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News

Here are some items of news that have recently arrived. If you hear anything that you think will be of interest to other Oval Racing fans please send me a message.

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A brilliant day out in the West

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Spedeworth

Incarace 

Northampton  
 Saturday 11th September Northampton – 6.00pm
(The ‘I Factor’ Race Event 6) MASCARS, Incarods,
Hot Fords, Modstox,
Grand Prix Midgets,

Stoxkarts, & Slick Cars

Birmingham
Saturday 11th September 6.45pm BriSCA F2 Stock Cars, V8 Hot Stox  & Rebels

Hednesford
Sunday 12th September 1.30pm Oval Track Legends, Lightning Rods, & Bangers PLUS! Slick Cars

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8/9/10 It seems that it's not just London that has lost most of it's stadiums, read what the Wall Street Journal has to say about racing in New York.

8/9/10  Sad news from Stoffie regarding John Vandekerckhove whose funeral takes place in Stasegem in Belgium at 10:30 next Saturday!



Very sad news from Warneton speedway as John Vandekerckhove, start marshall for 27 years at the Warneton raceway has sudden past away last Friday! He was the father of former spedeworth start marshall Christof who is now racing in 2lt hot rods.
 
In all his years involved at Warneton he hasn’t missed 5 meetings!He will be sadly missed by all the drivers , staff and spectators who always knew him with always a smile on his face!
 
John visited every year several races over in the UK and loved his racing!
 
We wish the family all the best with there big loss!
 
John you were a great guy!

 7/9/10 Three great meetings from Incarace over the weekend 11th & 12th September. Click here for previews.

 7/9/10 News from Incarace/Spedeworth..

The Classic Hot Rod fixture scheduled for Eastbourne this Saturday, 11th September has been moved to the following day at Hednesford Hills, Sunday, 12th September. This may seem a really strange change, but it fits in quite well at Hednesford with the non appearance of the Late Model Series cars from Belgium, and helps Eastbourne out a little as they have an overbooking of Bangers on that evening.

The Open Hot Rods from the Slick Cars have also been invited to Hednesford, and based on numbers on the day a decision will be made if the formulas will be run together on track, (but racing as separate classes for points and trophies), or race separately. Currently the bookings are looking very encouraging for both classes so we may well have 6 races between the two classes. Drivers can ring the Incarace office 0121-357 7328, our booking line on 0121-357 0007 or book in via e-mail at bookin@incarace.co.uk  

 6/9/10 Read what the Guardian has to say about the Radio 4 program that told us of Brian Sewell's love for Stockcar Racing

 6/9/10 Great write up from George Rimmer, many thanks to him. I have moved this up as there is now an additional piece (at the end of the report) that covers the 'modern' racers that also put in so much effort for the event.

                   Woodvale Show, Southport. 7/8 August: 2010:


Click here to see more of George's great pictures from this event and Barford, now including more pictures by Heritage driver Dan Jeffrey #20

It all started about three months ago. Ron Harney suggested a few local Heritage lads might want to put a stand together for the Woodvale Rally in Southport which is one of the biggest transport and classic vehicle shows of it’s kind in the UK. This year there were a record 74 car club displays, not to mention the hundreds of other events going on. Ron had displayed his car in 09’ and apparently got lonely, so a few mates stepped in to keep him company!! However, as usually happens with these formative ideas, things suddenly mushroomed and the ‘few’ cars became a dozen F1’s, with three juniors of Peter Fenton and Messers Whittle & Whitney, both ‘en route over to the IOM. It could have potentially been more, only Mike Shirley and Peter Gleave both had prior commitments that could not be changed.

After having done a previous ‘sales pitch’ to the official event committee, we were amazed to be allocated the third largest plot on the show ground, so the decision was made to set it out as a ‘pits scene’ with the coaches & trucks as part of the display. Plenty of period signage, banners and other associated ‘props’ all added to the overall effect quite nicely. Throw in an impressive array of various ‘modern’ cars (requested by the event organisers), and we were good to go.

As usual with weekend events, Saturday started quietly which gave everyone a bit of extra time to get set up. It was actually mid - afternoon before things became busy, but the interest from the many casual visitors, race fans and officials was very encouraging. (We later learned that we had been short listed for the ‘Best Display’ award – not bad for a first attempt out of 74 clubs!!). Sunday however was busy from first thing, with a steady stream of visitors passing through the site and plenty of interest to keep everyone busy. The centrepiece of the display was the iconic Bammy Challenger car, complete with an 8x4 display board, and the other cars were spaced around the site just as they would be in a ‘real pits’. Another nice touch was Kingsley’s ex Speight 374 car on a hook and still covered in shale from the old girls last outing at Coventry!! Although we were denied a parade for some apparent Health & safety reasons, we were allowed to start the engines up which was duly done at regular intervals. It became a real phenomenon however as each time the Challenger was started up with it’s glorious ‘straight through’ pipes, the crowds came flooding into the area like moths drawn to a flame!! It was also a pleasant surprise to be able to welcome Mrs Lucy Bamforth and her son who called in and gave the Bammy tribute display their approval and top marks.                    

