Latest updates.

Hi all,

Well another week over and no racing for us in sight, seems like a long wait until the Muster on the 2nd January 2010.

I pulled the engine out of Glen's car as he will not need it until mid February, the engine was shipped to Moora and is on loan to Anthony King.
Anthony has put it in and had a run in Moora last Saturday, interestingly he says the motor does not drive off the turns as well as his 320 but winds up and comes into its own mid straight, no wonder we have trouble keeping up with him, given the motors wind up nature I am expecting him to be very quick at Kwinana.
An email came through mid week mentioning that another red box will be departing the USA soon and heading to Gero for a fast improving driver.
We have another shed racer coming out of retirement and running in Geraldton in the flash ex Benkesser Maxim.
Team Crabbe have received their Gold Plated box ex USA, it goes into the shed Tuesday this week to look at and never be run.
Team Todd Davis are working on installing a new cam ready for the muster, Todd wiped a lobe off at Fast Friday and Bunbury.
Team G Davis is using his previously learned Arabic and will be riding a camel when he should be driving at the Muster.

You have come this far so I assume you have all seen the action shot on the home page, Michael Armstrong is heading skyward after contact with the wheel of the Harvey machine.
Still no word from the Harvey's hopefully they are both running the muster, Greg still has the wood on me and I need to pass him a couple more times to claim the Champion Old Boys trophy, we would have to be close to the oldest left, Wodg and Robbie are probably in line to claim an old boys title as well.

Well folks time to head to the Aladdin's cave and make way for our latest addition in the gold box, can't wait to unwrap it, Santa has come early to team Crabbe.


Catch you.

Some rumours and info from the weekend.

Racing:

• A 320 was quicker than the rest of us limited's, Gibbo has his car on rails, 5:85 gears and not pulling more than 6200rpm, how good is that.
• A motor was loaded into the Armstrong truck, Carol tells me that it is in fact Caroline's new motor and it would be ready for the muster.
• By the close of nominations we had 6 entries only from the Limited Division, by 6:00 pm this evening we had 12, so hopefully we have more than 10 turn up.
• All the big 320 engines are having major head problems, even the ones not yet run (new in sheds) Anthony King is the worst affected and may need an engine transplant prior to the muster.
• Tim King is building a car ready for the muster and has nominated.
• Todd Davis will be working over Christmas to get his cam changed and the car ready.
• Gavin Davis is learning Arabic and may miss the muster.
• The Harvey family have not nominated for the muster and are not answering their phones, have you seen them?

While at Bunbury I saw one of the worst behaviours from a driver and cannot understand how these people are allowed to keep racing, the limited sprintcar official was asked to run the sprintcars for the night and a driver refused to attend the drivers meeting as he had a beef with the club some years back, "Get over it" and move on, why should we all suffer because of non compliant individuals.

The 320 drivers from Moora who showed up are a great bunch, we consumed the odd beer into the wee hours, also a driver from Perth who also had a good evening.

Team SJ Crushing shrinks to one car now until the State Title, this should ensure the budget gets some light relief, it was good to get through the weekend without a tear up or failure of any type other than driver failure.

Martin used some memories of days gone by and gave me some great advice that saw me go ahead in driver knowledge, thanks Martin, he has been trying along with others to beat this information into me for a long time, it pays to listen.

To all our club members and the 400 people who read this blog we at Team SJ Crushing wish you all a merry christmas and new year, keep safe and keep those cars coming out to the race meetings with us.

Catch you.

LATE BREAKING NEWS===== The Dhu Meister has nominated for the muster, he may in fact be there showing us some new tricks he has picked up in his temporary retirement.

His race suit has shrunk and he is awaiting for the arrival of his new suit so he can go racing.

So folks get ready for the muster.

We need to get out there and show all the patrons of the speedway we can

a) muster a good sized field

b) put on a good show of close and clean racing

c) and most importantly have a great time with fun and comraderie the main focus

Another great weekends racing completed.

Good evening all,

Well another two meeting weekend has come and gone.

First we ran the Fast Friday meeting at Kwinana.
We ran 2 heat races and the feature race.

First heat we ran with the 320's starting from the front, we were supposed to start 200m behind the 320's but Michael Armstrong was too keen and only sat back about 50m, Martin in confusion signalled for me to move up with Michael and the green flag dropped, what was I to do but get on the gas and go hard, I had rounded up all but two of the 320,s coming out of turn 2 and had past them before turn 3, I had the race shot to pieces and with 3/4 of a lap to go I went to go around a 320 putting him 2 laps down, he went high and the old Crabbe returned, tail tank blindness I call it, this is where you just sit on their tail and not make a decision to go high or low, as we ran through turn 3 with the checkered flag insight Mick Doble ran under me to greet the flag, it has to be the easiest win he ever had.

The rest of the night was a blur of changing car setups and chasing a set up that would hook the car up, in the feature we had the car handling not bad but suffered from the car jumping out of gear 10 or so times, it stayed in if I ran at half throttle so that was where we stayed, Michael Armstrong was unlucky not to get past me, each time he pulled off a pass he had the ambers come on and was relegated back behind me.
Gavin flipped out in the feature and Todd struggled with engine gremlins.
Mick Doble took out first place after I went down and gave him some set up advice, should have listened to my own advice as he was hooked up and quick beating the 360's as well.

Saturday night and off to Bunbury we went.
Todd was out again hoping they had resolved the mechanical gremlins that had plagued him Friday night. Michale Armstrong was there as was Shane Webster and Peter Wodj.
Heat one was a runaway win by me with a car that was fast and hooked up.
Going into heat 2 with confidence high I was given a set up lesson by Rick Sawyer and a driving lesson by Michael Armstrong, they had an underpowered car running on rails and they drove into the distance, before the race I joked with Michael about where he was going to pull over to let me pass, it was nearly a case of where I was going to pull over to be lapped by Michael.
So before heat 3 we had a team meeting, looking at how we had missed the setup for heat 2 and we decided to make some wholesale changes to the car.
Todd discovered a cam lobe was gone and his night was done.
Heat 3 and again we had the car hooked up, however Michael with his engine running down on power but all of what was left was getting to the track was quick but could not get past me but he did give it a few goes.

So into the feature we went, Michael and I off half a lap, Shane Webster off 1/4 lap and Peter (Alias Greg) off the front with a 410 alongside him.
Prior to the start we worked out a cunning plan on where we would start from, it is obvious that as we came off turn 2 the front runners had to be coming off turn 4 so as we came off turn 2 I gassed it up and started the long haul over 10 laps to run in the front cars, Peter Wodj (Greg) had other ideas, he jumped the start to show the 410 he meant business, the yellows came on and we reformed, I thought that was it and Michael would come out of turn 2 on full noise to negate any advantage that I had previously, but he was struggling to see the lead cars and missed the start, I ran as hard as I could with a car that had no tyres left and not much side or forward bite, after 8 laps I had the lead cars a straight in front of me but the checkered flag came out and it was all over, I did not even see the white flag get waved to us.
So I ran first for the night, but the most impressive thing was to see the 3 new guys and how fast they were getting their cars to go, Wodj (Greg) excepted has a lot of experience, but after a lot of years enjoying the spoils of "Champion Shed Racer" he is back and keen on revenge against all you people who crowned him "Champion Shed Racer". We are looking for a new King of the shed racers as I write this so to all you not on the track yet beware.
Michael looks the goods for a big year but the motor he is using still needs some fine tuning.
Shane Webster has the smallest horsepower motor in the division but is showing some good turns of speed.

Catch you.

Who is Kim Collins?

Has anyone seen the elusive Kim Collins? Kim who you ask?

He's the guy we once raced with who is car number 9 on our member list.
Last seen at the Watson's express day at Ellenbrook.

Well after seeing his name on the nominations list all year I gave him a call.

Apparently he is still putting an engine together and should have his crank back from the machine shop prior to Christmas, given severe budget constraints he has had to scale back on his engine program and is putting it together himself.
Kim has had a few offers to help with engine assembly so lets hope the Watson team boys can get the time to go around and give Kim a hand.

Kim is fast moving to shed racer status but not by choice. He hopes to be ready by the Muster.
Last muster Kim fed me a wheel at the start of the Feature, well maybe it was me cutting down on him, either way the shiny red bead lock had some severe scarring, at Bunbury just after the muster I saw Kim's wheel and it was looking sad as well.

Catch you

I'm in Sydney- Why you ask?

