The Cannonball
Sunday (eliminations)

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19:10

Today's pictures have now been posted. You can get to them via the Raceday Update index. If the pictures do not appear on the page then click on your Browser's Refresh button.

That's the end of our Cannonball coverage, thanks for staying with us through the weekend. Your reporters and photographers this weekend were Tog and Sharkman of Eurodragster.com.

Many thanks for their help this weekend to Race Director Darren Prentice; Steve Horn, Lisa Smart, John Hackney and Martin Wallis of Santa Pod's timing crew; chief starter Ian Marshall and his crew; Chief Fire Marshal Bob Day and his crew; track announcers Graham Beckwith, John Price and Paul Venners; SPR track manager Kjell Petterson; Kathy Taylor, Carol Ismail and Paula Marshall; Dave Alexander; and of course to all of the racers for giving us quotes and action to write about and photograph.

Eurodragster's next event coverage will be from Super Series 4 at Shakespeare County Raceway at the end of August; our next event coverage from Santa Pod Raceway will be testing prior to the FIA European Finals in mid-September. See you then!

18:00

We're all done here at Santa Pod Raceway after a great day's racing.

John Spuffard won the Cannonball in a great race against Lex Joon. Lex got the jump off the start line, but Spuff had caught him by 330 feet and then pulled further and further away, taking the win 5.39 at a huge 275.28 to Lex's 6.04/239.41.

Smax Smith took third place in this weekend's Fuel FC Championship round with a pass of 6.12/244.27, Al Bates didn't make the call.

Martin Hill had another attempt at the fives in Fireforce 2, just missing it at 6.06/266.15

Here are the final results in all classes:

Overall Cannonball: John Spuffard 5.39/275.28 def. Lex Joon 6.04/239.41
TMFC Cannonball: Lex Joon 5.99/239.49 def. Dezsoe Krivan 7.15/136.63
MSA Top Methanol: Rob Turner 5.82/241.33, Lyndsay Deuchar rolled through stage
Super Pro ET: Steve Green 8.915/138.37 (8.81) def. Martyn Jones broke (7.68)
Pro ET: Al Didwell 10.957/117.83 (10.90) def. Dave Potter 10.6874/125.27 (10.49)
Sportsman ET: Al Platt 13.915/102.18 (13.80) def. Gareth Mogford 12.43/108.43 red light
Super Comp: Brian Pateman 8.851/152.61 def. Phil Bennett 9.379/112.33 red light
Super Gas: Tim Adam 9.966/139.57 def. Ritchie Smith 9.993/132.97
Super Street: Bob Doignie 10.931/114.83 def. Leigh Morris 11.322/118.50 deep-stage violation
Junior Dragster: Adam Gleadow 9.228/68.97 (9.20) def. Ricky Emms 9.359/71.59 (8.90)
Custom Car Street Elininator: Jeff Meads 8.95/155.44 def. Steve Pateman 11.158/81.66
VW Pro: Scotty Evison 12.915/100.50 def. Nigel Green 11.405/111.56 red light
VW Sportsman: Martin Ayton 17.482/76.05 (17.51) def. Kev Metcalfe 13.458/95.88 breakout (13.50)

Top Fuel Bike: Ian King 6.54/201.04 was unopposed, Brian Johnson broke
Funny Bike: Steve French 7.458/172.46 def. Tim Blakemore 7.559/155.94
Pro Stock Bike: Dave Beck 7.672/174.47 def. Richard Gipp left before lights ran
Comp Bike: Tim Whetton 9.879/155.05 def. Sarah Jane Head 19.576/33.52
Super Street Bike: Tony Clark 8.426/169.82 def. Graham Dance 8.437/163.33
9.90 Bike: Paul Watson 9.932/134.48 def. Jamie Sneddon 9.875/121.64 breakout
10.90 Bike: Fred Furlong 11.140/118.48 def. Phil Pratt 10.976/123.29

We're now working on today's pictures; stay tuned.

