Central Motor Speedway Cromwell - Easter - 3rd & 5th April 2015
Pam & I were invited to stay with the X Factor Racing team for easter so off to Cromwell it was. The Central Motor Speedway Club put on a huge weekend with major events planned for Sprint Cars, Super Saloons & Saloons. They had club championships for all classes on the Friday plus the Super Saloon Stampede on the Sunday. And adding the combined points for the Super Saloons over both nights made a third event for us namely the Easter Championships.
Friday was warm and it was a 3 heat plus a feature deal for us. With only Pam & I on hand to sort any problems I was tending on the cautious side at least until I got into the drivers seat LOL. This was the last weekend of racing for 811 for the season so why take it easy?
Heat 1 and we drew grid 4. The first lap was a bit hairy but then things settled down and we were very pleased to sneak in a 2nd place finish behind 3nz Ian Burson. Heat 2 from grid 9 and finish 4th and man was that a fast fast fast race. Started from grid 4 in the last heat and was very pleased to finish 3rd. This put us starting the feature from grid 3 behind Osborne and Burs. The first few laps I tried real hard to get up alongside Ian but just couldn't make it stick. Settled in and finished 3rd which was a great result for the team after a really tough season. It was fantastic to get a podium result with 3rd overall in their club champs. The racing was clean, fast and most of all really enjoyable. No damage too so Pam & I had a relatively easy night too :)
Sunday we spent the day preparing 811 in the X Factor Racing workshop alongside Graham Williamson's 21t Mustang. We were very pleased to have the assistance of a few of their team to help us out too, thanks heaps guy's. Once at the track it was time to get the race face on and although I drew a rear grid for heat 1 this meant 811 would be starting the second heat from grid 1. Yes ... finally a decent grid draw! Tonights deal was similar to the Elf Super Cup rounds with two heats then a top 6 pole shuffle to determine grids for a 20 lap feature. The top three place getters in the feature would be awarded the Stampede trophies etc.
First heat and we took 811 from grid 12 to finish 7th. Not great but okay considering the level of competition. Second heat and I managed to get out to a bit of a lead but with a few laps to go I started making incar adjustments. This actually slowed progress and although we won the race it was very nearly thrown away with a fast catching Paul Wright having to settle for second. Yes again ... about time we had a race win! Thanks Sabrina for the video.
These results put us second overall behind Burs which was a great effort. In the pole shuffle however there was no stopping Darryl Ainsley on his home track. He won every challenge and took his rocket right through to start on grid 1 leaving us to settle for a grid 3 start with Burs leaving from grid 2. Race start and I was plaesed to have a slightly damp surface with the night getting cooler. So pleased that we managed to promptly get by both Darryl and Ian then start getting some real good fast laps in. At lap 12 we had a reasonable lead and the car felt good, so good that I have rarely felt as confident and at ease racing especially when in the lead all at the same time. However that was about to change when along the front straight the engine just let go and that was it ... race done! Only needed 8 more laps outta that engine and we would have not only won the Super Saloon Stampede but also the two day combined Easter Champs dammit! We ended up 3rd equal overall with Shane McIntyre but because we couldn't attend the run-off we ended up 4th. I was even more gutted when I found out the winner of the feature not only won the Stampede but also received $1000 for the effort DOH!!! But well done to all the winners over the weekend. We were stoked to have proven that we can not only compete alongside but also sometimes beat the best in the game. I want more LOL. Thanks again Sabrina for this video.
Gotta thank Kate & Graham Williamson of X Factor Cars for accommodating us over the weekend, plus Wentworth Carrying for getting us to Cromwell. And thanks heaps to our methanol man who has been awesome all season.
Keep an eye on the workshop page as we go through the engine strip down and diagnosis. Not looking forward to that bit at all :( Although we were always stripping down the engine after this meeting it would have been better had it not sustained damage or if it had to let go, why couldn't it have waited till crossing the line on lap 20?