Hi folks,

Janette and I are in sunny Sydney, we flew in early Friday morning, had to get out of bed at 2:30am to make it to the airport on time, sometimes it sucks to live so far away from the city.

So we flew in and headed out to Homebush bay and booked into the Pullman Hotel, not a bad place.

So why are we here?

We are not here for TPCR World Series Sprintcars surprisingly.

We are not here for the V8 Supercars either, although I did spend the whole day there today.

We were here for the Cold Chisel concert, and what a concert it was, they are timeless.

In the words of Jimmy Barnes "we have not played for 25 years, we are just f*&()^%g old bastards" and I know how he feels.

I last saw Cold Chisel at the Belmont Hotel in about 1980, back in the days when I drove a HZ Sandman Panel Van and had hair.

Rob Watson went to Parramata and tells me that Jason Jonson won, Farrell was 4th, not a bad effort.

All our parts have arrived for repairs needed to both cars after Moora.

Wednesday and Thursday are the days I will get my car ready, hope to have it packed into the trailer Thursday afternoon so Friday will be nice and easy.

The new motor ex USA is on its way over, we are sending it straight to the dyno room and fitting up a different type of fuel system, we are putting our faith in Craig Vosbergen and his late model prowess, they run a BG fuel regulator so we think it may be the go.

Looking forward to racing both Kwinana and Bunbury, this will be the best shake down we can get before the muster in January.

Hope the crew is up for some hard work this weekend, we will try a lot of different things especially in the gearing area where we have struggled to get it right, when I say we I really mean me, they have suggested we change gears mid meeting and I keep saying "No it's alright" but they have been right on every occasion, so we will run a lower ratio and try to spin it up more.

Michael Armstrong and Mick are coming down for the weekend, looking forward to see how much Michael has improved, also hoping Caroline gets her motor sorted soon so she can get back onto the track.

Norbert sold both his cars some time back and we are hoping they are on the track soon as well, we really need to get the car numbers up at each meeting.

Well time to go to bed and keep listening to the Cold Chisel Concert in my head.

Catch you later.

The definition of sabotage.

How do you go about successfully sabotaging your own team?
It's quite easy really, you just forget what ratio your spare diff is and fit it up to your mates car and tell him it's a 4.86 when its really a 4.11, then when he struggles all night you just let him know it's not the car it is just he is not driving hard enough, this I fingd works really well and recommend you all try it at least once.

Now he has caught on I need to be even more vigilant around my own car as revenge is no fun when you are the one being targetted.

Went to the open state title, not a bad night but the field could have been a bit higher in number, sounds familiar doesnt it.

It was good to see David Priolo take it out, he has had a run of bad luck while leading a lot of events the last 2 seasons, I spoke to Prino prior to the meeting and asked what motor they had in the car, he replied the good motor but that it was a temperamental thing and they hoped it lasted, they need not have worried about the engine, the left rear was going flat with about 10 laps to go and the car was pushing and hanlding shocking, but credit to David he kept the boot in and got home.
Pino must have leapt over the fence he was in there so quick after David pulled up, it was a great family win, bet they still have headaches.

Catch you.

Mango beer drowns sorrow.

Hi all,

I am in Broome on my way to our site on Koolan Island so I thought I would just put a few words in here.

We had our evening meal at a place called Matso's brewery, it makes the best beer around.

One of their top beers is Monsoonal Blonde, but they only sell it in bottles now, so we have to put up with a Mango Beer, it is fabulous and really has a mango flavour.

Tuesday morning at 6am we fly to Koolan Island, so today first thing we were on the phone before flying to get all our parts ordered to repair both cars, Parr Motorsports had the gear in stock and another call to Maxwill Motor sports and parts were on the way, a quick call to Murphy Race Cars about how much to strip off the car for the chassis repairs and the job was organised.

Now if everything turns up on time we will put the cars back together during the week leading up to the next Fast Friday.

Glen does not get another run until around the state title due to work and family commitments, this also means the budget may get a breather as it has not been a good start to the year.

In summary of what we have used in 2 cars this season.

1 x New motor failure- meeting 1 Me

1 x Old spare motor needed freshening after fuelling it up and dropping compression-meeting 2 Glen

1 x Diff/drive shaft/torque tube-meeting 3 Glen

1 x torque tube/drive shaft/jacobs ladder/top wing side panel-meeting 4 Glen

1 x right rear rim-meeting 4 Me

1 x front axle-meeting 4 Me

1 x front tyre and rim-meeting 4 Me

3 x radius rods-meeting 4 Me

1 x drag link-meeting 4 Me

1 x jacobs ladder-meeting 4 Me

What started out as a good sized budget has shrunk somewhat, bring back the simple life please.

Gavin gave me some driving tips at Kwinana, he took me down to the turn 3 wall and told me I drove like a man with no right foot, I thought for a minute he was going to toss me in the mud.

We had an animated discussion about where you should be turning in to the corner and whilst there I finally worked out why I kept hitting the ruts there, it would appear that where I thought they were 2 thirds of the way through the corner they were actually in the middle of the corner, once I realised that we ran a lot quicker in the feature and managed to get through without all the bouncing and launching into orbit.

Catch you

Hi all,

Well another weekend of racing has come and gone.

I have come to the conclusion that running 2 cars and helping others is a sure way to enjoy all the benefits of sleep deprivation.

We ran fast Friday and Glen had a failure to start for warm ups, on start for heat one I was following him around and saw a whole heap of fluid pour from under the middle of his car, he pulled in and when we looked at it in the pits he had lost the torque tube to the diff and bent the drive shaft, we really need that.

I won heat one and 2 and was almost enjoying the run except for the track was a bit rutted, I felt like an astronaut on occasions thinking I was going to go into orbit.

Mick Doble won the feature we think, I rounded him up going into turn one but the checkered flag may have already been waved, we are just not sure, so we gave the win to Mick as he must have seen the flag because he stayed down under another car as we entered the turn and I went past. Confusing hey.

I won the night and headed off to the garage to help Glen replace his diff and drive shaft.

Well at 2pm we head out of the shed and refilled all the fuel cans and went home, some sleep and some preparations on Saturday morning and we were headed for Moora, we left Mandurah at 10am.

On arrival in Moora at the track we unloaded my car and stripped it ready for cleaning.

It had around 100kg of mud on it from Kwinana, the clay was tacky at Kwinana due to the rain during the week and it stuck like s$%t to a blanket.

We spent about 2 hours getting it somewhat presentable for the Moora meeting.

We had 7 cars for the meeting, the best this year but still very poor, as a guide the 320's had 11 cars.

Drew 5 for the first heat and 4 for the third with an outside pole for the second heat by reversing the grid.

Finished 4th in the first heat, and lined up alongside Kingy for the second heat, lost the start and followed Kingy for a couple of laps, tried running his line but it did not suit me, then I switched back to a higher line but had no luck eventually having my first ever encounter with the wall, and that was it for me. Special thanks to Darren Francis for helping me get the car off the track and Michael Robertson for also helping me get the spare front end in.

Glen had a similar encounter with the turn one wall during the feature and guess what, he broke the torque tube and bent the drive shaft, lucky we have some experience in fixing that.

The night was a draw with Mick, King and Nathan Chant all on 115 points.

Mick won the feature with all 3 cars within 20m of each other.

So back to the shed we go, 2 cars too repair, more lack of sleep, yippee here we go again.

Robbie Robertson has made the transition from a "shed racer" to a "returned not retired anymore" racer and looked quick by the end of the night, Peter Wodj by default also returns to the racer list, so from here on no more mentions of shed racers will be used to describe these 2 gents.

The new motor sounded crisp and when driven for a couple of hot laps by Michael Robertson went extremely quick.

Welcome back guys.

Looking forward to the 410 state titles next weekend and have already got the new parts on order to fix our cars.

Will I make the 11th and 12th of December, only time will tell.

Catch you

Time for the blog again.

Hi all

Apologies for the tardiness in my blogging, got carried away head down bum up changing motors and working and just plain forgot you all actually do read this.

Narrogin came and went, ran 4th for the club, not too good but ok, led the feature for 17 laps then had Michael Robertson pass me, still first limited home was a good effort.

I have finally overcome the fear of running high and have actually started to like running up there, I even made a few passes around the outside, someone came and asked me who I got mad at to drive around 3 cars so quickly, I was mad because I got put to the rear of field on a restart and was sure that's not where I was during the heat.

