Sunday, February 27, 2011

Moora- another great night.

Hi all,

Well Saturday night saw the limited club running it's only meeting at Moora this season.
We had 11 cars in total, 8 limiteds, 2 320's, and an open turn up, not a bad effort for the wheat belt track and a stinking hot day.

The track was a mud bath for engine starts, but by the first heat it was a hooked up race track and the pace was on early.

It was an all in heat race, and from the outset Mick Doble in the Fred Flinstone special was on a mission, he was fast from the green flag but had trouble holding off the modern day machines.
We had a couple of cars join the club during the night which was fantastic and it looks like next season we will grow in numbers again.

There was no real incidents all night, even though the racing was fast and furious, there was no quarter given and every pass was earned.

The feature race was the best race for passing we have seen this season, Mick (Fred Flinstone) Doble and Tim King swapped the lead several times each lap for the first 4 or 5 laps, when the dust had settled the Flinstone mobile had smoked the tyre and had to hold on just to finish, the final results being;
Tim King first
Mick McGuiness second
Anthony King third

Points for the night were;
Anthony King first.

Highlights for the night were;
Fred Flinstone, he was really on the pace all night and went home unbent, you have gotta be happy with that. Small motor, 1990's chassis and some of the oldest bits I have seen since the super mod days.
Tim and Anthony King look like they are ready for another State Title shootout.
Aaron Isuguchi was quick but still has to find the way around cars.
Mick McGuiness was fast in the feature.
Damien Joyce was getting the handle on it and he was so fast sometimes you were sure there were 2 of him out there.

Lowlights;
Gavin had some engine issues and missed every race, he already has his 358 in ready for Bunbury even after driving home and not arriving until midday Sunday, not a bad effort considering I am writing this Sunday evening.
The long drive home straight after the race.

So folks one last thing, don't forget to nominate online for Kwinana on the 12 March, it has to be in by this Wednesday evening.

Catch you

Crabby

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Quick correction

Hi all,

Just a small correction on my last story.

Ian Dhu passed Glen on the bottom on the last lap one fast Friday, just wanted correct that.

Crabby




Friday, February 25, 2011

General Information.

Hi all,

Well long time no blog so I thought I had better get started again.

So first up lets get into whats happening and what you need to do if you are racing with us over the next month or so.

Moora;
This weekend we are off to Moora with around 14 cars expected to run.
Team SJ Crushing are fielding only one car this weekend, Annette will run the 12 to continue her apprenticeship into the sport, or as the nice folk on whinge.com call her "the mobile spectator".

Krikke Boys Shootout;
We are running Sunday 6th March with 2 heats of 8 to 10 laps and a 20 lap feature, and for those who are not sure of the calender this is the last Bunbury hit out before the state title.
Currently there are 21 cars nominated to run, this will be a good weekend of racing.

Kwinana;
Martin has pulled off a minor coup here with us having a Saturday night show, Saturday 12th March, also thanks must go to Gavin Migro for programming us, to get the most out of this we need a good car count and it is another good meeting to run for a final shakedown into our State Title.
Remember- To run at Kwinana you must-must-must nominate on line.
Entries close on Wednesday 02nd March, please get your nominations in as they do not mess around and will not accept late nominations.

So for the general chat.
Team SJ Crushing have been busy in the cave, we are into some serious motor work, replacing rocker gear on the 7 cylinder from Bunbury, amazing how a push rod worn through a rocker arm can slow you down, replacing the crap valve springs on the first 14 deg motor with some serious ones, fitting the Naylor 23 deg test rocket into Glen's car to see if it is the motor he wants to run for the state title, and getting the pile of junk that sits on his shed floor to look like a race car again.
Glen's chassis has been to Doctor Cox then on to Professor Murphy for some serious reconstruction, we will put it back together next week with the latest and greatest second hand bits the cave can provide, although they may even be third hand by now.

Team SJ Crushing also welcome another new sponsor to our sport, 888 Crushing and Screening Equipment, thanks to Henry and Colum.

Just to spark a bit of rivalry between the teams here is an interesting statistic for you.
Car 45 has not been beaten at Kwinana this year, only when he passed to closely and the driver being passed had a moment and tore out the front end, in heat 2, and then on the same night in the feature when 45 was passing the last 320 for the outright lead and his steering broke putting him into the wall.
So the Crabbe kiss of death worked on Mick last year and now I am going to put the kiss of death onto Glen.

He is my Dark Horse going into the state title.

Hey Dhu meister, we hope to see you at Bunbury for the KBS, and then at the state title.

Another little snippet of team talk;
Cale Sotiroff is coming down for the KBS and the state title, good to see him moving out from Gero for a run.
Team Bilman are looking for a driver, Tony has a minor eye problem he is hoping to get fixed but in the mean time wants to see a "Young Gun" drive the car, look out for the mystery man in team Bilman colours.