All in all, it was a terrific weekend that seems to have been well received by both race fans and the general public alike. We were invited back for next year by the organisers who went to great lengths to express how genuinely impressed they were with the stock cars. Additionally, we were also approached by two other cars clubs with requests to put on a display at some classic shows in 2011. The number of old or lapsed fans and ex drivers who passed through the display was astonishing, many having no idea of the BriSCA Heritage movement or it’s work in getting the classic racers back on track. A final nice touch was Ron’s beautiful 1961 Zephyr 6 convertible which was suitably decorated with old retro stickers and event posters – it drew just as much attention as the stock cars at some points over the weekend!! 

We had been given 5,000 brochures to promote the Coventry W/F, half of which were distributed. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, no info or fixtures were forthcoming from any other tracks apart from Buxton. A pity really, as the interest from the public on ‘where’s my nearest track’ was quite incredible.

Heritage drivers, guests and cars present were as follows:

F1: Ron Harney 75, Steve Fiddler 309, John Stirk 65 (plus 102 ex Colin Baldry car), Kingsley Thorneycroft (Bamforth 3), Steve Plant 337, Tom Drabble 55, Niel Holcroft 495 (who also brought his modern F1), Rob Lane 374, Rob Bradsell 389, John Radcliffe and George Rudd. A certain Mr Dave Berresford was also present at the show to exhibit his beautiful Jowett which won an award.   

F2: Peter Fenton, Mick Whittle and Clive Beales. Dan Jeffrey was originally intending to bring his #20 car, but holiday commitments prevailed. True to form however, Dan kindly travelled up and joined us as a helper with his trusty camera, as did Stock Car Mag contributor Chris Clark. (GWR).

In addition to the fine array of Heritage cars on display, we also had a good range of ‘modern day’ racers who brought their racing hardware along for the public to see. This was actually a special request from the event organizers, who asked if we could have a few modern cars to illustrate how things have progressed over the years. In true oval racing fashion, several current drivers stepped up to the mark at very short notice and brought their cars along.

F1 drivers Wes Goodwin 295, Peter Kaulbarsch 411 and Niel Holcfoft 496, each brought their current BriSCA F1’s along which looked terrific on display alongside their older big league cousins!! Wes also brought his fantastic new super transporter coach that was only finished literally days earlier. Wesley and his family went to great lengths to allow the general public to come on board and take a look around. A remarkable gesture for sure - how many of us would like several hundred people tramping through their brand new home??!!  Wes had also gone to the trouble of having a board made and leaflets printed to ‘plug’ the BBC ‘Gears & Tears’ TV series. Both he and fellow BriSCA F1 driver Derek Fairhurst did a fantastic PR job with the visitors over the entire weekend. Morcombe based racer Peter Kaulbarsch and his new wife Gill cut their Honeymoon short by two days in order to kindly bring their stunning new tarmac F1 car (that has not even been raced yet), for the display - hence the wedding ribbons on the photos!! Local Southport F2 driver Hayden Barrington 470 was there with his F2 despite working nights and then making the trip to Wembley for the Community Shield game …. all in one weekend!! A final welcome addition to the ranks were the Ministox team of Arron and Charlotte Blundell which terrific on their stand. The two cars certainly generated a lot of interest - especially with the younger visitors, many of whom were very keen to learn more about the entry level division. Both of these young drivers were a credit to the sport in the way they dealt with the public and answered questions etc. A special mention must also go out to team owner and Dad Tim Blundell, who had printed plenty of leaflets and info brochures about Ministox at his own expense, plus he had arranged for fixture lists to be sent for distribution. A big THANK YOU is in order to all these good people who stepped in at such short and went to so much trouble to help out and help make the show a success.  


 6/9/10 Report from Northampton on 5th September

 5/9/10 Not sure how long this will be on the BBC site but thanks to David Kipling I can tell you that if you click here you can hear the program that has Brian Sewell saying why he loves stockcar racing. Young Mr Huggett is there as well. Well worth a listen!!

 4/9/10 I've been texted that the first six in the F1 World Final were...

 1, 515, 55, H217, 16, 4 

So for the third time in a row, Andy Smith it is.

 4/9/10 The latest edition of  Stox World (Issue 332) is now out. The F2 World Final is almost here and who can take on Mr Moodie? The F1 National Points Shoot Out is under way and looks as though it's going to provide some exciting competition. Read about what may well be BriSCA's last meeting at Scunthorpe. Don't miss the F1 2011 draft fixture list. There's news of some huge crowds and thoughts about what may be bringing the crowds back. Youngster takes the F2 World of Shale. Raffle winner to be out in a F1 shortly! The back page of this issue has an amazing picture of a F2 that must have had a lot of people more than a little concerned!!!! As well as the news and reports from F1 and F2 there are adverts from the BriSCA promoters so that you can plan your weekends ahead. Pick this issue up at a track or better still for details of where to subscribe, cost etc click here.

