BOXING DAY INTERNATIONAL - ROUND 1................see below for TV 3 and TV One Sports News Footage

.............. More photos now on the Media Page......................

It has been a long time since I have seen a crowd like that at Western Springs, not only were the stands full, the people were everywhere in the Pits. It always adds another dimension when you are surrounded by families all wanting to see what the teams do to these cars, having photos taken and signing autographs. Cool to see the kids choose who they like the best, often I think it's just because of the colour of the car or similar.

We had made a couple of changes to the engine dynamics, having struggled at the Springs on our previous three outings there, we were determined to get out and get the job done. The weather in the previous couple of days had been very hot and we were all hoping the track was going to hold up. It was very wet in the wheel pack run, thankfully the Sprintcars went out last and they did a great job of pushing the excess water down into the clay.

After the visiting Midget drivers had their hot laps, we headed out for our first heat. Good to see the 'Grid Gods' were helping out  (not)... yes off the back  in the first heat yet again. The deal was that all the visitors were in one group and all the top guys from home were in the other. Both Michael and Brad started on the back row and the track was still quite heavy. This provided about one and a half lanes for the cars, problem was there wasn't any passing in the race until about halfway through it. Brad got a break and pushed through to 5th.

Our second heat was a reverse grid which put Brad on pole. The track now had a top line which was drivey, and the bottom was slicking off. Everyone set their cars to run where they wanted to and then the track officials decided they would put some water on the track. They told the guys to re pack the track and they wouldn't start the race until they were happy, without even looking to see if they were ready they pulled the pace car off and off they went. The only saving grace was every driver needed to finish this race to start the Feature. Brad finished 2nd, which was good enough to have him start on the 2nd row of the Feature behind Swindell and Buckley. 

The Feature was going to be a sprint race given the competition around us. The track had slicked off in places and everyone had to decide how far they would go to hook the car up. The challenge was to be able to get the car into the turn with the cushion and then the complete opposite was to get the car back onto the left rear quickly to get her out the turn. Anyway we did what we thought was best and out they went. The race became a sprint race between Brad, Swindell and Coons Jnr. Brad missed his mark half way through the race in turn 3 and had the car so crossed up I am sure he was looking back at the oncoming traffic, great save, however that gave the pass to Swindell. We ran third until the last lap when Swindell got it crossed up off Turn 2 and Brad got back to second. Great win from Coons Jnr.

Really enjoyed the racing, great crowd, great weather, and not a bad result for the first one. Very happy to have the car performing like we hoped it would. So back Wednesday Night for the World 30 Lap Feature..................

Greg Mosen

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 Updated 27th December 2009. 

This was to be the shake down of both the CRC Synergy V8 Midget cars specifically built for the Chili Bowl Event. We had worked hard all week getting Brad's car ready. I guess in the back of my mind, Simon had run this engine on the Dyno several times, so we focused our efforts on getting the car set. This sounds easy, however not only do you build a car ready to race from scratch, you need to set up all the spares, packed ready to go to both the track and then straight into the container which leaves on Tuesday 15th December.

There were quite a few people looking over the two cars when we arrived. I guess the added activity of both the Documentary Team shooting footage for the television show, and the photographer from Top Gear had everyone see that things were a bit different. I heard Dave Turner speaking on the track commentary, he mentioned that both Michael and Brad heading off to Tulsa USA, was history in the making and I guess when your so busy getting cars and the like, you don't stop and comprehend what it is we are all trying to achieve here. The concept of taking two Midge drivers, cars, spares, crew and the kitchen sink if we can fit it in is a huge task, especially when competing against the best there is in this sport. Time will tell.

Huntly had 24 Midgets competing, and the heats showed who was going to be on the pace. Insley and Pickens were the fastest cars in their group, whilst we had Brad, Allach, and Kendall in ours. Brad started on Grid 4 in Heat One. The brakes in the car where not as good as he was used to and pushed into the back of Allach in Turn one. This had almost the entire field pass them both leaving Brad back in 11th spot. He proceeded to catch and pass the entire field to win his first heat. Heat Two for us had us off the back and Brad got through to 2nd which wasn't bad considering the track was slicking off and not many cars were passing anywhere.

The Feature was a dream start for the CRC Synergy Team, both cars on the front row. Brad and Michael got away through to lap 11 when we took a yellow light. Brad got straight back onto Michael on the re start and quickly passed him. We moved away from him and the rest of the field and at one point had 2 lapped cars back to second. Kendall pushed a pass on Pickens and got out of shape which had about 8 cars piled up in Turn one. Allach who had started from the rear was now into 4th spot behind Insley. On the restart Allach shot to the bottom and got passed both Brad and Michael for the lead. The three stayed this way to the end, with the exception of the pushed pass by Michael on Shayne. The officials quickly determined that this was not acceptable and awarded the win to Allach.

