Saturday the 28th of May I decided to check out the drags at Eastern Creek seeing the boys. Shane & Darren Hobson & Mike Waldron were out there to put their cars through their paces & didn't their cars look great!!!

I got there to realise that Shane had gone back to Mike Kirsten's workshop to weld his gear stick back together....not a good start. The group that this crew has assembled really gels. With Mike K assisting all with their mechanical needs, along with Henry Spicack & his knowledge of Vee Dub stuff, to Dave Stoker & his amazing talent of building a fantastic drag car....in his back yard....to Linda Hobson & Lorraine Stoker's cooking skills to keep the mens bellies full...(great chocolate cake Lorrainne) to good old Al & his support he gives his boys, I felt privileged to be a part of it all. With Stuart there also to lend a hand, how could anything go wrong.....that's right....I was there & feel as though I jinxed them.

Hoping to see them all have great runs, especially Shane who had just completed his car recently, I was excited to watch the outcome. But unfortunately this wasn't to be. I have said before that these drag cars to me are like highly strung race horses. If something is not right, then things just don't happen. But if all goes well, then they can really fire up & perform........apparently!

This is how it panned out for each of them. Mike missed his first run because everyone was enjoying coffee and cake, ( but how good was the cake!). His second run resulted in him shutting down the car on the line, thinking the official told him too, when actually he was in indicating to Mike that his helmet chin strap was not done up by gesturing to his chin by waving his hand under it from side to side, which Mike thought was "shut it down". Well he couldn't restart the car....a bit embarassing. His next run was a bit better with a good burn out & after a little splutter on take off, a good high elevens run, But alas, he fried one of the heads in the process so it's back to another rebuild for Dave.

Shane had the broken gear stick, then once that was fixed he had to shut down before the line on his next run because of a methonol fuel leak, & on his last run had to shut it down on the line due to the previous car dropping oil everywhere, only to not be able to restart because he made a rookie mistake ( you have to ask Shane what happened). Darren's day ended the worse though. I don't know how his first run went but his second run was scary to say the least. He took off ok but then the car spluttered & he lost momentum. He managed to regroup & as he hit third gear the Beetle seemed to be responding well. Fourth gear though was another story. As soon as he hit it & got off the sticky stuff the car spun violently at 150 mph causing him to bump off the wall & wipe out his wheelie bars in the fastest double spin I have ever seen. This had poor Linda running down to the fence horrified at what she had seen. I quickly went to her & comforted her as she burst into tears. It was bloody scary stuff & I really felt for Linda & I was glad I was there at that point.

The result of Darrens demise was a blown supercharger & dare I say it, some soiled pants (well not Darren really...it was me). I went home thinking what an afternoon of emotion & just why do they put themselves through all that. Well the answer is simple really. It's a win win for all as they each enjoy their important roles throughout the day as a well oiled team that just works. The next day Shane had two great runs in the mid to high thirteens that has only given him more enthusiasm to give it another crack soon. And why did he do so well the next day???? Because I wasn't there...that's why!

I look forward to the next day out though....but maybe I will sneak in & not tell 'em I am coming.
 
Until next time, choose to drag & cruise....Dave.