 4/9/10 Read what the Telegraph and Argus has to say about the Smith and Wainman battles and how they are bringing the crowds back to the ovals.

 3/9/10 The result of the Superstox final, on 2nd September, at Great Yarmouth was as`follows..

376 Steven Jackson, 482 Jason Cooper, 612 Gary Sparkes, 416 Mark Smith, 60 Ben Marjoram, 51 Colin Aylward

 3/9/10 Carlton Elliott has kindly sent us the latest points scoring for the BCL (F2). You can see the points totals by clicking here . You can also see the winners list for 2010/2011 by clicking here.  

 3/9/10 Not racing but really great fun is the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre that can be found at Lifton Devon PL16 0AT just off the A30. All the exhibits are under cover and with over 45,000 square feet of display area there is a huge amount to see. My personal favourite was England's largest Dodge'em Track but there are so many wonderful things from the past that it's hard to pick out over above another. The Compton Cinema organ, that is often demonstrated, is certainly not to be missed. The art work from the old rides is truly spectacular. Whilst I was there they were putting the final touches to a really scary vintage Ghost ride. The showmans caravans are fantastic to look round. Many of the rides are operational. Yet another major attraction is the 1930's Noah's Ark Speedway. All areas have disabled access and there's a lovely outdoor picnic and play area. There's a Cafe too and parking is free. Below is one of the pictures I took at the centre and you can see more  by clicking here. However to really see what's on offer visit the Dingle web site at www.fairground-heritage.org.uk

1/9/10 The September Edition of Unloaded 7.3 Magazine is out now. Four mainland F2 drivers contested Manx Open Championship, read how they got on. There's a great report, with masses of colour photo's, from the 2010 European Championship. The Scottish Championship is also covered. David Hamar brings us all the news from the 'Shale Scene'. With the season coming to a climax for the F2's and the saloon' s there are previews galore in the 'For What We are about to Receive' article. The saloons have been tyre testing and the F2's have confirmed which tyre they will be using for the next three years. If like me you like BriSCA F2's and/or 2L Stock Saloons (not to mention ministox) pick the mag up at a track or subscribe, see my magazine page for details.

31/8/10 The September issue of Wheelspin, the official Spedeworth Magazine is out now. This issue celebrates the gradual knitting together of the Spedeworth and Incarace organisations with an indepth report from the National Championships that were held at Hednesford. John Sharp has a close look at the career of 2 Litre Hot Rod Champion Jason Wilks. The date for the Superstox World is approaching and Keith Hobson remembers, in words and pictures past World Finals. The National Bangers A60 Amble was one heck of a meeting and Daniel Rushden tells us who did what. September is a massively busy month for Spedeworth and you need this issue to see what you will have to look forward to. It's physically impossible to get to all meetings so catch up with the official mag. and find out what's happening behind the scenes too. Pickup the mag. at a Spedeworth track. The next issue is due out on 26th September.

31/8/10 News from the Publishers of Short Circuit.....

Unfortunately we are running so late with Short Circuit’s August issue that in order to catch up to a reasonable level we have decided to combine the August and September issues. All subscribers will have one issue added to their subscriptions to make up the full 12 (or 24) issues.

Earlier in the year the June SC was well on schedule and Oval Track Classic was also due out. Then myself, the publisher and person who puts the magazines together suffered a hand injury, making it almost impossible to type and difficult to put magazines together on the pc. After several weeks being slowed down to roughly 20% speed,  (and considerable pain!) a backlog soon built up, and with an unexpected rush of work from outside of the usual magazine business, making it impossible to catch up. The June and July issues suffered, thankfully I am now fully fit, and decided that Oval Track Classic was a priority after being ready to put together since early April, and is out NOW.

Expect a slightly larger than usual Aug/Sept issue out soon. It will take a bit of sorting with lots of behind the scenes admin so please bear with us – it should be out 10th September and normal service will resume with October SC with an aimed for publishing date of the first Friday of the month.

Anyone on the Demon Tweeks scheme – they usually know when we publish the magazine as they have a copy – any problems you can always refer them to me.

30/8/10 There were queues at the turn styles to get into Northampton on Bank Holiday Monday. The amazingly large crowd gathered to see National Hot Rod driver Malcolm Blackman #911 from Langley, Berkshire dominate the heats. However the man that won the final was 130 Andy Lane who was followed across the line by 162 911 500 72 60 115 95 61 303.

I have added 73 pictures from this meeting (that also featured Legends, Stock Rods and Bangers) to my gallery, click here to see them and as usual should you want a high res copy of any of them please email me.

30/8/10 Grahame very kindly sent us this item that he spotted in yesterdays Mail on Sunday.......
 