16:15

Congratulations to Rob Turner and the Turner Racing team on winning the 2001 MSA British Top Methanol Championship with their win in the final of Top Methanol here at the Cannonball. The final was over before the lights ran as Lyndsay Deuchar rolled through stage, handing Rob the win with a fine 5.82/241.33.

The TMFC Cannonball final was between Lex Joon and Dezsoe Krivan. Lex went straight and true to another 5.99 at 239.489, whilst Dezsoe hit savage tyre shake and weaved all over his lane, eventually tagging the left guardrail and getting off it to record 7.15/136.63.

Lex will now go through to the Cannonball final against John Spuffard. The final of Fuel FC will not take place as Gordon Smith will not be able to make the call, a wrecked clutch finishing his day at least one race early. As we have all of our other finals ready to go, and as the Fuel FC will take a while to turn round, the decision was made not to run the Fuel FC final.

The third/fourth place run-off in the TMFC Cannonball was between Urses Erbacher and Embacher, Erbacher winning at 6.21/227.47 as Embacher pulled a red light on his pass of 6.37/216.53.

Top Fuel Bike was won by Ian King as Brian Johnson was unable to get the bike started and signalled to Ian to take the signal. Ian put in a superb 6.54/201.04 single to take the event title. BJ's problem with the bike was solved but not in time for him to burn out and run against Ian, so he put in a demo pass afterwards, a half-pass of 7.91/131.26 with the engine sounding off-colour.

Doug Ripley is coming on in leaps and bounds in the CC Racing TMFC, his latest observed run a nice 7.73/183.62.

Tony Baker recorded 7.34/220.95 in Fireforce 1, heralding a short break before the finals start.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you the result of the FC Cannonball, together with all of today's other results.

14:00

The first round of Top Fuel Bike saw a great race between Ian King and Steve Woollatt, Ian getting there first 6.56/202.56 to Steve's 6.79/202.14. Brian Johnson's bike was throwing fuel out of one pipe on his 8.43/110.16 pass, BJ getting out of it before half-track.

The first round of Fuel FC saw some great action, it went as follows:

John Spuffard 5.36/257.80 def. Smax Smith 5.74/264.68

Smax got the jump on Spuff at the line and Spuff had to chase him down. It was very close at the top end, Spuff getting there first but Smax will be happy with his pass which was straight and clean with header flames flying high, smashing his personal best. Spuff backed up yesterday's 5.33 on what looked like an effortless pass.

Gordon Smith 5.67/238.03 def. Allan Bates 7.77/120.22

A weird burnout for Al Bates, Al drifting onto the centreline and just stopping short of the 330-foot reflector. It was over very quickly on the green as Gordon hooked up and went, Al got out of shape and headed for Gordon's lane and got off it at half track. Gordon ran a new personal best and the run was clean, no vapour or untoward flames.

The first round of the TMFC Cannonball went as follows:

Lex Joon 5.99/237.67 def. Urs Embacher 6.51/212.71

Lex was quoted on the PA as saying that this run would be a five, and he wasn't lying. A great pass from Lex whilst Urs again ran down the left-hand side of his lane very close to the guardrail.

Dezsoe Krivan 6.16/230.71 def. Urs Erbacher 6.30/227.72

Dezsoe said that he had tightened up the clutch before this race. He hit tyre shake and went out of shape, but calmly pedalled, pulled the car straight, then hit the throttle again. Nothing was obviously wrong for Urs in the other lane although we all had our eyes on Dezsoe as he covered half a mile in his lane.

The second round of MSA Top Methanol consisted of two byes as Darryl Bradford didn't make the call in the Canto Consultancy TMD - a broken valve was the problem. Rob Turner put in a very solid squirt to 200 feet, still recording 8.15/89.81. Lyndsay Deuchar staged and took the green for the formal win in his bye.

Martin Hill followed up with a superb 5.98/266.07 in the Fireforce 2 Jet FC.

Stay tuned and we'll bring you more news very soon.