Well I am sure there is more but if you want to get it on here email me with your information and I will post it for you.

See ya at Moora, and I will be a keen spectator.

Crabby

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Geraldton Information.

Hi all,

From Jason Bloxidge regarding the upcoming Geraldton meeting.

After last meetings great turnout of 9 sprintcars at a local meeting, which saw plenty of action in every heat.

This weekend local competitors will once again hit the clay, many fine tuning their cars for the upcoming state titles in Bunbury and Morowa.

Leading the nominations is Robbie Stephens who won the previous meetings feature and has been in great form this season.
...
Mick Doble has had a huge fortnight building a new car after a massive crash in the first heat last meeting which saw the 40 car end for end in turn two. Mick has put back together the trusty schnee for this weekend as the points battle for club championship rages.

Cale Sotiroff has had a bad couple of meetings with major engine problems on both nights. Hopefully his new USA bullet will arrive in time. Currently sitting third in the club points he will be hoping for a major turnaround of luck.

Other cars include Lionel Curtin, Andrew Pedlar, Anthony Gaudio and Jason Jones. Two new cars fronted last meeting, with Mick Mcinnes driving the ex Jason Johnson Maxim he purchase last year at the krikke boys. This was Micks first drive at Geraldton in over ten years and from the features performance will be quickly on the pace.

The other new car was the Jason Bloxsidge maxim sprintcar, who has returned after 3 seasons off. While having fuel issue which resulted in his withdrawal after heat one, the car is all sorted now and will be featuring a bright new paint job.

With several more cars returning to the track soon including Nathan Chant and Geoff Drew, the magical double figuires barrier will be broken.

Also racing on the night will be Supermods, Productions, Street Stock, Juniors and Quarter Midgets.

So get your backside trackside at Geraldton Speedway on 19th February 2011 to see country sprintcar racing at its best!

NOMINATIONS
15 Lionel Curtin (320)
40 Mick Doble (LTD)
43 Anthony Gaudio (LTD)
57 Jason Bloxsidge (LTD)
61 Jason Jones (320)
67 Robbie Stephens (LTD)
95 Cale Sotiroff (LTD)
Mick Mcinnes (LTD)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Bunbury World Series wrap up.

Hi all,

Well another good meeting was had by the LSA at Bunbury on Saturday night.

We were supporting the WSS show and the Club put on a good showing with the only downside being a lower than usual car count, we had 14 cars turn up including 1 x 320 and one 360.

The heats had some great racing with passing moves going on all around the track keeping the crowds well entertained.

The feature had the field fully inverted to make sure it was going to be an exiting race.

Annette Crabbe was off the front row with Troy Craig outside.

By the start of the feature the track had a Parramata size cushion in turns 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 were slick to half track.
The race got underway and the faster cars in Tim King/Todd Davis/Chris Ackland ploughed through the field making their way to the front, tyre wear was an issue and those not conserving them soon found the going tough, even I was having the tyres buzzing up on my 6 1/2 cylinder engine.
There were a few spinners during the feature, the first being Annette Crabbe who passed a couple of cars for the lead and was looking fast until she got too excited and turned it around in the middle of 3 and 4.
Shane Maskel looped it a couple of times stopping the field and was given a lucky break with a 3rd start?
Brett Barndon again brought the field to a stop a few laps later when he went over the turn 3/4 cushion and got into the wall in a big way.
The last 4 laps of the feature took a while as another spin was happening in turns 3/4 had myself looking to go down low to get past a few of the front runners only to make contact with Tim King which saw me taking a gentle tumble onto the top wing.
The race then ran out the last 3 laps with no more stoppages.

Allan Chapman took the win ahead of Chris Ackland with the much improved Shane Webster.

Highlights:
Shane Webster had the steely glint of a man that wanted to go quicker and really had the car performing in the feature.
Darren Higgins again improved and is starting to get some car speed, just needs more tyres, as he was seen running around the pits looking for more rubber during the night.
Annette Crabbe led a heat and the feature for a couple of laops each and really worked out how hard to push the accelerator, pity she is losing all that engine power when we refit her little engine for Moora.

Mr Smooth (Aka Chris Ackland) was again in a class of his own, although we are starting to narrow the gap.
Todd Davis drove well and kept his brother Gavin on the edge of his seat, Gavin was in the stands watching as he had been to a wedding, Gavin cringed every time Todd hit the cushion in turns 3/4 but Todd had more ability than Gavin gave him credit for.

Lowlights
Brett Barndon did a fair bit of damage with a hard hit into the wall.
In Gavin Davis's eyes the loss of points that has Annette Crabbe leading the club championship and looking like she really wants those tools Gavin has in his shed, a real Hair and Tortoise race this one.

Well for the committee we have our monthly meeting at Woodlupine this Tuesday night, we need all the committee in person as we are also having a Special Meeting as well.

