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BRACKET EVENT - 22ND MAY 2010 -
WILLOWBANK RACEWAY |
Bracket Event - 22nd May 2010 - Willowbank
Raceway.
Our day commenced around 2pm and mama had 5 qualifying passes.
They go like this:
First pass my reaction was .049 running 11.64 seconds over the
quarter mile.
Next pass was a .051 reaction and running 11.62
Then a cherry...oops! with the car having an 11.67 pass and maybe
not warmed up enough, hence the slower time.
The next was a .019 light with an 11.61 and the last qualifier
saw me with a .076 reaction and 11.60 pass.
We had 5 rounds of racing and my reactions were:
.070 .061 .003 then a bye run and in the final I had
a .092 reaction. Not real great reactions but good enough to get me
in the final.
On the bye run the Rover ran an 11.51 pass. Both Warren and
myself thought this a bit unusual, so we dialled-in 11.57 in the
final run. We really didn't think the car would have pulled another
11.51 out of the air...when, "holly molly" what does it
run an 11.50.
I had been running 116 mph and did back down to 111 mph on this
pass but still broke out...the car was definitely on a mission with
me having a PB sixty footer which was 1.572
I claimed the Runner-up position which, I believe, now places the
Mama's Toy Racing Team in 3rd Place in our Track Championship with
one event to go till end of season.
Also still sitting in 4th Place in the National Championship
having one event to go.
Next meeting is the biggest drag racing event on the Australian
calendar...THE CASTROL EDGE WINTERNATIONALS 10th -13th June 2010.
TOP FUEL CHAMPIONSHIP - 17 TH & 18TH APRIL 2010 |
Venue: Willowbank Raceway, Queensland, Australia.
TO BE or NOT TO BE!
Qualifying for us commenced on the Saturday around 12.30pm seeing
the Rover run 11.66 over the 1/4 mile.
Three qualifying runs were scheduled for this day but only two
eventuated. Our second run was an 11.64 second pass.
Early Sunday morning saw our last qualifier at 8 am where mama
ran 11.65 seconds.
Okay; time for round one of racing around 10am, dialling in at
11.65 with a .044 reaction against my opponents .055 but
unfortunately I was defeated in a very close race...down but not
out...it was not meant to be this day. However with two
more meetings to see out the end of season racing the Mama's Toy
Racing Team are still hoping for a good result in both
the Track and Australian Championships.
The females were on the move with an all girl final in the Junior
Dragster Bracket and another woman running a 5 second
pass over the weekend. Big congrats to these girls!
Only a short review and that sums it up for now...until next
time.
See you at track!
!
39TH ANNUAL WESTERNATIONALS - 27TH & 28TH FEB 2010 |
Setting out on Friday 19th February for our trek from the east
coast of Australia to the west coast to compete at the 39th Annual
Westernationals ANDRA PRO SERIES drag racing event.
7 in the bus, 2 in the transporter and 5 flying over.
Upon leaving Ipswich I really wasn't sure we'd make it out of
town with all the gear crunching going on and the bus stopping a
couple of times.
Finally on our way we met up with the boys in the transporter
carrying the three race vehicles. Trev's 63 Jaffa Cortina, Col's 64
EH Holden and Terri's Mama's Toy Rover.
We had lots of mishaps along the way, most of which happened on
the way home, and to mention a few:
Blown Headlight
Many Flat Tyres both on
the bus and transporter
Battery Terminal
Whole wheels flying off
the transporter and would you believe the bus door blew off but was
caught and eventually put back together with 19 screws, 100 MPH race
tape and for extra security a pair of thongs jammed between the door
and an aerial pole.
WAY TO GO BOYS...WHAT A FIX!
We set up at the track in very hot, wild and windy conditions
only to come back the next day to find Trev's pop-top damaged by the
wind and un-usable.
There was two qualifying sessions on the Saturday and one on
Sunday.
I dialled in 11.65 and ran 11.65 but was out-reacted and lost, so
we became spectators cheering on our fellow racers from Queensland.
Col Murray won his first round and then was paired up with Trev
Davis who won the race.
Trev went on to win our Super Street bracket and received the
coveted ANDRA gold Christmas Tree trophy.
A very big congratulations to Trev and his crew for a great
performance.
New friendships were made during this trip and what a great bunch
of characters to travel and race with.
Current Standings:
3rd Place in the Willowbank Raceway Track Championship with
four meetings to go till end of season.
Sitting in 2nd position in our Super Street bracket in the RARS
(Rocket Allstar Racing Series) for the season 2009/2010
INTERNATIONAL NEW YEAR SERIES
RD 1 - 2ND JANUARY 2010
The day commenced for us at 8am with very cloudy conditions with
the forecast of showers. Super Street had 3 qualifying passes the
first being at 10.11am then 12.27pm and 2.19pm.
Rain held up proceedings for at least 2 hours which then led our
bracket to have their first round of racing at 10.08pm.
By now this little groovy grandma should be ready for
bed....lol
The Mama's Toy Racing Team managed to get to the SEMI-FINAL which
now places me in 3rd place in the Willowbank Raceway Track
Championship with five rounds to go till the end of the season.
The meeting itself was finalised at 12.30am and I believe we hit
the sack around 2.30am. Mama is still recovering...lol
A big congrats to Willowbank Raceway for seeing the meeting right
to the end through trying times with the downpour.
I'm sure like us the other racers would have been very pleased
that the organizers of this event saw fit to continue on and finish
the meeting.
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Benaraby Raceway had their end of season drag race meeting on
28th November with a Test'n'Tune format the night before.
Mama, Warren, some of the crew and friends decided to make the 7
hour trip to have some fun and compete at this event. Conditions on
arriving at the track both days was very hot and dusty.
We had four runs of the Friday night with the first pass being
rather hairy. Lots of wheel spin off the line and I was wrestling
with the steering wheel trying to keep the old girl, (not me, the
Rover - lol ) headed in a straight line.
Benaraby's tree reads in .4
of a second and my first reaction was a red light.
My other reactions: .470 .461
.459
Best elapsed time on this day was 11.75
Before qualifying commenced on Saturday, I pulled out the
Portatree, purchased from Bullseyeracing a while back, to practice
my reactions. We had 5 qualifying passes and quickest ET was 11.71
Reactions: .471
.345 OOPS! .421 .518 sleep
time then .416
Racing for us commenced at 6.40pm with it being CHICAGO SHOOTOUT
racing which means 3 races to determine who's in the final. We
dialled in 11.76 in the first round of racing with a .482 to my
opponents .678 reaction and mama being the winner.
Second round and I'm up against Australia No1... Paul Dilley. We
dropped the dial-in to 11.71 and ran 11.75 with a .487 reaction to
his .543 and again mama was the victor.
I had a BYE in the third round as the other racer I was to come
up against (James O'Sullivan) destroyed his engine at the finish
line on his last pass. Because of this style of shootout even though
I'd just won 2 rounds of racing this last run would be the decider
as to whether or not I'd make the final.
The rule to win this round was not to red light or breakout. I
aired on the side of caution with my reaction and waited for the
lights to come down and had a .594 and ran 11.76 on my 11.73
dial-in.
The word came back that we had succeeded and made it into the
final. It's now around 10pm. Our dial-in 11.73 my opponent 12.27
Reactions: mama .536 Oops .... another snooze! Must be a bit late
for grandma...lol
opponents
.516
My run: 11.735
Opponents: 12.280 for the win and the margin was only .015
The whole team was just rapt that we made the final. I found the
track itself to be rough in the right hand lane, especially
mid-track, however manageable and I enjoyed racing immensely.
I also had the opportunity to have a chat over the PA System with
the commentator as did other racers and the atmosphere at Benaraby
Raceway was absolutely fantastic. The meeting was run extremely well
by the organisers and everyone so friendly, to the extent that we
would not hesitate on travelling again next year to compete.