Again we lost a motor, this time in Glen's car, just ran out of compression and pumped some oil out of the breather, we took the motor out and replaced it with the spare engine that was doing duty in my car while we repaired the melted one.

We travelled to Bunbury on Saturday night to have another run and to bed in the good motor that had come back from being repaired, I have never seen so many cars in a speedway, there were sedans everywhere.

We had 4 limiteds turn up and a pretend limited show up, also there were 5 320's who refused to race with us, I find it hard to fathom why people refuse to run out of class, surely running against quicker and slower cars teaches us more about race craft.

3 cars lined up in grid form and the other 2 ran off the back.

Shane Webster a new member who we have been helping moved from "Shed Racer" to Racer with some spirited drives, he had a few close moments and got lapped in the first heat after 6 laps, a good first up effort, in the second he held out for 7 laps but had to pull in with a lack of power steering fluid (fitness issues I reckon, when I said this someone reminded me of my first race at Ellenbrook where I didn't breath for 3 laps before near blacking out and pulling in), but it was a great first up effort and Shane put in a couple of quick laps before retiring hurt.

The first heat saw me pull away from Glen and Todd and hold on until the flag, the second heat saw Todd and Glen take off from the front row and as I followed I thought Kerry Madsen and Ryan Farrell had joined us, they were wheel to wheel for a lap and a bit before Glen got by on the outside and drove away, the third heat saw me off pole with Todd on the outside, Todd pushed me into the sloppy lower part of the track and I went there like some beginner and as we hit the straight he hooked up and drove away, I followed him about half a straight behind until the flag just holding Glen off.

So each of us had a 1/2/3 for a draw on the night, it was just good fast racing on the new track that just hooks up, I had the car way to tight and could not spin up the engine, I had elected to run lower gearing to keep the motor low in the rev range to run it in but I should have gone a gear change, it was good to get a run with no motor failures and the only damage for the night was 2 wing adjusters that cracked on Glen's car.

So now we go to Fast Friday at "The Plex", Mick Doble is coming down from Geraldton and we are looking forward to upping the pace to stay with him, Mick is certainly setting the pace this year and we are looking forward to getting up to his level, Saturday sees us off to Moora for an official meeting, Martin is talking 14 or more cars, we are looking forward to a run with some serious Limited numbers.

Some Gossip:

• Gavin is back Thursday and we are hoping to get him to have a run with us at Fast Friday, he just needs some understanding from his crew to get his car down to the track for him, Hint Hint JD.
• Todd may come out, we tried twisting his arm but he has a crew with a caravan problem, Hint Hint GD.
• Carolyn has had a motor failure at Geraldton and we hope her team can get it back on the track soon.
• Shane W needs an arm transplant, or some non leaking power steering lines.
• People formerly known as shed racers should make the move back to racers at Moora and we are all hoping they have a great run and a cheap and successful season.
• Glen has found the outside line is ok and none of us are safe anymore.
• Ian Dhu is hoping to be with us this weekend if his staff continue to perform, we are hoping he gets it back on track as we are missing the crabs and prawns and the after race mudslinging, not to mention his dashing good looks and quick wit.
• Some of the Geraldton crew other than Mick are going to be at Moora.
• Anthony King had a run at Moora and looks like he is ready to go.

Well folks, hope we see you all at Moora this Saturday night.

Bye

Narrogin here we come.

Hi all

We are down at the workshop putting the finishing touches to Glen's car.

He loves making work for us, why he wanted to practice and dirty the car is beyond me.

Glen had a good run against some quick 410's with only Kerry Madsen and Todd Wadell getting past him, when he came in a mechanic from one 410 team came over to check out what we were running.

Again we had fuel system gremlins, fuel pressure was off and temp was up, after much debating we replaced the fuel filter and got some pressure back, but still had not enough to be happy with.

We have got the high and low speed bypasses from a fuel injection system and set them at 12psi, hopefully this sorts our dramas out.

Gavin has been called back to South Australia to work on a tank and Anthony King is still sorting his car out, so we will a bit short of cars at Narrogin, still Glen and I will enjoy ourselves.

Keep an eye on the blog site during Saturday night, we will update it as we go keeping all who are interested informed of what's happening.

Catch you.

From shed to street to super 6 division?

Well folks just a few more days and we are off to Narrogin.

Not too many cars, starting to sound familiar isn't it, hopefully soon we will get a field of more than 10 limiteds so we can show these tracks that we can field more than a couple of cars at any one time.

Looks like Watto is going to be a non starter due to 410 commitments, Dhuy is unsure as he is still inundated with fish eating folk who are keeping him chained to the filleting table.

Kim Collins is doubtful but hopeful, and who knows about the rest.

Gavin, Greg Harvey and myself will pick up where we left off at Ellenbrook, should be good hard racing, Glen Oliver is back from the rigs and ready to have a first up hit out, local hot shot Glen Carstairs is running so it should be a good meeting.

The rumour mill is ticking over and I have heard a couple of good stories.

Greg Harvey after years of backing into a drive way finally wore it out and fell through it, just as a limited sprintcar member went past and saw Greg's truck at a very strange angle.

The retired gents who have rejoined us to race have decided they will join the Super 6 division instead, a good story this one but best left for you all to ask them about it at the track.

Word is Anthony King will be back in action at Narrogin, this will lift the pace to another level.

If you are interested in a non club run then a few of us are racing in Bunbury on the 14th November, let Gavin know if you are interested in running there, but remember the next weekend 20th and 21st November are a double header so it will be a big couple of weeks.

Shane and Glen will be at practice on Wednesday at Kwinana, so if you are bored or just want to catch up come on down and see us there, and stay for a beer afterwards.

Catch you later.

Midweek happenings.

Hi all,

Spent the week forlorn and down in the dumps, 4 melted pistons, 8 burnt exhaust valves and 3 intakes, bore scored and 2 valve seats melted out, other than that the new engine is in good shape.

Fuel and fuel systems are absolutely critical in the sprintcar game.

Of all the limited's the old car (ex Chris Pallentine) has been the most reliable, there has never been a fuel issue, there has never been an engine failure or misfire of any kind, it has the simplest fuel delivery and pressure system of all the cars, this is what I am going to put into the new car and engine when we get it back together.

When we put the spare motor into the new car last Friday night we put the carby off last years engine onto it, when we ran hot laps at Ellenbrook we had issues with the fuel system and pulled out of the first heat, we rejetted the carby (a 750 alcohol holley carby, HP series) with 200 primary and secondary jets, this got the fuel system rich/fat and cooled the engine off, it did not like long laps at just above idle fuelling up and getting up to 220deg, but once opened up a touch it cleared out and dropped temp back to 195deg.

On Monday I pulled the bowls off of the 750 alcohol Demon carby to discover the jetting was 144's all round, how is it that this small jetting made the engine run cooler? I am going to run the engine with the Demon carby at Narrogin and see if it makes the same sort of power that it made with the holley and bigger jets.

We spent Sunday getting Shane's car ready to fire up and fired it at the secret spot, car ran sweet just needs the fuel system fine tuned which we are going to do at Kwinana at practice on 4th November, then we are off to Narrogin for the 7th November.

Shane looks like he will be ready to go by 3rd week of November, here's a challenge can the new guy get on the track before the older gents with the new car? (Names suppressed so as not to cause offence).

There is talk of Bunbury being ready for the 14th November and if this is so there are 7 of us who will head down for a run, not an official meet so we would welcome cars of all divisions if they turn up, the more the merrier.

Dhuy has finished his second Seafood shop in Falcon and it looks like it is going gangbusters, so hopefully he gets time to sort his car ready for Narrogin or soon after.

Rob Watson still has not got a car ready and may not be seen for some time with his commitments on the 410 team, his boy Rib won 2 heats and was looking OK for the feature on Saturday but missed the setup.

Martin has been quite sick and we all hope he gets better quickly, we need his continued enthusiasm to keeping us on track.

The latest news letter is out and is also a credit to Michelle and Martin.

Catch you.

Week 1 of new season "Run And Won"

Hi all,

Well Friday night saw us at "The Plex" for the first Fast Friday of the season.

Of the Limited's (Not an official meet) there was Mick Doble and myself.

We warmed up the engines then sat back and waited for the first heat.

At the start of the first heat we lined up, Mick had a fuel issue and pulled in so I was left to hold the Fort for Ltd's against the other runners, the greens came on and I put my foot down and next thing I knew I had blown past the others and had a clear track in front, first lap down with no hot laps and we had pulled a 16.6 second lap, this engine has got some serious mumbo, however after the second lap we had a fuel blockage of some sort and slowed only to pull out as we were about to get the white flag with some engine issues.

