SPRC Summernationals
Santa Pod Raceway, 27th-28th June 2015

Sunday


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Latest update 20:40


Super Street Bike racer Peter Granica, pictured left with brother Thomas, said 'I have had a great weekend as I ran a new PB of 7.59/187 and went two rounds in eliminations'.


Super Street Bike racer Steve Mead has a new bike with an Al McIntosh frame, Owens Development turbo and Rock Solid clutch by Walter Sprout. Steve thanks Walter for remotely analysing the data at his Jacksonville, Florida base. Steve has a 7.37 PB and 1.22 60ft time this weekend with more to come.


Super Street Bike racer Shawn Buttigieg qualified no.2 with a 7.15/198 and went out in round two on a red light against Chris Reed. In May he ran a 7.12 at Hal Far Raceway in Malta.


Super Street Bike racer Garry Bowe has two bikes here this weekend. His European Championship-winning machine is for sale and Phil Pratt was racing it in 9.50 Bike. A chance to run a single out of competition gave Phil his first ever seven second time slip, a 7.91. Meanwhile Garry on his new bike ran a PB of 7.13 in qualifying and another of 7.12 in the final to defeat a red-lighting Chris Reed.


Funny Bike racer Bob Brooks was the event winner with a 7.35/178. He said 'We have made big changes to the fuel system with a larger pump. In terms of tuning we are starting afresh. As yet we are not making as much power as before but we are getting up the track. We have to look at the timing.


Funny Bike racer Stu Crane was runner up after previously having run a 7.19 PB in the final qualifying session. He said 'It was our third pass on a new ignition system and nitrous controller. I am using a Firestorm system which records data and also have a Racepak data logger. There is plenty left but we are edging forward slowly'.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Stuart Williams qualified no.1 and went to the final where he was runner-up, running as quick as 7.58.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mark Todd suffered a broken part in his oil pump which resulted in an oildown on track and a lot in the car for his crew to clean up. However they persisted despite another small leak after the launch in the semi final and then ran the class's best ET of the weekend in the final, 7.55.


Pro Modified racer and Eurodragster.com sponsor Andy Robinson had a problem on Friday when after a 6.29/230 test pass the engine kicked a rod out on the run down. Crewman and son Luke explained 'A bit of debris from the rod got in the blower. We didn't have the spare motor with us as it had just got back from the machine shop. So we had to got back home to clean it and switch the parts and ancillaries over. We repaired the blower with the help of a file and grinder on the end of the rotors and case. It took all night Friday and Saturday, but we were finally ready to go in Q3 - and had too much launch rpm. But the 231mph speed showed the blower was working well'.


Pro Modified racer Bobby Wallace missed the Main Event due to damage sustained at Easter. He said 'It nipped the ring on no.4 piston and we had to get the block bored and have a new piston, thanks to Jeff Bull for his work. As we had a freshly rebuilt engine we took it easy on the first pass with no nitrous and it ran a 7.5. On the second we brought the nitrous in slowly to stay in the field. And in first round we are against Rick so we will step it up more'. Bobby was unable to use all three nitrous stages, though, and mechanical problems sidelined the car in round one.


Pro Modified racer Rick Garrett qualified no.1 with a 6.36/216 and was satisfied enough to try to repeat. He said 'This has been a typical Pro Mod weekend. It broke a rocker and piston on our last run yesterday and we worked through the night to rebuild the engine'. The team are working on a second car for Ryan, a Dodge Dart with 711cu in engine which will debut at the Mopar Euronats, and a new build for Nick which is currently under construction.


Pro Modified racer Wayne Nicholson had help from US legend Camp Stanley at the Main Event. Wayne said 'We learned a lot from Camp. We are having to relearn the car as we have updated the fueld and ignition system over the winter. We just need more track time'. Wayne's best this weekend of 7.42/194 put him in ninth place.


Pro Modified racer Roger Moore, pictured left with brother and crew chief Dave, ran a new PB of 6.39 in qualifying to go second. Dave said 'We didn't make any changes from the Main Event, it just hooked up and went straight. In the second pass there was a slight twitch in mid track which Roger held and it only slowed him to 6.43. The combination is working well and we are getting good wheel speed on the launch and not much tyre shake. The new bull horn headers have helped the car launch flatter. Also it still reacted fine when it was hot later in the day. We have to go consistent 6.3s and 6.4s to win races'.


Pro Modified racer Kev Slyfield had huge engine smoke when a brass liner in the cylinder head collapsed down a pushrod tube.He said 'It drew oil from the head into the intake valve area of the combustion chamber. One head needs reworking and we burnt one piston'. Kev faced Chris Isaacs in round one and came out the winner with another 6.42 after the rebuild.


Pro Modified racer Chris Isaacs qualified sixth with a 6.60/192. He said 'We are combatting tyre shake and had one decent run in qualifying. the tuning was out and we turned it down for Q2. That was only just the right side and the car moved around the track. In the final one the tuning was out again; but it seems we are heading in the right direction'.


Pro Modified racer Bert Englefield was pleased to run his quickest pass since 2008, a 6.42/222. He said 'It's been a long time coming but we feel we have found a sweet spot with the clutch setting and will try to repeat and keep going through rounds'. A further improvement to 6.34/224 against Jean Dulamon showed the team have found some great performance gains here.