11:40

The final session of Fuel FC qualifying was contested by Smax Smith and Gordon Smith. Smax went without a burnout and idled up the track to record 20.65/33.71. The team had to change a crank overnight so they were probably just checking everything out and Smax is now in the field. Gordon Smith put in a 900 foot pass of 6.33/168.27. So the final standings in Fuel Funny Car are as follow: 1. John Spuffard 5.339/259.12, 2. Gordon Smith 6.334/168.27, 3. Allan Bates 6.647/188.16, 4. Smax Smith 20.652/33.71.

The final session of TMFC Cannonball qualifying was contested by Lex Joon, who put in a nice straight 6.02/235.65 with a 0.97 60-foot time, taking top spot. So the final qualifying standings in the TMFC Cannonball are as follows: 1. Lex Joon 6.023/235.65, 2. Dezsoe Krivan 6.142/226.23, 3. Urs Erbacher 6.199/230.89, 4. Urs Embacher 6.335/217.18.

We've also had the first round of MSA Top Methanol, which went as follows:

Lyndsay Deuchar 6.29/176.01 def. Wendy Baker 7.37/189.34

Lyndsay drove through tyre shake in the first sixty feet and had Wendy well covered, backing off before the finish line. Wendy ran her second best ever ET.

Darryl Bradford 6.30/208.85 def. Doug Bond 6.53/202.07

A nice pass by Darryl, a flash of flame at about 900 feet but no obvious problems followed. Similarly no obvious problems for Doug.

Rob Turner 5.85/241.30 def. Dave Wilson 5.85/224.27

A superb side-by-side race from Rob and Dave, two thousandths' difference in reaction time and four thousandths between them at the finish line. Rob's car visibly accelerated harder at about 300 feet, leaping forward which probably added the extra thousandths.

It's a bye for Rob Turner, and Lyndsay Deuchar v Darryl Bradford in round two.

Doug Ripley put in a straight observed run of 8/06/151.44, the burst panel blew near the top end. Steph Milam also put in an observed run of 8.71/144.80

Stay tuned and we'll bring you more news soon.

9:15

Hello there and welcome back to Santa Pod Raceway on race day of the Cannonball. It's a little overcast but it's mild and dry and we're ready for a great day's racing.

A few hellos this morning; first up is from UK Top Fuel Bike racer Brian Johnson to US TFB racer Chris Hand, and from us to Ed and Kathy in Rye, NH, and also to Steve and Jacky Young. Wish you were here, guys.

A Happy Birthday to Junior Dragster racer Ricky Emms, who is now old enough to drive a Junior Modified Dragster. He has been itching to let loose in his new car, and today's the day.

As you can imagine everyone was very concerned about Custom Car Street Eliminator racer Ian Hook, who had a top end crash yesterday. As we reported at the time, Ian is fine, and last night we went down to the FB Racing pit and found everyone in good spirits. "I'm absolutely fine", said Ian. "Apart from my little finger which got caught on the steering wheel!". A trans line broke on the engine, which put fluid under the tyres at 137 mph. Ian had a good go at keeping the car off the guardrail, but it as soon as the front of the car hit the rail then he was a passenger as the left front wheel was ripped off and it was then a case of getting out when the car stopped. "The front wing was blocking the door", said Ian. "I thought that there was a fire and I wanted to get out, so I kicked the door open."

Ian asked us to pass on his thanks to the safety and medical crews who were there as soon as the car stopped. "They got there in time to hear me swearing!", he said. Ian has also been overwhelmed by the reaction from fellow CCSE racers, racers in other classes, and race fans who have offered help, and who started to donate rebuild money as soon as Ian and the team got back to the pits. "I didn't realise how popular this class is, or how popular we are", he said. "People have put money in a bucket, people have handed money to me, there is almost five hundred pounds there. We'll be back, in another '34 Ford, and running eights - I want to get an ICE eight-second jacket!"