Elf Super Cup, Rounds 5 & 6 - Nelson & Blenheim 21 & 22 March 2015
This weekend 811 travelled north for the final 2 rounds of the Elf Super Cup at Nelson & Blenheim. This time Pam, Casey & I had the extra assistance of Steve & Eddy from Lewis Pass Motors plus Craig from Elf Lubricants helping on the crew duties too which proved to be invaluable cos man what a tough weekend it was, AGAIN!
The hot laps in Nelson proved we had a very quick car with the team getting the set-up spot on. First heat and 811 was leaving from the rear of the grid and I made a couple of great passes in the first corner but when getting checked up in turn 3 we received a huge rear end hit which instantly destroyed the right rear suspension including arms, shock, jacobs ladder, tyre plus diff hat etc so yet another race parked on the infield due to no fault of our own. If it wasn't for the boys joining us on the crew we would never of made it out for the second heat. Great work guys and man we had a rocket ship underneath us too. Also gotta thank 48 Gavin Hill for loaning us a spare diff hat to get us going, cheers Gavin. Next heat 811 was leaving from grid 2 outside 2nz Fluffy. I made the first corner outside pass stick nicely and took off to lead the race but I later succumbed to a bit of brain fade I think or ran out of talent (whatever ya wanna call it) and just messed up a couple of entries into turn 3. This allowed Fluffy to pounce and duck underneath out of turn 4 and take the win while we had to settle for 2nd place. This was a shame cos the team definitely deserved a win for the great efforts going in over the weekend, sorry guy's and gal's. The 25 lap feature was a very dusty and tough race. Although 811 was the victim of some rather rough passes, I like it when the racing is non-stop from green to checkered without any cautions. After Nelson's round we had dropped to 13th overall in the series which meant we were in deep trouble and highly unlikely to make the top 10 dammit!
So off to Blenheim's Eastern States Speedway on the sunday to give it our best shot. I drew middle of the field for both heats and yet again the team got the set-up real good. The car was very quick in the hot laps and I was confident we could collect some valuable points. Started the race well and made a couple of passes but you guessed it, boom and we are hit and sideways losing places and then racing at the back of the field with a wounded car. Geeez it just seems that we can't catch a break at times. Yet again the boys and girls did a great job and they repaired the damage to get ready for the second heat. By this time the track had little surface and made for virtually no passing except for the brain fade thing from yours truly allowing two cars to sneak underneath, dammit again! So by now the only thing left was to try the best in the 25 lap feature which was also the last race for the whole series. And what happens? ... RAIN !!! Feature race along with the meeting "called" and the series done and dusted with the final points as they stand. Opportunity lost for us, the same as the Dunedin round when we had gone so well.
We ended up with 766.5 points 12th overall in the Elf Super Cup just 43.5 shy of the top 10. There are a whole bunch of "what if's" where we can see that 811 could have been in the top 10 but that's racing aye. So we gotta take the positives out of the series and the highlight has got to be the sheer pace that 811 is now displaying and our team's immense improvement in on-track performance even if the end results don't reflect it. We show some moments of brilliance but they just seem to be too few and far between LOL.
Gotta thank Ramset NZ's Nelson team for supporting Nees Racing over the weekend. PLus Noel and Trish Noble for putting us up again at their Aston Court Motel in Blenheim. Much appreciated thank you. Plus Rowan and the team at Translog for your support. Also to Steve, Eddy and Craig thank you so much for joining Pam, Casey and I again this weekend, couldn't have done it all without ya's.
Next meeting for 811 and the team will be supporting the double header of the ever popular Battle of the Stocks at Woodford Glen Speedway.
Then we are off to Cromwell at Easter to support the X Factor Racing Team. Hopefully we can get a clearance from our club to allow us to take 811 with us :)
See ya's trackside this weekend. Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen Speedway - Elf Super Cup - 14 March 2015
Round 4 of the Elf Super Cup and no travelling for us this weekend which is great. I was hopeful of a good fast clean run tonight plus the aim was making the Top 8 Shootout backed up with a Top 5 finish in the 25 lap feature. As I said in my last report this may also seem a bit optimistic but we again had Steve & Rachel joining Glen, Pam, Casey, Fran & I on the crew. We had our long time supporters Wentworth Carrying in the crowd so we had to put on a great effort.
