SPRC Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway, 28th-29th June 2014

Saturday


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Latest update 20:10


Competition Eliminator racer Kev Perkins has the Olds Cutlass which was previously campaigned by Graham Ellis and Kev, who was a crew member. When it was owned by Rob Elsom it had a new engine and gearbox but is still built to Super Mod (nitrous and Lenco) specs. Kev after a 7.98s pass said 'This was my first full pass since 2006. I ran it to 7.5s before. It still runs well, a bit squirrelly'. Kev was a member of Ellis Racing Pro Mod team until 2012 and now has his own crew of son Lloyd and help also coming from John and Matt Atkinson.


Super Pro ET racer Laura Turburville will in two week's time be temprarily handing over the wheel to father Ian, to whom we wish a Happy Birthday. The car is now raced under the title Team Bloodlines with support from Ian, Ingrid and Martin Chesworth and Julie Braskett, daughter of US Funny Car legend Dave Braskett. Ian said 'I will be running the car in historic demos. I am building a new slingshot in the style of a 1960s A/FD car running on injected methanol which will be for sale to finance a rear engined dragster for Laura'.


Super Pro ET racer Steve Saunders' wife Babs has a birthday today and we wish her many happy returns. Steve celebrated with a new personal best ET of 8.500.


Super Pro ET racer Peter Walters (pictured right ran licensing passes yesterday in Dave Wilson's A/Fuel Dragster, with support from Eurodragster.com sponsor Derek Flynn. Peter said 'It all seems to happen a lot faster in an A/Fuel car. Whereas I have clutch and gears the Fuel car has a handbrake as well. I did a launch and half pass which was a 7.0s. To complete my licensing I plan to run on the test day before the Euro Finals to do one mild tune pass and a second pass in full race mode before Dave takes the seat over for the race. Then we will have to think about next year and putting some sponsors together'.


Super Street Bike racer Danny Cockerill had a problem this morning when the air bottle ran out of compressed air and drove through the clutch resulting in a 10s time. He said 'We have a new air NLR clutch and are trying to get to grips with it. I am pleased with the bike's overall performance with a best of 7.33 last year'. Word from Super Street Bike pits is for a group of up to 15 bikes to attend the NitrOlympX at Hockenheim.


Super Street Bike racer Luke Farrugia from Malta went no.2 with a 7.41 ET. Tuner and fellow Maltese racer Simon Giordimaina said 'We have a new MTC Gen 2 clutch on the bike, which Luke bought from Rick Stubbins and has run a best of 7.19 on. Luke did not push the bike too hard so we are hoping to do better in the next session'. Luke and Simon are receiving some phone advice on clutch tuning from US racer Rodney Williford, who Simon met while racing his own bike to 7.0 times at Valdosta last November.


Super Pro ET racer Tom van der Wijden bought Jayne Kaye's Funny Car last September and has spent the last nine months rebuilding it. He said "We now have a blown hemi engine from Mikael Larsson which includes a screw blower. The transmission is now a Bruno Lenco automatic. We ran the car in the pits and are planning a 60ft launch today. We couldn't start because a bolt had broken on the remote starter'. Tom said his Super Pro ET Chevelle, which has won two EDRS Championships and run a 8.02 best time, is for sale.


Junior Dragster racer Saskia Fensome Jell was qualified no.1 after the first session. 'Fen' said 'We are going to Hockenheim as part of a 15 car Junior contingent from the UK. We have had a lot of support from Gordon Smith and Dave Bryant who will be transporting both our cars in their trailer'. Fen is also looking forward to the Junior Dragster Fun Day on Wednesday 20th August which is free to enter and exclusively for JDs.


Pro ET racer Anton Schneider is racing in Norbert Schneider's Nissan Skyline acquired from Rick Garrett.