Fuel FC racer Smax Smith was mystified at being bulbed during qualifying yesterday. "We were both in pre-stage and Allan moved into stage first", said Smax. "We're mates so we weren't playing games. According to my computer it was eight seconds before the Tree ran". We have one more qualifying session for Fuel FC this morning so Smax will get the chance to get into the field as he is not currently qualified.

Showtime Fuel FC Crew Chief Bob Jarrett told us that the FC's set-up will stay as it is today, after yesterday''s 5.33. "It's working so good that we don't want to change anything", said Bob. "We always knew that it was capable, but this is the least aggressive we've ever run the car!". Driver John Spuffard was surprised that that terminal speed of 259 mph wasn't higher. "When you get off the throttle, the car wants to stop really quickly", he said.

Top Fuel Bike racer Brian Johnson was happy that his qualifying passes have got him back on track after his problems at the Main Event. "I had the bike set to run rich, because it was lean last time", he said of yesterday's 6.68 qualifying pass. I observed that the bike really picked up at about 300 feet. "That's right", said BJ. "That's where it starts to lean out". BJ has a bye this morning and will be using it as a test.

Next door in the TFB pits, Ian King had a simple solution to the problems he's been having with cylinder heads. "I need a billet head!", he said. "There comes a point where extensive modifcation isn't enough."

Returning Pro Stock Bike racer Nick Pepper had a great 7.8-second pass disqualified yesterday for a blue line violation. "It doesn't really matter", he said. "I'm on the right side of the field". Nick now has a Fred Collis motor on his bike and it's getting his attention. "I forgot how quick these bikes are!", he said. "It's toned down from how Fred Collis ran it. I was anxious about how the bike would handle, but it's OK and it's really just a case of me getting back into it. I'll give Dave Beck a run for his money!"

Canto Consultancy TMD owner Martin Canto was very happy indeed with Darryl Bradford's 6.2-second pass yesterday. "We spent most of the weekend working on a problem we discovered in the Lenco casing", he said. "Now the car should be good for 6.1s at over 220". Darryl Bradford agreed that there is more to come from the car as he got off the throttle before the finish line, and because the car moved around a lot in the first eighth.

Shell Racing TMD crew chief Martyn Hannis told us that the team had to change a clutch after yesterday's qualifying pass. "I could tell as it left the line that something was wrong", he said. "Doug felt the clutch slip towards the top end, and then he saw Darryl come past him, so he got off it. We'll be putting our other engine back in the car for Super Series 4."

Barry Sheavills has confirmed that he will not be running the Triple R/AEZ Top Fueller today. "We did a block and a crank", he said about his race against the Tyrrell F1 car. "We've put a new block in, but that's for Mantorp. We're at the Max power show next week and then off to Sweden". Barry's rear tyres went up in smoke in the race against the F1 car, and he said that he was panicking because he thought that the Tyrrell would come past him at the finish line.

Licencing TMFC racer Doug Ripley has plenty of power on tap courtesy of crew chief Ray White and the team. "It's hard, hard work but it's very gratifying", said Ray. "We put too much clutch in it yesterday, it spun the tyres every time Doug hit the throttle. So we're going to set it in between today and it should be great!"

The Nemesis TMD team spent almost the whole day yesterday working on the dragster after bad tyre shake on Friday caused severe damage. "We've changed almost everything behind the cockpit", said driver Dave Wilson. "We have rebuilt the heads and the gearbox which were damaged on Friday. We've even replaced the rear axle". The team are very grateful to fellow TMD team Turner Racing for the loan of a ring and pinion.

TMFC racer Lex Joon revealed that the reason that his engine died yesterday was that the throttle cable support broke. Lex's Camaro body is now sporting Swiss flags and a CH plate on the back courtesy of Dezsoe Krivan who obviously shares the love of practical jokes previously peculiar to Scandinavian racers.

Racing is scheduled to commence at 10:00, and we understand that at least one of the Fuel FC racers is planning to make the final qualifying session for Fuel and TMFCs. Come back soon and we'll let you know how the racing and the further qualifying go.