Catch you

Crabby

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Bunbury World Series:

Hi all,

Well it is that time of year again when we head down to Bunbury to support the big meetings.

After the Margaret River meeting there are a few of us Limited Drivers looking for a better show.

After running flat out in the heats we had a minor mishap at the start of the feature, this has been sorted and we are ready to see how we go at Bunbury given the track has been so fast this year.

Make sure all you nominated drivers and trucks get down early on Saturday, it looks like pit space will be at a premium, there are around 35 opens, 30 formula 500 and our 19 nominations, so the pits will be bursting.

Even if you are not going to be racing come on down and supprot the club and the Bunbury Car Club/Krikke promotions group.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Crabby

Monday, February 7, 2011

Reply from Ben Ellement.

Ben has left a new comment on your post "Margaret River- Another great success for the Limi...":

Thanks to all the Limited crew for yet another great nights racing......Big thanks to Rocca, Rod and th Zeminik family for the drive.....Well done to the staff and trackcrew on the preperation of the track.....Raced at Margrets alot over the years and thats the best the surface has been......Bit sad to end the night on our sour note but all in all the 27 team was very happy with the nights racing.

Thx again.....Ben Ellement

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Margaret River- Another great success for the Limited Club.

Hi all,

Well the Limiteds travelled to Margaret River and put on another great show.
The 320's had 4 cars and there was 1 360.
We really appreciate the help we get from these guys to promote the sport of Sprintcar Racing by ensuring we get larger fields and put on a first rate show, so a big thanks to all you guys that came along, we hope you had a great time.

There was no major damage in any of the heats, we had a couple tag the wall but with no major components being damaged.

The track had a couple of dry spots and did rut up a bit by heat 2, but overall it really was a great track and the Margaret River club should be proud of their efforts to get the track so racy.

For the first time in my racing career we had a 4 wide salute, I was out of position 3 and keen to get the feature underway, but during the salute a small excursion into a puddle caused some drama with the 77 machine and into the infield we went to watch the feature.

The feature was underway and Michael Armstrong got the jump, however Ben Ellement set about going to the front and putting on a driving clinic, I would doubt even an open would have been quicker around the track.
Chris Ackland also was quick and Todd Davis came through the field with a great drive after being all adrift in the heats.
Gavin Davis also was quick in the feature until a small hose failure brought his night to the end.

The night had no low lights, it was just a great meeting with everyone performing well.
Gibbo had a night with a few engine dramas and we hope his luck picks up as he heads into the business end of the 320 season, time he had that number 1 stickered on his tail tank if you ask me, I was looking forward to actually having a good run with him, he has shown a clean pair of heels to me a few times and I was looking for some payback.

Highlights
Great track and a club that really appreciated the show we put on.
Darren Higgins took some advice before the feature and came out looking like a winner, just unlucky his front end felt unstable and he pulled in 3/4 of the way through.
Shane Webster had some good pace but lacked enough unleaded to finish the race.
The team 88 turned up with some great posters and hats and looked fabulous manning the bench in the local pub.
Martin Laughton, Lillian and Peter Morton organized another great meeting and worked tirelessly to ensure it was a success.

The only bad part of the night was the verbal crap after racing was complete, by a couple of members who think they can abuse officials, kind of makes the hard work of these officials not worth it, when they are gone so will our club be, think about that for a while before next meeting.

So folks it's off to Bunbury for World Series, we are racing on the Saturday night, heats will be split in 2 and we are guaranteed a 20 lap feature, so come on down and support our club the Bunbury car club, and the Krikke Boys promotion team.

Bad luck to Mick Doble who had a big dump at Geraldton, word is he has a new car almost ready.
By the way Mick, your parts are here this weekend, give me a call and let me know how you want them delivered.

Catch you all

Crabby.



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Back and keen to go.

Hi all,

Well after 2 and a half days on the road from Warrnambool to Mandurah we are home.

Good to see we have another large field of cars for Margaret River on Saturday night.
I am keen to see how we go there after Dhuy told me it was a good track a couple of years ago.

Gavin has put his "Renter" motor in to see how it goes before he sells it, this is one of his old motors modified and fresh, no doubt it will be a goer the same as all his motors.

Todd is coming down as well as is Chris Ackland, so you know it is going to be tough close racing, looking forward to rubbing shoulders again after a small absence while we were on the road.

We had a great time running speedweek, the classic and the Aussie title, with some great results for the team.
I always thought life on the road with a race team would be great, it isn't, it is late hours and hard work, we only holidayed after speedweek as we had Ed, Norby and Gail with us so Jarrad, Kris, Greg Fischer and Corey had all the work to do after speedweek.

If you look on Sprintcarworld you will see some of the articles about Kris's results.

Well just glad to be back and ready stomp the throttle.

See you at Margaret River.

Crabby