Stock Car Sewell
 
Saturday Radio 4, 10.30am
 
Culture vultures will know plummy-voiced Brian Sewell as the doyen of high art, but the critic has a secret other life: he's been a devoted fan of stock-car racing - in which ordinary cars are customised to take part in races - for many years, and here he explains his petrolhead passion. Tracing the motor sport's British roots back to the Fifties, Sewell relives the glory days when crowds of many thousands would come to watch the action at the track, and he also meets veterans and those competing in races in the present day.

30/8/10 Thanks to Dave (Smiffyman) Smith we have a picture of the new Tigra for Luke Armiger #519 who's home town is Wickford, Essex.

Luke Armiger

28/8/10 Birmingham August 28th F1 Final...
107, 390, 37, 515, 53, 259

And the F2 Final 445, 23, 270, 710, 215, 341

The F2 World of Shale Final at Mildenhall went to 186 George Turiccki, followed by 871 and 38.

28/8/10 The fourth issue of ‘Oval Track Classic’ is out. This is the one that so many people have been waiting for, I was always being asked when it's coming out, well it's here now so rush off and buy it. To be honest this is more than just a magazine, this is a real slice of the history of our sport. However it's not all history as the excellent George Rimmer article about the BriSCA Heritage cars proves. Graham Brown reveals some fascinating Hot Rod memorabilia. Pride of place in this issue goes to the amazing and totally entertaining story of Tom Laffey's career that is presented by Trevor Hill (with assistance from a number of sources), please don't miss this one. The history of the Hot Rod British Championship is illustrated with pictures of such characters as Gordon Bland, Pete Stevens, John Edwards and Duffy Collard. Anyway what a superb read and a real collectors item for a cover  price of £4.50.   Click here to order.

 26/8/10  Marc has kindly sent us the GP Midget results...

Results for Yarmouth 22nd August,
In race one it was a first win for Leon Retchless in car 99 followed home by World Champion Jonathon Pooley.
 
1st Leon Retchless(99)    2nd Jonathon Pooley(31)   3rd Steve Dawson(20)  4th Marc de Land(15)  5th Steve Young(59)  6th Neil Clarke(77)  7th Cliff Bunn(23) 8th Pete Dorrell(8)
 
Race two was a wet race and it was the red graded driver Marc de Land who managed to keep his car on the track to take his first win in the wet,
 
1st Marc de Land(15)   2nd Steve Young(59)  3rd Neil Clarke(77)  4th Cliff Bunn(23)  5th Pete Dorrell(8)  6th Jonathon Pooley(31)
7th Daniel Pooley(32)  8th Marcus Retchless(41)
 
The Final was for the June Cochrane Cup.
 
And it was a third differant winner of the night as Daniel Pooley took the win from his brother Jonathon.
 
1st Daniel Pooley(32)  2nd Jonathon Pooley(31)  3rd Cliff Bunn(23)  4th Steve Young(59)  5th Marc de Land(15)  6th Neil Clarke(77)
7th Marcus Retchless (41)  8th Pete Dorrell (8)

 25/8/10 Panton Wins Sprint Car European

Duncan Panton took all 3 wins at Warneton Speedway in Belgium at the weekend and came home with the UK Sprint Car European championship for the third year in a row. The banked asphalt oval hosted a qualifying round in may, and qualifying and the final last weekend. In the last of the qualifying heats,Vince O’Connor #6 immediately took the lead from Jimmy Bryan #11, Deane White #10 (Mr. Kipling), Duncan Panton #69 and Roy Thompson  #95. Less than a second separated all the drivers during the first five laps. Panton started making his move halfway through the race to eventually overhaul O'Connor,and in doing so reduced the track record to under 12.9 seconds which was set by Vince the previous year.

In the final Duncan did not have it easy as he was hounded by O'Connor, and by Bryan. Despite two yellow flag cautions he managed to stay ahead of Jimmy Bryan and the evergreen Vince O’Connor. It was particularly good to see Vince racing so hard, and so soon after having a near fatal heart attack less than a month ago. Lap times for Duncan Panton during the final were a consistent 12.7 seconds and he finally lowered the track record to 12.6 seconds. 
Their next outing will be at Arena Essex, Saturday 11th September at the Rolling Thunder Show, the the following day, we look forward to seeing these cars testing at a race meeting at the Hampshire dirt track- Horndean- on Sunday 12th September.
UKSPRINTCARS.CO.UK

 24/8/10 With Wimbledon stadium opening its doors for another season this bank holiday Sunday, it seems the appropriate time to bring out issue four of 'stock car racing is magic' which is entirely devoted to the superb south London venue.
 
As with previous issues, the magazine is crammed packed with over 200 pictures from the golden days when Wimbledon was covered in shale and the post and wire fencing claimed many of the sports biggest names.
 
Special features include the superb carnival nights, another strange but true page, Super Rods in colour and loads of saloon stock cars, Superstox and Hot Rods doing there best to master the shaleway, not forgetting four pages devoted to the bangers.
 
