quite poorly, 14th with an 8.82 on an 8.62 dial-in. But this morning we took a gamble and it paid off against Dave Ward on a holeshot thanks to a fantastic 0.09 light by Peter."

Sportsman ET winner Kevin Long said "This is my first time in a final. The Toyota Soarer has not been at all consistent so I have had to rely on muck and brinksmanship rather than running the numbers for the win."



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