The Power Nationals 2006 Meeting
from Shakespeare County Raceway
Report and pictures by Richard Stirling © 2006
Oh dear! The weather really is beginning to take the biscuit. I'd hoped that the weather gods would look down on racing activities on Sunday with a little more kindness than Saturday. Alas, sometimes our wishes are not always granted....
Activities got underway at 11am in extremely blustry and damp conditions with a tribute to former SCR track promoter, Terry Gibbs, who passed away suddenly, on the 20th March. John Price gave a fitting tribute to all the assembled on track and a minute's silence was topped off with further kind words and appreciation from John.
The track crew toiled away to get the track into shape and their efforts, headed by Jon Cross, were rewarded with the first round of eliminations beginning at around a quarter to one. The duration of the racing, however, was going to be short. Just one round of sportsman eliminations was completed in addition to two finals. The Top fuel bike final was taken by a storming Steve Woollatt at 6.6 seconds at over 213mph, which was over a stout 7 second flat run from Steve Carey at over 200mph. Well done to both Steve's. The other final emerged from a decimated Street Eliminator category. With more cars than you could shake a stick at, I was expecting to see plenty of contenders to duke it out in the first round of competition today. I was puzzled to see just one entrant, Colin Lazenby in his 56 Chevy Sedan, lined up and ready to go in what turned out as an unopposed final. Apparently, there had been all sorts of problems in qualifying and on the cruise, which had bagged the rest of the field as victims and consequent no-shows. Colin, guided on track by Crew Chief Luke Robinson, did not disappoint on his run. He ran really hard and crossed the finishing line at a mind-blowing 185mph, on a run that took him just 8.8 seconds to get there. As Colin lifted, a massive flame came out of the left hand side which, although worrying at the time, later proved to be nothing of consequence - just a bit of fuel burning off in the hot exhaust on the overrun.
Unfortunately, just after twenty past two, the heavens opened. The rain wasn't particularly heavy, but any sort of rain is a no-no for drag racing. The track crew leapt into action, but their valiant efforts were to be in vain. Further showers over the next hour or so, meant that the Race Director called a halt to the proceedings at quarter to four, as there would be little chance of bringing the track around before the five o'clock curfew. Blast! We shall have to wait until next time for this unfinished business to be settled!
I have posted quite a few pictures from what activities there were on Sunday and they can now be viewed by clicking here. I had hoped to get this lot posted Sunday night/Monday night, but unfortunately, I had problems with a memory card used in one of the cameras. Normally, once I have processed the pictures, they are ordered by the time the pictures were taken. This means that no matter which camera took the picture, you are seeing the exact order in which they were taken, irrespective of camera used - as per Saturday's gallery. As I had to spend time recovering files from one camera after the meeting, the images now have a different time stamp and thus are now filed by one camera and then the next. I hope you enjoy the pictures anyway. Take look and see you again at www.topnitro.co.uk, soon.
I'd like to thank Lee Child, LA Racing Parts, Jerry Cookson, Tracy Cowen and all those associated with Shakespeare County Raceway for their continued support.
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