The rest of the night Mick cleaned up but lost the feature after getting caught up behind a couple of slower cars and being run down on the last corner.

Team Crabbe spent 15 minutes slapping me about the head to convince me to go back to the shed and fit the spare motor, not a good plan according to me, I was all for going to the bar and drowning my sorrows, well they loaded the car and then me and next thing I knew it was 11:30pm and we fired the car up on the street (apologies to all the neighbours), I sent the willing crew home for some sleep, cleaned the car and loaded it up ready for Ellenbrook Saturday.

I made bed at 1:30am Saturday morning and spent the rest of the night restlessly dreaming of how that new motor made some serious power and how we would get it running again before next meeting.

So 7am arrived and up we got ready for the haul to Ellenbrook.

There were 8 cars at Ellenbrook of which 4 were Limited's, a poor showing by our club standards but with the others we had a good field for some racing.

Heat 1 had some hot laps before the green and we had the spare engine to lean so I pulled out of the heat and watched.

For a first up hit out it was some of the closest racing and quickest we have had, Mick Doble who had most of last season off whilst on tour of Aus has come out of holiday mode and was flying, Gavin was quick but somewhat rusty, too much weight on the rear wheels I reckon, and Greg Harvey was looking quick as well.

Of the other cars Michael Robinson was his usual lightening quick self (Ellenbrook specialist this guy).

Not sure how all the heats finished as I was in battle for the last 2 and the feature but I got a 4th and a 3rd in the heats.

The feature race was fast and close, all cars were on the one straightaway and jostling for position, Mick and Michael had a coming together which dropped both of them out, Gavin, Greg and myself battled it out for a few laps before Gavin got clear and drove away leaving me all over Greg's rear but he was to quick and held a good line which left me with only the very outside to go around him, and as we all know that fence scares me just a little so I was left behind Greg and crossed the line in 3rd.

My biggest learning for the weekend was that the motor we purchased off of Steve Bombak is one fast and strong motor, wish I had it in my car last season and not Glen's, it got back up every time you got on and off the gas, no lag just pure grunt, think I might leave it in till after the Narrogin meeting, I reckon after that Glenn will want it back.

The big motor is back at Performance Unlimited, Gary is stripping it and we will have it back together before the "Unofficial" Bunbury meeting on the 14th November, we will sort the fuel system out and I am sure this motor is going to take us right up the pointy end.

Another pleasing part about the Limited club is the camaraderie around the members, it was also a great little get together we were having between races, no sensitive people allowed as jibes were the order of the day, lucky there was no alcohol as the BS would have flown onto the track.

Peter Wodg gave me his list of Shed Racers who need to be mentioned on this blog site, Norbert denied ever inventing the term "Shed Racer" but may have slipped up at the end of the meet and dropped himself in it.

Great day even if we were in the sun for far to long and the best track I have raced on at Ellenbrook.

Thanks to Norbert, Ed and Mick for the help over the weekend and thanks to Mick Doble for the tip on hooking up the rear end, we had a car that if driven better would have finished the feature in the front.

Catch you.

FINALLY WE ARE READY

Well we have fired up the beast, it started straight away and we then checked it all over again.

After 3 weeks of messing around we can say bring on Ellenbrook and Fast Friday.

We took the car to the Motorplex main gate for a photo shoot with Murray Schnaars from KI Group our main sponsor, we took some of last years silver ware to make it look all the more impressive.

I have put a photo on the site for you all to check it out, the car came up looking fabulous, just got to keep it that way now.

Heading off to practice at Kwinana tonight just to watch and catch up for a speedway fix and to get the adrenalin pumping ahead of this coming Friday.

See you all Saturday at Ellenbrook.

Bunbury cancelled on the 24th October.

Hi all,

Bunbury has been cancelled and will be rescheduled, the track resurfacing has not been completed.

It looks like the meeting originally scheduled to be run on the 24th October will be removed from our calendar and not rescheduled.

The first of our cars has left the shop, check out the photos, it still needs the new knerfs and bumpers fitting and they will be completed today.

The second and most important machine is still undergoing fine tuning and completion of some minor items, I will drop some other photos on later this week but will put one on so you can see the beginnings of its rejuvenation.

Catch you later.

Another weekend of preparation ahead.

Hi all

Have not signed in for a few days so I thought I would just do a quick blog.

Glen's car has returned from Jason at JRH Signs, what a job, it is one very nice looking car, the stripe work and sign writing are better than first rate, they are simply stunning, just need to add some little item on the front wing to make the front on view a little better, for that I have a cunning plan.

My car has returned from Jason's also and looks great, the colour scheme with the new panels goes together well.

This weekend we will attempt to get the radiator in, the new back brakes on and the exhaust finished, I would like to get it fired up on Sunday ready to get a photo shoot with my sponsors next week early, then be ready for fast Friday and Ellenbrook early, now that would be a nice change.

Well have to go, more people to ring to try and get some more starters for Ellenbrook and Bunbury.

See ya.

Will this car ever go!!!!!!!!!

Good evening all,

Just back from Aladdin's cave.

Sunday we had 5 wise men work from 8.30am until 6pm getting the Crabbe car into some form of repair, well it was not to be.

All the easy to fit parts just would not go, engine had to be pulled apart somewhat to get it between the bars, the oil tank would not fit inside the frame, the radiator would not fit without being damaged due to the dry sump pump, the bracket that holds the dry sump tank in was to wide, the panels that were going to just clip in did not fit, off came the Dzus brackets to be modified and re welded elsewhere, lucky the powder coating was crap or I might have cried, each time we welded on the chassis the 3mm of powder coating burst into flames and the smoke detector went off (only kidding we don't have a smoke detector) but we certainly had plenty of flames from the coating.

The exhaust didn't fit it hit the lower frame rails, the engine breather hung to far outside the engine bay and the bonnet would not go over.

The moral of the story is use the same gear as everyone else and let them work out how it all fits, then copy it.

Well today we went back and started the process of fixing each item one at a time and by 6pm tonight we almost had it ready, just need mufflers and a radiator and we will be able to put some fire in the cylinders.

The car is off to the sign writers first thing in the morning and then to an exhaust shop to get the Gonzo mufflers fitted, they are also larger dia than the pacemaker headers we now run and they sit right in the way of the shorty knerf bar bottom mount points.

Things got that hectic and the pressure was mounting towards late Sunday afternoon as we started to realise that we were not going to get very far, most composure's were kept but my head was getting redder and the tips of my ears were going purple as the blood pressure rose faster than the temperature gauge on last years car.

After thanking the Bunbury boys for helping and urging them to go home so they did not get into trouble and so I could cry in peace, I opened up a few beers and dreamt of the easy life, Shane the new guy was wondering what he had let himself in for, like me when I started, the famous words "It will all fit no problem" were starting to sound like a politicians pre election promise, he was shattered at the thought of what lies ahead for him, but he still thinks Bunbury will be his first meeting.

Telling you guys all this has made me feel like I should go back and start again, so Thursday to Monday we will be at it again, then a photo shoot with sponsors and bring on fast Friday and Ellenbrook.

Bye all.

Hopefully some more new members.

Good evening all,

As you may be aware Norbert has been trying to sell his old JSR roller and his complete Maxim (Brooke Tatnell aussie title winning car) with the motor he purchased from Graeme Warner.

After advertising the cars in the Sunday times he had 2 offers for the Maxim, looks like the Maxim has found a new home in Geraldton and maybe the JSR is on its way back to the track, looks like we are starting to get some real interest in the club and racing.

This weekend sees the Scrutineers course run, Gavin and I are off to be trained in how to inspect a sprintcar.

Some of the committee are attending an officials course.

On the car front I have got the brake lines and master cylinder in, the torsion bar bushes in and reamed, and all the spuds cleaned ready for bars etc, nothing will be done now until Sunday when the "Crew" arrive, the sign writer has asked for the car early as a Dirt Modified he was going to do next week changed the date it was going to come in, now I need to be ready a bit earlier, not sure we can but we will give it a good shake.

Catch you.

Time to start the rebuild.

Hi all,

First some more info on my wrongly painted chassis.

Despite the people admitting they painted the chassis the wrong colour and saying they would fix it for free,when it came time to collect it they wanted full payment a second time.