With two further issues to come, covering some of spedeworths other venues like Billingshurst, Ringwood, Brands Hatch and Lydden Hill, this is a fantastic limited edition series of pictorials not to be missed by the oval race fans
 
Cover price is £2.50 and available at all Spedeworth meetings, or by post at a cost of £3 inc post and packing, cheques payable to D.R. Cox, and send to
 
STOCK CAR RACING IS MAGIC
C/O 20 HAZEL RISE
CLAYDON
IPSWICH
SUFFOLK
IP6 0DB

8/8/10 The August edition of Autograss Review is out now. Editor Jeffery reminds us that it's Nationals time already. The magazine is pleased to be covering a greater variety of meetings this year and not just the really huge meetings. An important change to the safety rules for specials is announced. Three NASA Directors likely to stand down! As usual there is brilliant detailed coverage of numerous events including 'The Cumberland Open', BAS 2010 Round 2 and Round 3 and 'The Bob Robins Memorial plus many others.  68 pages of exciting reports and news, for a cover price of £2.50 this has to be brilliant value. The next issue has a target date of 28th August. For details of where to subscribe etc to Autograss Review click here.

 4/8/10 Ray Clark (of ImagerAy, Synergy Publishing Scotland) took a number of Photographs at the Knockhill Summer series, including the one below. To see more of Ray's work visit www.motorsportsphotos.co.uk.

3/8/10 Whilst I was away there were a number of magazines that had new issues, here is a brief review of those that I know about. We are very lucky to have such a wide variety of publications supporting our sport....

The July issue of Short Circuit Magazine is out now. Kevin Wegg starts what is to be a regular column, he has lots of interesting stuff to say and I think has a great quirky approach, look forward to reading more as the months go by. Door to door at 130mph, that's pickup racing, Jane Carnell's article (along with pics from David Swann) tell us what it's all about. Jim Turner reveals all about the Saloon European, he also has a good look at nockhill and Cowdenbeath. Masses of news and colour pictures in this issue, don't miss it. As always the mag. is an excellent read, click the link below to get your subscription or single issue (or get it from many tracks). Click here to subscribe, or you can buy this issue, online . Don't forget that Short Circuit now comes out every month of the year.

11/7/10 I decided to go along to Northampton on the 10th July to see one of a series on meeting being run by Incarace under the banner of the 'I Factor'. This series features formulas that are perhaps not quite so often in the lime light as some of the others. At this meeting there were 6 formulas, MASCARS, StoxKarts, Modstox, Hot Fords, Slick Cars and Incarods. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but what I got was some very entertaining racing that was provided by drivers that were obviously having fun and enjoying their racing. I had seen the Slickcars before, recently, and once again they were excellent. Great to see a variety of Rods taking on the V6 Super Rods. I hadn't seen the StoxKarts in a very long time and what a change. Ian Higgins has bought a professional approach to this formula and I could hardly believe the speed and contact racing that this formula now provides. I spent a good deal of time speaking to one of the drivers and his partner, not only very nice people but interesting to hear how you can hire a car and get out there on the track for a very reasonable amount, exciting contact racing but on a sensible budget. The MASCARs were also a revelation. The cars look good, they are fast and they even sound great. There are now 22 of these cars in the country and more are coming in all the time. This is a formula that is really going places. Don't miss seeing 'em when you get the chance.. Another surprise was the competitiveness of the Modstox. No one seemed afraid to give out the old bumper. Once again if you hanker after an open wheeled contact car but lack the huge funds now needed for some of the main formulas then have a good look at the Modstox.

Incarace did a splendid job of keeping the races flowing. 18 races and the whole meeting concluded before 21:30. There was hardly a minute when there wasn't track action. Next weekend at Northampton will see a different type of meeting when the F1's, F2's and Rebels contest the European Championships, one of the countries major meetings of the year. However the 'I factor' gives a lot of people the chance to get behind the wheel and take part in hugely entertaining racing (entertaining for drivers and spectators alike). Well done Incarace.

To see my pictures (sorry about the fence getting in the way of some) from Northampton on 10th July click here

8/7/10 More News from the popular Spedeweekend....

The fantastic picture is from Steve Weston and the description from Kevin Wegg. For more of Steve photographic work see http://spw-pics.co.uk  and for more words from Kevin subscribe to Short Circuit Mag........
Crash-of-the-weekend went to Joe Palmer who spun his 1300 Stock Car and then complete a high-speed double side-over-side roll-over which collected Trackstar driver Dean Moat in the process and sent him rolling as well. Amazingly both walked away with Palmer actually bowing to the crowd having completed his second stunning roll at Foxhall in as many months.

 5/7/10 There is much more than racing at the Ipswich Spedeweekend. For a couple of days it becomes a way of life. It's a place to meet friends that you may not have run into since the previous year and there is a great feeling of belonging. A walk round the pits is a unique experience, all through the wooded area are open areas where cars are worked on and racing people sit and talk over what is happening in the racing world. If you've never been to the Spedeweekend make sure that you get there next year. For one thing where else would you get the promoter going round the track with a water tanker and hosepipe having water fights with the crowd :-).  To see more of my pictures from the Spedeweekend click here.

