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Gary's
Picnic, Shakespeare County Raceway
May 31st - June 1st 2008
Through some historical connections, Nobby was invited by the NASC to present some trophies at the 30th running of Gary's Picnic which was part of the Yanks Weekend held at Shakespeare County Raceway.
"Do you want me to bring the Funny Car and do some Nitro warm ups?" asked Nobby.....and before you could say "Do bears poo in the woods", Nobby, along with driver Simon Hayward and crew members Richard Hayward and Joe Titley took the truck, trailer and NHR Nitro Funny Car to Shakey.
A frantic weeks work of putting the car together
preceded the weekend; To enable the various chassis mods to be
carried out to be SFI compliant and for the safety equipment to be
fitted, the chassis and body had not been together for some time.
The one major issue that arose was that the body required some
modifications to fit around the new blower bag. There was insufficient
time to modify the body prior to the weekend so the car would have to be
on display as a chassis and the body along side or propped open. On the
scheme of things, a trivial issue.
Simon was going to use his fathers old 'vet paint
schemed crash helmet along with 1980's style breathers. Yes, we know
they are not allowed for racing today but we are not yet racing and they
are sufficient for what we are currently doing.
Simon is going to go to Frank Hawley's Drag Racing school in the States,
and would have been there already if we hadn't been let down with some
promised funding that hasn't materialised, and will have all the latest
gear then.
The car was a great hit amongst the fans and other racers. And after a few warm ups in the pits, Nobby was asked if he would trundle the car down the strip. The necessary approvals being given, the next stage of the testing program took place albeit in a somewhat more public environment than expected.
As stated above, the body wouldn't fit so Simon, tightly strapped into the bare chassis was directed into stage, without a burnout obviously, and slowly idled, as instructed, down the track.
OK a 4 second run it ain't, but another significant step for the team.
The feedback and internet coverage we have received has again surpassed all our expectations and on behalf of Nobby and the rest of the team we thank all the people that came by to say "hi" over the weekend and wish us well. We have also been inundated with email best wishes since the weekend and again, thank you all.
In
particular we would like to thank Tony Smith (of Cunning Plan fame) and Brian Thomas
(of Paranoia fame) and of course not forgetting Jerry Cookson for
their help and company over the weekend.
The photos below have come from a variety of sources, so thanks for
permission to use them go to Jon
Spoard who runs www.ukdrn.co.uk ,
Dave Redbourne and Peter Donaldson whose web site can be found at
peterdonaldson5305.fotopic.net .
Thanks Guys, we really appreciate your help and support.
The thread on the UKDRN forum about the weekend can
be found by clicking here:
http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=970
Chris Blows
Simon, in his Dad's old helmet and breathers
 Nobby and Simon in posing mode.
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 Simon, in pensive mode
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 Its an engine....Nobby, Richard and Simon
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 Fire up in the pits
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 Getting ready for its first trip.....
Starting up for its first trundle down the strip.
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With Joe looking on, Nobby gets the car
started.
On its way...... |
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