Dave Wayne

I was going to say "just the lower graders" but yes you would still be right. 😂

Not that I would try and influence the vote, but wouldn't it be great to see some of the 'long termers' who would have raced at Odsal before having the chance to compete in this race, such as 34, 88, 277, 424 ?

There are 138 bangers booked in for the World Series event on 22nd May, but as far as I am aware there hasn't been a booking list issued yet for the 29th.

Marion was part of the furniture at Trackstar for many years and latterly with the SSCA. Most drivers had run-ins with her at times, but she was also a very fair and friendly person who would look out for the drivers as if they were her own kids. Even though it is now 20 years since I last raced, she still always had time for a chat and a bit of banter. A very sad loss, and my thoughts are with her family, but particularly with John.

Is there really any need for this post ? A fantastic book has been written about our sport detailing events that happened 40-50+ years ago. Many of those mentioned are no longer with us, memories have faded, and stories have been embellished over time. The effort and research that has gone into this publication should be applauded, not nitpicked for minor details. If you have an issue with the book then contact the author in private rather than pulling him apart on an internet forum. For the record, I am half way through the book, and am absolutely loving it, despite the few minor errors. If I wanted to be pedantic I could point out that I have found 3 that you haven't even mentioned, which just goes to prove that nobody is perfect. So once again, thanks Neil for a great book that has filled in the back stories behind many of my childhood memories and given me great entertainment. 👍

I may be wrong, but wasn't Stanton Works once touted as a possible replacement site for Long Eaton ?

Don't know if it's just me, but the plate looks like it is 'overlapped', which is fine for the F1s, F2s, Minis, etc. that run anti-clockwise, but will it not leave 'steps' in the plate that clockwise formulas such as Saloons and Bangers will snag on ?

There were grandstands on both straights in the tarmac days, and the start/finish line was on the opposite side, but when the stadium re-opened in 1985 after the shale was put down both stands had been demolished and a new one built on the side that then became the home straight.

Simple answer to that Andy is that the government should rack up whatever debts are necessary to protect lives. Businesses and the economy can be rebuilt, but people can't be brought back to life. If tax rates have to go up in the future then so be it as it is a price worth paying if it reduces the number of fatalities from Covid.

180 was never a full time driver. Courtney was having occasional outings in a borrowed car thanks to some friendly sponsors. I would imagine that having had 5 years of the family concentrating on her racing during her ministox career she is now sitting back while her brother gets the same family support.

Promoter seeks car to borrow for weekend. Must have large bumpers. 😂

No pit access for fans last week so I doubt there will be today.

I went to Buxton yesterday for F2s and V8s. All I received when I paid was my paypal receipt so I was a bit concerned as I expected something from the actual promotion. I made sure I had it available on my phone, but when I arrived they didn't even ask to see it, just asked my name and marked it off on a list they had printed off. I would advise having the receipt available though, either electronically or printed, as they may be a bit more rigorous with the checking at a higher profile meeting.

In case you hadn't noticed, the new government regulations are that hospitality (such as bars) has to be seated with table service only. Therefore the 'council persons' as you call them have no option but to insist that the bars at Kings Lynn cannot be used.

Just for reference, the Buxton website is quoting the following prices : Admission Prices Adults - £20 OAPs - £16 Children 9 to 15yrs - £8 KIDS UP TO AGE 8 FREE Trackside Parking £8

Apologies for being mister negative here as I know that in the current circumstances we all need positivity, but we also need reality. I appreciate the efforts by Startrax to put this meeting on, but I think moving it back by 2 weeks is not likely to have the desired effect. As they have stated in the above press release, Owlerton is classed as an 'elite sports stadium' and is therefore treated differently to other venues that are already up and running. The original plan for opening elite sports venues from the beginning of October was based on a continued reduction in case numbers and successful pilot events taking place in late July and early August, giving a foundation to build on. These events were stopped from having spectators as not enough progress was being made in eradicating the virus, and the pilot events are only now starting to take place, with case numbers still on the increase. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that we will see major changes to the rules on sports venues in the near future. I am not sure if Startrax have misunderstood the situation with football league grounds, or just used artistic licence in the press release, but for those who don't pay much attention to football, the statement that they are re-opening is not entirely true. Out of the 32 grounds holding EFL matches this weekend, 10 were given the opportunity to hold trial events with 1,000 spectators. 2 of them declined the offer, and 1 has been instructed by its local authority to not allow fans in due to a local increase in case numbers. Depending on how these trial events go this weekend, I would imagine that more will have the opportunity in the weeks to come, but I don't expect all the EFL grounds to have spectators in on the same day for quite some time yet. Even the Speedway British Championship at Ipswich which was originally given a capacity of 2,500 for a pilot event has had that reduced to 1,000 for an event that takes place on the last Saturday in September. I have no better knowledge than anyone else as to what is or isn't going to happen, and I am sure Mr Rees has been given some encouraging signs by the authorities for him to make this announcement, but my opinion is that professional football as a whole will be lucky to see crowds at all in October while case numbers are still on the increase, and our minority sport won't be higher on the list of priorities.