 4/7/10 New Hot Rod World Champion for 2010 is 115 Chris Haird. Dave (Smiffyman) Smith has sent us some of his brilliant pictures...

Haird MotorSport had thgis to say about the great win...

In the searing heat of the Suffolk Sunshine at Foxhall Heath Raceway on Sunday the 4th of July 2010, the 26 year old National Hot Rod Superstar #115 Chris Haird from Kennet near Newmarket lifted the sport of National Hot Rod Racings most coveted title – The World Championship.
 
A hard season of qualifying saw Chris pilot his Haird Motorsport built Vauxhall Tigra ‘B’ to top the world qualification points and earn the silver roof of English National Points Champion, so Chris and the team arrived at Foxhall brimming with confidence, but knowing that the all important lap times to determine where in the first grid of cars Chris would start the 75 lap marathon race for the World title was of crucial importance.
 
A 14:52 lap time put Chris in grid 3 on the 2nd row right behind the defending champion on pole #41 Carl Boardley.
 
Before the race Chris swapped shirts with NI Points Champion #962 John Christie as a mark of the great friendship and rivalry between the two drivers as Christie sadly wouldn’t start the World Final race. 
 
75 laps of the hardest charging national hot rod racing with the world’s best drivers is always a spectacle – with the terraces packed with knowledgeable and very vocal race fans, and the stadium positively erupted with noise early on in the race when Chris got past the defending Champion Carl Boardley.  From therein, despite stoppages, back marking traffic and many other challenges Chris and the Haird Motorsport Tigra ‘B’ did not put a foot wrong and Chris took the chequered flag with pride!   
 
In the Best in Britain support race which featured a reverse grid of the world final with Chris starting the race at the back, he cut through the pack of cars for a truly unbelievable 3rd place and earned the applause and cheers of not only the crowd and fans of all drivers but also former World Champions Mick ‘Duffy’ Collard and Barry Lee  who said “that was the drive of a true Champion” .

 21/6/10 I've just returned after a few days in Cornwall (sorry about any delays in updating the site) where I was lucky enough to be able to take in a visit to the St Day Raceway. If you go to the west country or live there (you lucky people) don't miss this track where you get a fantastic view of the action. It's also a great place to take pictures and you can see some of mine by clicking here. Not only was I impressed by the brilliant action on the track but if you fancy something to eat there was a great range of food available at this country style track.

 16/5/10 Travelling along the A14 towards Ipswich yesterday was a bit like being in a time warp as I passed trailers with Anglia 105E, and Escort Mk 1 & MK11 Hot Rods. However it was in fact the Classic Hot Rods on their way to join the Superstox and Team Bangers for a great nights racing at Foxhall for the John Earrey Memorial event.

See my pictures!

Once again three formulas that had something for everyone. The addition of Daz Kitson 732 has made a lively Superstox formula even more lively but one can't help but wonder that if Daz was to pass a few more without so much use of the bumper whether he would figure even higher in the results. Mind you it wouldn't be half so entertaining! In the supers heat one 279 Phil Proctor had a heavy meeting with the fence at the score board end and initially needed medical help, thankfully he eventually walked away from the scene. Daz 732 and Colin Aylward 51 had a fierce battle in the early stages but Colin survived the 732 bumper and moved ahead of Daz to take 6th spot. With the huge number of Supers all in for each race even the wide open spaces of Foxhall had action virtually everywhere. For me the Final was slightly spoilt when Matt  Carberry 23 appeared to get a red mist in front of the eyes and came down the back straight at a speed that was never going to allow him to get round the corner. He hit Daz Kitsons car and leapt up over the bonnet causing both cars to retire. More by luck that judgement both drivers appeared not to suffer any serious injuries. Kitson hits people hard but doesn't 'follow them in'. (Just my opinion). Anyway it'll certainly be interesting to see what happens the next time the supers meet up!

In the Classic Hot Rods Rods Rob Montagner 22 from Diss in Norfolk (a real hot bed of oval racing) in his Vauxhall Chevette was always in the action. A win in heat one was followed by a coming together with 333 Lee Wood in heat two. Things went better in the final with a second place behind the beautifully prepared car of John Hendy 196. In fact if you get a chance to look under the bonnets of of any of these rods you'll be amazed at the preparation. Also a web page can't bring you the sounds of their engines or the smells of the racing oil, get along to experience it for yourself.