811 had two middle grid starts for the first two heats. In heat one we were very plaesed to be rewarded with a 2nd place and heat two we missed the set-up somewhat and only finished 6th. This had us into the top 8 shootout which went extremely well for us. 811 went so well that we advanced to start from grid 4 in the 25 lap final.
The final got a little more interesting with the front row guys (Richie and Ray) deciding to take the bonus points and start from the rear of the field so 811 enjoyed a front row start on grid 2.
The car felt good and we were going great too until lap 6 when we ended up being spun infield. After the donut 811 had to chase from the rear of the field and I was confident we could improve. However many cautions hindered progress and although we finished 11th in the race it was basically only through others attrition. 811 was on target for it's best feature result for this season's Elf Super Cup so it was a bit dissappointing however we still scored our best points for the rounds so far and we set the 2nd fastest lap time during the 25 lap feature, awesome stuff!
Plus we have advanced 4 places on the points table to be in 12th place now so that's wicked too.
Next meeting for 811 will be the final two rounds of the Elf Super Cup in Nelson and Blenheim next weekend. Wish us some good luck please cos we are trying our best to get back into the top 10 overall.
Woodford Glen's website has the els data and some photos plus Macgor's has a bit of discussion regarding the night's racing too :)
Cheers for now ... Flash

Beachlands Speedway - South Island Super Saloon Championship & Elf Super Cup Round 3 - 20 & 21 Feb 2015
Another big weekend away and this time for the South Island Championships in Dunedin. Plus round 3 of the Elf Super Cup. Was looking forward to this one cos we seem to have a reasonable car underneath us at present which is performing rather well especially when we get the set-ups right.
Plus we had the bonus of some experienced helpers on board for the weekend. Steve Templeton has been sorting super saloons for many years plus we had Casey's partner Brendon (ex the BRT stables) along with his brother Corey helping out too. Gotta thank the ladies too, Erin and Rachel for joining us and Casey did an awesome job keeping the team fed and watered.
So ... how did we go? I really like the Beachlands track but seldom have a decent amount of luck go our way for some reason. I guess the aim was for a top 5 overall or thereabouts for the two events. May seem a bit optimistic but hey we have been in and around the top 10 for a while so why not!
Friday was our SI Champs and I drew grid 10 out of the 19 starters. Made up a bit of ground in this one and finished 6th which was a pleasing start. Started the second heat from grid 1 and 811 got off to a reasonable start holding 2nd place for a while behind 3nz Ian Burson. A caution had the pack bunch up again and at the drop of the green flag I started struggling for rear end grip. We miss calculated how fast the track would go slick and received a bit of contact which didn't help so in hindsight we should have thought more about the fact each heat was 20 laps. Anyhow lesson learnt and a 7th place finish which at this stage had 811 in 5th place overall on points. Not bad considering the places lost. So onto the last heat where we started from the rear of the field with a lot of work to do. Managed to get the car hooking up okay on the high line so thought lets do this. Started making a couple of passes and was feeling really confident in the car too. A caution flag slowed everyone up and at that point our left rear wheel parted company putting an end to our nights racing. We made a mistake in the pits which I'm sure many teams have done but can consider ourselves very lucky that the wheel didn't come off at high speed cos that could have been disastrous. We definately learnt a lot tonight so bring on Saturday night! Congrats to Richie Taylor, Ian Burson and Shane McIntyre on their podiums.