Just a quick pointer for people who may not have picked this up from the Skegness website Wouldn't want people to get there with intentions of sitting under the stand but not having taken a mask with them. 😉

I was just over a month old when I first went there, and was still going there after it closed for the various demonstrations and protests, so I recognise the place quite well. 😉

Thanks to both of you. It seems that some people on here didn't want to believe me !!

The SCOTA F1s became F1SCA in the late 70s and then in 1980 a capacity limit was introduced and for a short while they were known as Formula 80 before becoming Spedeworth V8s. The Formula 80 cars definitely ran on 'BriSCA' tracks as I remember seeing them at Crewe when we were there with the ministox in either 1983 or 84. If I remember correctly, the aforementioned Sion Poyser and his father(?) Ron were racing in F80 at that time before crossing over into Hotstox on a permanent basis. There was then a lot of crossover between the 2 formulas with link ups in the 80s and 90s that Neil will probably know a lot more about than me, but Wolfie definitely won a Spedeworth V8 British Championship in a Hotstox at Wimbledon in the late 80s. There were regular joint meetings in the mid to late 90s with Pete Scott coming 2nd to Andy Turner in a World Final at Northampton one year. More recently, Hotstox were invited to race with the Spedeworth V8s at Wimbledon at a meeting in the 2016/17 winter season but the only driver to take up the offer was 16 year old yellow top Matt Barnard (69) who, despite no practise and much less suitable tyres than the Spedeworth cars, put up a creditable performance on the day.

You are on the wrong side of the track Steve. The pub you are talking about was the Pavilion Hotel which was behind the stands on the home straight, but that is Station Road not Nottingham Road. The overflow pits were in that corner behind turn 4 and were usually used by the support formula at F1 meetings, with access through the speedway pits. There was definitely no housing that could be seen in this position from those pits as the railway embankment was directly alongside pit lane. This looks to me like the main pits behind the back straight which was on the Nottingham Road side of the track. There was a car park on Nottingham Road with turnstiles behind turn 2, and there was a pub set back from Nottingham Road alongside the car park called the Half Crown if I remember correctly. If you have a look on the satellite view on google maps it shows a large patch of waste land next to where Circuit Drive (🤮) comes off Nottingham Road. This is where the pub was sited.

This might be way off the mark, but did the southern boys ever travel up north ? Just wondering if this could be looking down the pits at Long Eaton towards the trackshop end and the large building in the background could be the Half Crown(?) pub on Nottingham Road ?

The 'White City incident' brought back memories for me of a similar incident. Having completed the build of my mate's first ministox, his Dad decided he needed a bit of driving practice before his first meeting so we loaded it onto the trailer and took it down to an old coal mine a couple of miles away, marked out a makeshift oval in the car park, and off he went. Later on, his Dad asked if I wanted a go, and what 13 year old stock car fanatic would say no ? So I jumped in and off I went. No idea how long I was going for, but as I came out of the '4th bend' I was met by a Police van parked sideways across the 'home straight'. Total panic set in and all pedals were pressed as I came to a screeching halt just before T-boning the Police van. We were politely told to load up and be on our way, and it was another 9 years till I sat behind the wheel of a stock car again other than driving them through the pits and occasionally on or off the track.

No worries mate, just things you spot as you are digging around the mine of information. I could lose myself for days in your website. 😉

I looked it up too, to check my guess which was completely wrong. I would have gone for Bob Wass who only held the number for 1 year in 1977, before changing to 38. This brought up 2 other things. Firstly, one of the pictures of Bob Wass as 38 is in fact Ian Russell in the Glyn Pursey car. Secondly, and something I have wondered about for a while, is Bob Wass related to Derek, Alex and Sam, as they are all from Lutterworth ?