Negotiated the price down and they gave me the chassis back, the job was absolute crap.

Keep clear of Canning Vale powder coaters.

On a lighter note we put the chassis on the stand ready for reassembly, got out the new magnesium motor plate and the Ti Bolts, the motor plate would not fit, can you believe it, where is the black cat I kicked?

Some quick work on the milling machine and we had an even lighter motor plate that now fits, fitted the floor and sat back to admire the start of the rebirth of the JEI from last year.

This years mission is to have a light car, that will make weight but only just, if you see me eating a hamburger after finishing a race and before weighing in you will know why.

The new panels were painted by Mandurah Panel and Paint and they look fantastic, Gavin, Norbert and Ed are coming down to give me a hand on Sunday so we can meet the tight deadline I am now running to, still pretty certain I will make Fast Friday and then Ellenbrook, Gavin assures me that if I so much as get in the way on Sunday he and his assistants will send me out for coffee and put the car back together with all the old bits, I still have a couple of tricks up my sleeve, I am going to hide all the old bits.

We need to fit up the new body panels, they are slightly different from last years and look absolutely George Jetson ish (Old TV show for you youngsters that have never heard of it), it means space age if you couldn't work it out for yourself.

They came with no holes drilled or anything despite being for a JEI chassis, just another curve ball for me.

We have a new member, he is joining as I type, He, Shane has purchased the Ryan Farrell car, he has also purchased a motor from Jason Bloxsidge and it is in at Chevpower on the dyno getting sorted, another recruit, Shane is also coming down to Aladin's cave on Sunday for a sticky to see if we have more Titanium than him.

Rob Watson has assured me he is going to be at Ellenbrook for the first meeting.

Glen's car is off to the sign writer tomorrow, it will be ready early next week and then it will get its first run at Bunbury on the 24th of October, hope we can get at least 12 cars for this meeting, at the corresponding meeting last year the track was just awesome and fast, you no sooner came out of a turn and got the car straight and it was time to get back into the next turn, Todd Davis will be out for his first run this year on that night as well.

Well time to go and dream of a car assembly that may just go smoothly.

See ya.

Team Dhu almost ready.

Hi all,

Well the long weekend is over and another week closer to the first meeting.

The rumour mill is hotting up but car preparation is cooling down.

Dhuy is almost ready to go, car has an engine and is running, Dhuy went to our secret starting spot to fire his car up, I just forgot to tell him that the local constabulary were watching the area after the break in at our units, so he fired up the car and as he was doing the timing on the street up rolls Mr Plod and asks what he was doing, not sure how this one will end but a cash sponsor may be needed to assist with some costs.

The team Crabbe chassis is still on the back of the Ute, it is the nicest baby blue you have ever seen, pity it's meant to be royal blue so back to the powder coater it goes, still we can't do anything as we still are waiting for parts to arrive from Victoria and South Australia, many late nights will be needed to get this car ready, but ready it will be.

A little bird at Ellenbrook on Sunday says there is no chance that team Watson will be ready, although with the big budget sponsor they have just landed they may fly a complete car in from the US, check out the press release, they have secured 96FM as a sponsor for all 5 cars.

The correct calendars are out, I delivered some to Geraldton and some to Moora this weekend and the rest will be posted out this week.

Bye all.

Team Crabbe and Oliver nearly out for the season

Good evening again,

As you can see from the startling blog heading above there has been some turmoil in our camp.
On my way to work this morning (Yes work it is not all golf and sprintcars you know) I got a call from my neighbour at our units where we store our race cars saying we had been broken into and both unit doors were ajar, my heart sunk as I thought about new motors and Titanium that would have been stolen, a quick phone call to Janette and she was on her way to check out the scene, luckily we had had nothing removed from the units, a nearby unit had some alcohol taken and that was it, a quick trip to a lock shop was organised and some special roller door locks were purchased and installed.
The Crabbe chassis is ready for collection ahead of time and should be sitting on the stands by Thursday evening, things must be coming good as it is 2 days ahead of schedule, we will not start putting the car together until the weekend of the 3rd of October, hoping to have the car ready for sign writing on 12th October, Jason from JRH signs will have a lot of work to do that week.
Team Oliver has gotten a new striping scheme done for his car and it is looking a bit tricker than that all over white paint scheme he was running last year. The car also has the old team Crabbe motor in and is ready to fire up, at least one car is all but ready to go.
Gavin and Norbert called in on Saturday to check out the progress of our team, I was showing them the new shiny bits and a special set of bolts was missing, first I thought they were tricking me and had hidden them, but alas no, the bolts must have gone walkabout between my kitchen the day before and arriving at the storage units, if anyone picks them up they will wonder why they weigh nothing.
Glen has come up with a new name for me, Ti Man, he tells me he is going to have a characterture of me done up as a bolt, I still struggle to understand why the new car from last year with all the lightweight parts weighs more than the original car I had, Pino Priolo and Chris Pallentine must have had some serious light weight components in that car, it still only just weighs in at correct weight, Glen may be in trouble as the extractors that come with my old engine weigh about 20lbs less than his originals.

Gavin is in his shed working on his seat fitment, he has to then get the chassis painted and then start the assembly.
Todd is a little more advanced and has his chassis powder coated and ready to start the assembly process.
Watto is keeping quiet on his progress, I think he has a new motor that is making ssome serious horsepower.
Dhuy is busy getting a new fish shop ready so I have not bugged him for any updates but I would think he is going to make Ellenbrook as there is no way he is going to let Watto and I get a meeting in front of him this year, the Huey (Watto), Dhuy (No identification needed) and Lewi (Me) show will be intense this year, no beg pardons just good hard racing, we are also known as the 3 Amigos.

Michael Armstrong and Mandurah Bolt Supplies.

Good evening all

Tuesday this week I was out playing golf at The Sanctuary in Bunbury, whilst driving the cart between hits the phone rang and an acquantance of mine from Mandurah Bolt Supplies, Chris was on the phone talking to me.
Now not many of you know but another toy of mine is a Fusion coloured CV8Z Monaro, when I brought it Mandurah Holden had a set of number plates with CV8 Monaro on them, I idolised those plates but refused to pay the 5k they wanted for them, so one day while walking into Mandurah Bolt Supplies out of the corner of my eye I spied a number plate that said CV8-Zed,
they were out of place as they were on a VY SS ute, wandering over I saw Chris and we had a chat about how those plates really should change hands and go onto my Monaro, after 12 months of intense negotiation we agreed a very reasonable price and started the process of changing the plates over, so Chris had phoned me to tell me he had handed the plates in and had handed in the transfer and soon they would be mine, whilst chatting on the phone Chris mentioned our new Limited Sprintcar web site and said how the committee were doing a good job in getting the club out into the public eye.
I had to ask Chris how he got to the web site and he started to tell me about his previous sponsorships.
I already knew Chris had sponsored the Blackman team a couple of years ago but had no idea Chris used to help out Wayne Armstrong when he was down Waroona way.
Chris told me he was putting a package together to help Michael Armstrong, Wayne's son, so I thought as I had said I would start writing on this blog site about some of our drivers and cars Michael would be a good starting point.

So firstly my apologies to the Armstrongs and Rick if I make any errors but here is what I think is right.
Michael first started racing in Carnarvon in a Mini, he did this for a season and then stopped racing until the 08/09 season.
After Wayne's tragic death at the end of the 07/08 season the car Wayne planned to make a comeback in was sitting until Michael was convinced/decided to get it ready to race on the night of the Limited Sprintcar State Title.
Michael had his arm twisted while watching the Australian Title at Kwinana.
Mick Doble supplied a motor for the car and off to the Geraldton track they went on the Friday before the meeting so Michael could have some laps before the race meeting.
On the night of the State Title Michael ran 3 races with another non qualifier to get his hand/eye in and then came out the following night for the meeting that honours his late father Wayne.
There were 20 cars running that night and Michael finished a creditable 8th.
This was enough to get the bug into Michael's system and this coming season he intends to run a few more meetings, he will do a Fast Friday, the 2 night state title and 3 meetings in Geraldton culminating in the "Wayne Armstrong Cup" where he will be much better prepared than last year having 3 or 4 meetings under his belt.
Michael has not had to do much work to the car for this year, he has got a hand me down motor from Caroline, it has been rebuilt for the season and based on Caroline's car speed last season it should be a very quick combination.