After a few more changes the team were confident on a decent run for 811 in the Elf Super Cup on the Saturday. Heat 1 and we were leaving from grid 1 along side Kane Lawson. He got the jump at the start and after a couple of unsuccesful attempts to get back past him down low I just drove round the outside into the lead and the car felt awesome. Great work by the team right there, the car was perfect! Richie was the only one to catch us and get by even though we put up a good fight LOL. The second heat was good too even though I got held up in traffic while trying to make my way forward. Made a few gains but should have been more really. Still at this point we were solidly into the top 8 shootout but the rain came and put a stop to the meeting dammit. So all the good work and points gain which would probably have put us well up the points table was negated. So again we just can't seem to capture a decent result even though we have a fast car. It's that thing called luck coming into it again. However the car is feeling really good and I'm gaining in confidence as we make calculated changes. Very pleasing so a huge thank you to Steve, Brendon, Glen & Kevy for getting 811 closer to the pointy end :)
Also want to thanks Wayne Andrews of Otago Metals for sorting our methanol delivery and for supplying a replacement wheel centre. Very much appreciated thanks Wayne.
Was also great to briefly catch up with the X Factor Racing team and we look forward to hosting them and seeing the 21t Mustang in action here at Woodford Glen on 7th March for their SI Champs.
Cheers for now ... Flash

Elf Super Cup - Invercargill/Cromwell - 6 & 7 Feb 2015
After weather delaying the start of this seasons Elf Lubricants Super Cup we finally got underway this weekend. After the recent performances of 811 I was quietly confident that we could get some reasonable results and earn some decent points to get us off to a reasonable start on the points table. How wrong was I !!!
In the first heat at Riverside the track peeled up in layers which 811 really struggled with. It just goes to show how behind we are with shock absorbers compared to the top teams. The track was considerably better for the second heat but even after these 2 heats we found ourselves struggling for points and starting the feature from grid 17 dammit. We managed to get the setup quite good for the 25 lap feature and made our way up to 10th and were looking good to take the next two cars as well. This would have been the saviour for the night however Mark Carey lost a wheel which caused a bit of chaos resulting in 811 getting spun up and puncturing our L/R tyre forcing us to watch the race from the infield. This meant we came away from Riverside in a lowly 18th place on the points table. Very disappointing!
Was hoping for a much better run at Cromwell and we started better with a 4th place finish in heat 1. Only just made the start line in time for a real tough heat 2. The points gathered had 811 leaving from grid 12 for the 25 lap feature. An improvement on the previous night but still below what we are capable of, which just goes to show how much everyone is improving. In this race I had a great dice with Paul Renton for many laps finally getting past and finishing in 10th place. The points table still looks rather bleak with 811 now 16th overall.
Gotta thank my regular southern helper Paul Wood, plus Graham & Kate Williamson from X Factor Cars for the weekends accommodation and hospitality. Very thankful for all the help from my crew Glen, Pam and Casey plus the use of the crew from X Factor Racing. Much appreciated everyone.
So from here we head to Dunedin for the South Island champs and round 3 of the Elf Super Cup in two weeks time. Certainly hope that we can continue to chip away and inch our way up the table.
Oh and for those avid race fans out there we now have Elf Super Cup Collector Cards. This concept was created by Brad from Paddy North's team and all 22 drivers have their cards available at each of the Elf Super Cup rounds.

Wellington Speedway - New Zealand Super Saloon Championships - 16 & 17 Jan 2015
Yes this is the BIG one. Off to the NZ Super Saloon Championships. It was just Pam, Casey and I on the crew venturing to Wellington competing in this years nationals. I somewhat regretted not entering last year so we were never gonna miss this one.
We again enjoyed the hospitality of Noel and Trish at Aston Court Motels in Blenheim on Thursday night before continuing onto Wellington for the Friday night practice and qualifying heats.
I have only ever raced at Wellington Speedway once before and absolutely loved the track even coming away with a heat win on that occasion racing in the North v South two seasons ago. So I guess I was a little confident that we could go okay because my main workshop man Glen and I have been busy wherever possible to ensure 811 is reliable. The aim was to do the best we could and if everything went really well then maybe, just maybe 811 could qualify into the 20 car finals.
