Monday 22nd February: Blowing the Bantam.

Obviously during the off season, every team are hard at work and we are no exception. The workshop extension is coming along nicely but, as ever, it's holding work back on the cars, however Kenny at SuperPower Unlimited has been working hard on the supercharger and manifold for the SuperPower Unlimited Bantam altered.

Having taken on the task of providing Bennett Racing with a rebuilt 8-71 blower setup, we decided to start with an ex-fuel BDS Manifold that had worked well with a 14-71 in its previous life. The manifold had been adapted for the bigger blower by cutting out the front of the base and extending it to accommodate the larger discharge opening on the 14-71.

While this works for the bigger blower, it wouldn't work for the 8-71 that we wanted, and rather than supply a new manifold we agreed due to budget restraints that Kenny could re-adapt the manifold to suit the 8-71 and also have the necessary SFI Burst panel & cage.

The next step was the Blower itself. Kenny had a used Ed Pink 8-71 that had not seen action for many years which, once rebuilt, would fit the deal and he set about checking the rotors for run out. They measured up and received restriping of the teflon, new bearings, seals and gears. Once everything has been set and clearanced, it will be fitted with a new front cover then it will be ready to go to work! As I have said before, the Bantam will be run soft and easier than the Relentless NFAA altered, for both parts and also the workload. As soon as the supercharger and manifold are finished I will get a photo on here. Thanks to Kenny for his help with this and if anyone reading has a need for a blower or your current one freshened up then get in touch with him on 07967 728175 or visit www.superpowerunlimited.co.uk.

Thursday 18th February: Going to the Gators.

Well, a bit of a turn up for the books but I will soon be doing something I have wanted to do for long time and that's going to the Gatornationals in the USA. It was a proper last minute thing and I didn't really plan to go this year, but we just thought sod it! I am going to do the whole event, but thought I might as well go for the Top Eliminator tickets as they tend to look after you a bit more and get drinks etc through the day; also a visit to Florida cannot be done without going to the Garlits Museum, which is the part I am really looking forward to, just to see that many cars and how they have developed in terms of speed and safety. I can't wait, especially if he is there and I can meet him; that would make the trip for me.

I am also going to go to the Kennedy Space Centre which should be great. Seeing anything that size is amazing. There will also be visits to Speedworld, maybe Daytona, some go-karting, shooting ranges, a classic car show...

It's going to be a busy time but I can't wait for it. Watching it on Channel 5 (although they have wrongly stopped this) was good, but seeing it all in the flesh will be a whole other level. We went to California a few years ago to watch the Hot Rod Reunion and that blew me away. There were over 70 blown altereds there; it was a cracking event.

I am going to do my best to keep a diary type thing with many photos of our time over there so I can update our web site and also this Eurodragster blog. I hope that it's of some interest to the thousands who read this blog and visit our site.

Thanks all for reading.

Wednesday 10th February: Iris Page Memorial Trophy.

Firstly I would just like to say a massive thank you to every single person who voted for me to win the APIRA Iris Page Memorial Trophy. I was very honoured indeed...

Winning any trophy is obviously nice but to be awarded it for what I did is really great and means a lot.

Building a race car from the ground up is hard enough but building it while spewing your insides up in a bucket is even harder believe me, I have never really gone into this side of cancer and chemotherapy at great length as I don't want people to break out the violins, but it's absolute agony. The only thing that got me through it other than my family (who are the best in the world) was rebuilding the Topolino; it kept my mind busy, it kept me right in the head, gave me a goal to aim for and kept me busy. Also a huge huge help was the fact that my old man quit his job to look after me; this meant a lot and he knows how much, and again it kept me right. If I started to moan he would tell me to shut up and get on with it, which sounds harsh but one thing I always kept first in my mind was that there were kids going through cancer and chemo. If they can do it then I can.

While building the car we must have had about 345,545 arguments, mostly due to me being a little bit moody, but five minutes later we would be back to normal, and I don't like to be big headed but I am VERY proud of what we built and what we achieved. We didn't just slap a new body on the car, we replaced/changed/improved every single component. It was not a rebuild, it was a new car. Then we got nominated for best appearing car, which I knew we wouldn't win but I was over the moon to just be in the mix. Not bad, considering the garage size and circumstances we built the car in.