Superstox
Heat 1:-  124 Dave Miles Snr, 391, 376, 151, 60, 51
Heat 2:-   403 David Smith, 732, 151, 60, 123, 376
Final :-     58 Luke Hamilton, 403, 151, 416, 124, 482

Classic Hot Rods
Heat 1:-  22 Rob Montagner, 39, 196, 924, 18, 20
Heat 2:-  39 Dean Hunt, 924, 8, 20, 23, 66
Final        196 John Hendy, 22, 39, 924, 18, 20

 12/5/10 Part two now also available thanks to Mark of Short circuit slimming the files.

As you can read further down this page Grorge Rimmer organised an excellent 'Show and Go' type event for the BriSCA Heritage cars at Northampton last week. Journalist Anna Brosnan has produced a superb double page article (with colour pictures) in Tuesdays edition of the Northampton Chronicle that not only shows Oval racing in a very positive light but also mentions this web site :-) . I couldn't find the article on the papers web site (in order to link to it) but I can show the first page of the article. Sadly the pdf of both pages is a little too big for the web space I have available. To see the first page click here and to see page two click here.

 7/5/10 Just back from a fabulous day at the BriSCA Heritage Car Press day. The event was held at Northampton and attracted a large number of beautifully prepared cars. The cars weren't just on show and put in some fast, tyre smoking, laps. Interviews were given to the local radio station and representatives from a number of publications were present including a photographer from "Milk Cow Magazine" (look it up on Google, I had to :-)  ).  Personally as well has taking pictures of cars large and small I listened to some great stories from yesteryear. Ex Spedeworth man 'Kinky' Roy Wood used to build amazing superstox and told be about his mini bodied car and his rear engined car. Many of the BriSCA cars are virtually works of art. When you get the chance, have a close look at the replica of Darkie Wright's car, I think that it's one of the best. See my pictures by clicking here.



 2/5/10 Swaffham Raceway is proud to announce that on July 10th and 11th will be holding our annual Festival of Speed Weekend in which will be running for the first time a Stock Rod Open meeting therefore would like to extend an invitation to anyone with a stock rod that would like to attend. To attend this meeting you must book through your promotion. Day licences are available (normal fees will apply)

 25/4/10 Pictures from Ipswich As usual if you want HiRes versions of the pictures please ask and I will email them to you.


Good looking Superstox from Daz Kitson (Click here for more pics from Ipswich)

Lots of enthusiasm in the pits at Ipswich and and an excited crowd. The Superstox had a bit of added spice in the form of Daz Kitson (732) who has previously been a BriSCA F2 driver. Before the meeting Daz told me that it was only four weeks earlier that he had made the decision to move to Superstox, his car certainly looked the business. Interesting to hear the mechanic of one of the established drivers trying to 'wind' Kitson's mechanic up in the queue for scrutineering, fat chance of that with a team like Kitson's! As far as the racing was concerned it great stuff, Kitson was handing out hits one after the other in heat one not least of which was put on Jason Cooper (who had his hands full with also racing his immaculate Nat. Hot Rod in the Slick car formula). Great to see Mark Kelman take a convincing win in the Final (his first final at Ipswich since 2003 he said).

Heat 1 391, 51, 376, 416, 21, 7, 176, 732, 69, 151
Heat 2  21, 376, 393, 60, 51, 416, 124, 22, 482, 53
Final  22, 51, 60, 391, 21, 376, 95, 23, 161, 732

It was the first time that I had seen the Slick Cars. This formula has a great variety of race machinery. The Super Rods with their big sweet sounding V6's, an assortment of 2L and outlaw hot rods plus some very fast National Hot Rods. Some of the regular drivers in this formula felt that the Nat. Rods were only out to get some track time and would be a bit of a nuisance. In fact the racing was superb (in my opinion) and generally very clean. Pity that Mark Wellington (52) had a throttle stick open in practice and crashed heavily (he was unhurt but not the car), this prevented him taking part. However 23 cars did make it out for the first heat which was won by 421 Phil Young followed home by 92, 29, 56, 68, 285.  The second heat went to 11 (Shaun Jacklin) with 421, 46, 92, 136, 120, in the places. Unfortunately I didn't get the result from the final Slick car race.


The Bangers were very lively too.

13/4/10 Paices Hill raceway is now under new ownership and has had name changed to Aldermaston Raceway. The next meeting at the Aldermaston Raceway is on 25th April and will be running the ever popular Fleet Motor Club street bangers up to 1800cc no mondeo`s.

 2/4/10


Rain during the afternoon did it's best to put a damper on the racing for National Hot Rods, F2's and Stock Saloons at Northampton but all formulas put on very exciting racing. In the first National Hot Rod heat Norfolk's Jason Cooper (482) (who is a brilliant Superstox driver as well) seemed to be going like a bat out of hell but in later heats he seemed to have lost his edge. Certainly be interesting to see how he goes at Ipswich on Monday (a track he knows well). Perhaps a day to be called Jason as Jason Kew (174) had got his car really on song with wins and seconds a plenty. It looked like he was about to take the final but a restart and bit of a close call with a yellow flag had him taking a close 2nd behind the west countries Mike Loosemore (780).