After the scrutineering session we lined up for a practice to ensure everything was okay. It was during this practice that we first started getting noticed among the 46 entries. The reason being that 6c Kane Lawson and I shot away from the pack and were really quite quick! I even felt that 811 had a lot more to offer as Kane was holding us up somewhat. Yet again I gotta say that this is new territory for us and to be performing well at such a level brings excitement big time!
So from here it was driver briefing plus marble draw time and I couldn't believe it ... grid 2 for the first heat YES finally a decent grid draw!!! Although it did mean grids 10 and 12 for the next heats which was gonna be difficult among the 15 car qualifying group.
Heat 1 saw us lead for the first 5-6 laps before Darryl Ainsley flew by and I was expecting the rest of the field to start doing the same thing before long. However the race progressed without incident and all of a sudden we passed under the checkered flag still in second place. I couldn't believe it, 15 laps in this company and we score 2nd place. After looking at the lap chart it became clear why we stayed at the pointy end, we were within two tenths of a second from the fastest lap time in the mid 16secs. Un-friggin-believable!!!
Heat 2 leaving from grid 10 and things started to get a bunch more difficult. We struggled a little for rear grip and gave away a couple of soft passes to the opposition. However 811 progressed somewhat due to others attrition to finish 9th with
only 5 cars turning laps in the 16s, us included. We now found ourselves in fifth overall on points, knowing that only the top six would qualify at the end of the night. Crunch time!!!
Heat 3 and the pressure is on way back in grid 12. From memory I raced to finish rather than try pressing on to make passes hoping that attrition may assist us ... I was wrong, our lap times were the worst they had been all night and never made any impression finishing 12th. A tally of the points and we were 7th overall missing out on qualifying by one place. If we had made two passes in the last heat and not let those two soft passes through in heat 2 we would have qualified ahead of 46e Paddy North. Still a great performance for us considering the calibre of the field and the event but it was off to bed and rethink the plan the next day.
I took the day quite casually really and didn't give much thought to the task at hand until we got to the track. It was here that we realised we were off the front row of the repercharge due to our points haul from qualifying. With the winner only going thru into the NZ Champs Finals it was Game On!!!. 24w Martin Halcrow opted for grid 2 leaving 811 on pole. It's about now that we gotta make mention and thank the guys that joined us on the crew for the weekend. Steve Templeton, Graeme Duff, John Hocken and Jason, you guys were fantastic! Taking the pressure off and helping out for the two nights was absolutely invaluable. In particular for the repercharge ensuring 811 was altered/adjusted perfectly to suit the track conditions. The set-up and the driving advice were spot on!
It took several attempts to get the repercharge underway plus a couple of cautions meant the race seemed to take forever especially when you are getting pressured for the lead. 811 led the thing from start to finish and I gotta say here that winning and being presented that checkered flag was probably the best win of my 33 year racing career. It certainly had me buzzin' and the whole team were excited for the rest of the meeting. Don't think I will ever forget the feeling of carrying that flag at a NZ Championship. Pam even said she listened to the last couple of laps and felt a bit of the buzz too LOL. Casey had the shakes on the video camera plus it was high 5's for us all at the trailer. Love It!!!
So we now found ourseleves competing for the first time in the finals of the NZ Super Saloon Championship. The mood within the team was great as they went about making some more changes to the car and I think I felt a sense of relief and anxiety at the same time. My plan from here was to try the best to finish each heat and maybe make the top 15 overall. Not too greedy but a realistic goal. At this time Steve reckoned we should aim for a top 10 finish LOL.
NZ Champs Heat 1 and we were leaving from grid 13 in the 20 car field. The feeling to be part of this field was wicked and the start was unreal. Turn one and I saw a glimpse of a car half spun/half hidden so I flicked left to cut low onto infield then all hell broke loose on the track. 811 had miraculously just avoided a multiple car pile up that took 4 cars out of the field. Once the track was cleared we restarted the race and the pace was hot. Struggled in this one somewhat and ended up in a bingle with 88w Bryan Commerford which cut and slowly deflated the new L/R tyre we'd just fitted for the race. Pressed on and finished 13th which seems average but in this quality of cars isn't bad when ya think of it.