Great to have both the cars on the Podium which was a good send off for them, and they were also both undamaged ready to be loaded in the Container. When we get to Tulsa, I will put daily updates on this site for anyone interested in how they are going. It is going to be interesting to see how they compress the 350 entrants down to the 20 odd that start the A Main.

For now we get back onto the Big Ben Midget, and prepare her for the International Series beginning on the 26th December. Brad is the defending International Series Winner along with the 50 Lap Champion, so we want to get away to a good start.

Greg.

             Updated : 14th December 2009.

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The weather was again the immediate challenge heading off to Stratford. It had rained nearly all week and it was at it's worst Friday. However the Speedway Gods had it sorted and we woke on Saturday morning to clear skies. The track had taken the water and typically of these sand based tracks it was in good shape. Great to see the Pits full of Midgets. I think there were around 26 cars entered of which 16 were National Midget Car Series entries. The heat races got underway and it was clear that the pace was on. The local cars knew their way around as you would expect, however it didn't take long for everyone to hit the mark. After the 4 heat races we had determined who the top 16 were.

Brad had not had the best of starts, he got tangled in a crash in the first heat, which had bent the right rear of the car up pretty bad. We had a fair bit of work to do to get it back out for the next heat, most of the efforts went into getting the bent nerf bars off the chassis. The second heat we didn't finish due to a fueling issue, so we were not looking too flash.

The plan was to head out and qualify in the B Main, the marble had already been drawn and it was going to be the fastest off the back again, so wasn't too bad knowing that the fast guys would be in front of us if we could win the B Main. Then they decided to pull the B Main due to time, so Brad started on Grid 21 of 22. They lined up for the start and having the track surface being pretty slick it was going to be tough getting through. After 9 laps we were sitting on 7th spot behind Pickens, Insley and Kendall so it was all good at this stage. The race was a bit stop start from there on, in fact if you count all the yellow light laps the cars ended up doing a total of 93 laps. I guess you have to ask yourself if the SNZ rules are the right thing for the racers and the crowd. Our local rule is if you stop you go to the back, prime cause or not. Food for thought.

So back to the race, the Harper team ended up in a pile at Turn 1 which took all of them out, another couple of crashes later on and we were 7 laps to go. Brad had a fast car and infact got passed all the fast guys in one turn, the yellow put pay to that. We had the missfortune of banging into another car, and as a result we bent the front right shock around the front axle. That was it for us, the car couldnt hook up and we ended up 5th.  It was however good racing on the greens, looking forward to returning for the New Zealand Championships in March.

I have updated the National Series Points Table, see below.

Greg,

Updated 7th December 2009

 Note:  Edwards DNS due to crashing car in heats, Thompson DNS due to breaking wrist previous week, Clarkson's RD 2 points due to nomination of McLeod as replacement driver.

Round 3 - Western Springs Midget Series:

Turning up at the track on Saturday Night we were all looking skyward. The forecast was for rain, and for a while it held off. The track was well prepared and we could all see we were in for a great nights racing. Brad was in Heat 1 for the third weekend in a row and we had to deal with a slippery track. He started in Grid 5 and comingoff the first turn he was into second spot. The car seemed to like the track as we have finally got our heads around the set and the engine is now sorted. Finishing 2nd we had a good start to the night. We watched the 2nd heat and could see the track was fast. This turned out to be the Midget race of the night. Kendall, Pickens, Brunt and Insley all got straight into it and swapped places at either end. Standring was out there breaking in the new Lendich car and he filled the mirrors of all of them. Then it started raining and that was that.

We headed home with everything covered in mud, to find that Springs Promotions had talked the Council into running the rest of the meeting Sunday Night. So we continued were we left off. Brad was out in his heat and we made the mistake of not tightening the left rear tyre, and off it came just as the race was to start. This caused an incredible amount of work to ready the car for the Feature. At one point I was under the car bolting bits back on and saw I was surrounded by other crew members helping out. Thanks to you all, we made it by seconds. Problem was I hadn't had time to set the car and the track had sealed off and it was slick and dusty.

Brad started on the back row and off we went. Short story is he got to 3rd behind both Pickens and Beale. The photo above has Beale along side Brad as the crossed the line, as you can see there wasn't much in it. So a lesson learnt for the crew, don't assume anything.

I will get the finishing results and add them to the points table as soon as they become available. Stratford next weekend for the second round of the National Midget Car Series.

The two cars going to Chili Bowl are almost complete, and we will see them both at Huntly being driven by both Brad and Michael. There has been testing done both on the dyno and on the track to date, however the run at Huntly will be the best test for the new cars. They go into the containers on the 15th December to head to the US.

Greg.

Updated 30th November 2009