Pro Modified racer Jean Dulamon ran a PB speed in qualifying, a 6.46/222.44 that placed him in qualifying position no.5. He said 'We have a new longer rear end ratio so the engine has less revs at the finish line and more clutch to help the launch'. Jean ran a great 6.38/227.83 in round one showing the car is continuiing to respond to the changes.


Nostalgia Fuel Funny Car racer Tim Garlick ran a 6.37/194 and 6.18/222 yesterday and 6.24/222 in the first session today. He said 'We seem to have an electrical problem and are changing coil leads each run to overcome it. The last run yesterday was good and we want to do another four passes at this level before we move the tuning up a further notch'. Tim is seen warming the car up with tuner Rob Loaring of ICE Automotive pictured on the left.


Fuel Altered racer Nick Davies received a specially engrave set of underpants after his chutes failed to deploy on a 6.18 pass yesterday and ended in the field. He said 'This is the third time I've been in the field and the first time with Chaos. I didn't try to spin it out as it was going too quickly. I went in as far as the service road, about 100 yards and before the crops, and just parked it. Thanks to the Gleadows for helping us with the fibre glass repair'. Nick will be temporarily vacating the Chaos driver's seat at Dragstalgia whilst team member Jake Clayton, who is Bill Sherratt's grandson and has been to race school in the US, takes the wheel to licence.


Wild Bunch racer Bob Hawkins was delighted to run his first six at SCR last weekend and two more at this event. He said 'We had a new 434cu in engine over the winter with the objective of running a six at over 200mph. The 200mph came at the start of the season. The rear two cylinders were torched last weekend and I had to take time off work to put in a replacement head and two new pistons. We know there is more to come as the supercharger is only 8% overdriven'. Bob plans a return to Hockenheim in August with both his slingshots after last year's fire burnout show.


Super Pro ET racer Karl-Heinz Kleider is pleased to be running his funny car here. He said 'In the 1980s I raced in Comp Eliminator the US when I was living there. I later returned to Germany and after a few years off raced in Super Pro ET in a blown 'Vette. I bought this funny car in 2008 and it has a 632cu in BBC with supercharger 43% overdriven and Lencodrive three speed. We have raced it at Hockenheim, Beychene and Drachten and ran our best of 6.58/210 yesterday. The car had wheelspin so we have put some new slicks on it and want to run a 6.50 or quicker'. Karl-Heinz is planning to also run the car at Dragstalgia.


Super Pro ET racers and team mates Brad Jackson and Chris Parker met in round one, Brad driving the Lucas Oils machine and Chis the Windscreen Wizards dragster, both under the Nick Good Motorsport banner. In a close race, Chris came out on top, 7.76 on a 7.70 dial to Brad's 7.79 on a 7.72 dial in.


Super Pro ET racer Mark Adams has a new injector hat supplied by Carlo Gandolfi Composites. He said 'We discovered on our data logger the engine was running lean and so put in a bigger pill for greater fuel flow to richen it and cool it down a bit'. Mark, who had a front wheel depart the car at speed at the Main Event, thanks Roy Wilding for his repair work and getting the car back on track.


Super Pro ET racer Martyn 'Sid' Jones, pictured left with crew chief Crunch had a reverser break on his first run and the tyres shook on the final run. The second run, a 6.57 on his customary 6.00 dial in, was good for 25th place and he exited in round two having run a 0.007 light and 6.16 against Simon Gough. Martyn said of his recent victorious Top Dragster outing 'Top Dragster is fun but I like bracket racing'.


Sportsman ET racer Jon Crawford, pictured with son Dominic, suffered a broken drive shaft in his VW Sharan in round one of qualifying. He said 'Many thanks to the VW racers and especially Paul Herbert for getting replacement parts from GSF in Kettering and fitting them so quickly that I only missed one qualifying session'.


Outlaw Anglia racer Phil 'Ginner' Middleton crewed for Al O'Connor for ten years. He said 'Al was the inspiration for me starting racing. This is my third season and 2014 was my first full year. The Fordson has a normally aspirated 540cu in BBC with Powerglide. The chassis was built by Wayne Allman who also did the flames on the car. Phil said the car is street legal 'but it's a bit of an animal.' Best ET to date is 8.80.


Topspeed Automotive Street Eliminator racer Mats Andersson's Volvo PV544 is 100% original steel down to all hinges and fixings. He said 'From start to finish it took two years and two months to construct. The rolling chassis was made by Cotsweld Race Cars and the panel work and interior is by Wayne Allman at The Intergalactic Custom Shop. The main build was by myself in partnership with Martin Kerr who was crew chief for Ian Hook. We transferred all the Toyota running gear from my old Opel into the Volvo. The Volvo is heavier and less aerodynamic than the Opel but the chassis is 25.1e spec and tagged to 6.00 so with more power from the engine I am aiming for consistent high sevens'.


8.50 Bike racer Jake Mechaell qualified third. He said 'We have mainly been concentrating on clutch setup and will increase the boost and launch rpm later. We ran a best 60ft time on our last and checkout pass which was a 8.36. We have some points to gain on the class leader, but are running well'. Jake's dad Clive will be running the California Kid Fuel Altered at Dragstalgia, after which there are plans to update the chassis in readiness for Jake to drive the car.



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