Then the cars debut, think it was at the Open Sport Nationals; everyone commented on how good the car looked and more importantly they asked how I was (thanks all). One thing I didn't let on was I had only had the chemo a few days before the event, I was dead on my feet, so so tired after only one day, but the desire I had to get the car on the track completely took over, and another thing which I am very proud to have done was a sub one second 60 foot (0.991) on our first launch with the new combo; I was chuffed.

Then, on the next run, a lifter bar broke (credit to my old man for hearing it and getting out of it) but we then went home, in all honesty we could have pulled the cam and de-burred it and replaced the lifter but due to it being the first event and we knew we couldn't win, we went home and I was glad; I could barely walk without tripping ove;, quite funny now but I was tired and glad to get home.

Anyway back on point, thanks for the trophy, I have again just had the all clear so very happy and got the news about the trophy two days later so it was icing on the cake really.

Thanks all and thanks for reading.

Wednesday 3rd February: Joe's memorable year

This blog entry was written by Joe Riley who became member of the Relentless NFAA team in 2009.

It is roughly a year ago now that I posted an ad on Eurodragster and got the text from Luke. Little could I guess how our year would go. After being a spectator for several years I became part of the team, a chance that I couldn’t wait to take up. The first time I ever saw the car and met the Bennetts couldn’t have fired me up anymore for the season ahead, and so I remember the first day of the Easter Thunderball when finally it could all begin.

One thing you cannot expect when you join a team is the hours and workload you have. It would be unusual not to be up at 7.30 to 8 in the morning starting with the checking of the rear end and getting rid of overnight dirt, and to continue working till often long through the night. This was especially noticeable at the Thunderball, although, with a fortunate lack of snow as opposed to 2008, it still felt pretty cold. During the days, as well, there’s no time for a breather. If there was an issue and we would only have an hour and a bit to turn the car round ready for a deciding run, I would often think how are we going to do this? Yet we would all click into the jobs we had and somehow find a five minute tea break before the run, with the car readier than ever. That certainly made all the hard work and long hours well worth it, especially when that deciding run resulted in a trophy.

When I’ve explained drag racing to people not in-the-know, especially those who have no idea whatsoever, I am often told that ‘all they do is go in a straight line’. This last year has taught me even more how so wrong they are. The buzz I get when standing on the line watching Frank roar up the strip grappling with the car is amazing, and then, when a good time comes up with a win, it's incredible. This is to the point of being incapable of filming the run well due to shaking far too much, Lisa doing a much better job!

I’ve learnt as much in my first year in the team about mechanics and dragsters than I had done in my whole life. It definitely makes studying engineering at university this winter seem more straightforward! I couldn’t have guessed that so many factors could affect the car’s performance. Drag cars might look like just a massive engine and big wheels to some, now I know there’s a lot more than that.

It all built up to the final championship round. We were still leading Joe Bond, but we couldn’t take the weekend putting half the effort in, we still had to win. There have not been many times when I’ve felt as on edge as during that weekend. Everything had to go well, every job to be done right but on time. There were a few times I would talk to Alan before the car was getting ready to fire up for a run and we’d both agree that it was getting serious. Every part of me wanted us to win, it mattered so much after the hard work we’d all put in. So when we did win the championship, I couldn’t have been more relieved. In 2008 I couldn’t have guessed that by the end of the 2009 season I’d be part of a championship winning team. No better way to finish off a very busy and very exciting year.

It has now been roughly four months since we won the championship, and I cannot wait any more for the new season. With a year of experience working together behind us and a championship to come with it, this year has the prospect of being even more memorable. Now I know what it’s like working on a car (and never to look for skyhooks...) the weeks leading up to the Thunderball can’t count down quick enough. Many many thanks go out to the whole team for the chance they’ve given me. I couldn’t have asked for a better first year in drag racing. I’m sure this year will be another great one.