Heat 2 and we started on grid 3 in front of the real classy field GULP now things were gonna get tough! Mid race I got spun in turn 3 then hit in the R/F wheel by Paddy who had nowhere to go. Race over for both of us dammit. Once back in the pit the team set about repairing the damage and getting 811 back into shape. Replace cut L/R tyre, wrecked R/F wheel, top and bottom suspension arms, steering and track rods. Bodywork repairs etc etc. And what an effort thanks guys.
Heat 3 and leaving from grid 15 it's a long way back in the pack from there. Just kept the head down and pressed on in this one to eventually finish 9th in the race. Not bad in a quality NZ Championship field.
At the end of the night we thought we had finished 13th overall which we were really stoked with, however upon closer inspection and a tally up of the points it turns out 11th just one spot behind Mark Osborne. We were the 3rd highest placegetter out of the Christchurch contingent and 4th highest out of the south islanders. One word ... WOW and so close to Steve's goal of a top 10 finish LOL. I'm ecstatic and it's gonna be a while before I come back down to earth I reckon and so proud of everyone on the team cos if it wasn't for every single persons effort we would not have made the final heat.
Want to thank all our partnerships/supporters as without them we wouldn't be racing. Also wanna thank the Wellington Speedway Club for putting on the event. Thanks heaps to JDP Photographs for letting me use some of your images.
Really humbled with all the good wishes we have been receiving since the event and want to thank everyone who has offered their congratulations and encouragement, awesome stuff. Casey put in a huge effort with the video camera and these are available here.
Next meeting is the rescheduled opening rounds of the Elf Super Cup in Invercargill and Cromwell 6th & 7th Feb.
Hope to see ya's there. Cheers ... Flash ( Did I mention we were 11th overall!!! LOL )

Woodford Glen - 26 Dec 2014
Boxing day saw us at Woodford Glen for the annual Remembrance Championships. It was time 811 enjoyed a trouble free meeting and it's pleasing to report that the car completed all 3 heats without any major incidents unfolding. However there was still a considerable amount of untidy driving within the class with other cars spinning and un-neccessary damage being inflicted. Not sure why people are continually over driving their own or the cars ability cos aren't we supposed to be enjoying what we are doing rather than creating a bunch of work for each other?
Anyhow enough of that for now and back to the results. We actually finally got a decent grid draw and started the first heat from grid one. By the time we got to turn three 811 had nearly half the back straight lead. However that was soon negated with caution and re-start due to crash number one happening down the field. A similar situation occured with the following re-start and mid-race after around the third caution the chasing pack were onto it and not letting 811 get away easily anymore. We lost any advantage we had and although I thought the pre-race set-up would have been okay it appeared the others just out-performed us. I even got pipped on the finished line to push 811 back to 5th place dammit!
Heat two saw us leaving from mid-pack and that's where we finished. It appears the other teams are just so much more onto it than us in terms of tyres and shock set-ups etc. Considering 811 didn't appear to be performing as well as hoped in results, the points within the 14 car field were actually telling another story. After two heats we were running 3rd overall WOW!
Heat three and 811 was leaving from near the rear of the grid. Knew it would be slick so had a game plan to press hard later in the race but more cautions meant a bunched field and less opportunities for passing. Think we finished 6th overall on the night which is really good territory for us and more than pleased to come away from the track with no major repair work to be done. Also learnt a bit more regarding shocks, set-up and in-race adjustments during this race too so look forward to using this knowledge later on :)
Anyone looking around 811 at the end of the night would have thought we had won the event with so many fans gathering to get posters signed and share in the giveaways we have. The $1000 worth of Pineacres Restaurant vouchers we handed out went down a treat.
Also like to thank Kevin Corin of Kaiapoi Trailers for joining us on the crew for the night. Some of his photos are below which are more often of people rather than cars.