In the F2's I personally hadn't seen too much of Micky Brennan (World Champ 968)  before but he put his stamp on heat 1. His car with it's inboard shockers etc is a work of art and well worth a close look if you see it in the pits. Mick Sworder (152) was his usual self and took no prisoners. With the wet track he did try is outside line trick but seem to decide that it was no faster than the more normal racing line. He didn't close the line first in the final but inherited the win when Chris Burgoyne (647) was disqualified for exceeding the permitted cross weight.

Sorry that I didn't get the Stock Saloon results but they were excellent value for money and don't forget that they will be on duty again at St Day on Easter Sunday and Smeatharpe on Easter Monday. (More of these meetings else where on this page).

Click here for pictures of some of the cars at Northampton.

National Hot Rod Results
Heat 1 482, 6, 305, 27, 95, 303
Heat 2 174, 130, 65, 3, 911, 85
Heat 3 780, 174, 170, 491, 85, 305
Heat 4 271, 303, 482, 3, 27, 130
Final 780, 174, 3, 85, 72, 911

F2 results
Heat 1 968, 154, 877, 844, 326, 606
Heat 2 886, 255, 647, 186, 538, 779
Consolation 464, 854, 511, 469, 676, 702
Final 152, 676, 186, 877, 154, 255 (On the road win for 647 who was later disqualified for an incorrect cross weight)
Grand National 886, 255, 445, 676, 469, 647

17/1/10 As mentioned below I thought that the NEC Show was excellent with cars, characters and stands galore. If you click here you can see a sample of what Julie and I saw at the show. If we spoke to you then thanks for taking the time to chat and if we missed you very sorry. If you were at the show with someone you shouldn't have been there with, then better not look at the pictures because a number of them feature the massive number of people who were there :-).

16/1/10 More of Adrian Blackwell's great pictures have been added to the gallery of his pictures. Click here to see them.

14/1/10 Adrian Blackwell has also been busy with his camera at the NEC and many thanks to him for sending his pictures of the F1's and the live action. You can see Adrian's work by clicking here.

14/1/10 Thanks to Dave Carter we have a picture of Ryan Harrisons brilliant new F1 that was unveiled at the NEC today .


27/11/09 Mike Greenwood is pleased to announce that the 2010 F1 Stock Car Calendar is now available.

Now in its tenth year of production this high quality large format full colour Calendar brings you the best UK and Dutch stock car images.

The 2010 Calendar features over 60 UK drivers (Nos. 2, 4, 12, 16, 26, 35, 37, 53, 69, 80, 84, 91, 97, 101, 107, 111, 136, 142, 143, 153, 177, 192, 195, 197, 209, 212, 217, 218, 220, 238, 249, 254, 258, 259, 267, 268, 285, 301, 307, 308, 311, 320, 321, 325, 337, 356, 369, 390, 391, 393, 398, 411, 415, 416, 429, 434, 447, 460, 467, 494 and 515) and also has a number of themes – In the Office!, From Novice to Champion, High Impact, The Wainman’s, The Smith Brothers, and Photographic Excellence.

You can order your 2010 Calendar now from Photostox (Dept.RORP), 17 Willingham Close, Sothall, Sheffield, S20 2PD. The cost of the calendar is held at £15.00 by post (cheque’s made payable to Mike Greenwood).

14/6/09 Great weather, great racing, what more could you want. The meeting today at Aldershot had the lot, the Superstox British Championship was won by 482 Jason Cooper on the last bend of the last lap. 602 Dale Fewings had led the race and looked to be going to hold on for the win but Jason Cooper, last years British Champ., didn't want to have to change the sign writing and timed his hit to perfection. 116 John Smith had a great meeting winning his two heats and coming third in the championship, he looks certain to be a red grade next grading period. The Championship was only open to the top 30 points scorers on the day, so the heats were hard fought over and I felt that this greatly added to the excitement. Even with a few people like Pip Williams, Steve Jackson (who I understand recently had an engine problem) and Gary Sparkes missing, there was a brilliant quality field of over 40 cars, this really shows the current strength of the superstox formula. I can't wait to see 'em again.

Click here to see my pictures from this meeting.New

Superstox Aldershot 14th June
Heat 1 116, 383, 22, 40, 36, 69
Heat 2 116, 60, 482, 124, 602, 21
Heat 3 602, 383, 36, 151, 483, 482
British Championship 482, 602, 116, 60, 36, 383, 22, 51, 151, 118

In the 2L Hot Rod final 75 Chris Crane took a hard knock after coming to grief on some oil, we understand that he was taken to hospital for a check up and hope that he is all OK.



2.0 Hot Rods
Race 1 268 Lee Munday, 503, 75, 266. 303, 10
Race 2 10 Samantha Holland, 268, 304, 162, 503, 75
Final 503 Chris Harvey, 303, 308, 60, 197, 10

 

 If you have any Oval Racing news please post it to me and I will include it. Please mail to rogerv@btinternet.com.

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