Congratulations to Benaraby Raceway for a great meeting!

This Bracket Event was rather interesting to say the least!
After arriving at the track and unloading the race vehicle etc, I
then headed to the scrutineering bay to hand in our entry form, only
to be told no paperwork would be accepted yet due to a minor fault
with the Christmas Tree lights. The third amber light was not
working and the problem couldn't be fixed on the day.
Track management did decide to go ahead with the meeting but no
points would be allocated towards the Track Championship only
trophies given to the finalists.
Racers were also given the option of having their entry refunded
if they wished to leave and not run the meeting.
The heat was soaring and after my first qualifying pass I noticed
on the way back up the return road that one out of three heat gauges
was winding itself off the clock. I pulled over to check under the
bonnet.
Fans still working, no gurgling coming from the radiator and no
signs of any other malfunction. I sat for a while to let the car
cool then drove back to the paddock area. After inspection it seemed
the gauge was at fault.
I lost by two thousandths of a second in the first round of
racing.
OH WELL! There's always next time.
Track management had a minute silence for the sad loss of fellow
racer - Darren Shepherd who was tragically killed in Sydney
recently. As a show of support the bike riders and their crew all grouped together
at the top of the lanes.
Racing continued but I think lots had problems with their
reactions due to the faulty light on the tree. Quite a few were red
lights or they went in the other direction and were .2's and .3's
However some racers did achieve good reactions and CONGRATS to
those who made the final.
See you next time!
Our Mini-Field of Women event was in doubt at first as it looked
very much like rain from the previous two days was to continue into
the weekend.
However we organised ourselves and headed on out to Willowbank
Raceway arriving around 12.30pm, Saturday 7th November 2009,
and
commenced setting up.
This event was to be held in conjunction with Willowbank
Raceways, Havoc Print & Sign Street Series with the gates
opening at 2.30pm.
Mini-Fields are designed to pay tribute to women who have
suffered from breast cancer and the planting of 100 Pink Lady
Silhouettes serves as a display of support for these women and their
families.
The weather was kind and the event a huge success.
I decided once again to sell Breast Cancer Network Australia
merchandise and the outcome to this was astounding. On the day we
raised $600, which in turn brought our total to $1500.
Prior to this we campaigned for breast cancer awareness with the
selling of merchandise at the recent Sunstate Nationals at Palmyra
Dragway, Mackay and the generosity of the many people was enormous
to say the least.
The whole idea of Mini-Fields is to pay tribute to women who have
suffered from this disease, but by selling the merchandise this in
turn helps to make others breast cancer journey just that little bit
easier.
I'd like to thank the Palmyra Drag Racing Club for their support
and a huge thank you to the racers and their crew who attended this
event and gave so generously.
Thank you to Willowbank Raceway for enabling our Mini-Field to go
ahead.
Thank you to the Meeting Director - Peter Duffy. the commentator
-Chris Diggles for his support during the day, the officials,
racers, spectators and of course my helpers on the day.
Husband - Warren
Daughter - Janine for her massive effort. LOVE YOU HEAPS!
Crew Member - John Mackay and his daughter Briley
Friends - Debbie Mackay, Gill Johnson, Georgina Atkinson.