Michael would like to thank his sponsor Chris from Mandurah Bolt Supplies for his help in the coming season ahead, and I would also like to say if you need bolts talk to Chris at Mandurah Bolt supplies, Chris has a full list of sprintcar bolts if you need a bolt kit put together thanks to Norbert,who put it together for me to give to Chris.
Michael would also like to thank Mick Doble who goes above and beyond to help out fellow racers to ensure we get cars onto the track each and every week.

Michael also wants to especially thank Carol, Caroline, Rick Sawyer and his wife Vanessa who help put the package together to get him on the track, the Armstrong's are a real Racing Family who could have given it all away after Waynes passing but have continued doing what they love.
Good luck in the season ahead Michael.

Maybe I can get Caroline on the phone next week and see how her car is progressing, rumour has it the car will sport a flash motor from the USA when it hits the track this season.

Blogging can sometimes be no fun.

Well when I first started this blog it seemed to be a great way to communicate and have a bit of fun.

Martin was a little unsure that we should do it and after a few months I am seeing why.

Finally got my chassis from Murphy Racecars and delivered it to the powder coaters, they will still have it ready for Friday evening so I am still on my week behind schedule.

Gavin's chassis is home in Bunbury and it should also make the powder coaters this week.

Watto's chassis is back up in the hills in the workshop and about to get put together for the first meeting.

We still only have 9 cars nominated for Ellenbrook on the 17th October, we really need to get a few more cars to this meeting guys, please get those cars ready and nominate.

That's it for tonight, we have had a technical matter raised re nerf bars that the Tech committee have to work on so that's now a priority for us.

See you.

Update.

Hi Again

Caught up with Norbert and Gail on Saturday and over a quiet beer we had a discussion about this blog site and how to keep it interesting.

Norbert came up with a fabulous idea, start phoning each driver and give an update of where they are up to with car preparation, also he coined a new term, at least one I was unfamiliar with "Shed Racer" a driver who has a car and is not racing but still keeps the car.

We have a few of these in the club so what a good idea to give them a call and see what they are up to.

So folks get ready to answer the phone as I am about to start calling each of you.

I have had a couple of calls lately with questions.

First one was "Can you run a Ford engine"? Yes you can.

Next one was "In the log book under Front End, What is meant , Axle eyes wrapped"? I would not have a clue but will find out. Late news: it means the axle beam material is wrapped or bent around the king pin eyes on each end of the axle beam, well you learn something new each day.

The Team Crabbe chassis has been straightened and Murph will have his work done by Friday, the powder coater awaits its delivery and then back to the shed it goes, the new panels from JEI are in the paint shop so hopefully I can catch up the week I have lost getting the chassis straightened.

Team Dhu is well advanced on car preparation, he will be ready to go at Ellenbrook on the 17th, not sure about Fast Friday on the 16th, will ask him over a beer in the next week or so.

Saw some members chassis still at Murphs today, Wattos red maxim is there, still has the dents where he took me out at Moora just to get the $200.00 bet four of us had on who would finish third in the feature race, still a bit of work for Murph to do on that car, Gavins Maxim that got run into at Geraldton is still there, it only needs spuds for shorty nerfs fitting and it is done.

Seems there is some unwanted twittering on our blog page, will get it sorted this week.

Well got to go keep getting enthused for the start of the season.

Update and more info.

Good evening folks,

Well another week closer to season kick off.

Stripped the chariot and sent the frame to Murph the magician to replace a few bent pieces, well it would appear that a couple of bent spuds is not all that was wrong, it appears the front end needs minor realignment, so off to Coxy's it goes for straightening, another weeks delay, not sure the old car may not be rebadged from 45 to 77 and run at the first 2 meetings this year.

All the trick bits from the US have turned up so both Gavin and I have a mission to get it all together in time, I have a fallback plan at least, Gavin rumour has it may need to lease Norby's car for the first couple of meetings, rumour also has it he is home from the bush soon, a couple of days in the shed and he may just get his own car ready.

Before you here it from others Mrs Crabbe has purchased her motor home, she sent me off for a driving test and I decided a HR license was for me, no lessons, I know trucks, well I had it shot to pieces and was taking the assessor back to the driving school when I missed a gear, no problem I thought, just stop the truck and put it in first and start again, not with this instructor, he said anyone who had to stop a truck and recover with a synchro box should not be let loose on the road, lucky I knew he was an ex copper or I may have offered him a bribe, so home I came with tail between my legs and confessed to failing, I have booked a couple of lessons for next week prior to my test.

We still have a lot of drivers with no driver profile and some we know are racing who have not paid their fees, remember no club membership no points.

For those who do not know Norbert is selling all his gear, he has numerous spares, a rolling chassis and a complete car to sell, any interest email me via the web site and I will put you in touch with him.

Keep getting those cars ready, we need more cars for Ellenbrook and if you are coming from the country then head to Kwinana for the Fast Friday the night before Ellenbrook, also note Ellenbrook is a Saturday Twighlight meeting not the normal Sunday day meeting.

Another week closer to kick off.

Good evening all,

We have just completed our first committee meeting for the 2009/2010 season and are hoping to take the club to another level.

Spirits are up and all are keen to organise some interesting race meetings and activities.

All we need now is a bit more driver support, you can do this in a couple of ways.

1) If you have not done so already then get your driver profiles in.

2) Nominate and attend the first meeting at Ellenbrook on the 17th October, this is a Saturday Twilight meeting not the usual Sunday day meetings we are used to at Ellenbrook.

The committee is going to attempt to photograph the winner of each round and their crew, we will endeavour to get the winners photo and a small story into the relevant Speedway press after each meet, this is a big ask but can be achieved if we all help out.

Do you know a photographer who can be present at a round near you? if so ask if they can attend and take some photos, we can put it on the web site and acknowledge the photographer next to the pictures, videos you may have can be put onto the web site, the sites use is only limited by our imaginations.

We also have 20 or so limited sprintcar hats left, if you know anyone who would like one let us know, they are $10.00 each.

We have been approached by 2 states to get our specs, it appears we are getting some interest, if we just could get 4 or more states involved we may be a chance for an Australian Title, wouldn't it be good to get the first ever Limited Sprintcar Australian Championship held at your home track, Geraldton with the Armstrong Cup would make for one of the biggest events I could imagine, this is my mission this year, to try and at least get the first stages of discussions going with other state bodies. I am sure there are many hurdles in our way before this eventuates.

NSW and Grafton in particular may have up to 13 cars that would comply with our rules.

The NT had a Limited division similar to ours, and Victoria has the VSCC which is also similar.

Food for thought isn't it.

Catch you later.

Next season is almost on us.

Hi all

Don't forget to nominate for our first meeting at Ellenbrook on the 17th October.

It is time at last to strip the car and repair all the dents from a couple of unfortunate dumps, all in Geraldton.
New panels, new bits, new engine but same old slow driver.

The committee is working hard securing sponsors for the State title on the 5th and 6th of March, we are looking to raise $10,000.00 to make it a great show with all the right reasons to win.
If you can help with sponsorship or know someone who can please get in touch with Michelle.

Some good gossip:
Team Watto has a secret new car, it looks very special with trick bits the likes you have not seen before. Car rating 10/10, driver rating 6/10 but may improve with a healthy dose of fitness.

Team Dhu has a new engine coming, looks the goods, car rating 7/10, driver rating 7/10

Team Oliver has an old engine recently removed from team Crabbe's car, car rating 5/10, driver rating 8/10.

Team Davis/Esh has not divulged too much but has confessed to being the owner of the most titanium in the division, amazing what you can get out of a snoring asleep man with the right hypnotherapy, car rating 7/10, driver rating 9/10, needs some work at the gym if he wants to regain the state title this year.

Team Crabbe has a new engine and a rebuilt car, not quite to team Watsons standard but close, sports the worlds nicest brake pedal, pity it never gets used, car rating 9/10, driver rating 6/10, slightly fitter than Watto and Gavin, may not win state title but will win slimmer of the year easy, may have to put lead in the car this year to come up to minimum weight.

Not sure about the others, they are all keeping a low profile.

Looks like we will have a few new cars, membership is up and most are drivers with registered cars, some new to keep us on our toes and some who are quick I believe.

Steve

Home and back at work.

Hello again,

The travellers have returned to normality and wearily returned to work.

