It’s been too long but in between work the volunteers have been head down, bum up for race meetings every weekend since the Nitro Shootout and 4 & Rotary Nationals in January.
February kicked off with a club weekend at the track followed by the Junior Dragster champs. Everyone groans and runs off to buy food when the Juniors come out to race but we continue to nurture them and ensure that they have somewhere to hone their skills in preparation that one day they will be our record breakers. This year marked the third running of the Junior Dragster Champs in support of the Ronald McDonald House (all proceeds from the meeting is donated) and full results of the days racing are here.
The 1/8th Mile Night meeting fell on the third weekend of February and Saturday night saw the new Jet Funny Car from the Zahorodny Family Racing stables take to the track with a bang. The car and crew were still in set up mode but the sneak peek we got of the pure power and force of this impressive car has us hoping for more appearances by the Zahorodny Family Jet Funny Car. Shortly after racing and prizegiving were completed, a team of Fram diehards including the Track Manager, Starter, Race Director, Motorbikes Pit Runners, our track helper Troy Lindsay and Gallagher’s Island regular Andrew Browning make the long haul overnight trip to Masterton for the new Masterton Motorplex official opening event.
From there it was a straight final lap to the 2014 NZ Nationals. The weather had other ideas however and despite plans to forge ahead with one of our most advertised and talked about event, Cyclone Lusi literally dampened the event. Those who made the effort saw some difficult racing conditions on Sunday but kept calm and carried on. When reviewing the Nationals weekend forecast, the Board looked at the weather predictions for the rain weekend (22nd and 23rd March) and that wasn’t showing much better. So the plan to move ahead with the Cyclone Nationals was set in stone. It’s all history now and we’d like to extend our thanks to the stalwart racers and Saturday shenanigan participants (the names Brent Curran and Craig Griffiths springs to mind when we recall the Saturday shenanigans) for playing their part. A great thanks also to the twelve odd teams that made the trek up from Nelson and Christchurch, DB Racecars, Bert King and the team and Graham Christison from Wellington and all the racers who fought bravely through the storm to be there. Thanks also to Dom Lagana all the way from the States, Reece Fish’ crew from Australia and Gary and Cheyne Phillips crewing on CJ’s Hauler for gracing us with their presence. The finals from Sundays racing will be run Saturday 5th April with the Club Champs.
We now look forward to what will hopefully a successful weekend at Club Champs and Nostalgias. Every year, the crew at Bay Rodders Tauranga give us one of the seasons greatest spectacle with these events and no doubt this year will be no different. Find out more about these events here.
Looking to our Winter programme – the Board have decided to add Wednesday Night Grudge Wars for street legal vehicles to the mix. At this stage we have one planned for Wednesday 23rd April and a second for Wednesday 7th May. If all goes well, we may look at scheduling another.
The annual Prizegiving for Night Speed Drag Wars, the Fram Comp Series and IHRA NZ Series will be held at the Pukekohe Hot Rod Club on Saturday 10th May. Doors open at 7pm and you can dress tidy casual or go all out…completely up to you. Dinner will be supplied and entry is FREE.
Winter Drag Wars kicks in on Sunday 15th June with gates opening at 10am and racing starting at 11am. There will be six events in the series (full dates are below). These events are predominantly for street legal vehicles although Comp Cars have been known to use them as Test & Tune from time to time. If you have a Comp Vehicle and wish to run at Winter Drag Wars, please contact the office.
Sunday 15th June 2014
Sunday 29th June 2014
Sunday 13th July 2014
Sunday 27th Junly 2014
Sunday 10th August 2014
Sunday 24th August 2014
Enjoy the last few days of sunshine before the winter hibernation sets in.
Thank you for your support throughout the summer and we hope to see you again during the winter season otherwise, catch ya on the other side.