As promised, the 4-Gear cars did some match racing today. The first action on the strip featured the
Nostagia Funny Cars - three modern day Auto World ‘Legends of the Quarter Mile’ 4-Gear cars, plus Clive’s wonderful custom Capri on an original Aurora ‘Speciality’ chassis...
First up was Chesterfield buddies Rob and Doug - Rob guesting in the Beebe brothers’ Fighting Irish Camaro and Doug with his Harry Schmidt Blue Max Mustang. The Beebe brothers’ crew had been working hard to get the Camaro in good shape, but Rob was beaten by the pace of the Mustang right down the strip. Doug won by 0.141 seconds, with an ET of 0.876 and top speed of 5.521 mph. Rob’s ET was 1.025.
The Camaro looked better on the second run and held its own to just before halfway. Then the Mustang pulled away. The winning margin was closer at 0.129 seconds, but that was because Doug’s pass was slower (0.894) than before. The Camaro was also slower at 1.025. Doug wins two to zero.
Next was a re-run of the Micro Scalextric Super Stock final - Rebecca with her Shirley Muldowney Bounty Huntress Mustang against Clive’s unique Li’l Hoss Capri. On the first run, Rebecca’s car won by 0.059 seconds. The Capri’s ET was 0.988 and the Mustang 0.928. The second run saw the new 4-Gear chassis eclipse its older relative - a winning margin of 0.148 - giving Rebecca a 2-0 win. Her ET was 0.866 and Clive’s 0.996. Rebecca’s top speed was 6.158 mph.
Because both match-ups were 2-0 wins, there was time for the two winners and two runners-up to have another ‘winner-takes-all’ trip down the strip. Rob was ahead at halfway against Clive, but the Capri cruised past and won by 0.096 seconds. Clive’s ET was 0.998 and Rob’s 1.098.
The last Funny Car race saw the two Mustangs together. Both got away from the line pretty well, but the Blue Max bogged down. Rebecca got to the finish line in 0.849 of a second, 0.149 ahead of Doug, whose ET was 0.993. Rebecca matched her best top speed of 6.158 mph.
There was also time for some modern NHRA cars to match race - Dylan and Noah in Top Fuelers, with David and Doug in the lovely Pro Stock cars - all Auto World models with the 4-Gear chassis.
Dylan’s Alanabi dragster was just quick enough to win a tight contest by 0.011 seconds - his ET was 0.774 and his older brother’s 0.784. It looked like Noah’s Optima Top Fueler would take revenge second time out - he was leading the first half of the race. But then Dylan blew past to win by 0.024 seconds. The winning ET 0.751 and 8.074 mph top speed. Noah’s ET was 0.782.
The final action was a father-and-son match race between Doug in the Tony Pedregon Nitro Fish Pro Stock and David with the Shane Gray Tire Kingdom Mustang. NitroFish took the first race by 0.22 seconds, the ETs 0.867 vs 0.886. The order was reversed in the second race, David winning by 0.038 and the Ets 0.874 to 0.914. That gave us a third race to decide the match. It was a close one - it looked like David might grab it, but Doug came through to win by 0.020 seconds - the ETs 0.877 to 0.877. Result: 2-1 in favour of Doug.
And that's it for the racing. I'll be putting together all the info in a document for competitors and spectators to read and keep. Cars should be on their way back from Monday - unless you want me to hang on to them until next time. I shall be in touch individually.