Gavin is back near Eucla wondering if he will ever get to see or work on his sprintcar again.
We were delayed leaving Des Moines due to bad wether in Chicago where we were going to fly to.
Gavin however was flying out to Dallas and on to Los Angelas, as he had a 2 day lay over before his flight, he decided to head out to BR Motorsports shop.
Glen, Annette and I finally got off the ground at 4:30 pm and had managed to change our Chicago to San Fransisco flight so we could still get the 10:00pm flight from San Fransisco to Sydney.
We boarded in Chicago and the door of the plane did not register as locked, we sat for 2 hours while some guy opened and closed the door about 50 times, you would think after a couple he may have worked out that the micro switch was not going to contact and say the door was closed, he had the cleanest set of white gloves hanging from his back pocket, no wonder, he thought maintenance was pressing buttons, finally they called another technician who adjusted the door and we were on our way.
We arrived in San Fransisco and we had missed our connection, no one in the airport could help so we wandered around in a daze, 1am and all flights closed, finally we got an American airlines person who looked up his system and said they were not paying for our accomodation as it was bad weather that caused the delay, after some real bad weather from us he decided that he would change the computer and put maintenance as the reason for the delay, this gave us a room in the Hyatt for the night at least, it is amazing how responsive someone can be if you inform them in a polite manner how you were going to go to Chicago to pick up some nice white gloves and make them brown after returning and performing an exploratory on their rear area.
No seriously they were quite helpfull after we convinced them it was a maintenance delay.
The stop over in San Fran was good, had a chance to get some last minute presents for the good lady, she is not as understanding as some other person in our club, a Doug Esh shirt simply was not going to cut the mustard.
So off into town on Bart went Glen and I, Annette had decided this was to be her sleep in day.
I called Gavin whilst on the train and he informed me he was in Ti heaven, he had found BR Motorsports and he was going to spend up big, the biggest worry was that I had given him some money for parts for me, would he be able to resist temptation and stick to our list? I still do not know the answer to this but the gear is here and I am off to check it out at the home of Mrs Gavin Esh this weekend, Gavin told me how much the gst on the parts was so he must have shopped like a women with a new Gold Visa card.
Back to the story, after buying the last of the "Forgive me for going to America without you " presents Glen and I meandoured down the Fishermans wharf, I had to try the seafood chowder San Fran is supposed to be famous for, it was nice but the Corona was better, we wandered further down the road and came across a HOOTERS, well I had never been in one before and it did say family resteraunt so in we went.
4 hours and many Corona's later we waddled down the road looking for a cab, we had a ball and recommend if you go over any time then San Fran and the fishermans wharf go on your list of to do's.
Finally we were off to the airport, the customs people wanted my case opened, here we go I thought, they have seen all the sprintcar aluminium and Ti parts in my case, but they wanted to go into my other case, must have liked my body spray as that is all that they took out and looked at.
The flight to Sydney was ok, Annette and I had upgrades to business class so we got some good sleep, the 12 or so Coronas I had at Hooters helped.
Finally we hopped on the flight from Sydney to Perth, and wouldn't you know it, the front toilet decided it would flush continuously so we were delayed another hour, 62 hours fron Des Moines to Perth, beats Gavin's record easy.

So folks next year we want about 10 to 20 of us to go, register your interest now so we can book seats and accomodation, send me an email, steve@sjcrushing.com.au, and I promise I will not drive next year.


Steve

Knoxville nationals 410 last night rained out.

Hi all,

Well Saturdays final has been rained out and rescheduled for Sunday, and guess who is on a plane home by then, yep all of us.

The stands were full and the supporters peeved off when we all knew the rain was coming, the weather stations knew the rain was coming but the officials decided they would just take their time and not do anything different.

We thought they would start the show early to try and run before the rain came, but instead they put the trucks out for an hour to run the surface in, we would have put the sprintcars out there and had the track run in 20 minutes, then they decided to hot lap, then instead of lining up for the E main they pull the cars in and put the next hot laps on, finally they got the E main running, Hally got out of the E and into the D by running fourth.

On came the D after some more hot laps and we got underway again, there was a major crash in turns 1 and 2 so the race was stopped, the rain came and the restart was resheduled for some time later, again they put the trucks out to run the surface in, apparently you cannot use sprintcars and 18" tyres over here as the wheels may get mud on them and unbalance the wheels, I guess they have never heard of cleaning them over here.

Finally after about another 30 minute delay they put the cars on and guess what, more hot laps, then we had to take the cars off the track to refuel, then finally we went out and finished the D Main.

The C main starters came out and guess what, more hot laps.

The C main was run and one and everyone went back to the pits to get ready for the B main, then believe it or not they brought the A mainers out for "Hot Laps".

The heavens opened up and the night was over.

I know these guys can drive, I know they have a great venue and a great crowd, but they have no idea of how to run a show and get it completed, they take to long to get the cars out, they take to long to line up, they allow people to take however long they want to get out of the pits, in Australia the gates would be shut and half the field not allowed to start.

They knew the rain was coming but they just kept on going the same way as any other event, if they had of pushed it through they would have completed the A main most probably and definately completed the B main.

Not happy Jan.

We are flying home tomorrow and will miss the final show, not a lot we can do about it, well there is next year should we decide to come back.

In completion it is the best sprintcar show I have seem in terms of quality cars and drivers and well worth the effort to come and see it.

We have had a great time and most of us would come back.

The fans are fanatical and the atmosphere great, we just need to get the promoters/organisers to understand that the fans keep the show on the road, they want to see quick fast racing, not primadonna's who think that driving on a dirt track does not mean getting your car dirty.

See you next year for the 50th running of the Knoxville Nationals folks.

Knoxville 410 Nationals 2009 and world challenge.

Hi all,

Well Friday has come and gone here and our trip is drawing to a rapid close.

We headed off to Des Moines o n a shopping expedition this morning, we drove past the Firestone and Bridgestone tyre factories and into what you would call the rougher end of Des Moines, not much happened there so we headed off to the Jordan Creek Shopping Centre for lunch.

Well like usual when I go to this shopping centre I took a wrong turn and ended up going up the wrong way of the road, it only happens when the 3 back seat drivers start whinging.

So after that it was off down the road to Knoxville to see the King and get some signed memorabilia, we brought about 8 shirts a hat and a flag, Steve was happy enough to sign them all for us but looked like he would rather be fishing.

On Saturday at 1 pm Brooke is signing autographs and we are heading off to catch up with him.

Onto the racing.

Tonight was the scrambles for the starting positions for Saturday nights finals.

In the C Scramble Slammin Sammy Swindell came from the back and blitzed them all, his car was bucking and rolling underneath him and he made a lot of mistakes, yet he won and set a new track record over the distance.

In the B scramble Skip Jackson won in a canter.

In the A scramble Donny Schatz won after starting out of position 4.

So tomorrow sees a front row for the A main of Stevie Smith off pole, Joey Saldana off 2.

Schatz is running off 6.

It is looking like a Schatz 4 peet unless something unseen comes up.

In the world challenge we saw a great race.

David Hall was off pole, Kerry Madsen was off three, Lynton Jeffery was off 2 and Gary Brazier was off 4.

A Canadian was off pole.

The track went a bit slick but the racing was great, Lynton led all the way to take a comfortable win, Kerry Madsen lost 2nd to Terry Macarl with 3 to go and they battled hard for the remainder, coming out of turn 4 for the last time we had T Mac, Madman and Shane Stewart all running for the line together, Shane Stewart got second from nowhere with Madsen 3rd.

Brazier looked comfy in second until half race when his tyres went off, David Hall had a shocker and looked like they were struggling with the set up on the new chassis.

So in the end a good night was had by all Aussies as we finally had something to brag about.

Tomorrow we are having another minimal sun day as we are all toasted after Thursdays outside bar work.

Bye for now.

410 Knoxville Nationals 2009 night 2.

Hi all,

We got up at 10 am today after not getting in until 3 am this morning.

After much time spent showering and getting the sleep out of our eyes we headed back to Knoxville to survey the damage to the Hall motor sports car and talk transport of our goodies home with Brian.

The car was a right off (I have to tell you it is hard to talk Australian on this site as everyone around us at the track talks differently) Glen the language policeman tunes me in constantly, words I like to use are "the car is junked", instead of written off, "torn up" instead of crashed and a few other phrases.

Torn up though is the best description for the Hall chassis, it would have been broken in 5 to 6 spots, the cage amazingly was totally intact, when you hit the Knoxville fence the forces are huge due to the 118 mph average speeds these guys are doing and Hally's engine is no slouch let me tell you, not to many people get by it in a drag race down the straight, it is a credit to Mawill in South Australia, Reedy runs a Maxwill as well but I would think it is a lesser spec motor.