Pro ET racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Tig Napier suffered a broken ring and pinion at the FIA Championship Round One. He said 'As well as a new crown wheel and pinion we had to get a new differential which is a Detroit Locker. There was also damage to the gearbox as a sprag was destroyed and an output shaft snapped. Thanks to Todd at Marsh Performance in North Carolina for his help on the ring and pinion; he has built a new 1000hp engine for us that we will be using next year. The gearbox parts came from Cope Racing Transmissions and the differential is from Doctor Diff in Minnesota. We finished the work on Monday with the help of George Chiles at Transaxle Services Ltd and were able to come to the track ion Thursday.


Pro ET racer Dave Billadeau is in competition for the first time in about eight years, although he is well known from his business Billadeau Speed Shop and appearances at the Mopar Euronats. Dad Gene said 'Dave ran his white GTX for twenty years and this Superbird lookalike for the last two years. The car is based on a Plymoth Satellite with aftermarket parts to give it the Superbird look'. The car's best is 9.35/148, quick for such a heavy vehicle, and power comes from a 580cu in Hemi engine bored and stroked from stock, and running a Helley Dominator carb. Plans are to run in Super Stock at Dragstalgia and also at the Mopar Euronats, making three races in six weeks for the Thorne, Yorkshire-based team.


Pro ET racer Dave Rudd got into the sport by helping Gordon Northway with some welding work and then crewing for him for two years. 'I then thought 'I can do this' and started thinking about buying a Sportsman ET car'. Around the same time Billy Gane who lives about 15 miles from Dave advertised his AC Cobra for sale and Dave bought it turnkey. Dave said 'The car is consistent and simple. I put a proper seat in it and gave it the once over. I also did a lot of work with the rear suspension tuning the four link to help withe the launch. I raced it at York in 2013 to go second in the Pro ET championship there. This is the only championship meeting which doesn't clash with York'. So far he has run a best of 10.06 which served as his final observed run. Thanks go to sponsors Alfgraphics and Barry at Signtech


Super Pro ET racer Lee Cohen is racing for the first time after a five year break. He said 'I ran a test day to go through the procedure with the clutch and handbrake as the car is now running a three speed Lenco. The car is set up as a Pro Mod car with the only difference being the BBC engine which is in a lower state of tune. The car has run a best of 6.7 which has given me confidence that it can perform. The plan is to work on clutch control, burnouts and launch and once we're happy with that I will push on. Currently it is on very soft settings'. Lee thanks Paul from International Marketing and Distribution (IMD)and his parents for financial support.


Super Pro ET racer Dave Gibbons is being advised by Tony Morris of Bo Law Performance which has supplied a trick two barrel carburretor. He said 'Two blades have been machined out making it a two barrel carburretor. Having the same carburretor body means I can run the old air scoop with it. The car has picked up two tenths and ran a personal best ET of 8.56 and I am really pleased with it'. Dave's son Scott, aged eight, is racing in Junior Dragster in a car constructed by Dave with a body from Geof Hauser and a rebuilt OHV engine from Skye Collier. Team support comes from wife and Mum Alli and BHRA pioneer Maurice Takoor.


Super Pro ET racer Amanda Cox is in test mode running her hemi-engined Nova. She said 'We are planning on Pro Mod next year but working on the maintenance and staging process'. The staging process involves a three step device with a 'bump box' which bumps the car into stage at 4000rpm allowing the turbos to spool up more quickly during the staging process. Sponsorship comes from Mac Tools and Serck Motorsport and team support is from Topspeed Automotive.


Super Pro ET racer Bob Doyle has rebuilt his Nissan Z after a crash at Easter. He said 'I toook the engine and gearbox out and put in new engine and gearbox mounts. I then refitted the bottom chassis section and made two new wings and bonnet. There were new head gaskets on the engine (the cause of the original problem)'. I did all the work by myself which meant I could call all the shots. This was the second major rebuild in two years after I had a new chassis tagged to 7.50 for 2013 and the second paint job'. After successful testing yesterday Bob ran a 8.6 this morning, within a tenth of his PB. 'We are over the moon and there was no drama', he finished.



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