The 811 team are taking a well earned overseas holiday now but we will be back in time for the NZ Champs being contested in Wellington on 16th & 17th January. Meantime enjoy seeing in the New Year everyone and stay safe.
Cheers from all of us at Nees Racing.

Nelson Speedway - 40th Anniversary & Club Champs - 12 & 13 Dec 2014
We received an invite for 811 to be a part of the 40th Anniversary meeting plus their club champs up at Nelson Speedway. I ventured up there on my own due to family and crew having other commitments. Plus I was very pleased to be offered assistance from a couple of faithful Nelsonian mates Scott and Rowan. It was great to have you on the crew again guy's. Would also like to thank Scott and the team at Ramset Nelson for providing valued support plus Rowan for organising use of the wash bay and workshop at Translog again.
So onto Friday's racing ... The track went slick very quickly and it was a little disappointing to be pushed up the track during some of the heat races which cost us a lot of track position. 811 carried reasonable speed for the weekend. I reckon it's the fastest I've ever circulated the Nelson track recording a sub 15sec lap which for us is real good. However the results just didn't really come due to the unnecessary contact and the hot pace being set. Was really pleased to have a great dice with 2nz Ian Burson and even managed to beat him across the line in the final heat. Video here.
It appears that every second meeting we have something go wrong or end up in amongst someone elses crash. If that format was to continue then this weekend was when something was due to go wrong and sure enough. On the Saturday night I had the crew from Ray Stewart's team helping out which is just as well cos we ended up being part of another major crash (not our fault again either). We got sandwiched into the spinning 48 car of Gavin Hill in heat 2 which tore 811 up considerably. Fantastic job the guy's and their daughter's did along with some assistance from other teams we miraculously made it out onto the track for heat 3. So thank you very much to all those that helped get 811 onto the track again. We even got presented the "Presidents Cup" at prize giving for these efforts. Again the results didn't reflect how well 811 is performing and we either gotta tap into some good luck somewhere or start driving aggressively like some of the other drivers (somehow doubt I would get away with it like the others though!) The crash photo has done it's rounds all over the net and even made a reasonable write-up on www.stuff.co.nz
Gotta say thanks heaps to the 12n Carey Racing super saloon team for putting me up at their place for the weekend. Hope to return the favour someday.
Next meeting for 811 will be Boxing Day at the Glen for their Remembrance Championships but not before a whole bunch of work to iron out the carnage damage (check out the workshop page.
Meantime hope ya's all have a safe and happy xmas. See ya's trackside. Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen - Updates 21 - 29 Nov 2014
The last few weeks have been real hectic here at 811 central. The repairs required following the rollover at the fiireworks meeting kept the team real busy. There was a considerable amount of damage which wasn't immediately obvious so it was always possible that an inherent problem could be missed however we were confident the car was good to go.
So it was off to Dunedin and Invercargill last weekend for the first 2 rounds of the Elf Super Cup. Bad weather soon put a halt to those 2 meetings and we ended up racing in Cromwell instead. However we did make the most of a bad situation and put 811 on display at X Factor Cars HQ in Invercargill. A prime opportunity for some PR work and get some cool photos not to mention smelling the showroom out with burnt methanol LOL.
It's here that the problem I referred to earlier decided to plaque us. It turned out that when the car landed upside down the bonnet scoop forced the injection air cleaners down while turning the magneto and disturbing the engine timing. This took a bit of work to sort and we really on had one race in Cromwell where the engine started to perform a bit better.
So back home we got stuck in and felt we had sorted a few issues before venturing out to the Glen for their 40th Anniversary Meeting.
This meeting was to be the last drive for 6c Dennis Bolt with a racing career spanning some 40 years himself. I not only congratulate him on his achievements behind the wheel but also consider it a privilege to have raced against him for many years. Tony Cardwell was also on track driving a rebodied 492 car of Campbell McManaway. It was fitting for Dennis to have a race win in the first heat but it was probably our car still not running quite right that allowed him to get away while 811 held the pack up somewhat. Well Done Dennis. Tony was'nt quite so lucky failing to finsih the third heat when starting off grid 1.
