Bits and Pieces

Hi All

Michelle has asked if all club members can please make sure that she has your email addresses so that you can recieve club correspondance.

Martin is close to finalising this seasons calender and it just waiting to hear from a couple of tracks and then it will be released. Hopefully we'll see it on the next few weeks.

Well it seems that most of us are rebuilding and restocking for the new season and i know of one excited young man in Mandurah eagerly awaiting the arrival of his new toy from the US.

Hopefully this will be the first of a few new cars for this season.

Well thats all for now so stay safe and dry.

Mike

SKIP JACKSON -AFOS COLLECTION.

Hi all,

I am collecting donations for Skip Jackson on behalf of our club.

There is a press release on the Limited Sprintcar Web site telling about Skips condition.

I urge each of our club members to help us reach our goal of $2,500.00 but would love to see this go beyond to even double.

As a sprincar fan please get behind this initiative and offer support to Skip's family by way of a donation.

For those who do not know Skip is a former Australian Sprintcar Champion and lives in Knoxville where he has raced since leaving Australia.

As at today Wednesday 8/06/2011 we have raised $710.00

I will be emailing as many people as I can and phoning as many as I can to ask for your assistance in achieving our target.

We have 1100 hits per month to this blog so even if we only get 100 people donating we would pass the first goal.

Steve Crabbe

Carnarvon Wrap Up.

Hi all,

Shane Webster asked me to post this, for memories sake.

Carnarvon was another weekend of fun, first night was rained out and we hit the local pubs, just like the old days of playing rugby when we travelled around the Pilbara there were plenty of crew members and family out and about but the local drivers were conspicuous in there absence, we had plenty of amber fluid and food but all got out of there early enough to be fit for a 2pm double meeting race day on Sunday.

Sunday came and the track started to dry out, at 1pm we started wheel packing but it was to no avail, the mud just would not pack, the track was too wet for a grader so we waited some more, about 40 mins later 4 super sedans went out and started to try and run a line in, they succeeded and we took the sprintcars out again to help out, we rolled a 1.5 car wide line in and we were muddy but ready to go.

Not sure who won all the heats as we were bum up and head down in our camp but I can tell you Annette lost a fuel pump drive coming off of turn 4 which put her into the wall gently, the race was called after we got about 3 racing laps in which pissed me off no end, after getting several tonnes of mud on the car to get the race meeting going it appeared we were going to be given the short shift all night which is exactly what happened, there was no crane or anything else sent out to get Annette's car, it was left on the wall and we had to go and get it ourselves, thanks for coming 900km's to support our club, in the words of Sheldon from the big bang theory "that was sarcasm".

I won heat 3 and started off the back of heat 4, a big move on Robbie Stephens down the back straight on the outside had me tearing out the Jacobs ladder mounts on my chassis, my night was run, we got my power steering pump into Annette's car and my headers off and onto Glen's car being driven by Cory Gilpin and got them back out for the last few heats and the feature.

There were no other problems for the others and the track dialled in very fast.

The feature had Mick McGinnes off pole and Mat Peaker from Karatha on the outside pole.
Mick got away quickly and the positions really did not change from there, although the track was a bit one lane, the speed of the surface ensured unless someone made a big mistake it was a drag race for the brave.

1st Mick McGinnes
2nd Mat Peaker
3rd Robbie Stephens.

In summary we had a great time, but if the sprintcars run with the North West Championship for Sedans next year then we will be giving it a miss, it is just to far to go to be messed around.

The crowd may not have seen too much passing but they witnessed some of the fastest sprintcar racing you will see.

Steve (prima donna) Crabbe

Mick Doble update.

The off season has arrived for most of the drivers and crews, but we have decided to continue racing what meetings we can.

Mick McInnis and I travelled to Karratha on the 27th and 28th of May to compete in the Nickol Bay Speedway Sprintcar muster. The car numbers were not as good as they had hoped but the racing was fast and very close in most races, some of the local limited cars are not as fast as we are used to but to talk to them at the end of the night and to see how much fun they are having it just goes to show you don’t need all the latest gear to enjoy this sport.

The Limiteds started off with 9 cars and dropped off slowly throughout the night. The first was Burke Holla with an engine problem that saw him pack up and head back to Carnarvon, one of the local drivers tagged the wall and another chased a fuel problem all night.

I am sorry I did not get all the names of the drivers or the positions they came but the results I can remember are below.

