[woodcote]

Twenty-five of us raced in the second Nascar & Trans-Am event of 2026. Kinsley was racing at the Barn for the first time, although he's been getting in some practice on Dean and Jaxson's track. We were also joined by Gary, who wanted to see what WHO is all about... he had some laps in practice, but we couldn't persuade him to race this time. Instead, he decided to marshal and watch the Nascar Team Race, but ended up staying the whole evening.

Nascar Club Car Team Race

   

Our six Nascar teams were carefully constructed with a mix of new and experienced racers, plus each was captained by a younger racer - meaning Kinsley was leading Mike D, Stephen Mc and Duncan on his WHO debut. The team of five was captained by Jaxson, alongside the experience of Andy, John, Matthew and Rob A. Simon's MayBank layout made an excellent Wednesday night track - fast, not too tricky and requiring a little bit of patience to overtake. It also looked great, filling most of the Barn...

   

One hour of racing was split into three 20-minute segments, four team members taking 5-minute stints with live driver changes during a pit stop. The first and second segments featured just the fuel simulation, with tyres added in for the final 20 minutes. The first segment was incredibly close between the top five teams - only Oliver, Scott, Kevin & James struggling to keep up with the pace. Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A finished on 101 laps, a lap ahead of Kinsley's team in second and Jaxson's team in third. Two laps further back were Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A, then Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons.

   

Cars were swapped for the next segment - first swapped with last, second with fifth and third with fourth. The six Pontiac Grand Prix are pretty evenly-matched,which helped make it such a close race...

   

This second 20 minutes saw two teams finish on 103 laps - Kinsley's team crossing the line just ahead of Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A. Third were Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A - putting them just one lap behind Kinsley's team, who led overall going into the final segment. The top three teams were separated by just two laps - Isaac's team sitting third, Jaxson's team were fourth, five laps off the lead. Two laps separated fifth and sixth - Oliver's team cutting their deficit to Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons by four laps.

   

Another swap gave us the unlikely outcome of all six teams back with the cars they started the race. Adding the tyre simulation made pit stops much more complicated - a big challenge for our newer racers, but it also seemed to catch out some who've been doing this for many years! Scores dropped a little as the pit stops lengthened, but the race remained incredibly close and intense at the front...

   

Kinsley, Mike D, Stephen Mc & Duncan grabbed the win they needed for overall victory - finishing on the same lap, but just ahead of Isaac, Dean, Kev & Mike A. A lap behind were Ollie, Rob B, Steve & Stephen A - putting them equal on overall laps with Isaac's team. In the event of a tie, it's all about the finishing order in the final segment - so the top three on the road was also the overall podium. Fourth were Jaxson's team - three laps off the leaders in the segment and fourth overall, eights laps adrift of the winners. And in some late-race drama, Oliver's team pipped Ash, Mike Mc and the two Simons to fifth - equal on laps, but ahead on the road...

   

Huge congratulations to Kinsley on his debut win!

         

         

         

Those Pontiacs certainly delivered an incredible close and exciting race!

Next was a full twelve-car Trans-Am pairs race...