www.bcna.org.au

Mama managed a Semi-Final appearance at this Bracket Event held at Willowbank
Raceway. I was shocked to get this far as I believe my reactions were mostly
horrid.
However a win is a win.
In the second round I did have a good .041 reaction to take the win.
Third round saw both my opponent and I with identical reactions but once
again mama came out the victor.
Semi-Final and I pull a red light.
I an now tied on 2nd place, with one young gun, in our Super Street bracket
for the Track Championship.
I am also currently leading the Australian Championship in our bracket.
Mama is really hoping this season's results will provide me with a
championship win.
Come join us at the
track!

GROOVY GRANDMA STRIKES AGAIN!
Our journey began at 6.20am Wednesday 30th Sept with Warren and I heading
north to Mackay, 1000 kilometres, to compete at the Sunstate Nationals and burn
some rubber.
The first day was to end once we reached Gladstone for an overnight stay with
our granddaughter Caitlyn, daughter Janine and her partner Ross at his home.
We were going along great guns until the inner-city bypass where we hit
bumper to bumper traffic that led to an arrival at Gladstone around 2.30pm.
Departure from Gladstone was at 8.30am the next morning passing three really
neat looking Hot Rods travelling in the opposite direction along the highway.
Quick stop at Rockhampton for fuel and pick up subway for lunch. Our
amusement for the next 350 kilometres was the colourful language heard over the
CB radio and music, arriving at Mackay 3.10pm.
The countryside was as dry as a bone and the creeks we passed along the way,
were either dried up or those that had a small amount of water looked very
murky. Once we reached the sugarcane fields this area appeared green.
The paddock area at Palmyra Dragway, Mackay was hot, dry, windy and extremely
dusty. We had 3 runs on the Friday night with the race car running all over the
place.
TIMES: 11.67 11.75 11.85 not at all it's
consistent self!
Anyway we put this out of our minds for Saturday's qualifying that saw us
run:
11.75 11.72 and
11.89 with the Rover wheel spinning due to track conditions. Again we
disregarded these runs and now not enough data in the weather station to predict
our runs accurately, so Warren and I went back to our old method of picking a
dial-in by checking the humidity and relying on our knowledge of the car's
previous performances.
Out comes the practice Christmas Tree to help sharpen my reactions for racing
knowing this could be crucial.
With a relatively small field of only 16 cars and 4 rounds of racing to the
final and being seeded from round one, I was lucky enough to be up against last
season's Australian Champion and winner of this event two years ago.
I left with a clean green light and my opponent pulling a cherry thus giving
mama the win.
Our dial-in for round two was 11.72 and again I'm the slower car and cut a
.053 reaction to my opponents .101 and backed off to run 11.75 with another win.
Semi-Final and I'm up against twice winner of this event. Again mama's first
to leave the line with a good .031 to a .097 again backing off to run 11.77 on
an 11.72 dial-in for the win.
Into the final against the current Super Street Champion and the winner of
this event last year and I cut a .088 light, not great but better than my
opposition. With almost .1 advantage I backed down to run 11.77 on my 11.73
dial-in for the win.
The girls were on fire at this event with a Supercharged Outlaws win for
Christine Steffans, mama in Super Street and two in the final of Junior
Dragster.
With over 140 entrants this was the biggest Sunstate Nationals event for
Palmyra Dragway to date and a huge success.
Congratulations to all the finalists at this event!
I would sincerely like to thank our daughter Janine and granddaughter Caitlyn
for their mammoth effort at this meeting with our Breast Cancer Network
Australia awareness campaign.
A huge thank you to the racers and their crew who showed their support as
well. It was very much appreciated!
And to my wonderful husband Warren for trekking up north once again.

Groovy Grandma
signing out!
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