As for 811 we managed to sort the engine and get the car performing perfectly for the second and thrid races. We managed some good passes on a very slick track including passing both Dennis and Tony in both races. 811 actually made quite a few passes on the night and we were very pleased to end up 3rd overall for the night with only 2 points seperating Trevor Elliott, Josh Boulton and myself ... "Great Stuff!"
Also very pleasing to have the X Factor Team joining us for pit crew duties on the night. Plus a big thanks to Casey who has been keeping the video camera going flat out (link below). At this stage we aren't sure of our next meeting between now and the Boxing day Remembrance Championships but a bit of a break would also be handy right now.
Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen - Fireworks Extravaganza - 1 Nov 2014
Hiya all. Well what a huge day! Started off with us putting 811 on display at the Woodford Glen Shop. Always up for a bit of promotion! Then we had the annual firworks display meeting trackside that evening. I reckon I jinxed this meeting cos I was just saying earlier in the day that the super saloon drivers have been driving quite well over the last couple of seasons with minimal crashes and damage. Well that was soon to change. 15 cars started race one however only 8 started the feature race. plus 811 just cannot get a reasonable grid draw for some reason. This week had us starting from 11, 4 and 7 ... Geez give us a break will ya!
We were a victim in race one with the rear of the car suffering a considerable amount of damage along with the entire rear bodywork being ripped from the chassis dammit. But this wasn't the half of it cos in race three 811 ended up in someone elses accident and got airborne before rolling and landing on the roof, dammit again. The new overalls, helmet and seat belts now require de-oiling due to the engine oil escaping from the breather while upside down. We had the assistance of a few fellow racers like Graeme Duff and Dennis Bolt to assist with running repairs back in the pits so thanks heaps guy's. Although the car was highly unlikely to be able to compete in the feature we did manage to get all the broken suspension replaced and the car back on wheels in time for us to watch the last race.
So a lot of work to be done in the workshop now to ensure 811 is ready for the start of the Elf Super Cup in Dunedin and Invercargill in a few weeks.
Wish us good luck please! Thanks to Casey for all her video efforts plus there's some great photo sequences available at www.tjphotos.co.nz
Cheers ... Flash

Woodford Glen - Opening Night - Trophy Challenge - 25 Oct 2014
Tonight we kicked off yet another season at Woodford Glen Speedway and for me personally it's the start of the 33rd season of racing ... phew !!!
Our new covered in transporter is proving to be a huge asset and makes things a little easier especially (and more comfortable) when at the track. Now onto the racing ... I was quietly confident that 811 was gonna run well even though we never took part in any practice meetings. Plus with the advantage of new sets of tyres I also was hoping of a noticeable improvement in car performance. I was a little gutted to have yet another crappy grid draw with 9,3,9 for the 3 heats. Gee I wish we could get a better grid draw one day. Well it didn't take long to convince me that new tyres are what we have been lacking. Lap 2 off the first heat showed that we had a reasonble car set-up and from there never really looked back. 9th to 5th in heat 1. Lost 1 spot to finish 4th in heat 2. But heat 3 was really exciting to dice with Josh Boulton for most of the race with us both swapping race position until 811 just manage to edge ahead at the finish line. The ironic thing this was only for a mid field placing but it made all the difference to the overall points.
811 finished 5th overall out of the 13 starters which is most pleasing and to pick up a trophy was a bonus especially considering the quality field we are up against. Two of our biggest young fans Joshua and Daniel from right here in Kaiapoi couldn't last the whole night at the glen so missed out on our final heat race. So they were really stoked when I gave them the trophy to put on display in their bedroom. Check out the last photo:)
Next weeknd it's the annual Fireworks Extravagana at the Glen so that's always gonna be a huge crowd and a meeting we never miss. See ya's there! Cheers ... Flash