We ran into Kerry Madsen's team today and suggested they go borrow one of the Hall motors.

They had the car stripped but for the diff, the diff was also bent.

We then went down to see the new cars in town for night 2.

The Steve Kinser car was the nicest in the pits, his team is only second to the Tony Stewart operation.

After the pit walk around we headed to Dingus, it is the bar across from the track, we watched the first heats of the bikini contest and thought it was to hot in the sun to stay, so we headed off to Wackos a bar on the other side of town, they were running another bikini type show and we won the "Travelled furtherest for the nationals" competition.

After much sunburn we headed back to the track for the nights racing.

Time trials were slow compared to yesterday, about .6 sec off.

Aussies on night 2 were Madsen and Lynton Jeffery, Lynton won his heat but Kerry only made it through to the B main, running 6 th in that and failing to transfer to the A main.

We witnessed the first pass for first place on the track since we have been here, normally the track is that fast that the front car has just pulled away and no one has been able to challenge, tonight the lead changed in a few heats and the mains.

The A main was won by Tim Kaiding at great pace, Craig Kinser was catching him fast with Joey Saldana right behind.

It is looking good for a big final on Saturday night.

Tomorrow we see the world challenge so hopefully the Aussies will pull it off.

Bye for now.

3:30am update of night one.

Hi all

Well we got racing at 11:30pm, hot laps and then time trials, the good news out of night one is Brooke Tatnell's lap record still stands, although three of the young guns gave it a good shake.

Kerry Madsen somehow managed to not have to qualify tonight, we think he will be out for Thursdays qualifying.

All the Aussies time trialled in the mid 15s, this gave them all a heat race start from near the front, so all qualified direct through to the a main.

Matt Reed ran 3rd in his heat, Greg Hall ran 2nd in his heat, Gary Brazier won his heat, Skip finished 2nd in his heat.

The C main had only 4 cars line up, Erin Crocker (Female driver) became the first female to hold a track record at Knoxville when she won the c main over 6 laps from the front, she was fast as she was in time trials.

The B Main was a top class a main field, From Schatz to The Dude Danny Lasoski and about 10 other Outlaw drivers, Schatz went through after easily winning the B.

The A got away badly for Greg Hall, he was collected by another car but luckily kept running with only his front push bar torn off.

On the restart everyone got away cleanly, the aussies however after all qualifying well started their charge to the rear, by the next stoppage, red flag for Greg Hall they were all lapped except for Skip Jackson.

Greg Hall spun and collected the fence, as his car reared up the leaders who were lapping him came on the scene with Craig Dollanski who was running third getting caught up in the accident, Greg's car was towed back to the pits but Dollanski's Kasey Kahne car was taken to the work area, a quick wing change, front end change and minor repairs were done and he tagged back onto the rear of the field, Knoxville has a lapped car rule so he only had to start behind the last unlapped car, but his race was run with only five laps to go, Donny Schatz had moved from 21st to 7th on the restart, he did not make up any other positions.

Finally the race was won by Tim Schaffer, he led for most of the race after passing Jason Johnson on about lap 10 when in traffic, Johnson finished second.

Unofficial points leader for the night however appears to be Donny Schatz, he is looking good for another win this year already.

It is 4 am in the morning here so bed is calling.

Night all.

Night one off to a bad start.

Hi all

Well day one of the Nationals is on us, we went to Oskaloosa to check out the souveniers and parts trucks.

It would be best described as "The circus has come to town" There is 24,000 people walking the streets of a small town, golf carts that look like stretched Limos, scooters everywhere and T Shirt shops every 10m or so.

We walked through the other big budget team area Kasey Kahn Racing and looked over his cars, they run a much tighter budget than you would think, normal sprintcar parts, second hand spares etc, not what I expected after looking at the Tony Stewart team the other day.

We are still trying to get to the Hall teams workshop but just cannot find it.

We went back out to the Sprintcar go carts for another couple of races, got battered by Gavin and some locals so I took revenge and launched Gavin onto two wheels into and almost over the fence, wish I was wearing my hans device as my neck stretched about 10 inches, then sorted the local yokel out with a quick shove in the rear and turned him around, while this was going on Glen slipped by for the win, no black flags this time but I am sure Gavin is tipping the flag marshall to turn a blind eye to his fender bender antics.

So to the racing, what racing, it rained at 7:30pm so we came back to the hotel, the racing may restart at 10:30pm and go into the morning again, the worst part about that is I will have to put up with the children wanting McDonalds for breakfast.

There are 5 Australians racing tonight.

Gary Brazier, Skip Jackson, Greg Hall, Matt Reed and Kerry Madsen.

We are sitting in the Pensylvania Posse area of the grand stand, these guys are the most vocal supporters you will ever hear, we are a bit scared to let go with the Aussie Aussie Aussie chant.

Bye for now, will blog after the races if I can stay awake that long.

Oskalooska non wing 410's.

Good evening all,

Well tonight at Oskalooska we had a blast.

I was allowed to return to the steering wheel again, but as we neared McDonald's they started again, we want McDonald's, I am awaiting for the "Are we there yet chant" to start, never have I had to drive such a big bunch of juveniles around, I thought my two kids were bad but Gavin and Glen make the kids a joy to be around.

We started at Knoxville and looked over about 8 teams cars, we looked at Tony Stewart Racing's 4 trailers and 4 cars, a sprintcar team they are not, the parts on their cars are more like formula one and Nascar, carbon fibre radiator deflectors that are moulded around the bottom bars, chassis with the rear radius rods that have slides for adjustment on the old car, the new car has two holes for mounting the rear shocks, the Craig Kinser car has slides for adjusting the left front shock and more small mods than you can poke a stick at.

Donny Schatz unveiled a new car paint job, it is sponsored by STP, a long time since we saw that brand sponsoring anything in Australia.

We visited the Simpson van, purchased a trick Hans device quick detach mechanism, it has rings on the tether and you pull a cord and a latch opens on the helmet, no more trying to get the slides to line up with the clips on your helmet anymore.

Impact have a stand with some of the best helmet paint jobs you will see except for the Mud Crab painted on my helmet holding Watto and Dhuys cars in its claws.

Tomorrow the Motorsports shops will start selling their gear so we will check out what is for sale.

Gavin went and checked out the motorhomes and decided that my good lady Janette should have come over and seen the vast selection of motorhomes, some of them would be worth more than 1m US each.

The outlaws have rolled into town and their are transporters are everywhere, you cannot go anywhere without running into a driver/mechanic working on a car.

Gary and Steve Brazier were working on their new car on the main street.

We arrived at Oskalooska after a small detour off the track to let a few of the fireworks off that we brought in South Carolina, we got 4 rockets that fly at the speed of sound and let off a little pop at the end, we also got some crackers that you throw on the ground, Annette has been throwing them at our feet for 2 days, Gavin got a 2kg monster thing that we are to scared to set off incase we end up in jail.

So finally at Oskalooska we went to our seats and who should be sitting next to us but the Dillon family from South Australia, Gary, father of Luke and Lee is a great guy, he has a wise head on his shoulders and we chewed the fat on speedway politics for a fair while, he has some views that most of us would concur with, it is easy to see why his boys are going ok in the sport.

So to the racing.

Dean McAllen from the WA midget scene was running, he did hot laps and missed heat one, he came out in heat 2 and off the start first turn he forgot that a wingless sprintcar was somewhat larger than a midget and put it in where it did not fit, his night was over right there, in the next heat we witnessed the most spectacular crash you will ever see, Brad Sweet also on the first corner poked the car in where it did not fit, he got flipped and as it end for ended the tail tank flew off and it went higher than our fireworks rocket with fuel going everywhere, he got out of the car slightly shaken but ok.

The wingless division was 5 seconds a lap slower than the 410 winged warriors but it would be the most exciting close division you will ever see, the passing was on all night, 3 heats were won by people who were well behind going into the last turn, Kevin Swindell won the best heat race we have ever witnessed, he was fourth going into the last turn and crossed the line about half a front push bar in front.

The final winner of the A main was Jesse "The Rocket" Hocknett, he led all the way but was always under the pump.

I can recommend that you all come over and see these guys run, they are fabulous, it is easy to see why this is the most watched and supported division in the USA, and look forward to posting again tomorrow after the running of night one of the 49th KNoxville 410 Nationals.

Cheers.