Aaron Ishiguchi was fast in the first heat leading all the way, I started off the rear and finished second.
The second heat I lead for the first 4 or 5 laps only to run over a piece of curb that had made its way onto the track and cracked the left rear wheel and blow the tyre, on the restart one of the local drivers had the left rear wheel come off and stopped the race again and with this the race was declared, this should have meant Aaron picked up his second win.

The third heat I picked up the win from Aaron.
On the second night Dusty got his fuel problem sorted out and was on the pace. The first heat went to e from Aaron and Dusty came in third.

The second heat had Dusty take off and lead the race from start to finish with me finishing in second. Aaron clipped the wall early on and ended on the infield but luckily did not have much damage.

The feature came around with its share of confusion, first the officials didn’t want to have an interval so this gave us no time to prepare our cars but after a discussion took place they agreed to give us 10 minutes to get ready. After this there was a mix up with the division that was to go out first and the 360’s had been told to get ready. Aaron and I continued to get their cars ready only to see the local limiteds being pushed out, when the pit marshals were questioned who was meant to be out they also had no idea but after contacting the stewards they announced it was the limiteds after all and we had 2 minutes to get on the track?? Unfortunately Aaron missed the time limit and had to start from the rear leaving Dusty to fill position 2 next to me for the start.

At the end I won from Dusty and Aaron.
I did not get the results in the other divisions but Mick McInnis was fast both nights and took a couple of wins and ended second in the feature race, and Shawn Bradford the only other car that travelled from down south was as always very fast getting around in the low 13 second range. Shawn took the win for the 410’s

It was a great week end of racing and we will be going back up again soon and it would be great to see some more cars make the journey up to support the Nickol Bay speedway. I would like to thank the committee and members who did everything they could to make it an enjoyable weekend and to see the smiles on the kids faces when they asked for autographs and posters etc makes it all worth the effort.

There is a race meeting in Carnarvon on the 4th and 5th of June with Steve and Annette Crabbe, Mick McInnis, Robbie Stephens, Andrew Pedlar and a few others heading up. Burke will be running a borrowed motor for the weekend as he hasn’t had time to fix his yet, there is also some very fast local drivers in Carnarvon so it should be another great weekend of limited Sprintcar racing. Unfortunately I will be working and will not be running again until the Far Western in Shark Bay.

Mick Doble

LIMITED SPRINTCAR AGM AND WINDUP.

Hi all,

Well it is that time of year again and the AGM is on the 28th May at 1pm at Woodlupine Community Hall, 88 Hale Road, Forrestfield.
Come along and ensure the club has heard your voice and is going in the direction the majority want it to go in.

Also on the same night is the awards presentation, this is being held at the Cannington Greyhounds, This is on Albany Highway Cannington. Go to Chasers resteraunt and ask for directions to our Function Room from there.
NOTE----You must pre purchase your tickets through the club, contact Lillian or Michelle for your tickets.


Well readers the blog has been fun for the last 3 years but it is time for me to sign off and hand it over to another member, thanks for the support and comments and good luck to the new Blogger whom ever they will be.

Crabby

WATSONS SPRINTCAR EXPRESS

Hi all,

Dont forget to nominate and go out to support the Sprintcar Express at Pithara this coming weekend.

These events are not run that often and the work that has been put in should be rewarded by us all.

If you have not nominated it is not too late, if you have make the effort to go up and race.

My tip in the Limiteds is from Geraldton, I will say no more as I do not want to jinx him.

Have a great event guys.

Crabby (From Onslow)

Geraldton here we all come.

Hi all,

Well in the words of a 1970's song " my bags are packed I'm ready to go ".

We have packed the race car and gear, we were leaving at 1pm Thursday for a 2 day cruise to Geraldton with some stops to meet and eat with old friends along the way, then can you believe it, another bloody meeting has been called in Perth, and wait for it, at 12pm, well there goes that plan, now it will be a race to get to Durien Bay in time for the big night out with friends.

Anyway enough complaining, we are set and looking forward to running in Gero, I here they have some new dirt on the track in an attempt to stop a couple of the holes forming that are usually present each meeting.

Annette has her car packed as well and is keen.

Glen phoned tonight just to let me know he was missing us all whilst filling ships with oil for the good old USA, wishes he could win lotto and become a full time race car driver apparently.

Anyway see you in Geraldton.

Hey Mick, if you read this tell Laurie Shirley I expect to see him at the track.

Catch you

Crabby

Limited Sprintcar Club Season Nears an End.

Good evening all,

Well only a few more meetings and the season will come to an end, and from the Crabbe perspective it has been long and arduous, with around 20 nights of racing and 3 cars to keep on the track I am all but burned out.

From my view we have come a long way this year, my car speed and craft his improved out of site and it is good to be nearing the pointy end, 2 feature race wins for the year has also been great, minor crashes and some well documented engine woes have kept us from a couple of other wins but that's racing.
Annette has come a long way, as referred to by the whingers of the sprint car world she was called a "mobile spectator" only mid season, now she has found something and is getting on the gas hard, a great effort for her first season of driving anything, no juniors, no motorbike riding just here is a sprint car hop in.
Glen has had the 45 car on rails at every hooked up track, considering he only gets to run 6 to 7 meetings a year he has done well.

So with Geraldton and then Carnarvon to go for us we will welcome the off season and a chance to reinvigorate.
Not sure how much I have left in the tank after this year, with a busy work schedule and several new plants on the go at once it is harder to find the time to go racing any more.

We need to get more cars to Geraldton for the Easter week end, keep supporting the club, once Easter is done we are finishing off the season, Carnarvon is now an open meeting with the perpetual trophy for Limited club members but trophies for all other sprint car divisions.

It would be good to get at least 10 cars to each meeting, Geraldton and Carnarvon, so please look at the chance to race with a holiday thrown in.

Catch you

Crabby

Narrogin wrap up.

Hi all

Well another meeting run and won, bit disappointing with the car count, only seven cars turned out, but it has been a long season and only one week since the state title.

Narrogin turned on a nice surface and as usual the guys were quick.

Shane Maskel took out the points on the night with Annette Crabbe taking out second.

Maskie was quick all night and was hard done by in the feature, having to start half a lap behind.
Annette was quick and had the most car speed but could not work out the tricky Narrogin turns, Shane on the other hand had them sussed and put the move on everyone in the turns.
Thanks to Grant Chisolm for turning up and having a run, since bining the JEI and hopping into a Maxim he has gone ahead in leaps and bounds, sounds familiar doesn't it.
Gavin Davis had a night to forget as did I, we both had problems, mine early and Gavin's late.
Into the feature and we finally had the 77 sorted and ready, Ed and Mick put a good setup into the car and we started off pole as the lowest point scorer of the night, we did not start a heat, Annette and Grant Chisolm were off 50m and Maskie was off 100 m.

I had to get some pride back so set about my mission to run Maskie down, with 2 to go I had Maskie and Annette in my sights, Maskie slipped by Annette leaving me to wonder how I was going to get by, but they pulled the white and the race only went 10 laps.
Would have been a great race if Maskie and I went off the same spot, but after my horror night I was just glad to get a run.

Thanks to Narrogin for another great night, we just enjoy getting out there and trying to work that track out, it is fast but tricky.

Well a couple of weeks off to get prepared for the big Easter meet in Geraldton, have not been back to Geraldton since the 2008/2009 season when we had a year there to forget, Gavin tipped the car over there for me and then the next meeting I had a mishap and tipped it over again, used several spares from Gavin and Norbert and got the car going for the next night and overheated, surely this time around we will get it right.

Be nice to give Mick a run on his home track, if we beat him in a heat we know we will have finally made it.

Catch you

Crabby.

ARMSTRONG SPRINTCAR CUP

Hey Racers

Come one come all to this year’s Wayne Armstrong Sprintcar Cup to be held at the Geraldton City Speedway.
The format and information for this year’s racing is as follows:
Engine Starts/Wheel Packing/Hot laps/Time Trials/Two rounds of heats/Poll Dash
B main (if required)/A main

Once again there are plenty of great prizes up for grabs as well as some fantastic drivers nominating and keen for the chance to take out this year’s cup.

$200 tow money is offered to all cars nominated to run in the Wayne Armstrong Sprintcar Cup, who travel more than 150 km’s.

Mum (Carole) has also invited everyone out to her place for a bbq lunch on Sunday “ byo meat and drinks “. Directions will be given to anyone that needs them at the drivers meeting or by contacting me prior.

Once again we are looking forward to have a fun, exciting night of racing and hope to see you all there.

If you haven’t booked accommodation yet look at the Greenough River Caravan Park as they have large cabins and are close to the track.

Mike Armstrong